Wortham falls to Mart
By Jason Chlapek
MART - No. 1 Mart proved why it was the top-ranked team in Class 2A-Division II Friday night during a 47-22 victory against Wortham on homecoming night at Panther Stadium in Mart.
The Panthers had a trio of 100-yard rushers and forced three Bulldog turnovers. Mart (8-0, 4-0 in District 10-2A-DII) also had five touchdown drives of two plays or less.
Wortham (7-2, 3-1 in 10-2A-DII) held its own for three quarters thanks to a 200-yard rushing night from Tanner Bean, who had a touchdown and a pair of two-point conversion runs. Bean has more than 1,200 yards on the season.
Senior wide receiver Averion Johnson caught two touchdown passes from Jonah Ross in the first half prior to being crowned homecoming king at halftime. The first Ross-to-Johnson scoring toss took place in the first quarter on the Panthers' first play from scrimmage.
Wortham responded with a 12-yard touchdown run from Bean. The senior running back ran in the two-point conversion to give the Bulldogs their only lead of the contest.
Ross and Johnson connected again minutes later to give Mart the lead for good, 13-8. Following Wortham's second punt of the game, De'Montreal Medlock scored on a 70-yard run to increase the Panthers' lead to 20-8.
Mart opened the third quarter with a five-play, 50-yard drive -- the longest drive for the Panthers in the second half. Ross, who had a 15-yard run and a 15-yard pass completion, scored from a yard out to make it 26-8.
The Bulldogs responded with a 5-yard touchdown run from Ryken Lewis. But Ross scored from 44 yards out two plays later to put Mart up 33-14.
Wortham responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that was concluded with a touchdown pass from Lewis to Derek Bullard to trim the deficit to 33-22. But JD Bell scored on runs of 43 and 75 yards to put the game away.
Wortham has next week off for its bye. The Bulldogs host Dawson on Nov. 4 in the final regular season game for NBA Playoffs.
