Fort Bend Marshall shuts down Texas City in 5A Texas high school football showdown
TEXAS CITY, Texas — After its first drive of the night stalled out near midfield, Fort Bend Marshall's punt unit made its trip onto the field.
Marshall punted deep into Texas City territory with a herd of Buffalos soon swarming around the Stingarees' return man.
The incoming punt bounced off the return man's face mask and onto the turf, where the Buffs fell on the loose ball for their first takeaway of the night.
A few plays later, senior wide receiver and Houston Cougars commit Jakoby Banks burned a defensive back in one-on-one coverage and made a reaching touchdown grab in stride on a 25-yard pass from senior quarterback Jordon Davis.
The sequence kickstarted a fantastic first quarter for the Buffalos, who scored 21 straight points on a series of big plays and delivered a dominant defensive performance, as Fort Bend Marshall shut down Texas City in a 40-0 win Friday at Stingaree Stadium.
The victory helped the Buffs extend their three-game winning streak in district play and keeps Marshall at the top of the District 9-5A DII standings.
After Banks got his team on the board midway through the opening quarter, the Buffalos found the end zone on another pair of big-play touchdowns on back-to-back scoring drives.
Fort Bend Marshall struck again when junior running back Jonathan Haynes found a hole in Texas City's defense and burst up the middle, beating a pack of pursuing Stingarees' defenders to the goal line on a 54-yard touchdown run.
On their ensuing possession, the Buffs scored again on a sensational touchdown catch by sophomore wide Jaykayden Ferguson.
Ferguson made the play of the night when he hauled in a 29-yard touchdown reception from Davis on a leaping, one-handed grab at the back-right corner of the end zone and dragged his toes along the turf before falling out of bounds for the score.
The highlight-reel touchdown pass from Davis to Ferguson helped the Buffaloes end the first quarter with a commanding 21-0 lead, but the Stingarees turned the tide during the second quarter.
Texas City held Fort Bend Marshall scoreless for the entirety of the second quarter, highlighted by several timely sacks by sophomore linebacker Kaden Clay and a sideline interception by defensive back Tyler Watts to end the first half.
Fort Bend Marshall (5-1, 3-0) will look to keep adding to its three-game district winning streak when the Buffs battle the Nederland Bulldogs (1-4, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, at Stafford Municipal School District Stadium in Stafford.
Texas City (3-3, 2-2), meanwhile, will have a bounce-back opportunity when the Stingarees return to action next week against the Fort Bend Willowridge Eagles (1-4, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, at Stingaree Stadium in Texas City.
Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:
PHOTO GALLERY — FORT BEND MARSHALL 40, TEXAS CITY 0
All photos by Rob August