Saginaw football finishes comeback over Boswell 16 hours after kickoff

When all was said and done, it took Saginaw more than 16 hours to hand new head coach Mike DeWitt his first win at the helm of the Rough Riders.

It was the Battle for The Wagon Wheel between Saginaw and Boswell, and when play ended just before noon on Saturday, Saginaw had completed a most unusual comeback win of 35-21.

The fickle weather of North Texas played a big role in the game as play was suspended at around 9 p.m. on Friday because of lightning in the area, and at 10:45, coaches DeWitt and Wes Weaver of Boswell decided to resume play on Saturday morning.

At that moment, Boswell was still leading, 21-14, but Saginaw had the momentum, and with 1:46 in the third quarter, the game was suspended with Boswell facing a fourth down and 12 yards to go, an obvious punting situation.

Saginaw’s surge overcomes Boswell

The Pioneers of Boswell dominated play in the opening half, building a 21-0 lead that looked rock solid behind a persistent defense and an offense balanced with good running and passing.

Boswell scored on its opening drive of 68 yards in five plays, using just over two minutes of time when Lords hit receiver Porter Stephenson on a 39-yard strike. Then the Pioneers scored again in the first quarter when Richardson dashed four yards to culminate a 10-play drive.

Nothing seemed different in the second half as Boswell continued to keep Saginaw bottled up, but the Pioneers failed to add to their lead with two possessions that led to punts before the turning point of the game on Boswell’s third time on offense.

Starting from their own 26-yard line, Bowell suffered the first turnover of the game when a hard hit by Saginaw’s Cornell Davis during a handoff exchange caused a fumble that Davis recovered. On the very next play, Rough Riders quarterback Joshua Greek hit Isaiah Quinones on a post pattern for a touchdown.

“That throw really sparked our offense,” DeWitt said afterwards. “We needed that to get us going.”

Before the game was stopped, Saginaw stopped Boswell on its next possession and, after receiving a punt, struck quickly again on a 60-yard run by Elijah Irvin. Suddenly, the Rough Riders now only trailed by a touchdown, 21-14, with four minutes to play in the third quarter.

Another stop by the Saginaw defense forced Boswell into a punting situation on a fourth down and 12 from their own 28.

It was at this point that lightning was seen within a 10-mile radius of the stadium, forcing a suspension of play after more than an hour waiting for the weather to clear.

Both teams went home and came back Saturday morning, and boom, first play, the punt was blocked. Saginaw quickly converted on another Greek pass from 20 yards to wide receiver Deon Duncan to tie the game at 21. Both Duncan and Irvin, two top targets for the passes of Greek, are freshmen.

With the score now knotted, Saginaw continued its strong defense and then took the lead on another long run by Irvin. With a 28-21 lead, Saginaw added an insurance touchdown later in the final quarter when Greek connected with Quinones for another long touchdown pass.

“We started strong but weren’t able to maintain it offensively,” Weaver said. “Credit to Saginaw and Coach DeWitt because they kept fighting and clawed their way back. We have to move on and get ready for Haltom next week.”

DeWitt got his first taste of the rivalry for the Wagon Wheel and could only shake his head at what transpired.

“Probably one of the strangest games I have ever coached in,” DeWitt said.