MIDLOTHIAN — The undefeated Godley Wildcats punched their ticket to the Class 2A Division I regional final on Friday night after a 34-13 victory over Winnsboro at Midlothian ISD Stadium.
Riley Good rushed for 130 yards on 17 carries and had four touchdowns to pace the Wildcats (12-0), while the Godley defense stepped up and forced four first-half turnovers.
Dylan Benge caused two of those in the form of fumbles with perhaps the biggest coming on the opening drive of the game.
After winning the opening toss, Winnsboro took its triple-option attack down to the Godley 1 where it had first and goal until Benge delivered a hit that knocked the ball loose.
The Wildcats failed to capitalize on the drive and were hampered by eight first-half penalties for 55 yards.
After a scoreless first period, Godley scored on its first possession of the second quarter when Good ran it in from 19 yards out.
On the Raiders’ next possession, Winnsboro faced a third-and-12 from its own 38 before Benge delivered a big hit to Raiders’ running back Jordan Massey, who fumbled the ball.
Godley recovered on the Raider 29 and scored six plays later when Good ran it in from seven yards out.
The Wildcats’ Drew Benge forced another fumble late in the quarter and Godley capitalized on it when Good scored from a yard out.
With the first half winding down, Jacob Ramirez intercepted Winnsboro quarterback Christian Bosold.
Wildcat head coach said his defensive unit, which has given up 13 points over the last 12 quarters, came up big.
“They had a huge impact,” Brawner said. “They were on the 1 and were about to go up seven and really give their kids a load of confidence.
“We were able to get a good hit and got the ball back.”
With the Raiders’ ball-control offense trying its hardest to keep the high-powered Godley attack off the field, Brawner said forcing the turnovers was key to the win.
“Our defense did a great job,” Brawner said. “[Winnsboro’s] scheme was to stop us and keep us off the field. They did a good job of that at times, and at times we created turnovers.”
In the third quarter, after a failed onside kick attempt, it took Godley all of three plays to add to its lead.
A 32-yard completion from Good to Ty Young on first-and-10 down to the Winnsboro 27 was the key play in the drive, and Good finished the deal on second-and-two from the 19 by running in his fourth score of the night.
The Raiders answered back with a 19-play, 64-yard scoring drive to put their first points on the board.
Winnsboro running back Nick Parton scored from a yard out, his first of two rushing touchdowns on the night.
Godley’s Landry Martinez had a solid night with 94 yards rushing on 13 carries with one touchdown.
Next up for the Wildcats is a date with undefeated Pilot Point, which knocked off Gunter, 28-14, in the other regional semifinal match on Friday night.
Brawner said his team has work to do after the victory, and must improve before facing the No. 7 Bearcats.
“They’re going to be the new best football team we’ve faced,” Brawner said. “We’ve got to take it one game at a time.
“We didn’t execute as best we could [tonight]. Hopefully, we’ll play better next time than we did today.”
Kickoff for the regional final game is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Saginaw High School.
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