The News and The Orange Leader

Marcus Morris carried the ball 16 times, and it paid off big.

Morris finished with 232 yards and three touchdowns and completed 5 of 10 passes for 52 yards and another score in leading Hamshire-Fannett to a 34-13 win over Hardin-Jefferson in Friday’s District 10-4A Division II opener in Sour Lake.

Another Morris played big for Hamshire-Fannett’s “Blue Wave” offense.

Keshawn Morris, no relation to Marcus, has 79 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries. He also pulled down a 28-yard touchdown pass from Marcus.

Blaine Waggoner led Hamshire-Fannett’s “Blackshirt Defense” in tackles.

Hamshire-Fannett (5-2, 1-0 in 10-4A-II) will host Liberty next Friday.

 

West Orange-Stark 24, Silsbee 21

WEST ORANGE — “How sweet it is.”

The West Orange-Stark Mustangs now own the best winning percentage in the state of Texas’ history and they accomplished it in dramatic fashion Friday night as sophomore kicker Angel Ibarra drilled a 30-yard field goal with six seconds remaining to propel the Mustangs to a 24-21 victory over the Silsbee Tigers to start District 10-4A Division II play.

The Mustangs (3-4, 1-0) took over from their own 44 with 35 seconds remaining. On the first play, WOS quarterback Tyrone Wilson hit big-play receiver Brettlin Wiley for a huge 35-yard pass play down the right sideline that got to the Tiger 21. Three plays later the Mustangs called a timeout and then Ibarra was “clutch” as he sent the 30-yard game-winner right through the uprights. It was his third field goal of the night.

The win was the 400th in school history as the Mustangs stand at 400-97-3 overall for a .803 winning percentage.

It’s also a good start in district play as the program is seeking its 28th district title this season.

The Tigers (3-4, 0-1) put forth a tremendous fight but the Mustangs simply were not going to be denied on this night of celebration.

Both teams finished with exactly 269 yards.

Wilson completed 10 of 16 passes for 109 yards with Wiley hauling in four of them for 74 yards. Senior tailback Kavyn Cooper finished with 93 tough yards on 21 carries.

Tiger tailback Dralyn Cooper dashed for 133 yards on 23 carries and fellow back Antonius Arline had 75 yards on eight totes. Tiger quarterback Raymond Foster was just 2 of 7 for 17 yards.

 

LCM 33, Bridge City 14

BRIDGE CITY — The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears kicked off their District 11-4A Division I campaign off with flair by going on the road and downing Bridge City 33-14 at Ward Stadium Friday night as the Cardinals celebrated homecoming.

Senior quarterback Adam Pope covered a lot of ground for the Bears (2-4, 1-0) in the air as the senior quarterback completed 16 of 21 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns.

The Bridge City (1-5, 0-1) defense had issues with stopping the passing game all night, and it reflected in the scoreboard. The Cardinal defense did not allow a point in the second half, but 33 in the first half was way too difficult to overcome.

The Bears had a dominant night on defense, limiting the Cardinals to 119 total yards, all on the ground. LCM finished with 325 yards.

Rylan Ply led the Cardinals with 39 yards on 10 carries while Cace Skinner had 36 yards on 10 totes.

 

East Chambers 41, Orangefield 0

WINNIE — The Orangefield Bobcats absorbed a tough one Friday night, falling to the East Chambers Buccaneers 41-0 in District 12-3A Division I action Friday night.

The Bucs (5-1, 2-1) controlled the game throughout and jumped out to a 24-0 lead over the Bobcats (4-2, 1-2) by halftime.