BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
ARLINGTON— In just his second year at the helm, Cody Worrell has led the Mineral Wells Rams to their first 4-0 start since 2018 after defeating the Quinlan Ford Panthers at a neutral site on Thursday night. The Rams took the field at Choctaw Stadium, the former home of the Texas Rangers, against another undefeated squad from Hunt County on the other side of Dallas.
Despite the win it was anything but pretty as Mineral Wells had four first half turnovers, allowing the Panthers to stay in the game when the Rams looked to start pulling away.
“We still didn’t play a clean game,” Worrell said after the game. “That first half, good gosh, we couldn’t hold onto the football. We were fortunate to be up six points at halftime.”
The Mineral Wells defense forced a three-and-out to open the game, and the offense went right to work. Quarterback Owen Gadd fired to Preztynn Harrison to get down to the one yard line before P.R. Mendez finished the job on the next play to take a 7-0 lead.
Gadd finished the night completing eight of 12 for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns and added four carries for 16 yards.
The ensuing drive only lasted two plays with Trent Yowell falling on a fumble to get the ball back. On the next play, Gadd went right back to Harrison in single coverage for the touchdown, and the Rams were up 14-0 in the blink of an eye.
However, Quinlan Ford responded very quickly. Devon Williams took the handoff on a reverse and ran 79 yards to pay dirt to pull within seven. It was then that Mineral Wells started to turn the ball over.
The ensuing kickoff saw the first fumble that was recovered by the Panthers, however it did not end up in points for Quinlan Ford. Then another fumble was recovered by Trevor Reeves and that one did result in points. Zander Sharp did the honors, taking it in from 26 yards out to tie the game.
The very next play from scrimmage resulted in an interception, but once again the Panthers could not get points out of it and the quarter ended with a tied score of 14 each.
The Rams got a big boost on the first play of the second quarter when Gadd hit Kayden Montalvo who turned up field and went 75 yards to the end zone. Then after a defensive stop in the red zone, Jaidun Fisher added to the lead with an 18 yard touchdown run. Worrell tried to catch Quinlan Ford napping and went for two, but it was unsuccessful, leaving the score at 27-14.
After yet another turnover by the Rams, the Cougars pulled back within a score when Mason Tigue took it in from 26 yards out, bringing the halftime score to 27-21.
The second half saw the action slowed down significantly. However Mineral Wells scored again late in the third quarter on a nine play, 73-yard drive capped off with an 11-yard run by Mendez. Then with less than a minute to go, the Panthers scored to pull back within a score once again. However the onside kick was not successful and the Rams held on for the 34-28 win.
Mineral Wells (4-0) will go on the road again next week to face Godley (1-2), while Quinlan Ford (3-1) will head home and prepare to host Paris North Lamar (0-3).
