Mineral Wells Area News

Mineral Wells, Benbrook to meet in bi-district round Friday

By DAVID MAY / Special to Mineral Wells Area News

BURKBURNETT – Mineral Wells Rams head coach Cody Worrell doesn’t mind opening his bag of tricks when he feels a spark is needed. A fourth-quarter flea-flicker produced a touchdown and gave the Rams a two-score lead to help them ease past the feisty Burkburnett Bulldogs, 27-17.

The win in the regular season finale gave the Rams a 7-3 record overall and third place in District 3-4A-2 with a 3-2 mark. Mineral Wells will play the Benbrook Bobcats in the bi-district playoff round Friday at Roos Stadium in Weatherford. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and tickets must be purchased online.

Benbrook was runner-up in District 4-4A-2 with a record of 9-1, 4-1. Ranked No. 22 by MaxPreps, the Bobcats concluded their regular season with a 48-6 win at Venus. Their only loss came against district champions Glen Rose.

The Rams in the first half looked like they made the long trip to Burkburnett (2-8, 1-4) aboard the struggle bus. The Bulldogs were motivated playing in their home stadium, needing a win for a shot at making the postseason. Fortunately, more than 2 inches of rain that fell in the region had pushed off to the east by kickoff, leaving behind a pleasant, if chilly, evening of football.

Despite a sluggish start, Mineral Wells used its ground attack, totaling 346 yards, to take control of the game in the second half. The Rams’ head coach was pleased with the win and securing third place on a night that proved challenging to his team.

“We knew coming to this place, it is always hard to play here,” Worrell said. “It is a long bus ride. It is just a different place to play. We knew we had to get our kids ready to go. We came out flat.”

The game got off to a rough start for the Rams. Mineral Wells took the opening kickoff and set up for the first play from scrimmage at their 25-yard line. Running back Kayden Montalvo took a handoff and run into a wall of players. Fighting for yards, and seemingly his forward progress stopped, Burkburnett defensive lineman Buddy Owen emerged from the scrum with the ball and ran into the end zone for a Bulldogs touchdown just 15 seconds into the contest.

With no hair to pull, Worrell was left scratching his head over the on-field explanation.

“They said they never saw anything,” he said. “There were a lot of unexplained answers.”

The Rams had two more offensive possessions before taking the ball with 1:56 left on the opening-quarter clock at their 30. Mineral Wells ran the ball seven times before Montalvo raced in from 16 yards out on the second quarter’s first play to tie the game at 7 apiece. Montalvo’s scoring run was preceded by his runs of 12 and 14 yards.

The Bulldogs responded on their next possession with an eight-play drive of their own, concluding with a 13-yard scoring strike from quarterback Brody Boyd to receiver Andrew Smith to put the ‘Dogs back on top, 14-7.

The teams exchanged punts before Mineral Wells took control of the ball with 5:52 left until the intermission horn. The Rams started at their 47. A 13-play drive ended with Montalvo in the end zone for a second time on a 3-yard run. He finished with 164 rushing yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns.

An interception by Cassious Johnson with 12 seconds left gave the Rams the ball back before the teams hit the locker rooms tied at 14.

Burk opened the third quarter with a drive ending with a 34-yard field goal, which again had Worrell far out on the field seeking an explanation after the Bulldogs trotted their field goal unit out and the Rams not allowed to complete their substitutions before the ball was snapped. The Bulldogs now had a 17-14 advantage.

Mineral Wells had an answer, embarking on a 12-play drive – all running plays – that led to quarterback Owen Gadd and the offense pushing the ball in from the 1-yard line. Despite a failed extra-point try, the Rams were ahead for the first time by a 20-17 score.

The game moved into the fourth quarter as Mineral Wells called 10 running plays, taking them from their 23 to the Bulldogs’ 37. That is when the Bulldogs’ defense bit on a flea-flicker, resulting in Gadd hitting a wide-open Preztynn Harrison streaking down the middle of the field for the game’s final touchdown.

Burk missed a 29-yard field goal attempt with just under 4 minutes to play. The Rams took over and ran out the clock, ending the game with two victory formation kneel-downs inside Burks’ 10-yard line. Mineral Wells was aided on the last drive with the insertion of running back PR Mendez, who peeled off runs of 13 and 33 yards.

Along with Montalvo’s 164 rushing yards, Johnson ran for 93 yards on 20 carries. Johnson had a 40-yard touchdown run nullified by a holding call. Mendez had not seen much of the field the last two weeks, but when he made it into the game late Friday, he had a big impact. Jackson Hicks added 37 yards on the ground as Mineral Wells piled up 346 yards rushing and 397 total yards.

“We relied on the run game,” Worrell said. “We were stopping ourselves, but we made some adjustments at halftime and they did a really good job.”