North Richland Hills Richland 35, Abilene High 34 — The Eagles opened league play with a heartbreaking loss, rallying from a 28-7 second-quarter deficit to lead in the fourth quarter, only to watch Richland win with a touchdown pass in the final minute.
The Rebels (1-4, 1-0) passed for 427 yards in the victory, doing most of their damage in the first half. AHS, meanwhile, had 412 total yards (199 rushing, 213 passing), getting strong games from quarterback Eric Abbe (11-23-0—190, 2 TDs passing; 16-67 rushing) and running back Davonta Mayse (25-140, 1 TD).
The Eagles (1-4, 0-1) will have little time to dwell on Friday’s loss as they host Hurst Bell this week in a virtual must-win game.
Malachi Brown passed for 281 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 89 yards and three more scores to lead Central, which improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in 3-6A with the victory. Weatherford, which finished with 463 yards of offense, was led by quarterback Ken Seals, who passed for 234 yards and three TDs and rushed for 163 yards and a score.
The Bobcats will play another big game this week when they host undefeated Euless Trinity, while the Kangaroos (4-1, 0-1) will take on Haltom City Haltom.
Trinity outgained Bell 481-166, using a 375-yard rushing day to build a 21-7 halftime lead that it would only add to after the break. Ollie Gordon (10-88), A.J. Burnett (13-81), Valentino Foni (3-79) and Zechariah Moore (11-69) all had rushing touchdowns for the Trojans, who will welcome Central to Pennington Field this week.
Bell, now 2-3 overall and 0-1 in league play, will travel west to take on Abilene High.
Haltom, last year’s district champion, has yet to win consecutive games this season, but its two losses have come by a combined four points.