Two pick-sixes, kickoff return fuel Western Hills by Carter-Riverside in district opener
Cam Hawkins continues to have a solid season for the Fort Worth Western Hills Cougars.
After scoring a pair of touchdowns in two of the first three games, Hawkins was back at it Thursday night in a District 6-4A Division 1 opener against Fort Worth Carter-Riverside.
Hawkins returned not one, but two interceptions for long touchdowns and the Cougars handed the Eagles their first loss of the season, 50-30 at Scarborough-Handley Field.
Carter-Riverside was 3-0 for the first time since 2015.
The Eagles haven’t been 4-0 since Max Preps started tracking football in 2004.
“Cam can play,” Western Hills coach Blake Moilan said. “Pick-sixes are huge any time you can get them. Defense did a great job again, but yeah, those pick-sixes are momentum killers for the other team.”
“This year we have a lot of seniors and we plan on putting our best foot forward and letting them compete,” added Hawkins, a junior. “Last season I was doubted and I’m just trying to make a statement this season.”
The Eagles (3-1, 0-1) dominated time of possession within the first 10 minutes of the game with Western Hills (3-1, 1-0) having run just one play. The Cougars fumbled of their first play from scrimmage and Carter-Riverside recovered.
After the fumble, the Eagles ran six plays before Oscar Andrade nailed a 32-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead with 5:41 left in the first quarter.
However, the lead was short lived, 15 seconds to be exact as Western Hills’ return man Aaron Martin scored on the ensuing kickoff. It appeared Martin let the ball bounce, waited to see if it would go out of bounds before picking it up, changing field and going 90 yards for six.
“I think that’s three or four for Aaron on kickoff returns this season so he’s doing a great job on those,” Moilan said. “The kids are blocking their butts off.”
Carter-Riverside responded on its next drive with 55 yards on six plays, capped off with a 17-yard touchdown from quarterback Jayden Thomas to Brian Terrell on a third-and-8.
The Eagles took the lead 10-7 with 1:49 left in the quarter.
Again, that lead would also be short lived as Western Hills scored early in the second quarter. After driving from its own 31 to the Carter-Riverside 33, the Cougars faced a fourth-and-7 when the snap was low and went by quarterback Keyon Butler.
Butler went to pick it up 16 yards behind the line and still managed to score on a 33-yard touchdown run. Western Hills led 13-10 after the extra point was missed with 11:09 left in the second quarter.
Western Hills added one more touchdown before the break to take a 20-10 lead. Carter-Riverside was able to cross midfield, but on third-and-11, a pass was picked off by a leaping Hawkins and the junior defensive back returned it for a 60-yard touchdown.
“I caught the ball and I had to find my blockers. They had to block and I had to execute,” Hawkins said.
The Cougars extended their lead to open the third quarter when Kaream Williams took a toss from Butler and scored on a 45-yard touchdown run. After a successful conversion, the lead was 28-10.
On the ensuing drive, Hawkins made his presence felt again.
Carter-Riverside drove the ball from its own 35 to the Western Hills 24 and on a second-and-11, Hawkins was there for the interception and returned it for an 88-yard score to up the lead to 35-10.
Hawkins also had a two-point run in the fourth.
The Eagles pulled within 35-17 late in the third quarter when Jakobi Tucker took a hand off 30 yards to the 3 and then capped the drive off with a 3-yard touchdown.
The Cougars answered with another touchdown as Butler hit Armani Perry-Brown on a short pass and Perry-Brown broke two tackles to score 45 yards later to make it 42-17. Butler added a 56-yard TD run with under two minutes left in the game.
“Keyon is really a dual-threat kid,” Moilan said. “I don’t know where he’s going to college, I don’t know what he’s going to do, but he can play quarterback. He can run, he can throw, he see the field really well.”
Jameer Muhammad, who led all rusher with 268 yards on 33 carries, scored 46 yards out for Carter-Riverside to bring the score to 42-24 with 9:38 left in the fourth quarter. He added a 1-yard TD run late in the game.
The 30 points from Carter-Riverside were the most against Western Hills in the past eight meetings.
The previous high was 23.
Tucker had 68 yards on 11 carries as the Eagles gained 366 on the ground as a team. Butler finished with 100 yards rushing for Western Hills and 129 yards passing. Tyreke Lewis added 71 yards on 11 carries and Perry-Brown had 63 yards on three catches.
“This group can be real special,” Moilan said. “There are things we have to work on and improve on, but we have improved every game. But we’re excited about this group. We have 17 seniors. We have a great group of kids that want to be here and want to keep on winning.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 9:42 PM.
