Lake Worth spoils Joshua home opener as Bullfrogs off to best start in 15 years
One team’s journey to an undefeated start to the season would continue while one team was going to suffer its first loss during a non-district game between Lake Worth and Joshua on Friday.
Something had to give.
On this night, it was the Lake Worth Bullfrogs that prevailed.
Damirion Polty caught two touchdowns and returned a kickoff for another score as Lake Worth bested Joshua, 31-25, in the Owls’ home opener.
Lake Worth is off to its first 3-0 start since 2006, when it finished the season 8-4.
“We’ve been working for this for a while. We pushed ourselves in the summer and at practice everyday,” Polty said.
Added Lake Worth coach Tracy Welch, “It’s a fun and loving group. They like to joke, like to play, like to have a good time. These kids gel together and when it’s time to get serious, they get pretty serious.”
Leading 9-8 in the first half, the Bullfrogs’ offense started going after intermission. Following a Joshua (2-1) 30-yard field goal from Nick McHugh that gave the Owls an 11-9 lead in the third quarter, Lake Worth regained the advantage with an Isiah Hall 13-yard TD pass to Polty for a 17-11 lead at the end of the period.
Joshua, which came in ranked No. 10 in the Star-Telegram Class 5A rankings, would tie the game early in the fourth on a Kolby Smith 37-yard run following a short LW punt.
The Owls went for two and failed leaving the score tied at 17 with 9:11 to play.
Smith was the leading rusher with 30 carries for 217 yards and three TDs.
Hall and Polty connected soon after from 55 yards and Hall’s 1-yard TD run pushed Lake Worth ahead 31-17 with 6:55 remaining. Hall, who is No. 81 in the Star-Telegram Top 100, threw for 259 yards on 18 of 28 passing while Polty finished with 161 yards receiving on 11 catches.
“I’ve been around this group of guys since the sixth grade. We knew what we had in store. We’ve been working hard for it, working since freshman year. We’ve been waiting for this moment, mentality, physically, verbally,” Hall said. “We were doing good [at half], but we could do better. We’re never satisfied so we just work harder and harder. You have to play four quarters and until there’s zeros on the clock.”
Seven of Hall’s 10 passes in the second half went to Polty.
“We went into the locker room and coach said we won the first half, but we just had to put it on them in the second half,” Polty said. “We know what we’re capable of and we know what we can do. We play with heart and we all play to the best of our abilities. No matter what, we keep playing.”
Added Hall who also rushed 10 times for 40 yards, “Me and Polty have a lot of chemistry. We’ve been playing for a lot of years. We don’t believe in broken plays, we just make it happen.”
Joshua would score late to pull within six on a 9-yard run by Smith, but Lake Worth picked up a first down on a Bryan Neal rush to kill the clock.
Lake Worth, which also beat Fort Worth North Side and Sanger this season, gained 343 yards of total offense. Cornell Avington intercepted a Joshua pass attempt in the second half.
Joshua looked good on the opening drive of the game as the Owls drove from their own 30 to the Lake Worth 14, but on its 10th play of the possession, the Lake Worth defense stopped a fourth-down run to take over on downs.
The Bullfrogs stopped the Owls on multiple fourth downs during the night.
“Our defense is playing well and playing hard. We’re not the biggest defense, but they’re a whole bunch of bullfrogs causing things to happen. They played aggressive,” Welch said. “We have good linemen and right now we’re playing them one way which is helping us. Kids stay fresh. We have three really good defensive linemen in there.”
Lake Worth also had trouble finding the end zone in the first half, but did get on the scoreboard after a 17-play drive that amassed 64 yards and ate up nearly eight minutes.
However, the Bullfrogs would settle for a 23-yard field goal from Abraham Pulido to take a 3-0 lead with 7:32 left in the second quarter.
Three possessions later, Joshua scored when Smith ran in a 4-yard touchdown and after the Owls converted the two-point try, they led 8-3 with 1:27 on the clock.
Joshua’s lead lasted 11 seconds when Polty returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards for a Bullfrogs’ touchdown. However, their two-point try was just short, leaving the score at 9-8 Lake Worth at halftime.
“We’ve been practicing that all week. We knew on the pooch kicks, they run a certain alignment,” Polty said. “I just had to make one move and I took it to the house.”
The Owls gained 339 yards of total offense with 200 yards coming on the ground. Ricky Dunn led the Joshua receiving core with six catches for 61 yards.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 10:48 PM.
