BIGGER THAN FOOTBALL: Windthorst hangs on for emotional 28-27 victory over Archer City

Sometimes it’s more than a football game.

When Archer City and Windthorst squared off on Friday night, football was the last thing on either communities’ mind after a Windthorst student was tragically killed in a car accident mere hours before kickoff.

“It was very important to play this game tonight,” Archer City coach Bradan Ritchey said. “It provided a sense of normalcy for both these communities. Life has a way of putting things in perspective really quick. It’s just football. I’m glad this rivalry generates a little bit of respect when we come together like that.”

“Giving the town an escape for a few hours affected our decision to play,” Windthorst coach Chris Tackett added. “There’s no right way to do things when something like that happens. We thought it might be a good idea for us to have all the kids in one place and give them an outlet. After tonight, we’re giving them however much time they need.”

Windthorst (6-2, 4-0) escaped Wildcat Stadium with a 28-27 win after Archer City’s (3-4, 1-3) 2-point try with 1:22 remaining in the contest was no good, giving the Trojans their 15th-consecutive win in the series dating back to 2009.

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Archer City quarterback Landon Smith rolled to his left on the game’s decisive play but immense pressure by Windthorst’s Jaxon Stark and Jaxon West ultimately proved too much as Smith was brought down for a sack.

“I saw him rolling out and I knew I didn’t want him to score,” Stark said. “It would’ve been a bad feeling losing to those guys for the first time in 14 years. I wanted to win it for Windthorst and didn’t want to be the team to lose to them.”

“We did not want to be the team to lose to them,” West echoed. “I knew on that play I had to keep outside contain. I saw him roll out and went and made a play.”

“I dreamed about it last night and that was the play call all along,” Ritchey said on the 2-point try. “I was never going to call anything different. If we had one play where we had to go for two all night, it was that one. I was 99.99% sure it was going to work. Our kids fight. Our kids fight week in and week out and I wanted to put it in their hands.”

The Wildcats made a furious fourth quarter rally to even be in the position to go for the win.

Trailing 28-14 with four minutes to go, Archer City safety Kole Stovall jumped an out route and set the Wildcats up with a first and goal. Smith found a wide-open Chance Warren for a 5-yard score a few plays later to pull the Wildcats within a score of the Trojans with 3:34 to play.

Archer City kicker Kline Mayo executed the onside kick to perfection, allowing Warren to make a leaping snag on a high hop to give the Wildcats one final possession.

With 1:22 to play, Smith again connected with Warren for a 15-yard score to set up the pivotal 2-point try.

Windthorst signal-caller Brock Belcher accounted for all four of the Trojans’ scores, going 12 of 22 for 201 yards and two scores through the air while the 152-pound freshman shouldered the load in the ground game with 156 yards on 26 carries and two scores.

Archer City’s Laine Hall led all players with 183 rushing and two first-half touchdowns on 14 carries.

Smith threw for 191 yards on 17-of-29 passing for 129 yards with two scoring tosses to Warren.

The Trojans set up a district title showdown at home against Seymour next week while the Wildcats travel to Petrolia in a winner-take-all game for the No. 4 playoff seed.

WINDTHORST 28, ARCHER CITY 27

Windthorst 13 8 7 0 -28

Archer City 7 7 0 13 -27

FIRST QUARTER

W – Brayden Berend 40 pass from Brock Belcher (Kasen Wiles kick)

AC – Laine Hall 18 run (Noah Cornell kick)

W – Belcher 3 run (kick failed)

SECOND QUARTER

AC – Hall 71 run (Cornell kick)

W – Belcher 4 run (Belcher run)

THIRD QUARTER

W – Wiles 33 pass from Belcher (Wiles kick)

FOURTH QUARTER

AC – Chance Warren 7 pass from Landon Smith (Cornell pass)

AC – Warren 19 pass from Smith (pass failed)

TEAM STATS

First downs: (W) 19; (AC) 15

Rushing: (W) 34-186; (AC) 24-194

Passing: (W) 12-22-2—201; (AC) 17-29-2—191

Punts: (W) 2-45.5; (AC) 4-40.3

Fumbles: (W) 1-0; (AC) 0-0

Penalties: (W) 1-10; (AC) 10-79

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: (W) Brock Belcher 26-156, Cash Armstrong 5-24, Tyler Camacho 2-4, Hayden Cavazos 1-2; (AC) Laine Hall 14-183, Kline Mayo 4-31, Team 1-(-5), Landon Smith 5-(-15).

PASSING: (W) Belcher 12-22-2—201; (AC) Smith 17-29-2—191.

RECEIVING: (W) Brayden Berend 3-83, Kolby Teakell 3-73, Kasen Wiles 4-38, Jaxon Stark 1-6, Armstrong 1-1; (AC) Isaac Dieguez 7-65, Hal 3-47, Chance Warren 4-44, Layken Cagle 1-27, Johnathon Clay 1-8, Kole Stovall 1-0.

RECORDS: Windthorst 6-2, 4-0; Archer City 3-4, 1-3.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Archer City Wildcats at Windthorst Trojans high school football score