Fort Worth Dunbar overcomes penalties, edges rival Fort Worth Wyatt with late score

The Fort Worth Dunbar football team had to overcome adversity time and time again against rival Fort Worth Wyatt on Thursday night.

Trailing 13-6 late in the third quarter the Wildcats had a pair of touchdown runs called back due to two of 10 penalties called against Dunbar for 100 yards.

But The Wildcats rallied to score with 5:18 left in the game and ran in a crucial two point conversion to eek out a 14-13 win over the Chaparrals in a non-district game at Clark Stadium.

“We knew that it was going to be a dog fight, being a rivalry game,” said Dunbar coach Todd Lawson. “I always tell the kids that football is parallel to life.

“When things are going bad for you then you just have to put your nose down and just keep battling because something is going to happen that’s good. Just keep fighting and don’t get down on yourself.”

Wyatt (0-2) took a 13-6 lead with 4:25 left in the third quarter when quarterback Jorvorskie Lane, Jr. hit Lexington Byrd with a three-yard scoring pass to cap the Chaparral’s opening drive of the second half. Dunbar (1-1) took over at its own 35 after the kickoff.

Dunbar running back JaMarion Garrett took the second snap of the series 60 yards for what looked to be a score, but there was a holding penalty called on the play. Garrett was credited for only 22 yards on the play, but the Wildcats did pick up a first down at the Wyatt 48.

Dunbar quarterback Marcus McDade picked up 32 more yards down the the Chaps five yard line, but another holding penalty on the next play pushed the Wildcats back to the 15. Two plays later Garrett ran around right end for a 10-yard score, but holding was called again pushing the ball back out to the 20.

“We were just, mainly, running it up the middle,” said Garrett, who finished with 179 rushing yards on 27 carries. “This is a rivalry game so we knew that it was going to be a close one.

“We just had to bring up a little more enthusiasm. We started off a little bit slow, but we kept it going and we have to pick it up even more because we have a big game next week.”

On fourth down and goal from the 24, McDade hit Detrick James for 21 yards down to the Wyatt three yard line, but Dunbar lost the ball on downs.

The Dunbar defense was solid all night and stopped the Chaparrals at the Wyatt 44 with 8:35 left in the game. The Wildcats allowed 156 total yards to the Chaps, 117 of which came on Wyatt’s two scoring drives.

It took the Wildcats eight plays to cover the 44 yards with McDade executing a perfect zone read and running it right up the middle for an eight-yard touchdown. Garrett, of course, was called on to attempt the conversion and bulled his way in off left guard to give Dunbar a 14-13 lead with 5:18 left in the game.

Wyatt had two more chances to retake the lead, but the Chaps lost the ball on downs both times. Travontay Huey-You sacked Lane for a 12-yard loss giving the ball back to Dunbar at the Wyatt 24 with 1:45 left where the Wildcats were able to run out the clock.

Dunbar was able to contain the dynamic Lane, the No. 3 baseball prospect in the nation, for much of the contest. Lane rushed 18 times for 74 yards and completed nine of 18 passes for 77 yards.

Dunbar picked up 310 yards of total offense with 262 coming on the ground and 48 through the air.

Wyatt took the opening kickoff and marched 64 yards in six plays to take a 6-0 lead with 9:22 left in the first quarter after the point after attempt was blocked. Lane ran around left end from 26 yards out for the score and it looked as if the Chaparrals might run away with the game.

The Dunbar defense settled in, however, as the teams traded punts and possessions. The Wildcats finally got moving in the second quarter with a 13-play, 78-yard drive.

Garrett took it off left tackle for an eight-yard score for the Wildcats to tie the game at six. The point after attempt was no good.

Dunbar’s D’Tyree Faulk recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Wildcats lost the ball on downs at the Wyatt 28 with 38 seconds left in the half.

Dunbar played up three levels in taking on Wyatt. The Wildcats are in District 4-4A D2 while the Chaparrals reside in District 4-5A D1.

“This is just going to help us down the line against the likes of Benbrook, Glen Rose and those teams in our district,” said Lawson of his non-district schedule. “These are some tough games and I want to see the kids have to fight that full four quarters.”