Cats rip Forney for first win

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  • Kaden Wallace, shown in action Sept. 13 against Terrell, completed 15-of-21 passes for 175 yards in the 32-13 win over Forney, Oct. 4. The Wildcats host district leader Ennis at 7 :30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11. Courtesy/Isabel Reyna
    Kaden Wallace, shown in action Sept. 13 against Terrell, completed 15-of-21 passes for 175 yards in the 32-13 win over Forney, Oct. 4. The Wildcats host district leader Ennis at 7 :30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11. Courtesy/Isabel Reyna
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Sulphur Springs | Football

FORNEY — Using a a relentless defense with an uptempo offense, the Wildcats took a 32-13 win over the Forney Jackrabbits Friday.

The large crowd at CitiBank Stadium got to see the Wildcats record their first victory of the football season.

Sulphur Springs went to 1-4, 1-2 with the district football victory.

“So proud of the way our kids fought and continued to battle through to get the win over Forney. We started out like most of our games this season, playing great defense, getting great field position, but self-inflicting mistakes have kept us out of the end zone offensively. Kids and coaches kept believing and finally punched a few in and could relax and just play,” said Greg Owens, Wildcats head coach.

Forney fell to 2-4 overall, 1-3 in loop action.

The Wildcats, coming off a bye week, were locked and loaded for action, especially on the defensive side.

While Forney totaled 275 yards for the game, they only managed 31 positive yards in the opening half.

Sulphur Springs hammered and harassed the Jackrabbits all during the first two quarters.

The Wildcats came up with three turnovers and five times made tackles behind the line of scrimmage, as they stopped the Forney attack before they could get started.

Three Wildcats were in double digits with tackles: Ryan Carrillo and Kylan Wade recorded 11 each, and Eleazar Brena had 10 total stops. Wade also had a key recovery of an onside kick.

Chase Haney contributed five stops with an interception. Aiden Wallace had four tackles and picked off a pass. D’Andre Peoples added three tackles, forced an interception and recorded a sack.

The defensive unit of the Wildcats held Forney to just 35 yards rushing. Jackrabbit quarterback Campbell Anderson threw for 240 yards, completing 15-of-31 passes.

Forney was chased and hit all night. The two touchdowns were completions of Riley Mc-Murren who nabbed five catches for 134 yards.

The work was steady and balanced for the Sulphur Springs offense. While they did have two first half scores negated due to penalties, they played well for the game picking up 330 yards on 71 plays.

Junior Wildcat quarterback Kaden Wallace completed 15-of-21 passes for 175 yards. He also ran for 21 yards.

Top receiver was Landry Meskimen with 58 yards on two catches. Weston Fields, a recent addition to the team from the sub-varsity, caught three passes for 13 yards. Chase Haney, Zach Tiemeyer, Bryant Sancehz and Detrick Clayton also had receptions.

The Wildcats rushed 43 times for 155 yards and four scores.

Caden Davis had 78 yards and one score while Da’Korian Sims rambled for 68 yards, reaching the end zone twice.

The game opened with an impressive defensive stand by the Wildcats.

After three plays, the Jackrabbits lost 7 yards and had to punt.

The Wildcats were driving near the end of the first quarter when disaster struck.

First, Wallace lost yardage when he was unable to field a snap from the shotgun formation. Then, a nice run by Davis for what looked like a 25-yard touchdown pass was called back due to a holding violation. The score was negated, and the Wildcats had to punt. The first quarter was scoreless.

The Wildcats opened the second period with the ball after Haney picked off a Forney pass with 11:16 to play before the half.

Again, a holding penalty took a possible scoring run off the boards. Sulphur Springs got on the scoreboard with a 31-yard field goal by Brandon Zavala.

The next Forney drive also ended in a turnovers. Peoples, 6-1, 220-pound defensive terror, drove Anderson out of the pocket. As the quarterback paused to get off a pass, Peoples contacted the quarterback, and his pass fluttered into the waiting arms of Walker.

Walker snagged the pigskin out of mid-air and returned it to the 15 of Forney.

The Wildcats scored on the next pass as Sims went round the left end and walked into the end zone behind stellar blocking by the Sulphur Springs line.

With 7:31 to play in the first half, the Wildcats were up 10-0.

Three straight plays for negative yardage forced Forney to punt.

The Wildcats got another Zavala field goal to close out the first half with a 13-0 lead.

The Sulphur Springs lead quickly ballooned to 26-0 in the third period. Sims and Wallace added touchdown runs.

Forney had more success with their passing game in the third period. Anderson threw touchdown strikes to McMurren from 56 and 7 yards out.

The Jackrabbits had sliced the Sulphur Springs advantage to 26-13 with 11 minutes left in the game.

Sulphur Springs put the contest on ice with a 31-yard scoring run by Davis.

The Wildcats took the win by the 32-13 final.

Sulphur Springs returns home for their next district game.

The Wildcats hosts Ennis at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 at Gerald Prim Stadium.