BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS – With Carlos Lynn entering his second season with Crowley, he looks to take another step forward after making the playoffs in 2023. In Thursday’s season opener against Birdville, the Eagles are on the right track.
Sophomore RB Kenyen Cotton rushed for two first-half touchdowns and senior QB Caleb Williams rushed for two scores and threw for two more as the Eagles led from start to finish with a 50-14 win over the Hawks at Birdville FAAC to begin the 2024 high school football campaign.
Crowley (1-0) will host state powerhouse Galena Park North Shore next week from Crowley ISD Stadium while Birdville (0-1) looks to rebound with a visit to Grapevine.
The Eagles came into the week ranked #15 in the GM Sports Media 6A area rankings. They finished 7-4 last year with a playoff loss against Byron Nelson. However, they started the year 7-0 before falling in their last four. Crowley beat Birdville 38-10 in the 2023 season opener.
Williams accounted for over 3,600 yards last season and 41 touchdowns. On Thursday, he accounted for four scores. His first was a dazzling 49-yard run on the draw to give Crowley a 7-0 lead with 9:04 left in the first quarter.
The Crowley defense also shined with three interceptions.
Brandon Ford made the first pick with four minutes left. Cotton followed it with a 34-yard gain and then Williams found Derrick Tasby for 45 yards. Jonathan Blake scored on a 7-yard run and Tasby’s two-point run made it 15-0 with 3:08 on the clock.
Birdville scored in the opening seconds of the second quarter on a 16-yard pass and catch from QB Connor Malvick to Mark Hicks. Starting quarterback Noah Normand (1920 passing, 84 rushing, 27 TDs in 2023) suffered an injury in last week’s scrimmage and is expected to be out a significant amount of time. Malvick played in the first half and some of the third quarter before leaving with his own injury.
He didn’t return and sophomore Zach Wells finished out the game.
The Eagles got back up by two scores when Cotton scored from 12 yards out with 7:31 left in the half. Birdville’s D did kill a Crowley drive when Jamal Ramsey picked off a pass in the end zone, but the Hawks later stalled and was forced to punt.
Cotton added another TD run – from the 7 – and Crowley led 29-7 at the break. He had 109 yards on the ground in the first half and ended the night with 145.
Less than a minute into the third quarter and Williams and Crowley had a big play. Backed up at its own 2 didn’t matter as Williams out-ran 5 or 6 defenders for a 98-yard touchdown and 36-7 lead.
The Hawks scored for the final time when Wells helped drive the offense downfield and Lamar Leggins punching it in from the 1 with 5:09 left in the quarter.
Crowley scored two more touchdowns before the game concluded when Williams connected with Antayvious Ellis from 49 and 25 yards – one in the third quarter and one in the fourth.
Williams rushed for 203 yards and passed for another 202.
Crowley rushed for over 450 yards as a team and gained over 650 of total offense. Ellis finished with 109 yards receiving. Leggins had 51 yards rushing and 81 total for Birdville while Anthony White led the Hawks with 58 yards on the ground. Malvick passed for 80 yards while Wells ended with 40.
