Fort Worth North Side stays undefeated as Steers get big win over FW Wyatt

Fort Worth North Side prevailed over FW Wyatt, 43-26, to remain unbeaten (4-0, 2-0 in District 4-5A Division 2) Friday night at Farrington Field. Wyatt remained winless at 0-5, 0-2.

The Steers are 4-0 for the first time since 1972. Last year, they made the playoffs to snap a 40-year drought.

North Side rushed 48 times for 226 yards and threw only 13 times though two of its six touchdowns were through the air. In comparison, Wyatt threw 32 times and ran only 20 times.

The Steers’ defense kept the Wyatt running game in check, which only gained 29 yards on the ground. Hence, the outcome ruined a stellar performance by Wyatt freshman Kaid Barrett, who completed 22 of 32 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

His counterpart, Isaak Rosales, threw for 164 yards on 9 of 13 completions and a pair of TDs.

The Steers burst out to a 21-0 lead while scoring on their first three possessions. On their first play from scrimmage, Rosales threw 40 yards to Da’Wain Lofton, a 3-star Virginia Tech commit, to the Wyatt 17. It took seven more plays to score after a pair of procedure penalties, but eventually Jorge Aguirre put North Side on the scoreboard late in the first quarter, 7-0, with a 1-yard run up the middle.

Rosales made it 14-0 early in the second quarter with 2-yard run on a drive he engineered all on his own. After completing a 12-yard pass to Lofton, Rosales kept on a quarterback draw 38 yards to the 2, and then scored on the next play.

It became 21-0 minutes later when Rosales threw a 9-yard swing pass to the right to Aguirre that climaxed an 8-play, 54-yard drive. North Side seemed to have matters well in hand, but then late in the first half, Wyatt launched a comeback.

Dartagnan Crawford took an 11-yard pass from Barrett to make it 21-8 after a 2-point conversion pass from Barrett to Quest Madkins. It came with 1:22 left in the half. It was also the only successful conversion of Wyatt’s four touchdowns as the Chaparrals never attempted an extra-point kick.

Then with less than a minute before halftime, Ashton Moore intercepted a pass and returned it to his 44-yard line. From there, it took only three plays for the Chaps to find the end zone. The big play was a 44-yard pass down the sideline to the 1 from Barrett to Toney Green. On the next play, Barrett kept for the score with seven seconds left before halftime to pull within 21-14.

In the second half, the two teams traded touchdowns for the remainder of the game with North Side scoring first late in the third quarter. In perhaps the best looking play of the night, Andrew Anguiano caught a 32-yard scoring pass from Rosales despite tight, one-on-one coverage. Anguiano twisted around 180 degrees, caught the well-placed throw in stride over his shoulder as Rosales dropped it just over the defender.

Workhorse Aguirre finished with 107 yards on 28 carries.

Wyatt managed to stay in the rear view mirror when the Chaps replied just 22 seconds later in two plays when Green took a pass that deflected off a defender in double coverage to the house to complete a 45-yard scoring play.

The two teams exchanged another touchdown before the Steers put it away for the final score with 3:10 left, a 7-yard run by Lofton on a direct snap from center up the middle.

North Side will look to move to 5-0 when it takes on FW Polytechnic Nov. 7 at Clark Stadium.

This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 1:08 AM.