BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
WEATHERFORD— The new football season got off to an inauspicious start for the Weatherford Kangaroos as they fell short at home to former district rival L.D. Bell, 23-21. From the opening kickoff, the Kangaroos were on their heels and chasing and could not keep up, suffering their first loss to the Blue Raiders since 1995.
Despite the loss, head coach Aubrey Sims remained optimistic about his squad.
“I am very excited about where we’re at,” Sims commented. “We gave up seven points on defense. We gave up the opening kickoff, we had the ball stripped away from us for a score, other than that, we won the ballgame 21-7.”
Bell elected to receive the opening kickoff and took immediate advantage. Caleb Walton fielded the squib kick at his own 20 yard line, found a crease and raced to the end zone to give the Blue Raiders a 6-0 lead after a missed extra point.
Weatherford got the ball on the ensuing kickoff, and on the first play from scrimmage they fumbled. Jon Riddlehoover picked up the loose ball and walked in from 22 yards out to make it a 13-0 score with just 21 seconds gone in the game.
The rest of the first quarter became a defensive struggle with a 30 minute lightning delay thrown in with 1:24 remaining in the frame.
“I don’t think it affected either one of us. It was no big deal.” Sims noted.
It was not until the eight minute mark in the second quarter that the Kangaroos finally got on the board with a six-yard run by Bradley Simmons to once again cut the Bell lead to six. The defense then stepped up and forced back-to-back three-and-outs. However the offense was unable to capitalize.
The Blue Raiders eventually found paydirt again on a short pass from Aden Madsen to Kamron Scott to bring the halftime score to 20-7.
Out of the break, both defenses upped their game. Though it was the Kangaroos that broke through late in the third quarter on a seven yard touchdown run by Brennan Boehl to once again pull within six, with a 20-14 score going into the fourth quarter.
The final frame started with quick points as Bell’s kicker A.J. Rosen nailed a 30-yard field goal to make the lead 23-14. However, Weatherford was up to the task. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Luke Gray fired deep to Jaime Gray on the post route for a 69-yard scoring play. The extra point brought the score to 23-21 with over 10 minutes to play.
Luke Gray was the bright spot of the Kangaroo offense, completing 15 of 20 for 173 yards and a touchdown.
Unfortunately for the Kangaroos, despite two late defensive stops the offense was unable to put another drive together. The Blue Raiders took over with just over a minute left and ran out the clock.
Weatherford (0-1) will stay inside Parker County next week as they travel east to take on Azle (1-0) who defeated Abilene Cooper on Friday night. Meanwhile, Bell will have its home opener against Odessa High who had its game this week canceled.
