Benton blowout

Texas defeats the Tigers from Louisiana in landslide

Story by Kailyn Williams, Sports Editor

September 8, 2023

Leaping over the Benton defense, Sophomore running back, Tradarian Ball sprints for the end zone. The Texas Tigers smushed the Benton Tigers with a score of 62-14.

The Texas Tigers demolished the Tigers of Benton in a blowout victory 62-14 on Sept. 8, 2023.

The Benton Tigers came out early and scored within the first few minutes on a touchdown pass to take the 7-0 lead.

Texas countered immediately with junior quarterback David Potter completing a 72-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver TJ Gray with 10:06 remaining in the first, tying the game 7-7.

Sophomore Tradarian Ball tacked on his first touchdown of the night after a punt return with 8:38 remaining in the quarter.

The Tiger defense played lights out, with sophomore Duncan McGhee dropping the Benton quarterback with a sack.

The Texas offense held all momentum through the entirety of the first quarter. Sophomore Kameron Wrightner made his way into the endzone on first and goal, making the score 21-7 with 6:10 remaining in the first quarter.

Ball got a touchdown called back for a holding offense, but junior running back Jabari Johnson pulled through with three consecutive first-down runs. Johnson ultimately ran the ball in for a touchdown, but the kick came up no good, making the score 27-7 going into the second quarter.

Within the opening minutes of the second quarter, Potter completed a long pass to senior receiver Brandon Hall for a touchdown, extending the lead to 34-7.

“I feel like this was one of those games that I had to really step up for my team,” Hall said. “I had to play more than one position tonight, I wasn’t just at receiver. I just did what I had to do.”

The majority of the second quarter went quiet for both offenses, the Texas defense stepped up for some big stops.

“I feel like I played pretty well tonight,” senior Trystan Powell said. “I feel like I came up with a lot of good plays and got a lot of good tackles in the backfield.”

Potter completed a long pass to Gray, getting the ball spotted at the two-yard line. Ball ran the two yards for a touchdown on the following play, making the score 41-7 with 3:42 remaining in the half.

With less than a minute in the half, Potter completed back-to-back passes to Hall, moving the Tigers downfield, and the second for a touchdown to close out the half 48-7 in favor of Texas.

After a thirty-minute lightning delay after halftime, the Tigers took the field to receive the kickoff.

Potter completed another touchdown pass to Hall with 9:10 remaining in the third quarter to make the score 55-7.

Benton answered with a touchdown of their own after taking the risk on fourth down. The score was 55-14 with 6:36 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers stayed on the gas offensively, tacking on another touchdown from junior Keylan Nash, increasing the Texas lead to 62-14 at the end of the third.

The score remained unchanged through the fourth quarter, with Texas winning with a final score of 62-14.

About the Contributors

Kailyn Williams, Sports Editor

Kailyn Williams is a third-year senior member of the newspaper staff and Sports Editor. She is an overachieving perfectionist, who doesn’t like failing. She is a member of the varsity volleyball and softball team and likes to maintain straight A’s.

Kristina Colburn, Assignments Editor

Kristina Colburn is currently the Photo Assignments Editor for THS Publications. She is also a member of National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Key Club, AP Ambassadors, HOSA, Model UN and the Multicultural Club. In her spare time, Kristina likes to relax and listen to music, shop online, thrift and occasionally pick up a book. In addition, she likes to travel. She has been to France and Spain, and is hoping she can travel more in the upcoming years. In the future, Kristina aims to major in Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas or Anthropology at Baylor University.

Anna Haley, assignments editor

Anna Haley is a third-year staff photographer, serving as Tiger Times Assignments Editor. Anna enjoys fishing and hunting, but if she isn't doing that, she’s reading at her desk, getting some piercing or playing Guns N’ Roses through the speakers in Room 50A. Anna is involved in National Honor Society & Mu Alpha Theta and is a 2-year member of the Texas Imagemaker Team (Top 10 Photographers in the state of Texas), as well as an ILPC All-State Journalist & hopes to be a recurring member of both. Anna is a die-hard Aggie fan, but she will miss her beloved sidekick, EIC, Oviya Justin, when she ventures to the dreaded University of Texas. She is excited for her last year in publications!

Blaise Larry-Cox, Culture Editor

Blaise Larry-Cox is a senior and second year Publications member. He is the Culture Editor, a first year photographer and the producer of the THS podcast, Breaking Snooze. Outside of publications he is in Model UN, STUCCO, and multiple other things that look good on a college resume. He would love to help anyone with anything, because he definitely doesn't already have enough to do! He plans on helping the program win awards such as Gold Crown and Pacemaker in order to cement Texas High as the best publication in Texas. In his free time you can find him editing videos and photos for his instagram account, @blaisefilms, or grilling, which he annoyingly posts on his Snapchat story, “Tonight’s Dish”.

Truth Dukes, Social Media Manager

Truth Dukes is a third year returning year staff photographer and is the current Social Media Editor for photography. She enjoys creative multimedia work, and plans to study Media Marketing after high school at the University of North Texas. Truth is excited to help lead the photographers this year aside the other photo editors, but is sad to finish her last year of being a staff photographer.

Yaneira Mendoza, Visual Journalist

Sophomore Yaneira Mendoza is a first year to THS publications. She likes to cook and listen to music in her free time. She also she enjoys to spend time with her three siblings. She hopes that she is able to spread information with her photos and reach her community.