The Weatherford Kangaroos football team enters its bye week at the mid-point of their season and already this season has been a win.
The Roos sit at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in District 3-6A, with the high of coming off a district blowout win on homecoming. The three wins this season already equals the previous two seasons’ win totals as they head into the second part of the season.
With new coach Marshall Williams bringing a lot of strategies on both sides of the ball, along with a roster that features a large percentage playing varsity football for the first time. There was bound to be growing pains to start the season. That came to head in the home opener.
Week 1
Weatherford opened against a solid Burleson Centennial team (now 4-1) that jumped out to a 28-7 lead in the first half. The Roos outscored the Spartans 14-3 in the second half to make it a game but ran out of time in the fourth quarter as they lost 31-21.
The Roos had some special teams issues, and the offense only had a few drives where everything came together, along with committing two turnovers. The defense recovered from a rough start and bad situations during the game to show the in-game adjustments coordinator Jacob Holley has been able to make in most games throughout the season.
Week 2
Weatherford got their first win 28-14 on the road against Azle (now 3-2). The Roos led nearly the whole game — up 14-7 at halftime and extending it to 21-7 in the third quarter.
Quarterback Braelyn Jones rushed for three touchdowns and 100 yard, but the defense was the star as it had two goal line stands that ended up making the difference.
Week 3
The Roos were able to earn another road win, 31-18 against Paschal (now 1-4) despite a flat first half.
After a first-drive touchdown, Weatherford struggled the rest of the first half and a last minute score before halftime allowed the Panthers to take a 12-7 lead.
The Roos came out on fire in the third quarter and strung together three touchdowns, two of them electric catches from receiver Jakob Hemphill, along with a fumble recovery on a kickoff that turned the game around.
The defense made a great second-half adjustment and only a touchdown late in the fourth quarter kept it from being a second half shutout. The special teams contributed toward the 21-point explosion in the third quarter.
Week 4
The start of district was a game Weatherford knew was going to be tough, but at the time no one knew quite how tough. Undefeated Arlington Martin (now 5-0), which the next week would upset state power Aledo, had a happy homecoming as the Warriors ran away with a 60-17 win against the Roos.
Weatherford took a 7-0 lead after both a stop and first drive score, but there was little good after that as Martin proved it was too much for the Roos.
Week 5
Homecoming against Arlington Sam Houston (now 3-2) proved to be type of game the Roos had been waiting for all season, winning 59-10 and earning the program its first homecoming victory since 2022.
Everything seemed to go right from the start of the game in all three phases for Weatherford. D.J. Quimby scored a season-high four touchdowns and Jones threw for a season-high four touchdowns to four receivers. Defensively, the team forced two turnovers, returning one for a touchdown.
Williams said he has been encouraged by the progression his team has made week to week and hopes that continues.
“The familiarity with the new offense and defense showed last Friday,” Williams said. “What has stood out to me is we are staying the process and continuing to believe in the process. We are progressing the right way one week at a time.”
Weatherford is scheduled to play Arlington Lamar at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at University of Texas at Arlington.
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