Sometimes taking a calculated risk pays off, and that’s exactly what happened for the Pilot Point Bearcats when they knocked off the Farmersville Fightin’ Farmers 44-43 on Sept. 25.
The two teams traded haymakers throughout the contest, but the Bearcats struck the final knockout punch with a touchdown and successful 2-point conversion to take the win.
“It was a tale of two halves,” said Chad Worrell, Pilot Point athletic director and head football coach. “… We had multiple fumbles the first few plays, but we dominated them the rest of the first half. In the second half, I felt like we came out a little flat, but we came back, and at the end of the fourth quarter, our offense made the plays we needed to make to win.”
Pilot Point received the opening kickoff but was forced to punt for the first time in three games after its drive stalled around midfield.
A few plays later, Farmersville made its way into the end zone for the game’s first points with a 10-yard touchdown run from Brandt Martinez, giving the Farmers a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Bearcats gave the ball back to the Farmers with a fumble on their next possession, but the Bearcats' defense held strong, forcing Farmersville to attempt a 48-yard field goal, which was missed.
After taking over possession, Pilot Point’s offense responded with a 10-play, 69yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Hastings Fischer, tying the score at 7 after a successful extra point kick by Jarell Rangel.
The Farmer's next possession ended with a punt, and the Bearcats would add to their lead, with a 10-play drive down capped by a 10yard touchdown run from running back Josh Chumley, putting Pilot Point on top 14-7 in the second quarter.
On Farmersville’s ensuing possession, the Farmers would drive down to the Bearcats' 17-yard line, where kicker Felix Maldanado would add a 34-yard field goal to cut the Bearcats' lead to 1410.
Pilot Point added to their lead with another touchdown run from Chumley, set up by a 63-yard run by Fischer, making the score 21-10 with a little over 3 minutes left to the half.
The Bearcats' defense made another stand on the Farmers’ next drive, giving Pilot Point the ball back, and the Bearcats capitalized on the opportunity, with a flea flicker pass to Fischer for a 50-yard touchdown, giving the Pilot Point a 28-10 lead at halftime.
The Farmers stormed back in the third quarter, scoring 21 unanswered and taking a 29-28 lead.
With their defense on the ropes, it was the Bearcats’ offense that ended the Farmers' scoring barrage when running back David Pickrel burst through a hole in the defense for an 85-yard touchdown, making the score 3629 heading into the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been running that formation for a while, just waiting to run that play, and when we called it, I took the ball, found a hole, broke a few arm tackles and when I looked around there was nobody there, so I just ran as fast as I could to the end zone,” Pickrel said.
The Farmers found the end zone again midway through the fourth quarter, tying the score at 36-36, and took the lead, 43-36, with a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Levi McAbee with under four minutes left in the game.
The Bearcats started on their own 35-yard line, marched down the field and scored a touchdown on a 7-yard run by Chumley.
Pilot Point elected to go for 2 to take the lead, and Chumley paid off the gamble by stretching the ball over the goal line, putting the Bearcats up by 1 with less than two minutes left on the clock.
The Farmers fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the ball was recovered by Bearcats defensive back Stephen Campbell, sealing Pilot Point’s 44-43 win.
Worrell said he trusted his team to make the decision to go for 2 and the win after the Bearcats’ final touchdown.
“We were around the 30yard line, and we had the twominute time out, and I asked the offense, ‘What do you all want to do when we score?' and they said they wanted to go for the win, so there was never a doubt we were going for it,” Worrell said.
Bearcat tight end Grayson Whitley echoed his head coach’s sentiments.
“We came out confident on that last drive, and we knew what we were going to do when we scored,” he said. “… Being confident in everything that we do is a big thing for us, and we knew that we wanted to win.”
Now sitting at 4-1 as they head into their bye week, Worrell said the Bearcats will focus on healing up and preparing to open the district portion of their schedule against the Pottsboro Cardinals on Oct. 9.
Assistant editor Martin Edwards contributed to this report.
