Weatherford goes for nearly 700 yards during offensive explosion against Haltom
Haltom had a breakout season in 2018, going 13-1 with a trip to the state quarterfinals.
Going into the offseason, the Buffalos were just one example the Weatherford Kangaroos and head coach Billy Mathis studied in hopes they could the Haltom of 2019.
After Thursday night’s game, Weatherford is one step closer.
The Kangaroos scored nine touchdowns, five passing from 4-star quarterback Ken Seals and four rushing from Dez Forrest as they beat Haltom 66-52 at Kangaroo Stadium.
“We know that there is no one in our district that can stop us. If we’re clicking and running our offense at our tempo, no team is stopping us,” said Seals, who passed for 369 yards.
Weatherford (5-1, 1-1 District 3-6A) earned its first five-win season since 2015.
The Kangaroos were clicking all right, having scored on its first 10 possessions.
Following a Haltom punt on the opening drive, the Roos scored when Seals threw an 8-yard TD pass to Rey Huang. After another Haltom punt, Weatherford led 14-0 with 4:13 in the first quarter on Seals’ 38-yard pass to Jorden Wheeler.
“The offensive line blocked great tonight,” Mathis said. “It’s a big win. Anytime you beat any team in our district, one of the toughest in the state, a team like Haltom, it was a good statement for us.”
Haltom (2-3, 0-1) just couldn’t keep up with the Kangaroo offense.
Kenneth Cormier ran in a 2-yard TD in the first quarter, but it was answered by a 7-yard scoring run from Forrest, who ended with 25 carries for 277 yards. He would score from 76 yards with three seconds left in the half to give the Roos a 45-31 edge.
“We were frustrated with the loss to San Angelo Central last week so we had a bigger chip on our shoulder and we knew we had the offense to do it,” said Forrest, who added 105 yards receiving and a 66-yard TD catch. “We had a good week of practice, we knew we could get it done and we just executed on all cylinders.”
Cormier, who led the Buffs with a game-high 202 yards on 27 carries, scored from 11 yards, but again, Weatherford matched it just eight seconds later on a 63-yard TD pass from Seals to Nicholas Schwikal.
Each team would score two more times before intermission, with Cormier’s third, from the 1, and a 25-yard pass from quarterback Adam Hill to Dereck Ocasio.
Forrest scored from 10 and 76 yards to finish with 157 and three scores at the break.
“I knew Haltom was going to score, they’re too good of a football team,” Mathis said. “When their offense scored, we never had any panic, no blaming of the defense. Our offense just said we got your back and went down and scored.”
Forrest added a 66-yard TD run in the second half and Seals threw for scoring passes from 66 and 53 following halftime.
“Offensive line blocked great tonight and really opened up the big runs from Dez,” Mathis said. “His big runs also opened up the passing for Ken. So when you have a 1-2 punch like that, it makes the game plan a little easier.”
Weatherford, which has a bye next week, gained 695 yards of total offense. Schwikal had three catches, 124 yards and two TDs. The Roos travel to Pennington Field to play Euless Trinity on Oct. 18. Haltom gained 528 yards. Hill threw for 158 yards and rushed for 112. Ocasio made seven catches for 99 yards. The Buffs will host Trinity on Oct. 11.
This story was originally published October 3, 2019 at 10:49 PM.
