The Weatherford Kangaroos overcame a slow start to cruise to a 54-20 home win over Granbury on Friday, Oct. 16.
Weatherford’s Hunter Fergeson intercepted a Caleb Johnson pass on the Pirates’ first drive to get his team going. However, the offense could get nothing going and turned the ball over on downs near midfield.
The Pirates then scored first as Johnson found big tight end Brayden Pugh over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown.
The Roos answered on their next drive. Running back D.J. Quimby overcame his team’s two holding penalties that called back big plays and scored a 33-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7.
The Pirates ran the ball right down the field. Following Spencer Taylor breaking a long run, Johnson scored on a short run to put Granbury back up 13-7.
Weatherford got a boost when Zach Zanetti recovered a botched punt return in Pirates territory. Quarterback Braelyn Jones found Jakob Hemphill on a 25-yard throw, and Hemphill came down with a closely contested catch in the end zone. The Roos took the lead 14-13 and did not look back.
Weatherford's Jones connected with receiver Parker Clark on a 71-yard bomb for a score and with tight end Austin Moore on a screen he took 20 yards for another.
The Roos led 26-13 at halftime after not converting either extra points.
The second half saw Weatherford pick up where it left off. The Roos scored on two short runs from Quimby and Jones that pushed the lead to 40-13.
Granbury showed some fight, getting a big punt return before Taylor scored on a 12-yard run to cut the lead to 40-20.
The Roos answered back when Jones found Hemphill, and he took it 71 yards for a touchdown. Weatherford's lead grew to 47-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final period saw Weatherford start to put in some reserves on both sides of the ball. The standout plays of the quarter included the Roo defense holding the Pirates out of the end zone on fourth down from Weatherford's 10-yard line and Cole Schrantz recovering a fumble for the Roos’ third turnover of the game. The offense saw receiver Eli Garrett score on a short run for the game’s final score.
Weatherford coach Marshall Williams thought his team played sloppy in the first quarter.
"These are two teams on Highway 51 that have been playing a long time," Williams said. "A lot of these kids know each other. We just had to play and eliminate all of the personal battles and that kind of stuff. We did overcome some penalties, and it was pretty sloppy that first quarter, but I'm proud of our kids for taking a deep breath -- take some coaching, take some butt-chewing and go play."
Weatherford improves to 5-2 on the season and 3-1 in district. The Roos travel to Aledo on Friday, Oct. 23.
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