‘They embarrassed us and we never forgot’: Fort Worth Eastern Hills stuns Lake Worth

Eastern Hills entered the contest against the Lake Worth Bullfrogs fighting for the last playoff spot in District 6-4A D1. The game Thursday night at Farrington Field had the same playoff implications, and Eastern Hills won 30-24.

“Anytime our kids get a chance to win a game, get into the playoffs that’s a big deal,” Eastern Hills defensive coordinator Ayrus Gaines said.

The Highlanders’ loss to the Bullfrogs knocked them out of the playoffs in 2022. Eastern Hills came into Thursday night’s game seeking revenge.

“Last year they kind of got the best of us, and they embarrassed us and we never forgot it,” Eastern Hills head coach Devvin Anderson said. “We made a point to come out and win this game.”

The action started on their first drive of the night which led to a field goal by Osmel Loredo. The Highlanders led 3-0.

The Bullfrogs’ Cornell Avington also scored in his teams’ opening drive of the game. His touchdown and a 2-point conversion put the Bullfrogs up 8 to 3.

The Highlanders’ defense forced the Bullfrogs to kick a field goal in the last three minutes of the first quarter. It was good and put the score at 11-3.

Eastern Hills’ quarterback Kenwaun Durst rushed 39 yards at 10:15 in the second quarter to score a touchdown. The Highlanders trailed 11-9. But team leaders like Durst were determined to stay focused and fight for a playoff spot.

“I feel like we are supposed to be here, this is what we worked hard for,” Durst said. “This is what we put in all those summer days for. We deserve it.”

Lake Worth’s Damion Hopkins scored a touchdown with 8:29 left in the second quarter, pushing the Bullfrog lead to 18-9.

Durst scored his second touchdown of the quarter and shrunk the score deficit to 18-16.

The Bullfrogs responded with a 13-yard touchdown catch by Charles Williams-Lawrence with 3:35 left in the second quarter. The score was 24-16.

With 39 seconds remaining in the half, Durst scored his third touchdown. The two-point conversion was good, tying the Highlanders and Bullfrogs at 24 points each. The two teams were neck in neck going into intermission and each team had their own pep talk in the locker room.

“We play physical, and we play hard,” Anderson said. “We turn up against adversity.”

As the second half of the game kicked off, the Bullfrogs’ offense plowed through Highlander territory only to be stopped at their 20-yard line by the Highlander’s defensive back Da’micheal Freeman’s interception with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

With 6:27 left in the game a pass thrown by Durst to senior wide receiver Xavian Redd broke the tie was the final score of the game.

With this win, the Highlanders ended their regular season 5-5 and secured their spot in the playoffs.