White settlement Brewer football eliminated from playoffs following loss to Denton Ryan

DENTON -- “We want to be where they are at,” said White Settlement Brewer head coach Jason Wheeler, after his team fell 28-6 to the perennial powerhouse Denton Ryan Raiders in a 3-5A D1 district clash at C.H. Collins Athletic Complex Thursday night. The loss eliminated the Bears from playoff contention.

“That is a championship-caliber type team over there,” added Wheeler, referring to Denton Ryan. “And I give our guys a lot of credit for not giving up.”

Fort Worth Brewer began the contest on a promising note, as the defense forced a quick three-and-out on the game’s opening possession by Denton Ryan. A shanked five-yard punt gave the Bears excellent field position at the Raiders 37 yard line.

Utilizing its ground game with RB Jaden Garrett and QB Jordan Clark, Brewer picked up a pair first downs; however, on fourth-and-five from the Denton Ryan 12, the Bears came up two yards shy, turning the ball over on downs.

Brewer’s defense was held on downs on the next Ryan offensive series, taking over on its own 17-yard line with 3:10 left in the opening stanza.

The Raiders Elijah Wallace came up with an interception on the first play of the series at the Bears 27, returning it to the 13-yard line. Three plays later, TJ Hobbs pushed in from the four-yard line to give Denton Ryan a 7-0 lead.

The Raiders exploded for a pair of TDs in a 1:05 span midway in the second period. Zo Hill snared a swing pass from QB Braeden Mussett and sprinted 74-yards for a TD with 7:13 before halftime.

On the ensuing series, Brewer fumbled away the ball on a third-and-13. On the first offensive snap, Denton Ryan’s Tre’Vaughn Reynolds scampered 18 yards for a TD, leaving the Bears with a 21-0 hole 6:08 before intermission.

“The big plays by Ryan really hurt us,” noted Wheeler. “We contained them for the most part, but we knew we would have to play a near-perfect game to win.”

And the Bears did not quit. Jon-Paul Simpkins picked up the ensuing kickoff at his own 27 and maneuvered his way 32 yards to set up Brewer at the Ryan 41.

Buoyed by several runs by freshman Jovan Sparkman -- including a 10-yarder which was the longest play from scrimmage for the Bears in the first half -- Clark engineered a nine-play 41-yard drive using 4:16 off the clock that culminated in a one-yard scoring plunge by Garrett.

The march was aided by a Ryan pass interference penalty on third-and-eight from the Raiders 12. The PAT was blocked, and the Bears trailed 21-6 at the break.

Taking the second half kickoff, Brewer looked to build off that momentum. The Bears chewed up 6:30 off the clock, utilizing 11 plays to reach the Ryan 40-yard line, thanks to a successful fake punt six-yard run by Elizjah Richardson which got the first down by inches.

“We’ve practiced that fake punt, and was waiting for the right situation to use it,” said Wheeler. “We got what we needed, and I felt we could get something going there.”

But the momentum quickly shifted. After the fake punt conversion gave the Bears a first down at the Ryan 40 yard line, three successive running plays lost a total of nine yards.

Then a muffed punt snap lost another three yards and gave Ryan the ball at the Brewer 48. On the first play of the Raiders offensive series, Vaughn raced 48 yards for a TD, which turned out to be the lone offensive play in the third quarter for the Raiders.

In the final period, Ryan ate up almost five minutes off the clock, moving from its own 11, but fumbled at the Brewer two-yard line. The Bears could not generate any offense, losing one yard on three plays, punting back to the Raiders, who held the ball the remaining 4:19 to secure the win.

“Like many of our games this season, a few plays here and there, would have made for a different outcome,” said Wheeler, who is in his second season leading the Bears. “But our guys have no quit in them. Changing the mindset. The physicality. Regardless of circumstances. That is what we are creating and our guys are buying into that.”

Statistically, Denton Ryan was dominant, amassing 400 yards total offense (257 rushing and 143 passing) to Fort Worth Brewer’s 59 total yards.

Junior Jaden Garrett, who scored his 11th rushing TD on the season, wound up recording a team-leading 35 yards on the ground with 20 carries. QB Jordan Clark, another junior, had all three of his pass completions to Cameron Carr for 25 yards.

Garrett and Clark each entered the contest with over 700 rushing yards apiece with Garrett having six TDs on the ground. Clark was held in check by the stout Raider defense, totaling a minus seven yards on 13 carries.

Reynolds had a game-high 134 rushing yards on 14 carries and the two TDs to lead the Denton Ryan ground attack. Nemo Warmate added 73 yards on 14 attempts.

QB Braeden Mussett, a sophomore, completed five of seven passes for 143 yards. Speedster Zo Hill had three receptions for 132 yards with the one TD, and added another 26 yards rushing on his lone attempt.

Fort Worth Brewer (3-6, 3-4) concludes its season next Friday night at home versus top-ranked Aledo, which has already wrapped up the district title, with a 7 p.m. CT scheduled kickoff.

While Denton Ryan (6-2, 5-2) did not officially clinch a playoff berth, it controls its own destiny for the district’s No. 2 seed with a win at Justin Northwest next Thursday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.