Fourth-quarter TD, defense sends Bell past Crowley, Blue Raiders still undefeated
There is a new sense of excitement surrounding the LD Bell football program this season. Bell is having its best start in 10 years, but faced a tough Crowley team on the road Friday night.
With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Bell made the plays.
Gracien Anto scored on an 18-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter and the Bell defense made two crucial fourth-down stops as Bell beat Crowley 21-17 in a District 3-6A game at Crowley ISD Stadium.
Bell improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2012 when the team won its first six games.
The Blue Raiders also moved to 2-0 in district play.
Crowley, which beat Weatherford last week, dropped to 1-4 overall and 1-1.
“It’s a great team win,” Bell coach TJ Dibble said. “That’s what’s exciting about our kids. They find ways to win and that’s a huge characteristic of a successful program and we’re starting to learn how to do that.”
Anto’s touchdown capped off a 9-play, 77-yard drive. Bell converted two third downs, including a third-and-13 when quarterback Landen Garcia hit Roderick Hale for a 20-yard gain.
“We just kept fighting after the half,” Anto said. “We play as a team, I love this team, we’re a brotherhood. We’ll keep on going, keep on fighting and come out with a W like we did tonight. Really proud of the team.”
After making the catch, Hale was immediately hit hard, but held on to the ball.
“Roderick Hale has been unbelievable for us this year. He just continues to make big plays in games like this that are tight,” Dibble said. “That catch right there, that was the play of the game for us.”
On the next play, Anto ran right side and found a seam for the score.
Anto had 103 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Then leading 21-17, Bell’s D came up huge on a fourth-and-3 and held Crowley to just two yards on the play, led by 3-star linebacker Trey Wilson and Tristan Johnson.
The Eagles had more shot with the ball at the Bell 34, but on third down, Johnson came through and picked up the sack to set up fourth and long. Crowley would turn the ball over on downs on an incomplete pass and Bell took a knee to run out the clock.
“It’s an everyday thing. The defense does it everyday. Every time they execute, it makes me happy because they’re family. But they do it all the time and they held the game down for us,” Anto said.
“It feels amazing. I’ve been on varsity for three years. We’ve already won more games this season than the first two years,” Wilson added. “Flip the script, Bell’s back, let’s go.”
Crowley struck first with an 11-play drive that lasted nearly half of the first quarter. The Eagles were hit with a penalty that put the ball on the 9, but quarterback Caleb Williams hit Jackson Green for 15 and a first down. Then running back Ashton Searl had an 18-yard run.
The drive was capped off with a 37-yard field goal by Angel Loera to give Crowley a 3-0.
Bell responded with a 10-play 78-yard drive ending in a 3-yard touchdown run by Anto to push the Blue Raiders in front 7-3 with 1:39 left in the first quarter.
Bell was backed up on its own 12 after a personal foul, but would later get a 14-yard run by Brylon Fonteno, a 21-yard catch by Anto and a 14-yard catch by Fonteno that put the ball at the Crowley 3.
The Blue Raiders added a second touchdown less than a minute later when a Crowley pass was intercepted by Elijah Campbell, who returned it for a 27-yard score, extending the Bell lead to 14-3.
Three drives later and Crowley got its own pick-six when the Eagles tipped a screen pass while Chris Blake intercepted it from the 6 and walked in for the score to make it 14-10 with 3:59 to go before the half.
“We talk about playing complimentary football and all three phases and some times one phase has to lift up another phase,” Dibble said. “The turnovers were untimely. They scored a touchdown on defense and anytime you can overcome those on the road and make the plays that you need to make to win, it just shows you that it’s a good team win.”
Wilson made his presence felt in the first half with a pair of tackles on Crowley’s opening drive. He would add three more with one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry that resulted in a fourth down.
He is No. 33 on the Star-Telegram Top 100 and the leading tackler in the Fort Worth-area. Wilson was named Class 6A statewide player of the week in Week 3 against Arlington Sam Houston.
After a scoreless third quarter, Crowley took a 17-14 lead early in the fourth when Searl scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. Searl had 85 yards on 22 carries for the Eagles.
“This is just a completely different team than last year,” Johnson said. “The coaches have done great to get us to bond, get us to be together because we’re really a family at the end of the day. We’re more than a team.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 10:01 PM.
