Azle avenges early season defeat, runs past Grapevine to advance to area playoff
Victory was twice as nice for the Azle Hornets on Friday night at home.
Not only did they advance to the second round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs for a second consecutive season, but they also delivered payback for their only loss of the season, defeating the Grapevine Mustangs 45-21 in a bi-district game.
The Mustangs (6-5) upset the Hornets (10-1), 23-22, in the season opener, also at Azle, on a late field goal. For a second straight season, following an opening loss to Grapevine, the Hornets have now reeled off 10 consecutive victories.
Azle will face Abilene Cooper (10-1) in the area round of the postseason late next week, tentatively at Tarleton State University in Stephenville. This is the first time the Hornets have advanced in back-to-back playoff appearances since the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
Azle running back Jacob Lee rushed for 162 yards on 22 carries, including touchdowns of 2, 10, 12 and 12 yards. Lee leads the Hornets in rushing this season with more than 1,400 yards and 23 touchdowns.
On the drive that resulted in Lee’s first touchdown, the Hornets converted a pair of fourth downs. They ended the game 3-for-3 on fourth down, the final conversion coming on a 56-yard run by Lee, which was followed by his 10-yard score on the next play.
Azle quarterback Drey Owen, who missed most of the first game against Grapevine with an injury, accounted for 269 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for 144 yards on 18 carries, and completed 10 of 22 passes for 125 yards with a touchdown throw of 9 yards to Eric McAlister.
McAlister, who leads the Hornets in receptions this season (50 for over 1,200 yards, 20 TDs) hauled in five catches on the night for 92 yards.
Jonathan Lester added a 1-yard touchdown run as Azle took a 24-15 halftime advantage.
Grapevine quarterback Austin Alexander, in a yeoman effort, completed 25 of 33 passes for 338 yards, including three touchdowns. His first two TD throws of 48 and 11 yards went to Griffin Edwards, with the third going for 45 yards to Parker Polk, but the Mustangs failed on three 2-point conversion attempts.
Grapevine stayed close but never took the lead, pulling to within 7-6, 10-9, and 17-15 before the Hornets pulled away. The Mustangs closed to within 31-21 on Alexander’s last touchdown pass, then the Azle defense took over.
The Hornets’ Dane Dorris returned an interception 38 yards to set Azle up at the Grapevine 2-yard line. Lee scored on the next play to make the score 38-21.
Then, after the Mustangs drove to the Azle 3, a sack forced a fumble that the Hornets recovered.
The Hornets went on a 97-yard drive that put an exclamation point on the win, with Lee getting the final 12 to end the night’s scoring.
Azle also got an interception from Joe Dunkerley to squelch any hope of a late Grapevine rally. The Hornets have 17 interceptions this season.
Azle’s lone turnover was a fumble late in the first half at the Grapevine 11.
Each team also had a field goal, 22 yards by Azle’s Nicky Quevedo and 28 yards by Grapevine’s Braxton Russell.
The Hornets scored at least 40 points for the ninth consecutive game. The only team to hold them below 35 was Grapevine.
The Mustangs, who reached the postseason for a sixth straight year, failed to advance to at least the second round for the first time since 2015. Grapevine had also won all four of its meetings with Azle since 2016 before Friday.