The Westwood Warriors escaped Kelly Reaves Athletic Complexon with their record unblemished, barely. The Warriors, a perfect 5-0 entering the game needed a last-minute turnover to seal their 31-24 win over Pflugerville (1-5) on Thursday night.
The Panthers gave Westwood and star quarterback Ben Johnson all they could handle in the game. Entering the final minute of the contest the Pflugerville defense had limited Johnson to 60 yards rushing on 20 carries and Caleb Horton’s fourth-quarter interception of Johnson in Panther territory had stopped a Warrior drive and given Pflugerville a chance to tie the game.
The Panther offense responded with a mighty push toward the Warrior end zone. Grinding out yards on the legs of Adrian Dilworth and Brandon Woodward, Pflugerville marched down the field, eventually reaching the Westwood 2-yard line after a 10-yard run by Clarence Guidry. The Panthers twice tried to push the ball into the end zone with Blain Kruemcke quarterback sneaks and on the second attempt disaster struck. Kruemcke coughed up the ball and Westwood’s Parker Hanusa fell on the ball at the 1-yard line.
The Warriors had possession with a minute to play, but Pflugerville still had a full compliment of timeouts and Westwood’s back to the wall. It took just three plays for Johnson to pry the team’s back loose and wrap up the win. On a third and six from the 5-yard line, Johnson burst through the line and sprinted 73 yards before a couple Panthers stopped him from reaching the end zone. The run gave Johnson 133 yards rushing in the game and sealed the win for the Warriors.
Thanks to a stingy defense, Pflugerville led the game 10-7 at halftime. The Panthers did not allow the Westwood offense to score in the first half. The Warriors only points, and the first touchdown of the game, came when Brad Watson picked up a Dilworth fumble and raced 40 yards to paydirt. The lead, however, did not last long. Pflugerville took the ensuing kickoff and marched 74 yards, scoring on a 5-yard run by Woodward to tie the game at 7-7. The Panthers added a 33-yard field goal by Josh Ianno to take the lead at the half.
The Warrior offense finally broke through the Panther defense late in the third quarter. On a drive that featured Johnson running and passing, Westwood went 67 yards in seven plays and scored on a 2-yard Johnson plunge into the end zone. The Warriors followed that score with a touchdown on their next drive as well. Johnson fired a 50-yard pass Desmond Wyatt (117 yards receiving) to set up a 23-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt two plays later. With Colin McGuire’s extra point Westwood led 21-10.
Pflugerville was quick to jump right back in the game, scoring on a 29-yard run by Dilworth on their next possession, trimming the Warrior lead to 21-17. Westwood tacked on a 26-yard field goal by McGuire before Johnson hit Wyatt for one more score, putting the Warriors up 31-17 with six-and-a-half minutes to play.
The Panthers, however, were not going away easily and on the second play of their ensuing drive Davonte Broussard took the ball on a reverse and raced 80 yards for a Pflugerville touchdown. The score cut the Warrior lead to 31-24 and set up the night’s fantastic finish.
Dilworth led Pflugerville with 147 yards rushing. Broussard had 95 and Woodward 62 in the game. Ledeans Anderson finished with 110 yards on the ground for Westwood. |
