The Hart Longhorns got their licks in early but couldn’t hang on as they dropped their district opener 54-8 on the road to the fifth ranked Whitharral Panthers. Whitharral started in good field position and worked their way into the red zone on their first possession, but Hart forced them to turn over on downs. Hart’s drive started deep in their territory and went nowhere, ending in a short punt that gave Whitharral the ball on the Longhorn 15 yard line.
The next play saw the Panthers’ Shamadrick Weaver score with 6:11 left in the first quarter.
Hart turned over on downs on their next two possessions, but Whitharral lost two fumbles, one on the first play of their next two drives.
The second fumble gave Hart the ball on Whitharral’s 9yard line. Ely Hernandez ran the ball in for the Longhorns only score. Draven Dominguez’s kick was good and the score was tied with 1:39 left in the first period.
Whitharral’s next drive ended with a 4-yard touchdown from Weaver and a Griffin kick for a 16-0 Panther lead. They never trailed again in the game.
Whitharral scored four touchdowns in the second quarter, one of which was a pick six. Hart’s possessions, with exception of the interception, each ended in a turnover on downs. Whitharral led 48-8 at half-time.
Hart opened the third quarter with a drive that got down to the Whitharral 13-yard line before stalling and turning over on downs. Whitharral took over on their own 11-yard line and worked their way down for the final score, a 4-yard pass from Ellard to Ryan McDaniel with 4:45 left in the third quarter.
Victor Nunez went 6-for-14 for 42 yards with an interception. Hernandez had a 10-yard pass. Draven Dominguez went 1-for-2 for 9 yards and Noah Marin went 2-for-3 for 4-yards.
Hernandez had 12 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown. Victory Nunez had eight rushes for 39 yards.
Hugo Perez had two carries for 10 yards. Marin had three carries for 3 yards and Kaleb Chavez had a single carry back to the line of scrimmage.
Draven Dominguez had three catches for 24 yards; Chavez had two for 17 yards; and Dominic Dominguez had three catches for 9 yards.
Hernandez had a 9-yard catch and Nunez had one for six.
Draven Dominguez had three tackles, as did Marin. Nunez had 2.5; Hernandez had two; and Dominic Dominguez had a tackle and an assist.
The Longhorns will face Lazbuddie at a home game on Friday.