Grapevine picks up victory against Fort Worth Southwest behind strong second half play
FORT WORTH — Sometimes the bounces go your way and other times they don’t.
On Thursday night, Grapevine took advantage of a fortunate tumble of the football and returned it for a touchdown that sparked the Mustangs to a 40-7 win on Thursday over Fort Worth Southwest at Clark Stadium.
The Mustangs improved to 3-3 on the season and are now 3-1 in District 4-5A Division II play.
The contest against the Raiders featured a pair of first-half fumbles and the results played a big role for both teams.
Down 7-0, the Raiders had a chance to forge a tie twice but couldn’t get it done.
Southwest (2-5, 1-3) converted a fourth-down attempt on its second drive and got down to the Grapevine 5-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs. The defense held and got the ball back to allow the Raiders to drive again.
Quarterback Jahbori Cooper-Suttice and running back Martavious Boswell moved the Raiders into the red zone. A muffed handoff between the two bounced near the line of scrimmage and linebacker Brady Boozer picked it up for the Mustangs and ran it back 92 yards for a touchdown.
“I saw the running back come out and I think my dog, Maddox (Stanley) popped the ball out and it came straight to me and I just took off,” Boozer said. “I was a little scared I was going to get caught. I saw a little shadow coming up behind and me and I got a little nervous.”
Grapevine head coach Bob DeBesse said the team was playing on its heels with two red zone stops in the first half.
“Got a turnover and one went the other way,” DeBesse said. “I tried to tell anyone who would listen that Southwest is a dang good football team. They got really good schemes and got some really talented athletes. I told Coach (Phillip) Tanner after the game they are close.”
After failing to get the tying score, the Raiders faced a two-score deficit and never fully recovered.
Southwest got within a touchdown late in the second quarter. A 62-yard keeper by Cooper-Suttice got the ball in the red zone. Two plays later, defensive end Raylon Carter came in under center and ran it in from 1 yard out.
A chance to possibly tie the game followed but Grapevine got a fortunate bounce.
On the first play of the drive, Grapevine fumbled and the ball was tumbling around in the backfield before Connor Bell picked it up. The team lost 24 yards on the play and the ball was picked up at the 12-yard line.
Grapevine punted after struggling to get yards after the 2-and-34 situation. Southwest had the ball one more time with a chance to tie but a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the first half fell to the ground.
“You can’t turn the ball over; it’s hard to win games at any level I don’t care little league, pee-wee, Pop Warner or the pros,” said Southwest head coach Phillip Tanner, a former Dallas Cowboys running back. “You can’t turn the ball over against a good football team. We got to score. All the yards were good, but we still have to find a way to score touchdowns.”
The Mustangs, who deferred to open the game, scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
On the second play of the second half — and the Mustangs’ first offensive pay — Demontrez Dunn rushed for 55 yards for a score only 22 seconds into the third quarter.
Quarterback Harrison Hackbarth had first-down passes to Rondale Carridine and Bell that set up Bell’s 4-yard touchdown run at the 8:43 mark. Bell had the initial score for the Mustangs in the first quarter on Grapevine’s first drive.
With 51 seconds left in the third, Dunn’s second touchdown covered 27 yards.
Hackbarth hit Derrius Burns for a 38-yard score with 7:10 left in the fourth that provided the final points in the contest.
“They came out and made adjustments that needed to make in the second half and they got rolling,”’ Tanner said. “Those are things we will look at and see how we can adjust when the opposing team adjusts. Much respect to Grapevine. Their kids played hard-nosed, fundamental football.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2023 at 12:28 AM.