Fort Worth Southwest strikes fast to seal victory against South Hills

By Bruce Unrue

Special to the Star-Telegram

Fort Worth South Hills made things interesting, but the Fort Worth Southwest Raiders finished their final tune-up for the postseason with a 49-21 victory over the Scorpions at Handley Field.

With the victory, Southwest (8-2, 6-2 in District 7-4A) earns second place in the district and will play Everman in a Class 4A Division II bi-district playoff game Thursday at Clark Stadium.

South Hills (4-6, 2-5) held the ball for almost twice as long (31:13-16:09) as Southwest and ran twice as many plays (77-36), but the Raiders were much more efficient, rolling up 473 yards of offense and averaging more than 13 yards a play.

The Raiders needed only three plays or fewer to score on five of their six possessions, and had only two possessions that lasted more than that.

Southwest quarterback Justice Adams-Jones completed 8 of 12 passes, including three touchdowns.

Robbie Rhodes electrified the crowd with two catch-and-runs that resulted in touchdowns of 57 and 98 yards.

Willie Robinson Jr. took another Adams-Jones pass 68 yards for a score and finished the game with five catches for 111 yards.

When the Raiders weren't going through the air, Jameion Williams was igniting a ground game with 115 yards, included scoring runs of 39 and 65 yards.

After giving up a 40-yard fumble return for a TD to Southwest's Braylon Pearson on the third play of the game, the Scorpions put together an eight-play, 53-yard drive to tie the score on Branden Vasquez's 21-yard run. Later, trailing 35-7, Scorpions backup quarterback Marco Muzquiz hit Treylon LaSalle on a 42-yard Hail Mary to end the first half.

Vasquez led South Hills with 90 on 14 carries.

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