Double overtime thriller: Hurst L.D. Bell downs Eaton to remain undefeated
The L.D. Bell High School football team continues to find ways to win.
The Hurst school traveled to Northwest ISD Stadium to battle Haslet Eaton and escaped with a 39-37 win in double overtime. Bell quarterback Braylon Harris hit Gavin Roberson for the winning 2-point conversion.
It was the second straight walk-off win for the Blue Raiders and the third straight where the team scored in the fourth quarter or later to prevail.
“Well, once it’s a fluke; twice, you know … then third time, it’s who you are,” Bell coach TJ Dibble said after his squad improved to 5-0.
“We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to do better to be the type of team we want to be, but I’ll tell you, we’ll play until the last tick of the clock, and we’ll find ways to win. In our district, ultimately, ... week-in-and-week-out, is that anybody can beat anybody, outside of Southlake.”
Bell (5-0, 3-0 in District 4-6A) led 21-10 at halftime, and that lead was the same going into the fourth, but Eaton’s Kalika Nisa hit Sunaya Peoples for a 65-yard score on the first play of the fourth for the Eagles (2-2, 1-1) to cut the lead to 21-17.
The game would go into overtime 24-24 after a field goal by Bell’s Grady Mitcham and a TD run by Logan Allen for Eaton with 7:24 left.
Each team scored on both possessions in overtime.
Bell got the ball first and struck first when Harris hit tight end Taysen Rutchsman for a 4-yard TD.
Down 28-21, Eaton put together a 7-play drive that ended with a 1-yard TD run by Logan Allen, a linebacker in for a Wildcat play.
Eaton got the ball to start the second overtime and benefited from a roughing the passer penalty by the Blue Raiders.
Two plays later, another penalty on Bell moved the ball to the 5-yard line for Eaton. On 3rd down, Micah Rivers scored for Eaton.
With the UIL following NCAA rules, teams must attempt a 2-point conversion in double overtime and after. Eaton tried a double pass, first to a wide receiver and then the second toward the end zone, but it was broken up.
Bell converted on a key fourth-down play to help keep the undefeated season going.
Facing 4th-and-10 from the 25, Harris connected with Braelon Solomon for a 17-yard gain, down to the 8. Two plays later, Harris hit Rutschman again for a touchdown — another from 4 yards away.
The 2-point conversion was an adventure with Harris scrambling to his left and then running toward the Bell sideline before just throwing a prayer up.
Solomon and Gavin Robertson both were in the back of the end zone for the Blue Raiders and Robertson, a junior wide receiver, came down with the pass.
“I saw No. 9 (Alijah Lash) coming after me,” said Harris, who was 14 of 20 passing for 148 yards and three touchdowns. “He’s a dog, a great athlete, but I bought myself some time and my teammates made the play. It was back-and-forth. It’s the toughest game we’ve been in this year. Last year on JV, same thing, we went for 2 and won.”
The game-winning play pushed Bell to 5-0 for only the fourth time since 2004 — following 2023, 2012 and 2008.
Of that group, only the 2012 team made it to 6-0. They will get a chance to match that next week when the Blue Raiders host Justin Northwest (1-3, 0-2) at Pennington Field.
Bell is 3-0 in league play with 5 games to play, and another win or two will help secure the first trip to the playoffs since 2013.
“It’s a blessing to be 3-0 for sure, but we got to keep our head down and move on to the next week,” Harris said. “We haven’t been to the playoffs since 2013 and I was a little kid. We want to go 1-0 every week and that is our goal. Hopefully, we can strive for the playoffs.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 11:38 PM.