The Texas High Tigers traveled to Benton Louisiana and defeated the Benton Tigers 46-35. A very high scoring affair, in which both teams played with their backup quarterbacks most of the game and ultimately it came down to a lot of the young guys. 

Texas High started off extremely well with an 86 yard touchdown on a slant route from senior quarterback Cody Reese to sophomore receiver TJ Gray with 8:52 left in the first. Benton proceeded to go 3 and out, unable to get a first down, however they managed to recover a muffed punt that set them up in great field position which allowed Benton junior running back Greg Manning to get in the end-zone with 5:58 in the first.

Texas High was not shaken at all as freshman running back Tradarian Ball took the kickoff 96 yards to the house. This play really shifted the momentum to Texas High favors as on the next drive senior defensive end Ean Crite jumped seemingly 10 feet in the air to make an athletic interception and returned 24 yards for a touchdown. Benton Tigers then drove down the field and elected to let the first quarter run out on 4th and goal.

On the first play of the second quarter Texas HIgh had a huge defensive stand on the goal line. This did not mean much however as Benton got the ball right back and scored on a run by senior Landon Duggan. Texas High answered strongly with many big plays capped off by a 4 yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Javari Johnson with 6 minutes left in the half. On this drive however Reese was taken out of the game due to a dislocated shoulder and sophomore David Potter came in to replace him.

“I was nervous because I have never really played on a Friday night before,” Potter said. “But I got in, did a few good things and got over it.”

The last 4 minutes was a shootout, started with a Benton 30 yard touchdown reception from senior Andy Lim. Potter responded with a long, 69 yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Xavier Dangerfield. Benton didn’t stop there though as they managed to take the top off the Texas Defense for a 72 yard touchdown reception by senior Pierce Russell. And with no time left in the half freshman running back made a crazy play catching it between 2 defenders and ran it into the endzone. This extended the Texas lead to 11, which made it 39-28 at half.

“It was a hard catch to make, he was all over me grabbing me,” Ball said. “I just knew I had to turn around and make a spectacular catch like I did.”

After a sixty-seven point first half, both teams seemed to slow down a bit. Benton was on the verge of scoring, but on a 4th and 1 in the red zone; senior defensive lineman Brandon Childs made a huge play to give Texas back the ball. Texas responded well with a 23 yard reception from Gray followed by a 17 yard touchdown run from Ball; his third of the game. Which took the game into the 4th quarter, Texas ahead 46-35.

The 4th quarter was extremely defensive as Texas was trying to put the game away, and After a fumble recovered by sophomore linebacker Isaiah Dowden they managed to do just that and win the game 46-35.

“We played a ton of people tonight and guys gave a hand in a victory against a really good football team,” head coach Gerry Stanford said.

The Texas Tigers will face the Tyler Legacy at home Sep 16, 2022 at 7 p.m.