Wildcats stay winless with Senior Night loss

Coming off a tough loss last week to Greenville, the Sulphur Springs Wildcats were looking to score their first win of the season against a solid Forney team Friday night, but a fourth-quarter surge handed the Wildcats their ninth loss of the season with a score of 37-28.

After winning the coin toss, Sulphur Springs elected to defer to the second half and handed Forney the ball first on their own 40. Forney’s first drive was nearly stopped early, but a quarterback rush converted a 4th down. A defensive pass interference call and another conversion moved them to the 9-yard line where they were forced to take the field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 8:12 left in the first quarter.

With the ball taken back to Wildcats’ 34, Jesse Bailey set the tone of the first quarter with a good run to the Forney 41, and then Brady Driver took over with his own legs, rushing the rest of the 41 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-3 Wildcats with 7:03 remaining.

The Jackrabbits in the next drive tried to start up their pass game, but the air stayed locked down by the likes of Korderrion Turner. However, true to their name, the Jackrabbits’ run game bailed them out of some dire situations. The Wildcats dodged a bullet when a screen pass touchdown was called back on a holding flag, and then Turner came up with an interception at the Sulphur Springs 11 to stave off any score.

A JJ Hall run managed to bring the Wildcats out to the 26, but the drive would short-lived as the Wildcats punted it with 1:52 left in the first.

Now at their own 42, Forney had a decent run, but a bad snap and resulting tackle then backed up them up quite a bit. Then the quarterback went deep, but it was tipped by Turner into the hands of Colby Albritton at the Wildcats 25 with 23 seconds left in the first.

Into the second quarter, the next three drives were quick as both defenses proved to be stout, but then about halfway into the quarter, Forney broke away with rushing touchdown to retake the lead at 10-3 with 6:09 left in the second.

The Wildcats converted a single set of downs on their next drive on a Cable Glenn catch and Malachi Roland run, but a sack on third down forced another punt. However, the play didn’t quite pan out as the punt was downed at the Sulphur Springs 31 for Forney.

A single run brought the Jackrabbits inside the red zone at the 11, and then a reception in the corner of the end zone widened the Forney lead to 17-7 with 1:59 left in the second quarter.

Less than 20 seconds later, the Wildcats answered with a touchdown of their own as Matthew Mitchell, who came in earlier to replace Driver, connected with CJ Williams for a 59- yard catch and run to narrow the lead to 17-14 with 1:40 left.

However, the Jackrabbits weren’t done with the quarter yet. With some runs to get them closer to midfield, Forney then launched the ball to the Sulphur Springs 6 with the clock ticking to under 30 seconds. The Wildcats stopped an initial touchdown try at the 2 with 6 seconds left in the half, but then a quarterback keep would result in another Forney touchdown, topping off a 21-point quarter and taking a 24-14 lead into the locker room.

Now receiving the ball to start the third quarter, Sulphur Springs aimed to strike back. With pass after pass to Hall and CJ Williams, the Wildcats marched down to the Forney 22. A Douglas Deloney run broke the goal line to make it 24-21 Forney with 8:27 left in the third.

A solid kick from Sulphur Springs brought the ball to the Forney 19, and while a run converted the first set of downs, the Wildcat defense held strong and forced a turnover on downs at the Forney 47 with 5:48 left.

After three more CJ Williams receptions, a set of downs just outside the Forney 10 yard line came down to a fourth and short. Deloney was put back in to drive the ball past the line to gain. After a couple of plays, a defensive pass interference call on Forney gave the Wildcats a free set of downs heading into the fourth quarter. Less than a minute into the fourth, CJ Williams made another touchdown to have a Wildcats lead of 28-24 with 11:16 left in the game.

Their lead lasted for about three-and-a-half minutes as Forney broke through the defense with two big runs to set the ball up at the Sulphur Springs 10, and a goal line touch down retook the Forney lead 31-28 with 7:52 left.

Sulphur Springs had a quick three-and-out on their next drive, and a bad snap resulted in Forney taking over at the Sulphur Springs 26. Forney wasted some clock with runs but had to settle for a field goal to extend their lead to 34- 28.

After a muffed kickoff, Forney recovered the ball at the Sulphur Springs 2 and looked to put the game away with another touchdown. However, the Wildcats defense held them to a field goal again to make it 37-28 with 2:59 left.

Sulphur Springs started their last drive almost in their end zone at the 9. Mitchell made solid throws down the field to CJ Williams, Reed Williams and Matthew Sherman to bring the Wildcats into Jackrabbit territory, but the passing game petered out with incompletions, giving the ball back on downs and putting a cap on the game.

On the offense, Mitchell had a good outing, making 20 of his 33 pass attempts for 193 yards and two touchdowns, and though he wasn’t on the field for much, Driver was the team’s leading rusher with 37 yards on two carries and his lone touchdown. Behind him was Deloney with 27 yards on four carries.

CJ Williams was the main target as he had 12 of the team’s 23 receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Hall was another go-to as he recorded 4 catches for 18 yards.

Defensively, Turner, a senior himself, had a magnificent Senior Night game, making a team-high eight solo tackles and 5 assisted for 13 total. He had also an interception in the first quarter and two pass deflection. Riley Hammons contributed six solo tackles and three assisted, and Deloney performed well on both sides of the ball, listing five solo tackles and one assisted. Besides his interception in the first quarter, Albritton had one pass deflection.

The Wildcats head to North Forney Thursday to take on the Falcons for their season game. North Forney is the only other team without a district win, losing to Greenville 24-14 last week, and have an overall record of 1-8. Their one win came in their first game against the Dallas-Wilson Wildcats where they won 39-29. Both teams are looking to end their seasons on a high note. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.