‘Start the game fast’: Fort Worth Dunbar football thrashes, shuts out Diamond Hill-Jarvis

Fort Worth Dunbar (2-2, 1-0 District 6-4A D1) and Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis (0-4, 0-1 District 6-4A D1) both came into Thursday night’s game at Clark Stadium looking to start district play with a win.

Dunbar was successful in it’s quest, thrashing Jarvis on the way to picking up a 47-0 victory.

Coming into this game, Marcus McDade led the Dunbar Wildcats in receiving yards. McDade was averaging 60 yards per game and Ben Smith led the team in rushing yards, averaging 95.3 yards per game.

On the other side of the ball, Kejuan Davis led the team in tackles, averaging 9.7 a game. The Wildcats hoped these players could improve their stats and that they would play a fast-paced game.

“We really wanted to start the game fast,” Dunbar head coach Todd Lawson said. “I think that has been an issue with us in previous games and we wanted to start and play the game at our speed.”

That quick game started when Ja’marion Garret had a 31-yard rush that found the edge of the Eagles’ defense. It placed him inside the Eagles’ end zone for the first score of the game with 6:00 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats led 7-0.

The ensuing Eagles’ drive ended with an interception by Wildcat Detrick James, who took it all the way to the Eagles’ 20-yard line.

This positioned the Wildcats’ quarterback, Marcus McDade, to create the second score with 2:10 left in the first quarter. This put Dunbar up 14-0.

With 7:16 remaining in the second quarter, the Eagles had no answer for the rushing combo of Ja’Marion Garrett and Marcus McDade. McDade scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, creating a 20-0 Wildcat lead.

“We’ve got a young quarterback, he is a sophomore and he came in and did really well and was able to throw the ball around,” Lawson said. “Hopefully, we will be able to throw the ball a little bit more.”

As the Eagles attempted to gain yardage into Wildcats’ territory, they fell short. Only making it to their own 15-yard line, the Wildcats’ defense forced the Eagles to punt the ball away.

Following the punt by the Eagles, punt returner Smith took possession of the ball and returned it back into the Eagles’ end zone. This play furthered the Wildcats’ lead to 28-0 with 1:25 left in the first half.

Throughout the second half of the game, the Wildcats relied on Smith and Keylon King to gain three more touchdowns for Dunbar.

“It’s the beginning of district, and it is always good to start district 1-0,” Lawson said. “And we got a few of the guys back to play the game.”

Up next for Dunbar is a matchup against Fort Worth Western Hills. Diamond Hill-Jarvis will move on to play Fort Worth Eastern Hills.