Hurst L.D. Bell overwhelms Paschal in second half, secures key win in tight playoff race
The Blue Raiders are one step closer to a playoff birth in District 3-6A.
Hurst L.D. Bell (6-3, 3-3) pulled away with 35 second half points, defeating Paschal (3-6, 1-5) 44-14 at Farrington Field on Friday. Entering the contest, the Blue Raiders had the same district record as Saginaw Boswell and Weatherford.
Boswell and Weatherford will have opportunities to jump back into fourth place on Friday. L.D. Bell head coach TJ Dibble said he hasn’t thought of potential tiebreaker scenarios, electing to focus on the current game.
“Tonight was the most important game,” Dibble said. “ ... Without taking care of business tonight, nothing else matters. ... The easiest way to go about things is to take care of your business. Tonight, we did that. And it’ll give us an opportunity depending on how things work out for us to be playing for a playoff spot.”
L.D. Bell took a 9-6 lead into the third quarter. Bell’s offense, at first, couldn’t find the end zone. Paschal’s defense made timely plays and forced the Blue Raiders to settle for field goals.
“You have to give credit to coach (John) Killough and Paschal,” Dibble said. “Their football team was ready to play. They do a good job. Their kids play really hard and they’ve got good schemes. They’re well coached. We weren’t ready to play in the first half. That’s a credit to them.”
In the second half, L.D. Bell quarterback Maddox Olatunde led an offensive onslaught. He scored four rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown to help the Blue Raiders pull away, finishing with 278 total yards.
“We came off the football and we were blocking,” Dibble said. “It was a lot cleaner for him (Olatunde). There’s no doubt, he’s a weapon offensively for us. When he gets going that kinda sparked our offense and our football team.”
Dibble said the defensive line kept the Blue Raiders in the mix during the lackluster first half. TCU commit Trsitan Johnson picked up a sack and Caleb Jones tallied another and also had a fumble recovery to keep the Panthers at bay. Panther quarterback Jashaun Thomas was consistently forced to evade pressure.
“The defensive line is the strength of our team,” Dibble said. “Obviously, with Tristan Johnson. But there are some other guys that made some big, big plays tonight.”
A tale of two halves
In the first half, Bell was able to get on the board with 35, 28 and 48 yard field goals from kicker AJ Rosen.
“He keeps us in a lot of games,” Olatunde said. “We have a good special teams unit that goes out there and puts points on the board. It’s huge for morale. It’s really important. That’s what playing as an entire team is.”
The Blue Raiders were struggling to move the chains consistently against a Paschal defense that was making timely plays. Paschal got on the board with 8:06 remaining in the second quarter.
On a bell punt, the ball sailed over the punters’ head and the Panthers started on the Blue Raider’s 12. After, Thomas pulled off a miraculous touchdown throw, evading pressure all the way back to the 25-yard line; he found wide receiver Chris Debenport for the score.
When the second half began, the Blue Raiders caught fire and never looked back.
In less than three minutes of game time, the Blue Raiders scored a 63 yard touchdown, a 15-yard touchdown and a 9-yard touchdown. All three were rushing scores from Maddox Olatunde.
“It felt great just to go out there and help our team out,” Olatunde said. “We needed a spark. We needed something to get us going. It’s just the little things that help a team flourish.”
How did Bell score so fast? Well, the defense forced two turnovers. First, multiple Bell defensive lineman pressured Thomas, who fumbled to the Blue Raiders. Next, the defensive line tipped a pass, allowing Isaiah Ramos to secure an interception.
Paschal bounced back with a 17-yard touchdown from Thomas to running back Maki Gee. Bell, however, continued to bring the firepower; Olatunde added another touchdown in an eight play drive, finding Delvechio Ellis in the end zone for a 8-yard score.
The last score of the contest was 4-yard rushing touchdown from Olatunde, who recorded his fifth score of the second half.
Olatunde said the Blue Raiders “woke up” after a sluggish first half.
“We came out slow. We didn’t really execute,” Olatunde said. “That’s some of the things we’ve got to fix. If we play like we did in the second half all four quarters, we’re a different football team. And that’s the level we have to get to going into this last, very important game.”
On Thursday, Bell will face Euless Trinity, a team that handed Crowley it’s first loss, to end the regular season. The contest could potentially be a win or go home scenario.
“Trinity is a good football team,” Dibble said. “I know they’re well coached. They’ve always been talented. They’ve got great tradition. It’s up to us to find a way to win. ... Tomorrow, we’ll turn the page, and we’ll start looking at them and we’ll find a way.”
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