The Pilot Point Bearcats earned their third win of the season, steam rolling the visiting Boyd Yellowjackets 63-28 on Sept. 18.
The Bearcats wasted little time, piling up 36 points in the opening quarter and never looking back, en route to an 8-touchdown performance.
“We were a machine, especially on the offensive side,” said Chad Worrell, Pilot Point athletic director and head football coach. “We had one big play after another. Our kids executed about as well as we have all year, and defensively, we played well for the majority of the game, but we had some major breakdowns here and there, and when we did, [Boyd] was good enough to take advantage of it.”
Boyd received the opening kickoff, but it didn’t take long for Pilot Point to set the tone after defensive end Kaleb Reid recovered a fumble on Boyd's second play from scrimmage.
Two plays after the turnover, Pilot Point running back Josh Chumley scored the Bearcats' first touchdown of the night, with a 33-yard run, putting Pilot Point up 7-0 after a successful extra point kick by kicker Jarell Rangel.
Boyd would tie it up at 7 on their next drive when quarter- back Carson Lambert connected with Layton Wheeler on a 12-yard touchdown pass.
That was the closest the Yellowjackets would get the rest of the night, as the Bearcats scored 29 unanswered points in the first quarter.
The Bearcats scored on their next four first-quarter possessions, started by Chumley, who got away from the Yellowjackets' defense with a 70-yard touchdown run for his second score of the night.
Pilot Point would follow Chumley’s second touchdown, with two bombs from quarterback Luke Daniel, who connected with receivers Luke Connor and Stephen Campbell from 43 and 45 yards out.
Chumley capped the first quarter scoring barrage with his third touchdown of the night, finding the end zone from 6 yards out after an interception by Bearcat defensive back Collin Grigsby gave Pilot Point’s offense the ball in Boyd territory.
“I knew our D-line would put pressure on the QB pretty quick, and Coach Worrell told us that if that happened, their quarterback would stare down the receiver, so I read his eyes and made a play on the ball,” he said.
The four-touchdown flurry gave the Bearcats a 36-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Yellowjackets scored first in the second quarter, with Lambert finding running back Brylon Nobles for an 8-yard touchdown pass, cutting Pilot Point’s lead to 36-14.
Boyd would recover the ensuing onside kick, but on the third play of the drive, Pilot Point linebacker David Pickrel intercepted a pass and returned it 70 yards for the score, extending the Bearcats' lead to 43-14.
Things went from bad to worse for the Yellowjackets on their next possession when Bearcat defensive lineman Josh Martinez recovered a fumble and returned it 61 yards for the score, giving Pilot Point a 50-14 midway through the second quarter.
The Yellowjackets would turn the ball over for the third consecutive time on the ensuing drive, with another fumble that was recovered by Chumley.
The Bearcats would move the ball into Yellowjacket territory and add to their lead with a 30-yard field goal by Rangel, pushing their lead to 53-14.
Boyd would finally get things back on track on their next drive, scoring a touchdown with 56 seconds left in the second quarter and sending the teams into the locker rooms with the score at 53-21 at the end of the first half.
The two teams would both find the end zone again in the second half, with Pickrel carrying the ball in for the Bearcats with a 28-yard touchdown run and Boyd returning a Pilot Point fumble for a touchdown, but the Bearcats would hold on to win 63-28.
Chumley led Pilot Point on the ground with 127 yards rushing on 9 carries and 3 touchdowns, while Daniel led the team through the air, completing 4 of 6 attempts for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Campbell said the Bearcats will try to maintain their momentum after scoring over 60 points in back-to-back weeks.
“Our team goal is to win every week, and to do that we have to practice hard,” he said. “We do a lot of drills offensively and defensively, and Coach Worrell pushes us hard to fix the mistakes, and that pays off every Friday night.”
The Bearcats’ victory also marked Worrell's 175th career win as a head coach, and he shared his thoughts on reaching the milestone.
“That just means I've been doing this a long time and that I’ve been surrounded by great coaches and kids,” he said. “It was a complete surprise to me, but it was an honor to accomplish that in Pilot Point, on G.A. Moore Field, with this group of coaches and players.”
Assistant Editor Martin Edwards contributed to this report.
