Cross brothers battle it out as Grapevine Faith rallies to beat Fort Worth Christian

For the first time, sophomore Chase Cross (Grapevine Faith) and older brother, Carson Cross (Fort Worth Christian) played each other on the football field.

Little bro goes home with bragging rights.

Faith overcame a halftime deficit to beat FWC, 21-20, in a TAPPS District 1 Division 2 showdown Friday night at Barrows Field.

With 40.3 seconds left, the FWC Cardinals attempted a 28-yard field goal, but the snap was errant and bobbled preserving the victory for the Faith Lions.

Ironically, it was a field goal moments earlier the Lions disdained because their kicker was hurt that led to the final dramatics.

Facing fourth-and-goal from the FWC 5 and nursing the one-point lead, Faith attempted a pass, but the throw was intercepted in the end zone by Ryan Hampton.

With 3:42 left, the Cardinals began its final drive and after a pair of incomplete passes, Carson Cross threw to his go-to receiver Jacob Trimble for 30 yards to midfield.

Six plays later, the Cardinals (1-4 overall, 1-2 district) were at the Lions’ 11 facing fourth-and-seven when they attempted the ill-fated field goal.

Faith (4-2, 3-1) rallied from a 20-7 halftime deficit thanks to running back Mark Saunders. The Lions relied heavily on the senior who rushed 29 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

The Lions drove 80 yards in 17 plays with Saunders getting the final two yards with 8:01 left. En route, the determined youngster converted a fourth-and-four when he rushed seven yards up the middle to the FWC 20.

Gage Morgan took a 15-yard pass from Chase Cross in the third quarter for a touchdown to end a 10-play, 45-yard drive. The scoring drive was helped by an 11-yard interference penalty on fourth-and-six to the 7-yard line. Clay Chapman ran in for the 2-point conversion to pull within 20-15 with 5:19 left in the period.

The drive started after the Cardinals’ Carson Cross was stopped a yard short on a draw up the middle on fourth-and-two.

In the first half, both teams took advantage of turnovers to score. Late in the first quarter, Saunders went off-tackle right to score from 34 yards out breaking a tackle. It came one play after an Ethan Edwards interception.

The second quarter, though, belonged to the Cardinals. It was when they scored all of their points. It began when Carson Cross threw a short pass in the right flats to Jaxon Cobern who broke and eluded tackles en route to a 42-yard scoring play. It ended a 74-yard scoring drive to knot it at 7.

Two possessions later, the Cardinals took the lead, 14-7, when they drove 29 yards in seven plays with Michael Zarcone getting the final six on a pass from Carson Cross. On third-and-goal, Cross rolled left and threw to Zarcone in the end zone fading in the same direction The drive was set up by an interception from Bryce Bradley.

Trimble caught a 44-yard touchdown in the first half for the Cardinals’ third and final score and converted a fourth-and-17 play that led to the TD on the previous play to give FWC a 20-7 lead with 51.4 seconds left before halftime.