‘Keep the intensity high’: Trophy Club Nelson football thrashes Keller Fossil Ridge
JUSTIN — The touchdown horn for Trophy Club Nelson blared before many fans even had a chance to enter Northwest ISD Stadium on Thursday night.
In a mere 12 seconds, Ezra Malamura traversed the field for a kickoff return that ended with a 73-yard touchdown. That play set the tone in a 52-7 victory over Keller Fossil Ridge.
Byron Nelson (4-0) opened up 4-6A district play with a convincing win. The defense, offense and special teams all came up with big plays.
The Bobcats offense scored all four times they had the ball in the first half and built a 31-0 lead at the break. Meanwhile, the defense allowed 23 yards on 23 plays in the first two quarters.
“You know, we keep the intensity high all the time, especially with the ones, and we can fly around,” said senior defensive end Ruben Tshilombo. “We watched the film and bought into what our coaches said about flying around.”
The defense has allowed 33 points in four games, though the only touchdown for Fossil Ridge secured was against Trophy Club Nelson’s backups.
The Bobcats, ranked No. 3 in the Star-Telegram’s Class 6A rankings, dominated the first quarter after Malamura’s score. After causing the Panthers (1-3) to lose 22 yards on the opening drive, BYU pledge Jonathan Kabeya returned a punt 36 yards and was pushed out of bounds at the 6-yard line.
Two plays later, Tucker James scored on a 5-yard rushing touchdown. Justin Bequette’s PAT made it 14-0 only 3 minutes into the game.
Fossil Ridge was held to 2 yards of offense in the first quarter and despite pinning the Bobcats down at the 7-yard line, the first quarter ended with a 93-yard scoring drive.
Quarterback Tom Van Grote completed five of six passes to account for 91 of those yards. Three different receivers had a catch for a first down and Parker Almanza’s score made it 21-0 with 4:18 to play.
Fossil Ridge put together an 11-play drive that ate more than 5 minutes off the clock, but it ultimately ended on a turnover on downs with an incomplete pass.
Nelson closed the first half with a pair of 70-plus-yard scoring drives. The first ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Von Grote to Pierce Dahlin that came after a 22-yard score was wiped away due to a holding penalty.
Oklahoma State pledge David Kabongo ran back a punt for a touchdown on the next possession, but it was also called back because of a penalty.
Nelson still found a way to get points on the board with only 1:36 seconds left.
Von Grote was pulled from the game before the drive, but junior Grant Bizjack led the Bobcats down to the 14-yard line. Bequette booted a 31-yard field goal as time expired.
“Every week we’ve been trying to get better, and we’ve been fortunate to have a bunch of situations where we can have a special teams score or work a two-minute offense,” Trophy Club Nelson coach Travis Pride said. “Each week are are trying to improve and get the offense going and the defense going and those special teams situations help because you never know when you’re going to get those.”
Bizjack, the little brother of current Butler basketball player Finley Bizjack, threw a touchdown pass to Dahlin and James added his second rushing score in the third to get the turbo clock rolling.
Each team scored in the fourth quarter. Cameron Moran had a 9-yard run for the Panthers, while Bizjack added a 23-yard score late.
“There is good and bad there,” Pride said of the turbo-clock situation. “I need the ones to get as many reps as they can to get in game shape. It is always nice to develop some second-team guys that may have to come up at some point. You know, the football season is long, so it was a good opportunity for them to get live reps.”
Nelson hosts Keller Timber Creek next week, while Fossil Ridge hosts Haslet Eaton.