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The Fort Worth North Side Steers controlled the clock and held Fort Worth Polytechnic to just 20 offensive plays, but the Parrots came away with a 36-24 victory Thursday night at Handley Field.
Poly improved to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in District 6-4A. The Steers fell to 0-7, 0-5.
With an 18-12 lead after halftime, the Parrots only needed four plays to separate themselves from the Steers. Ray Bars' 57-yard touchdown run and Malik Jones' 55-yard scoring run put Poly ahead 30-12, but North Side stuck to the ball-control game plan.
Steers quarterback Johnny Aviles and running back Shawn Aviles carried the Steers' offensive load. The two extended drives and kept Polytechnic off the field, gradually cutting into the Parrots' lead. With 4:19 to play in the game, Johnny Aviles tossed a 12-yard touchdown strike to Hector Perez to bring the Steers back within six, 30-24.
The Parrots recovered North Side's onside kick -- after having coughed up two onside kicks earlier in the game -- but were forced to a three-and-out.
Then Jones made the game-saving play. With less than two minutes to play, he picked up a backward pass by North Side that had hit the ground and rumbled into the end zone from 20 yards out to seal the game for Polytechnic.
Despite only running 20 plays -- and fumbling twice -- Polytechnic racked up 232 yards on the ground. Jones didn't attempt a single pass in the win.
Fred Carter's 89-yard punt return gave Poly an early 12-6 lead.
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