Chisholm Trail charges up its offense to turn back South Hills

After scoring just 13 points in back-to-back losses, Saginaw Chisholm Trail’s offense got on track Thursday night in a 27-14 District 3-5A Division I victory over Fort Worth South Hills at Clark Stadium.

Rangers quarterback Garrison Haskell accounted for three scores against the Scorpions. The junior threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another. Haskell passed for 191 yards and was the Rangers’ top ball carrier with 15 carries for 95 yards.

Chisholm Trail (3-6, 2-5) will close out the season Nov. 8 hosting Fort Worth Arlington Heights in district play. South Hills (1-8, 0-7) finishes its season Nov. 7 at White Settlement Brewer.

Clinging to a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Rangers took advantage of a special teams miscue by South Hills to increase their lead to 13 points. Following a bad snap, South Hills’ punter got off a 6-yard punt that gave Chisholm Trail the ball at the Scorpions 20.

Five plays later, Haskell found the end zone from four yards out for a 27-14 lead with 9:50 to play.

On the ensuing possession, South Hills made things interesting by driving to the Rangers 22-yard line before turning it over on downs.

The Scorpions offense was paced by quarterback John Vela and receiver Jayden Champion who hooked up for two scores. Vela finished the game with 164 yards passing while Champion caught eight passes for 121 yards.

At halftime, the Rangers led 21-14 thanks in part to their passing game. Haskell completed 9 of 11 passes in the first half for 134 yards and a pair of scores.

The Scorpions defense set up their first score when Deshawn Ford intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the South Hills 37. It took South Hills one play to score as Champion took a screen pass from Vela for a 63-yard score and 7-0 lead with 9:13 to play in the first quarter.

Chisholm Trail answered five plays later when Haskell hit Elijah Stallworth for a 7-yard score that tied things up a 7-7 at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter. Stallworth had four catches Thursday for 76 yards and a score.

The Rangers went up 14-7 on their next possession thanks to a 1-yard scoring run by Trent Lowry.

Early in the second quarter, South Hills knotted the game at 14-14 on a 3-yard scoring toss from Vela to Champion.

The Rangers regained the lead four plays later on a 48-yard scoring strike from Haskell to Jalique Martin with 3:12 left in the first half. Martin finished with six catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.

This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 10:22 PM.