Grapevine QB Evan Baum accounts for five scores as the Mustangs blitz Azle
Grapevine made its debut in Dave Campbell’s state football poll this week coming in at No. 8 in Class 5A Division 2.
The Mustangs proved last week’s drubbing of Frisco Wakeland was no fluke as Grapevine scored on its first five possessions to run away from Azle 58-14 on Thursday night at Mustang-Panther Stadium.
The game was shown live on television as part of the High School Football Showdown on CW33.
Grapevine quarterback Evan Baum accounted for five scores with three coming through the air and two on the ground. Baum completed 8 of 12 passes for 230 yards and was a perfect 5 of 5 in the second half.
The senior rushed six times for 18 yards, but his only two attempts in the second half resulted in touchdowns of eight and 10 yards. The latter gave the Mustangs a 51-14 lead with 6:56 left in the game.
“We talk about it all the time about being the one-eleventh of the team and having trust in each other and that’s how we get going,” said Baum. “It feels good, but at the end of the day we really don’t care about rankings. We care about our team and how we’re performing.”
After a 30-yard field goal by Hayden Rhoades gave Grapevine (2-0) a 3-0 lead with 8:06 left in the first quarter, it was time for the Mustangs’ defense to shine.
A misplayed kickoff return by Azle (0-2) pinned the Hornets at their own 5-yard line. Azle went three and out, but the ensuing punt was blocked at the goal line by Gray Whitsett who pounced on the ball in the end zone for a quick 10-0 lead.
Azle had a couple of drives in the first half that penetrated deep into Grapevine territory, but both times the drives were halted by lost fumbles.
The first came after an 11-play, 59-yard march at the Grapevine 20. Tristan Sneed jolted the ball loose and Dalton Knapp picked it up and returned it to the Mustangs’ 47.
Five plays later Parker Polk darted 36 yards up the middle to give Grapevine a 17-0 lead with 18 ticks left in the first quarter.
“Our offensive line was just dominating up front,” said Polk, who comes in at No. 82 in the Star-Telegram’s list of the area’s Top 100 players. “At first I was pressing it and it wasn’t there, but then it started popping when our o-line started getting to the right guys.
“That one touchdown I had it was like the Red Sea opening up, it was a huge hole. I just followed my blocks and trusted my line.”
The second came late in the first half after a 10-play, 53 yard drive. A fumble at the Grapevine 1 was covered by Mustang linebacker Latham Wai.
The majority of Baum’s eight completions came to wide open receivers. Baum hit a wide open Hank Miller down the right hash for the 76-yard score to up the lead to 24-0.
On the next series the Mustangs ran the same pass play and got the same result when Polk raced 39 yards for a TD. Baum’s final TD pass came with 7:10 left in the third quarter to Sammy Kelley from 33 yards out to give Grapevine a 38-7 lead.
“Our coaches do a great job of preparing us,” said Baum, who guided Grapevine to 519 yards of total offense. “If we just keep running it and running it then they’re going to bite on that run and we’re going to step up and make that throw. My teammates just did a great job tonight.”
“It’s just a testament to how well we run the ball,” added Polk, who finished with 115 rushing yards on 14 carries. “Being consistent and disciplined in the run game opens up the pass game and when we do pass it then it’s wide open.”
The Mustangs’ defense allowed 89 yards of total offense in the first half and 291 for the game.
Azle ran 70 plays to Grapevine’s 49.
Azle linebacker Drew Dorris, No. 69 in the S-T Top 100 and son of Hornets’ head coach Devon Dorris, made a lot of plays, but he and his Hornet teammates couldn’t solve the Grapevine running game. Hornet wide out Tyler Akers, No. 98 in the Top 100, had six catches for 32 yards.
Grapevine’s Demontrez Dunn had 99 yards rushing on four carries in a mop up role, including breaking free for a 78-yard gain to set up his 3-yard scoring run.
“It was very important to play well after getting into the Top 10, but honestly we try to not look at the rankings,
said Polk. “Our coach tries to keep us focus on just games so we just wanted to come out here and play our best game. We didn’t play our best, we had a lot of penalties, but we’ll get that cleaned up.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2022 at 10:20 PM.