Published: October 06, 2008 01:48 pm         

O-fer over

Mineral Wells picks up its first win of the season in exciting fashion, defeating Springtown, 42-21

By Greg Webb - Lone Star News Group

SPRINGTOWN - Mineral Wells saved its best for last, scoring 21 points in a wild fourth quarter and stuffing a two-point conversion attempt in the final seconds to beat Springtown, 42-21, in thrilling fashion.

The win snapped Mineral Wells' 13-game losing streak. The Rams are now 1-4 on the season and 1-1 in District 6-4A.

Down 28-14 at halftime, Mineral Wells had to play catch up in the final two quarters.

“The boys didn't give up,” said Mineral Wells head coach David Bourquin. “And they could have when we were down. I was so proud of them. They came back and played tough.”

Neither defense found the key to consistently slowing down the opposing offense during the night. The Rams' offense put the ball on the ground four times during the game, losing three to Springtown.

“We had some turnovers that gave them some field position,” Bourquin said, “but we didn't let it get us down. We told them at the start of the game that there is liable to be some bad things happen, but we're going to stay positive. And the guys did that.”

The most positive contributor to the Rams' offense on the night was quarterback Clint Parkhill's engineering of the option. Parkhill finished the game with 144 yards, tucking the ball away on 23 carries. The junior had touchdown runs of 13, 10 and 28 yards.

Halfbacks Montel Larkin and Chris Beauchamp each added 102 yards of real estate, with Larkin finding the end zone twice and Beauchamp adding another.

Mineral Wells' offense cranked up for a total of 452 yards against the Springtown defense, most of that coming after the break.

The Porcupines lost two fumbles and were picked twice by the Rams' secondary, one of those preventing a fifth touchdown by Springtown at the end of the first half.

The final period provided fans with plenty of drama, heartache and/or joy.

At 3:30 in the fourth, after Mineral Wells scored its final TD of the game and went up 42-35, Pojo moved the ball on a 12-play, 59-yard drive capped by Clayton Cooper's 1-yard plunge with 23 seconds remaining.

The pivotal decision of the night came when Springtown opted to attempt to end the game with a two-point conversion rather than take the contest to overtime.

“I think [the win] will give the boys some confidence,” Bourquin said. “We've had some tough breaks and some injuries here and there, but now we're starting to gel a little bit.”

The Rams host Boswell Friday night in the 2008 homecoming game at Ram Stadium.



MWHS – 7 7 7 21 - 42

SHS – 0 28 0 13 - 41

Scoring Summary

MWHS - Larkin 29 run (Jacob Holle kick)

SHS - Gathings 3 run (Montana Marsh kick)

SHS - Pierce 65 fumble return (Marsh kick)

MWHS - Parkhill 13 run (Holle kick)

SHS - Cowan 3 run (Marsh kick)

SHS - Gathings 13 run (Marsh kick)

MWHS - Parkhill 10 run (Holle kick)

MWHS - Beauchamp 6 run (Holle kick)

SHS - Gathings 3 run (Marsh kick)

MWHS - Parkhill 28 run (Holle kick)

MWHS - Larkin 45 run (Holle kick)

SHS - Cooper 1 run (run failed)