FORT WORTH — Landon Russell rolled to his right on a naked bootleg and hit Jeremy LaGroue on a two-point conversion pass Friday night to lift No. 2 Fort Worth Nolan to a 43-42 overtime victory over No. 1 TCA-Addison.
Russell, a 6-2 senior who’s headed to Yale University to play basketball, brought Nolan back with his passing arm. Until Russell came in, Nolan was content to bull its way behind the power running of Luke Alves.
In Nolan’s turn in overtime, Alves rumbled for runs of 11 and 12 yards before scoring on a 7-yard run. Nolan coach Joe Prud’homme called timeout and opted for the two-point conversion.
Russell, who only came out for the team last month, took the snap under center, headed to the right and found LaGroue open in the corner of the end zone.
TCA-Addison (4-1, 0-1 in TAPPS 1-I) scored first in overtime as running back Nahshon Ellerbe, who rushed for 255 yards, scored his fifth touchdown on a 1-yard run.
Nolan improved to 4-2 and 2-0 in TAPPS 1-I.
TCA-Addison twice had two-touchdown leads, the second time in the third quarter at 28-14. In the fourth quarter, Alves’ 7-yard scoring run finished off a 12-play, 75-yard drive to make it 28-14 after Grant Muehlstein’s extra-point kick.
TCA-Addison looked as if it had the answer, driving deep into Nolan territory before linebacker Miles Murray intercepted Christian Hutzler and scored on an 85-yard return. Muehlstein’s extra-point kick tied the game at 28 with 4:53 left.
On TCA-Addison’s next play, Ellerbe found an opening over left guard and sprinted 75 yards. Alexander Beiersdorf’s extra-point kick put TCA-Addison back on top.
Russell, who passed for 123 yards, led Nolan right back with a 61-yard drive, hitting Patrick Rich on a 15-yard scoring pass. Muehlstein’s kick tied it with 1:50 left.
TCA-Addison had one last gasp to win the game in regulation. Hutzler and Ellerbe got TCA-Addison down to the Nolan 15 with nine seconds left. A personal-foul penalty wiped out an interception by Nolan’s Andrew Tittor seven seconds earlier.
At the Nolan 15, Beiersdorf’s 25-yard field-goal attempt floated left into a brisky wind from the east.
TCA-Addison rolled up 545 yards of total offense. Hutzler passed for 252 yards.
Ellerbe kept the Nolan defense on its heels most of the game, breaking several runs for long gains. He had touchdown runs of 2, 9 and 16 yards as TCA-Addison built a 21-7 third-quarter lead.
Alves rushed for 179 yards on 33 tough carries. He also scored three touchdowns.
Follow Tommy Cummings on Twitter at @tommycummings.
