Cleburne erases halftime deficit to beat Everman, holds down fourth place in district

Cleburne’s defense led the way in overcoming a 21-7 halftime deficit for a 28-21 victory Friday night over Everman.

The Yellow Jacket defense held the Bulldogs to only one first down in the second half as Cleburne improved to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in District 5-5A Division II while Everman fell to 2-6 and 2-4.

After the Jackets scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns on a Cleo Chandler 3-yard run and a Gavin Naquin 10-yard reception to tie the game at 21, Cleburne used some trickeration in the fourth quarter to take the lead.

Quarterback Gunner Hammond approached the line pretending to call an audible when the ball was snapped directly to the running back, who tossed the ball to Naquin. The junior receiver then threw to Hammond in the end zone for a 7-yard go-ahead TD pass with 6:33 left.

From there, Cleburne’s defense forced two turnovers on downs and an Everman incompletion on the game’s final play to secure the win.

With Everman holding a 14-7 lead late in the first half, the Jackets appeared set to tie the game up, but Everman’s Davonte Biscoe picked off Hammond at the goal line and returned the interception 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 21-7 lead at halftime.

But Cleburne’s defense was too tough in the second half, holding Everman to only 32 total yards.

Chandler rushed for 135 yards and a score on 30 carries to go along with five receptions for 68 yards.

Hammond was 16-of-29 passing for 193 yards with a touchdown. Hammond also scored on a 1-yard TD run to go along with his 7-yard TD reception.

Everman was led by quarterback and Texas commit Juan Davis, who rushed for 77 yards on 14 carries — with 44 of those yards coming on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage. After that play, Cleburne’s defense held Everman to just 2.1 yards per play.

Cleburne will visit Midlothian in Week 10 while Everman will host Waco University.