New group of starters at Fort Worth North Side sends Steers to third straight victory
Gone are the days of Da’Wain Lofton, now at Virginia Tech, Isaak Rosales, Chris Smith and Jorge Aguirre - just a few seniors last season that helped Fort Worth North Side make some football history.
The Steers started 2020 with a 5-0 record, their best start since 1946.
They finished 7-2 overall, the program’s best record since 1982. They clinched a playoff berth in back-to-back seasons, which hadn’t been done since the 1970s, and in 2019, North Side played a postseason game for the first time in 40 years.
But behind a new group, which include quarterback Kevin Ortega, running backs Michael Alvarado and Brandon Forrest, and a unit of gritty defenders, North Side won its third straight game on Thursday night, a 35-0 decision over FW South Hills in a District 4-5A D2 opener at Farrington Field.
“Defense played lights out and turned it on since the Lake Worth game,” said North Side coach Joseph Turner, whose team lost to Lake Worth 51-0 in the season opener. “They’ve been playing a lot better and trying to keep guys to the least amount of points and yards as possible.
“Our linebackers are flying right now. We might have the best linebackers in the district.”
Added Turner. “It was a wake up call. We replaced 10 guys on offense and five or six guys on defense, and we just had to get a wake up call. Lake Worth is still undefeated right now and I’m not taking anything away from them, but we didn’t play our best game. We’re still trying to find the mesh of offense, defense, special teams, and our guys are starting to play a lot better.”
After a sluggish start by both teams that resulted in a scoreless opening quarter, North Side (3-1, 1-0 in 4-5A D2) would score a pair of touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead at the half.
On the Steers’ third possession of the night, Forrest took a hand-off from Ortega on a fourth-and-5 and raced across the goal line from 23 yards out that gave North Side a 7-0 lead with 8:43 left in the second quarter.
“We’re always trying to figure out what we’re going to run throughout the game, and get that establish. Our run game led the charge tonight,” Turner said. “Once our run game gets going, everything else starts going.”
South Hills (0-3, 0-1) picked up a first down to its own 30 on the ensuing drive, but the Scorpions went backwards on a 10-yard penalty and fumble to push them back to the 22.
During the punt, the snap was bad and South Hills couldn’t corral the loose ball, which bounced into the end zone. North Side’s Joseph Villalobos was able to secure it, giving the Steers a 14-0 advantage with under five minutes to go in the first half.
The Scorpions looked good on the game’s opening drive starting at their 20 and moving the ball to the North Side 46, but on the ninth play of the possession, a pass attempt was deflected down field and the Steers came away with the interception from Julio Jamarillo.
Of South Hills’ six first-half possessions, the North Side defense forced three punts - one resulting in the Villalobos touchdown and another ending in a 10-yard loss - plus two turnover on downs and two interceptions.
The Steers’ picked off a second South Hills’ pass attempt with under 3 1/2 minutes in the second quarter on another deflection, which was caught by defensive back Lorenzo Perez.
“Our defense is the key point of our team and for me to step up and do that, it brought big energy and I’m proud of our defense,” Perez said. “For Da’Wain and my brother, Johnny Perez, some of the greatest to play at North Side, I learned that you play as a team, then you win as a team. No matter what, team chemistry is always going to come in. You have to have a bond with the team. If you don’t have a bond, nothing is going to work.”
South Hills’ defense was able to force three-and-outs following both interceptions to limit the damage.
North Side came out quick in the third quarter with a four-play scoring drive as Forrest capped it off with his second touchdown, a 12-yard run to up the lead to 21-0.
Alvarado scored on a 1-yard TD run early in the fourth to increase the lead to 28-0.
Irving Lopez would score North Side’s final touchdown when he fielded a Scorpions’ punt in the fourth quarter and raced across field, beating defenders and getting timely blocks for a 65-yard score.
Forrest rushed eight times for 63 yards and two TDs.
Ortega completed a pass to six different receivers and totaled 132 yards.
Chris Clayton led South Hills with 76 yards on 12 carries.
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 9:31 PM.
