Godley Pulls Away in the Second Half to Upset No. 4 Tatum, 40-15

TEAGUE — The Godley Wildcats scored the final 33 points of the game to pull away from No. 4 Tatum, 40-15, in the area round of Class 2A playoffs Friday night at Lion Stadium.

Tatum missed several opportunities early in the game, and the Eagles committed four turnovers in the second half which allowed Godley to pull away. The rain and conditions also favored Godley's rushing attack, and the Wildcats were able to dominate ball control in the second half.

On the first play of the game, Godley's Taylor Luce fumbled and the Eagles recovered at the Godley 11. The Godley defense forced Tatum to kick a Dusty Richardson 27-yard field goal.

On the second play of the Wildcats' ensuing possession, Tatum's Chaston Brooks intercepted Godley's Ian Aguirre at the Godley 40.

But again, the Godley defense forced Tatum to a punt. The slick conditions caused a bad snap and the punter muffed it, and Godley took over at their own 49.

Nine plays later, the Wildcats took a 7-3 lead on a 6-yard run by Luce.

Tatum reclaimed the lead at 9-7 on a 20-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Shans with eight seconds left in the opening quarter.

The Wildcats turned the ball over on downs on their next drive, and Tatum took over at the Wildcat 44.

Three plays later, J.D. Taylor put the Eagles up 15-7 on a 39-yard run. Both of Tatum's point-after conversions were no good.

Godley had its third turnover of the game on its next drive, but the Wildcat defense held strong again. On fourth-and-9, Kyshaun Smith was stuffed for a loss of 3, and Godley took over on downs.

From there, the Wildcats took control of the game.

The Wildcats then marched down the field, highlighted by a 36-yard pass from Aguirre to Devin Bolden on third-and-8, and scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Aguirre to pull within 15-13 at halftime.

While it was Godley who had turnover issues in the first half, the Eagles came out of halftime and fumbled on their second play of the half.

Godley took advantage and scored on the following drive on another 1-yard quarterback sneak from Aguirre to put the Wildcats up 19-15 for the lone score of the third quarter.

The Wildcats scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Godley scored on a 54-yard fumble return by Jerry Taft, and a pair of Luce runs from 57 and 13 yards.

Luce was the workhorse for the Wildcats as he finished with 220 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries.

Tatum's offense was held to 16 yards passing on 4-of-10 attempts. The Eagles had 239 rushing yards on 39 attempts.

Courtesy Cleburne Times-Review