CARROLLTON – Hebron’s 21-20 win over visiting Mesquite Horn came down to a shoe, a foot and several inches.
After two Travis Tamez field goals put Horn up 20-14, the Jaguars’ kicker missed a 42-yard attempt with 4:05 left in the game. That miss proved to be the difference when Hebron immediately took the ball down the field and scored on a 4-yard run by Dezmond Wortham.
It was a back-and-forth first half, with Hebron playing catch-up after Horn’s touchdown on the 91-yard opening drive. Both offenses sputtered for the rest of the first quarter. Hebron scored a 13-yard touchdown run from quarterback Joseph Farley in the second quarter.
Horn scored just three minutes later, with seven minutes remaining in the half, on a 12-yard run from Trayvon Marsh. It took Hebron less than a minute to drive the ball back down the field on two carries, and Farley scored his second touchdown of the night with a 34-yard run.
In the end, those first-half touchdowns were almost irrelevant, and Hebron’s lead from the second half’s only touchdown hinged on a long extra-point attempt. Despite a 10-yard penalty after Wortham removed his helmet in the end zone, Hebron kicker Blake Madden completed the extra point.
The game was sealed when the Hawks stopped Horn’s attempt at a fourth-down conversion with 1:30 left in the game.