— Click or tap here to view the box score —
MESQUITE — Teams in Class 5A Division I that will play in the postseason may want to take notice about what West Mesquite is doing. Running back Kamari Carter said his team could have had a better ground game than what it had on Thursday.
That would be quite a future accomplishment because what West Mesquite showed in a showdown contest was very impressive.
Damarian Robinson rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown while Carter had 114 yards and two touchdowns on just four carries as West Mesquite rolled to a 48-21 win over Carrollton Creekview with first place in District 6-5A-I on the line at Mesquite Memorial Stadium. West Mesquite finished with 378 yards rushing.
West Mesquite was near-perfect in racing to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter, especially with its running game. Robinson opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run with 7:19 remaining, escaping the grasp of a Creekview defender on a fourth-and-goal play. Carter had two carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns in the quarter, scoring on runs of 28 and 59 yards.
West Mesquite completed its fabulous first with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Demetrius Ballard to Richard Clark with 2:12 remaining, two plays after Marcus Watson forced a fumble that Kentrell Blackshear recovered. Carter and Robinson combined for 157 yards in the first quarter and Robinson finished the half with 113 yards.
“We need to get our cuts right. They had a lot of arm tackles and ankle tackles and we practiced about breaking those this week, but I always feel like we can always improve,” Carter said. “It always feels good to dominate an undefeated team. We knew we were going to do our thing. We were going to dominate, and that’s what we did.”
West Mesquite (8-0, 6-0, in 6-5A-I), ranked No. 20 in The Dallas Morning News’ Class 5A area poll, moves a half-game ahead of Creekview (8-1, 6-1) for the 6-5A-I lead. It’s the first time since 1996 West Mesquite has been 8-0.
West Mesquite had a playoff berth clinched entering the game. Creekview suffered its first loss under first-year head coach Dusty Ortiz and was denied a chance to set the school record for the most wins in a season, going back to 2000.
Creekview got on the scoreboard on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Cason Garcia to Isaiah Holiday with 2:52 left in the second quarter, snapping a West Mesquite streak of 13 quarters without allowing a point.
That was an exception to the defense West Mesquite played while the outcome was in doubt. An interception by Antonio Dale set up a 45-yard touchdown pass from Demetrius Ballard to Sean Hunt to give West Mesquite a 48-7 lead with 2:25 left in the third quarter.
West Mesquite had eight tackles for loss with two by standout defensive end Jeremiah Bio Ballard accounted for 172 total yards and three touchdowns in three quarters of play.
“Our linebackers were really good, Jaydon Redmon especially. He and Jailon Hicks do a really good job at setting up the defense,” said coach Stephen Jackson, who is in his first season at West Mesquite. “They showed us some things we haven’t seen, but our defensive staff prepared really well and did a great job getting ready for this.”
Creekview running back DeAndre Richardson finished with 95 yards rushing with a touchdown, a 64-yard scoring run with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. Creekview linebacker Jude Martin finished with three tackles for loss with a sack.
Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.