North Side’s best season in 40 years comes up short in bi-district loss to Wichita Falls
Watching Friday’s playoff game between Wichita Falls and Fort Worth North Side, one person inside the press box at Farrington Field said it best.
“This is the most people I’ve seen here.”
Well, after waiting 40 years, the North Side fans, which included some of the members from the last postseason team, finally got to take in a playoff game.
In their first playoff appearance since 1979, the Steers’ season came to end, 40-21 against the Coyotes in a Class 5A Division 2 bi-district football game.
“I’d rather go down this way than getting blown out,” North Side coach Joseph Turner said. “This group had a lot of senior leadership and I’m glad all of them represented North Side football tonight.”
Wichita Falls (4-7) opened up the scoring when the Coyotes found pay dirt on their second possession. After six plays, spanning 42 yards, quarterback Zy Gravitt connected with Tre McKenzie on a 20-yard strike for a 6-0 lead with 3:29 left in the first quarter.
After starting the contest with two punts and an interception, the Steers (5-6) got on the board late in the second quarter when QB Isaak Rosales hit star wide receiver Da’Wain Lofton on an 11-yard TD.
North Side trailed 19-7 at intermission.
The Coyotes had second-quarter TDs on Justin McKay’s 1-yard run and a 23-yard pass from Gravitt to Isaiah Johnson.
North Side defensive lineman Francisco Zuniga recovered a fumble on Wichita Fall’s first play of the third quarter, but the Steers came out of halftime with turnover on downs on their first two drives and three of four.
Wichita Falls, which will face 11-0 El Paso Parkland in the area round, extended its lead when Gravitt hit Zach Williams on a short pass and Williams dashed toward a 70-yard TD to put the Coyotes up 26-7 with 2:53 left in the third.
The Steers cut the deficit to 26-14 when Gustavo Rodriguez rumbled in on a 6-yard run late the period. But on the next play, the Coyotes made it 33-14 on a 79-yard run from Cameron Gould.
North Side would get on the board one more time when Rosales scrambled for a 31-yard score with 7:05 to play.
“Shows the fight these guys have. Even when they dig themselves into a hole, they find ways to get out. They’re fighters and they have been their whole lives and they’ll continue to fight,” Turner said.
Rosales, a junior, would finish with 140 yards passing, 70 yards rushing and two total TDs. He ended the season with 21 touchdown passes and over 1,800 yards.
“That kid is all heart,” Turner said. “He’s not the biggest, not the strongest, but he’s the toughest kid I’ve ever coached in my entire life.”
North Side’s Jorge Aguirre rushed 17 times for 65 yards while Johnny Perez led with 44 yards on seven catches.
Lofton, who was being doubled and tripled teamed all night, was held to 55 yards of total offense.
“My guys did a great job when Da’Wain was covered. They stepped up when their number was called,” Turner said. “They all tried to make a name for themselves and the good thing is they’re all coming back.”
Lofton finished the year with over 1,250 yards receiving and 16 TD catches. He also rushed for 14 scores and found the end zone three times on special teams.
“I’ll remember how hard we worked to get here and how we accomplished our goals from the beginning of the season,” the junior play maker said. “This senior class taught me how to never give up and play your hardest. Now we have to keep this going next year especially in my senior year. We have to ball out again.”
