FW North Side snaps this 74-year drought as Steers power past Poly in fourth quarter
Tied at 7-7 after three quarters, Fort Worth North Side coach and former TCU running back Joseph Turner said his team just knows how to close out games this season.
The Steers proved his point, scoring three touchdowns in the final period to withstand a strong effort by FW Polytechnic, 28-13, in a District 4-5A Division 2 contest on Saturday at Clark Stadium.
“They’re notorious for fourth-quarter plays and turning the volume up,” Turner said. “It was only a matter of time when they said enough is enough.”
The win moved North Side to 5-0 for the first time since 1946. It also improves to 3-0 in district.
“We’re here to make a purpose and let people know we are somebody,” said WR/DB Johnny Perez, who ended the game with an interception. “We’re going to make a name out of ourselves. That’s who we are. We’re North Side football.”
Do-it-all athlete Da’Wain Lofton, a 3-star Virginia Tech commit, ran plenty of the wildcat formation in the second half. Lined up in the backfield, Lofton threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Perez to give North Side a 14-7 lead with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, North Side attempted an onside kick and Antonio Serrano picked up the ball and returned it 54 yards for the Poly touchdown. But the Parrots’ go-ahead 2-point conversion failed when North Side’s Chris Smith and Gabriel Martinez stopped a run attempt.
Lofton threw his second TD pass, a career-high, an 18-yarder to Andrew Anguiano to push the Steers’ lead to 21-13 with three minutes remaining. On the next play from scrimmage, Diego Reyes picked off one of three passes for the North Side defense.
Lofton added a 23-yard TD run to make it 28-13.
“First half, our offense was going slow, but we went into halftime, had a good speech and came out in the second half and executed,” Lofton said.
North Side out-gained Poly 351-174 in total yardage. Perez had 10 catches for 146 yards and two TDs. Jorge Aguirre led the Steers’ rush attack with 105 yards on 23 carries. QB Isaak Rosales threw 181 yards on 13 of 20 passes and one TD.
“Our defense has been playing well all season and keeping us in a lot of games,” Lofton said. “They keep putting us in good position to score.”
“The defense did a phenomenal job,” Turner added. “Poly always gives us good looks and the defense stepped up. They made Poly one dimensional.”
Poly’s backfield pair of running back Traylon Brown and quarterback Quincy Carter couldn’t be stopped on the game’s opening drive as the Parrots went 77 yards on 14 runs while eating up nearly seven minutes.
Omaurion Millsap’s only carry of the drive came on a 6-yard TD run to put Poly ahead 7-0 with 5:18 left in the first quarter.
North Side’s first possession was just the opposite as the Steers scored in three plays and 73 seconds. Rosales hit Perez on a 47-yard pass and two plays later, capped the drive with a 6-yard pass to Perez that tied the game at 7 with 3:56 left in the quarter.
Perez had a great first half with 95 yards on five catches.
“My mindset was to come out here and ball out,” he said. “I knew they were going to double-team, triple-team Da’Wain, so it was my time to shine.”
“JP stepped up big time. He plays special team, starts at corner and receiver. He’s one of those kids that you ask to do something, he does it without question,” Turner added. “They understand that any game can go to any one of these guys and he had the big game today.”
However, both offenses stalled soon after.
Poly’s second drive lasted 10 plays and over six minutes, but the Parrots fumbled at the North Side 2 and the Steers recovered. The Steers would get to their 30, but lose 15 yards on what appeared to be a fake punt attempt.
The Parrots couldn’t convert the good field position into points, suffering an 8-yard loss on fourth-and-1 with the tackle coming from Martinez.
Three plays later and Millsap picked off a North Side pass attempt at the Steers’ 23. But North Side returned the favor with an interception on the next play by Irving Lopez as the game was knotted at 7 at intermission.
Poly (1-5, 1-2) was paced by Carter and Brown, who rushed for 56 and 50 yards, respectively.
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 6:03 AM.
