By Brian Gosset
FORT WORTH – Coming into Week 8, four teams were tied for fourth place in District 5-4A D1: Benbrook, Carter-Riverside, Western Hills and Dunbar. Two of those schools, Benbrook and Carter-Riverside met up Thursday night at Clark Stadium, with the winner a step closer to a postseason berth.
Carter-Riverside (4-3, 1-3) marched downfield on its opening possession to take an early lead, but then the Eagles couldn’t stop the Bobcats as Benbrook rolled to a 40-13 win for a crucial victory with only three games left for both squads.
Benbrook (4-3, 2-2) started the contest with a recovered onside kick, but the Bobcats were stopped on fourth down when Jalen Ortega sacked quarterback Lucas Davis near midfield.
Big runs by Mason Rawlins and Jon Montes, plus a personal foul on Benbrook, pushed Carter-Riverside inside the 10. Montes capped off the scoring drive with a 4-yard TD run to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead.
The Bobcats quickly went down and scored thanks to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Davis to Evan Smith. The extra point was good and Benbrook led 7-6 in the opening period.
Carter-Riverside went for it on a fourth-and-11, but a pass attempt was deflected by Benbrook safety Jayden Deane. The Bobcats extended their lead to 13-6 on the first play of the second quarter.
Benbrook scored two more touchdowns before halftime – an 18-yard TD run from Quentin Thomas and a 7-yard TD pass from Davis to Dorien Johnson to go into the break with a 27-6 lead.
It was Davis’ 17th touchdown pass of the season with 13 of them going to Johnson. Johnson has caught a TD pass in all seven games this season with four in Week 1 vs Trimble Tech and three more in Week 3 against Gainesville.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the third quarter.
Davis connected with Smith for a second time and Benbrook bumped up its lead to 33-6. Meanwhile, Rawlins scored on a 10-yard TD run for the Eagles with 1:18 left in the third.
The Bobcats added a long touchdown pass from Davis to Tyler Newman in the fourth quarter. The defense also recovered a fumble late in the final frame.
Benbrook will face Diamond Hill-Jarvis in Week 9 while Carter-Riverside takes on Western Hills.
