Grapevine prevails in thriller as Azle kicker comes up barely short on 66-yard try

In the end, it was a battle of kickers, won 23-22 by the Grapevine Mustangs over the Azle Hornets on Friday night at Hornet Stadium.

Grapevine’s Braxton Russell kicked three second-half field goals of 32, 23 and 26 yards. The latter came with 14 seconds to play to lift his team to victory.

But not without some closing excitement.

The Hornets, on their final possession, drove from their own 25-yard line to the Mustangs 49 in 12 seconds. Then, after a timeout, Nicky Quevedo almost had the kick of his life, coming up 5 yards on a 66-yard attempt as time expired.

Quevedo is also the Hornets punter. He punted seven times, including four in the first quarter, when neither team could move the ball.

In the second quarter, however, the offenses came alive. Azle scored three times on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Cullen Furr to Caden Blanton, a 27-yard pass from Greyson Christian to Eric McAlister — who hauled in his third one-handed catch of the night — and a 9-yard run by Jacob Lee.

Furr, a running back, also rushed for 109 yards on 25 carries. That was his only pass play. Christian took over at quarterback after starter Drey Owen left the game with an injury still in the first half.

The Mustangs countered with a 56-yard touchdown run by Caleb Texada, who led all rushers with 137 yards on 22 carries, and a 75-yard touchdown pass from Austin Alexander to Gen Gair.

Alexander, who finished 19-of-28 for 250 yards passing, also had two critical runs on the game-winning drive. Facing a third-and-4 at his own 10, he turned a busted play into a 17-yard gain. Then, on the very next play, he scampered for 9 yards on another miscue.

While Grapevine controlled the ball for 16:21 of the second half, the Azle defense looked as though it was going to hold off a rally. An interception by A.J. Gonzales with seven minutes to play appeared to shift the momentum.

Then, even after the Mustangs forced a punt, Azle’s Chase Torgesen seemed to save the night when he dove to keep the ball from going into the end zone, giving Grapevine the ball at its own 4. The Mustangs responded by going 87 yards to set up Russell’s game-winning kick.

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This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 10:19 PM.