Haltom opens district play with rout over Chisholm Trail for first win this season

After beginning the season with three straight losses, Haltom found a way to shake off a slow start against Chisholm Trail to notch its first win of the year, 43-8 on Friday night in the District 3-6A opener and Star-Telegram fan game of the week.

It was tough going for both teams in the first quarter as they combined for 117 yards and on 17 plays, including each having a three-and-out series and missed field goals.

After one, it was scoreless, but after that moment, it was all Haltom (1-3).

Thanks to a 190-yard rushing performance by Devan Ramirez-Powell, Haltom was able to establish a dominating run presence over Chisholm Trail (2-2).

Haltom was also able to force five turnovers – three interceptions and two fumbles – in the win, which suffocated the Chisholm Trail offense all night that only mustered 298 total yards of offense.

The first turnover came late in the first quarter as Jihre Smith stepped in front of a Chisholm Trail pass attempt in Rangers’ territory. Quarterback Anel Moreno capped off the ensuing Haltom drive with a 16-yard touchdown run.

On Chisholm Trail’s next drive, the Rangers fumbled on a hand-off exchange, and Haltom recovered. The Buffalos struggled a bit to get the ball moving on this drive, but on fourth-and-8 from the Chisholm Trail 29, Moreno hit his favorite target of the night, Ishmael Jalloh for a 23-yard gain.

The next play, Ramirez-Powell scored the first of his three touchdowns to make it 13-0.

In the third quarter, Haltom kept the momentum going from the second quarter by taking the opening possession of the half right down the field, which included a 45-yard pass completion from Moreno to Jeramiah Sanders.

After the big play, Ramirez-Powell once again found the end zone to go up 19-0. He added another score later in the quarter and Haltom was rolling at 22-0.

The Buffs were able to be even in their splits, gaining 260 yards passing to their 198 yards rushing. Haltom was also 3-for-3 on fourth-down attempts and committed no turnovers on the night.

But as great as everything may have seemed, Chisholm Trail was ready to try and make a game of it. After the field goal, Chisholm Trail got on the board thanks to a 54-yard touchdown run by Israel Kaloso. After the two-point conversion and the Rangers made it a two-possession game.

The very next kickoff, Jaylon Mason fielded the ball at his own 10 and scampered all the way down for a score to make the score 29-8. Haltom would finish the game on a 21-0 run to coast to the win.

Part of that run included the highlight play of the night as Moreno threw a jump ball to Sanders, who had to fight through a defensive back to make the catch around the Chisholm Trail 15 and then dragged a tackler into the end zone for a 48-yard touchdown.

Moreno finished the game completing 11 of this 16 passes for 260 yards and accounted for two total touchdowns.

It was the first game this season that Haltom was able to limit a team to single-digit scoring as it entered district play giving up 49.7 points per game.

Kaloso and Shone Mombo were the offensive bright spots for the Rangers as they contributed 90 and 78 yards, respectively.