Fort Worth Western Hills wins shootout against Eastern Hills to claim playoff berth

Coming into Friday night, both teams were vying for the final District 6-4A Division 1 playoff spot.

Fort Worth Eastern Hills came into the game one spot back and was looking to overtake Western Hills in the standings going into the final week of the season.

Western Hills (5-4 overall, 4-2 District) was able to hold off Eastern Hills 48-40 at Scarborough-Handley Field.

“I am proud of these kids,” Western Hills head coach Blake Moilan said. “They knew what was at stake and it was a tough game.”

The two teams were evenly matched during the first half, with the Cougars leading 26-24 at intermission.

However, both offenses came out of the locker room on fire.

“We knew that we had a little bit of a numbers advantage on them, and we just wanted to play fast and keep playing and just finish.” Moilan said.

By the end of the third quarter, a fumble by Eastern Hills led to a touchdown by Tyreke Lewis with 24 seconds remaining in the quarter. Going into the fourth quarter, Western Hills led 48-32.

The Highlanders (3-6, 2-4) weren’t ready to give up their playoff spot, with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter, Ganeston Howard scored a touchdown bringing the score to 48-40. However, their comeback attempt fell short as this was the last score of the night.

A big playmaker for the Highlanders throughout the night was sophomore Kenwaun Durst, who scored a touchdown in the first, second and third quarters of the game.

“The kid just plays hard every single night.” Eastern Hills head coach Devvin Anderson said. “Great athlete, great kid, he always lays it all on the line.”

Going into the final week of the regular season Western Hills secured its trip to the playoffs. The Cougars will play for the third or fourth seed against Dunbar next week.