Friday, October 5, 2007

Northwest coach Leonard McAngus saw his football team jump out to the kind of start it needed Friday night against Grapevine. The Texans scored touchdowns on each of their first two possession to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Texans, however, never found the end zone again after the first period. Grapevine running back Logan Mullins collected four touchdowns on 70 yards and his team scored 28 of the final 31 points to beat Northwest on its home turf 28-17.

Leading 17-14 entering the third period, Northwest appeared ready to put the finishing touches on a potential win. The team ran off the first six minutes of the second half and marched 61 yards to the GHS 19-yard line.

That's where everything fell apart. Grapevine defensive back Russell Watkins intercepted NHS quarterback Bryson Curb in front of the end zone to end the scoring threat.

The Mustangs galloped 85 yards down field to take their first lead of the game. Mullins scored his third touchdown of the night on a three-yard run at the 4:28 mark to put GHS in front 21-17.

Northwest turned the ball over on its next possession to end the third quarter and only ran 13 plays in the fourth to allow GHS to hold on for the victory.

"Our kids fought hard. I'm very proud of the way our kids played tonight," McAngus said. "The breaks just didn't go our way tonight."

The win dropped Northwest to 0-2 in District 5-5A and 1-4 for the season. GHS, meanwhile moved to 2-0 and 3-2, respectively.

The Texans wasted no time driving the ball through the heart of the Grapevine defense. Senior tailback Drew Ashley, who finished with 121 yards rushing, made a spectacular play early in the action when he recovered his own fumble 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage, broke seven tackles and sprinted the distance on a 19-yard touchdown.

The Northwest defense, which got big hits from Taylor Young, Lars Huizenga and Craig Chidester and two sacks by Chris Correll, stuffed GHS on its first two possessions.

Northwest built a 14-0 lead with 53 seconds left in the opening period when Curb hit Ty Moss on a 33-yard touchdown strike. Michael Husky was good on both kicks.

The Mustangs had an answer. Mullins capped a 70-yard drive with a 13-yard TD run to erase the shut out and make it a 14-7 ball game.

Husky scored the final points of the night for the Texans when he booted a 41-yard field goal with 4:23 left to play in the first half.

The Mustangs added a 6-yard TD run by Mullins two minutes later to cut the NHS lead to three before halftime, 17-14.

It was all Grapevine in the second half. Mullins scored on touchdown runs of four and 15 yards and the Northwest offense was shut out the rest of the way.