Azle hangs on to hand Brewer its second loss

By John English

Special to the Star-Telegram

White Settlement Brewer rallied with two late touchdowns, but came up short on Friday night as visiting Azle defeated the Bears 36-29 in a battle of District 5-4A teams on a roll.

Azle (5-1, 2-1) struck first, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Cole from Corbyn Koiner.

The score followed a 38-yard completion to Nolan Harris on a fake punt from the Hornets.

Brewer (4-2, 1-2) struck back on the ensuing drive, scoring on a 14-yard run from C.J. Washington to tie the game 8-8 at the end of the first quarrter.

Hunter McDonald scored his first of two first-half touchdowns for the Hornets on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter.

A botched snap on a Brewer punt attempt proved costly for the Bears, as Azle got the ball deep in Brewer territory.

McDonald tacked on a second touchdown later in the quarter on a 4-yard run to give the Hornets a 14-point lead late in the half.

After turning the ball over on downs, the Brewer defense forced an Azle punt.

The Bears then drove 61-yards and scored on a 17-yard pass to Washington from Skylar Howard to pull Brewer within seven.

Special teams played a critical role in the third quarter, as Azle stopped a fake-punt attempt.

The Hornets then drove 47 yards and scored on a 2-yard keeper from Koiner.

In the fourth quarter, Brewer failed to convert a fourth-down attempt at its own 30-yard line, and the Hornets capitalized, scoring on a 4-yard run from McDonald.

With just under two minutes to play, Brewer got the ball back and was driving at midfield, but Azle came up with a big sack on a fourth-and-4 with 14.6 seconds left to play.

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