Brian Gosset: Biggest things from Week 5 of the Fort Worth-area high school football season

Week 5 has already come and gone as Fort Worth-area teams continue their march this season. A lot of action took place with impressive wins and big upsets, plus top recruits proving why they’re some of the best in the state.

Check out the best of the best from the fifth week of the Texas high school football season.

Best win

LD Bell 21, Crowley 17

In a battle of 1-0 District 3-6A teams, the Bell Blue Raiders prevailed over the Eagles in the fourth quarter to stay undefeated at 5-0 and 2-0. Bell continues to have its best start since 2012.

Bell and Crowley had a defensive battle in the second half, but the Blue Raiders scored the go-ahead touchdown from Gracien Anto and then the defense came up with two stops late to secure the win.

The five wins are more than the previous two seasons combined and it’s their first 2-0 start in district since 2013.

Trey Wilson, Tristan Johnson and Kyland Brown came up big on the Bell defense and Elijah Campbell had a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Biggest Upset

FW Southwest 35, Hallettsville 34 OT

Two years ago, Hallettsville played for a UIL Class 3A state championship. This season, the Brahmas entered Week 5 ranked No. 9 in the Class 3A Division 1 state rankings.

Plus, the Brahmas were undefeated at 4-0 and had outscored their last three opponents 101-28.

But the Eagles made the two hour drive to Mary Hardin-Baylor and came away with a thrilling 35-34 overtime win to improve to 4-1 and ending Hallettsville’s undefeated run.

Number

200

Arlington Martin head coach Bob Wager won his 200th career game following the Warriors’ 34-21 win over South Grand Prairie in their District 8-6A opener.

Martin, state ranked and No. 2 in the Class 6A area rankings, is 1-0 and 4-1 overall. Quarterback Tristan Bittle passed for 159 yards and one touchdown while running back Zaire Barrow rushed for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

Wager is in his 17th season as head coach with Martin. The Warriors have reached the playoffs in every season with Wager. They reached the state quarterfinals in 2011.

Martin hasn’t dropped a district game since 2018.

Top recruit

Owen Allen, Sr., RB, Southlake Carroll

Allen, the No. 3 ranked player in the Star-Telegram Top 100 and preseason offensive MVP, rushed for 108 yards and one touchdown during the Dragons’ 62-0 win over Haltom.

Carroll, No. 1 in the Class 6A area rankings, is 2-0 in District 4-6A and 5-0 overall.

Allen surpassed 6,000 yards rushing for his career. He sits at 6,055 yards and has career averages of seven yards per carry and 138 yards in 44 career games.

Allen upped his career total to 33-100 yard rushing games, 94 rushing TDs and 96 overall TDs.

298 yards passing

Bryce Morton, Sr., Richland

Morton had himself a day in the Royals’ 64-9 win over Dallas Adams. Richland improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in district after scoring 29 in the first quarter and 28 in the second quarter.

Morton threw for 298 yards on 13 of 16 passing and six touchdowns. He completed 81.2 percent of his passes and had a QB rating of 161.5 according to Max Preps.

Five different receivers caught a TD pass led by Xavier Johnson who had three.

Through four games, Morton has completed at least 70 percent of his passes, has 1,037 yards passing and 11 touchdown passes against no interceptions over his last three contests.

237 yards rushing

Aaron Darden, Sr., Byron Nelson

With so much focus this season surrounding QB Jake Wilson, it was Darden that stole the show in Byron’s 69-2 win over Timber Creek that pushed the Bobcats record to 5-0 overall.

Darden smashed his career-high with 237 yards rushing on just 21 carries against the Falcons.

He also scored four touchdowns, his second 4 TD game in the past three weeks. He averaged more than 11 yards per rush and had a long of 59 yards.

149 yards receiving

Amarion Henry, Sr., WR, Keller

Henry, No. 29 in the Star-Telegram Top 100, made six catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns in Keller’s 49-28 win over Keller Central in District 4-6A.

Henry, who holds offers from Air Force, Army and Navy, was among the leading 2022 area returners as he was ranked second in touchdown catches (14), second in receiving yards per game (112), second in yards (1,229) and first in catches (78) last season.

Keller improved to 2-0 in district and 5-0 overall.

Undefeated

These teams are still unbeaten after four weeks: Boswell, Carroll, Lake Country, Arlington Heights, Wyatt, Mansfield, Bell, Keller, North Crowley, Byron, Argyle, Timberview, Midlothian, Burleson Centennial, Richland, Tolar, Fort Worth Christian, Temple Christian