Fort Worth Dunbar has ‘confidence’ in brotherhood, shuts down Fort Worth Western Hills
Fort Worth Dunbar’s defense was lights out at Farrington field.
The Wildcats (3-2, 2-0) prevented the Fort Worth Western Hills Cougars (2-3, 1-1) from recording an offensive score, securing a 47-2 win on Thursday. Lawson said his team started off well, but he noticed things got a bit messy in the second half.
Although the Wildcat offense looked sharp for the most part, one flaw was improper execution of snaps. In the next few weeks, Dunbar head coach Todd Lawson said he wants the team to focus on limiting mental mistakes.
“If we’re going to try to win the district, we’ve got to clean up a lot of stuff,” Lawson said.
All things considered, the Wildcats picked up an important win over the Cougars, and it was a dominant one that will have a big impact on the District 6-4A D1 race. Next week, Dunbar will have another high stakes matchup against Fort Worth Carter Riverside, a team attempting to bounce back from a 51-13 loss to Lake Worth.
“On defense, I think we can flow a little bit faster to the ball,” Lawson said. “Offensively, we’re just not in sync. We haven’t gotten on all cylinders yet.”
Dunbar quarterback Marcus McDade said the team came out slow after halftime but picked things back up.
“I believe in my boys,” McDade said. “We did it and came out with the win. ...We all have a confidence in our brotherhood. So, we all believe in one.”
Dunbar starts strong
On the first offensive play of the game, Western Hills fumbled the football. Linebacker Jacoryn Johnson recovered it, putting the Wildcats in a great position out of the gate.
With the help of an offside penalty, the Wildcats got on the board. McDade connected with wide receiver Brandon Lewis, who sidestepped a defender on his way to the end zone.
After a Western Hills punt, Dunbar’s offense got back to work. On the seventh play of the drive, the Wildcats took a heavy loss due to a botched snap. Matters got worse; they made a mess of the snap on the following play as well, and McDade launched a high arching, desperate pass that was intercepted by defensive back Cavon Washington.
The Wildcats soon had a golden opportunity to capitalize on the turnover facing fourth and goal, but took a delay of game penalty which pushed them back to the 15-yard line. Still, the the Wildcats rolled the dice and went for it.
Quarterback Kyu Wilson completed a pass to running back EJ Jones, who charged to the goal. He was dragged out of bounds at the 1-yard line, barely failing to score.
Dunbar got the ball back deep in their own territory and went to work. Powered by a 55-yard rush by Ben Smith, the Wildcats had another scoring drive. It was capped off by McDade, who rushed in for a 5-yard touchdown.
The Wildcat offense, once again, couldn’t manage to move the chains with any sort of consistency. They punted away, pinning the Cougars at their own 12-yard line. Fortunately for the Wildcats, Dunbar botched another snap and the ball rolled out the back of the end zone, which resulted in a safety.
Dunbar’s defense simply didn’t let the Wildcats gain any momentum after the blunder. They forced a three and out which set up a five play scoring drive that included a 25-yard shovel pass from McDade to Smith. McDade finished the drive with a 1-yard QB keeper.
Following another unsuccessful offensive drive, the Western Hills Cougars punted. The kick went out of bounds at their own 14-yard line, and the Wildcats took over in prime position to score. Three plays and an illegal defensive formation call later, McDade had his fourth touchdown of the night prior to the end of the first half.
Defense steals the show
In the second half, Dunbar’s offense slowed down. The defense, however, kept its foot on the gas. Both teams had two possessions without adding points to the board. A sack by linebacker Ethan Warren forced a punt; it was Dunbar’s special teams’ time to shine.
Smith returned the kick 48-yards for a touchdown, and matters got worse for the Cougars. Following another three and out, defensive end Dwight Banks blocked a punt.
The offense couldn’t capitalize, but the defense made up for it with a fumble recovery. Two plays later, McDade heaved a pass downfield to Smith, who shook a defender off and proceeded to notch a 59-yard touchdown to make the score 40-2 with 9:52 remaining.
The final score of the game was a 6-yard touchdown run from Dunbar running back Kamron Lloyd.
Notable performances
McDade put on a show, throwing for 137 yards and two touchdowns with an interception on 10 of 16 passing. He also added 42 yards and three touchdowns on his legs, giving him five total scores.
Lawson said McDade, a sophomore, has had to go through some growing pains at the varsity level. He said his quarterback “played well” against the Cougars.
Runningback Ja’Marion Garrett and Lloyd powered the ground game, rushing for 66-yards and 48-yards, respectively. Lloyd also recorded a touchdown.
Lawson said the ground game is coming along but sees room for improvement.
“We had some missed blocks and we missed on some blitzes,” Lawson said. “We had some losses on that. It’s all there. We just have to clean up some stuff within our line.”
Smith didn’t get a ton of touches, but when he got the ball he made the most of it. As a receiver, he made two catches for 84-yards, which includes the 59-yard TD. His only rush of the game was for 55-yards.
