Byron Nelson QB Jake Wilson throws 6 TDs as Bobcats roll past Boswell in playoff opener

With the likes of Denton Guyer, Southlake Carroll and Highland Park in the same region, Byron Nelson made a statement on the road to begin the football postseason.

Byron quarterback Jake Wilson tied a career-high with six touchdown passes as the Bobcats scored the final 34 points in a 54-14 win over Boswell in a Class 6A Division 2 bi-district contest.

The Bobcats (10-1), No. 23 in the final Class 6A state rankings, advance to the area round to play El Paso Eastwood (9-2), which beat San Angelo Central.

Boswell ends the season at 8-3.

Wilson, who came in as one of the premier quarterbacks in the area, finished with 448 yards on 18 of 29 passing. He completed his final seven attempts before being pulled.

His TD passes went for 66, 88, 52, 39, 1 and 26 yards.

Wilson has 39 TDs this season.

After Boswell was forced to punt on the game’s opening drive, Byron took it and scored. It took three plays for the Bobcats to find the end zone as Wilson connected with Gavin McCurley for the first of three scores on the night. The 66-yard strike gave Byron a 7-0 lead with 8:43 left in the first quarter.

Boswell, which like Byron finished second in their district standings, answered with a 5-play drive, all runs from Ezra Carter. The big play came on a 53-yard burst to the 1 and Carter finished it off with a touchdown to tie the game at 7 with 6:40 left in the period.

Both teams would stall for a bit before Byron found the end zone midway through the second.

Boswell drove to the 1, but was stopped on a fourth-and-goal. The Bobcats nearly gave up a safety, but was able to create some space. Then on a third-and-12 from the 12, Wilson hit McCurley for an 88-yard TD to give the Bobcats a 14-7 lead.

Boswell’s next drive ended in a fumble and David Kabongo recovered.

Two plays later and Byron scored on a Wilson 52-yard TD to Landon Ransom-Goelz to extend the margin to 20-7 with 3:39 left in the half.

The Pioneers would end up scoring just before the break, but not after a power outage. Boswell got down to the Byron 8 with 20 seconds on the clock before the lights on the visitor’s side went out.

The game was delayed for about 20 to 25 minutes before they came back on.

On the first play back, Boswell QB and Texas A&M baseball commit Sawyer Farr hit Aaron Diego on an 8-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 20-14.

But Byron would outscore Boswell 34-0 in the second half.

The Bobcats started the third quarter with a Wilson 39-yard TD to Kurt Ippolito to make it 27-14. Then Owen Flores picked off a pass on Boswell’s ensuing drive and returned it 35 yards for another Byron score.

Flores made a nice pass deflection on a Boswell fourth down and shortly after, Wilson threw his fifth touchdown, a 37-yarder to Ippolito to make it 40-14 with 3:15 left in the third quarter.

The scoring wasn’t done yet as Wilson and McCurley connected for the hat trick, a 26-yarder early in the fourth. Running back Aaron Darden, who rushed for 151 yards, got in from the 1 for the final score of the night.

McCurley had four catches for 191 yards and Ransom-Goelz added 140 on five catches.

Ippolito chipped in three grabs for 77 yards. Kabongo added an interception for his second takeaway. Wilson went over 3,600 yards passing on the season while McCurley went over 1,000 receiving.

Farr was held under 100 yards passing and Carter ended with 125 yards on 25 carries.