Magnolia West Football Tops New Caney, To Play For District Title

NEW CANEY, TX — The stage is set for a championship showdown.

Magnolia West rumbled for 307 yards on the ground as the Mustangs powered their way to a 31-24 victory over New Caney in a District 8-5A Division I matchup Friday night at Randall Reed Stadium.

The win marks the first 9-0 start to a season in Magnolia West (6-0 in 8-5A-I) history, and it sets up a de facto 8-5A Division I championship game between the Mustangs and second-ranked College Station (9-0, 6-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Mustang Stadium.

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Magnolia West will be vying for the second district title in program history and first since 2017. A win over the Cougars also would give the Mustangs their first outright district championship.

“We’ve got a big one,” Magnolia West head coach Ben McGehee said. “[There’s] a heck of a football team coming [to play us] in College Station, ranked No. 1 in some polls and probably the lowest they’re ranked is No. 2 in the state. We know we’ve got a big team coming in. Our guys have just got to get focused, and the coaches have to go make a plan and see if we can execute it next week.”

On Friday, the Mustangs held on late by turning to their trusty ground game.

New Caney quarterback Cornelius Banks II led a long drive and capped it with a 14-yard touchdown to Cameron Thomas to bring the Eagles within 31-24 with just over 4 minutes left and all three timeouts remaining.

Magnolia West didn’t give Banks another chance. New Caney spent its last timeout after a third-down stop at midfield with 2:27 left, but the Mustangs’ offensive line got plenty of push on fourth-and-1, guiding quarterback Brock Dalton for four yards to seal the game.

“We’ve leaned on our run game a lot this year, and I think that’s one of the strengths of our offense,” McGehee said. “We knew we had to have it tonight to beat a good New Caney team. We knew we were going to have to have the quarterback be a little more involved tonight, and Brock did a great job making reads and running the football. ... We were able to finish strong right there at the end.”

Magnolia West running back Hunter Bilbo rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, and Dalton added 16 carries for 113 yards. He also threw for 69 yards and a touchdown on 6-of-12 passing.

Bilbo’s 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Wade Nobles gave Magnolia West a 31-17 cushion late in the third quarter after New Caney kicker Israel Oregon had cut into the lead with a 28-yard field goal.

Banks and Thomas led a New Caney offense that gave the Eagles a chance to win it late. Banks completed 16 of 25 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, both to Thomas, who finished with four catches for 124 yards. Arkez Gomez added 57 yards on five catches. Kedrick Reescano paced the Eagles’ running game with 12 carries for 66 yards.

The game turned on a pair of big plays on defense and special teams late in the first half that helped Magnolia West grab a 24-14 halftime lead.

With New Caney punting from its own 12-yard line with a little over a minute and a half left in the second quarter, a couple Magnolia West rushers broke through the line and blocked the kick. Junior Kai Aroca-Disdier recovered the ball in the end zone, and Magnolia West grabbed a 21-14 lead.

New Caney drove near midfield, but the Mustangs sacked Banks and stripped the ball, recovering at the New Caney 37-yard line with 27 seconds left. Magnolia West drove to the 6-yard line with 1 second left, and kicker Hector Chapparo booted a 23-yard field goal through the uprights for a 24-14 lead.

Bilbo had a strong first half, rushing for 165 yards on 13 carries with two long touchdown runs. His first came on his third carry of the game when he broke up the middle for a 54-yard score. All three plays on the 71-yard opening drive were Bilbo runs.

“The hole was not big, so I had to have good vision and turn on the jets,” Bilbo said.

New Caney’s Kayden Cooper wasted no time tying the game up as he took a reverse on the kickoff and returned it for a touchdown just 12 seconds after Bilbo’s run.

Bilbo scored again on the last play of the first quarter, taking an inside handoff 63 yards for a touchdown to give Magnolia West a 14-7 lead. Two plays later, New Caney tied it up again as Banks hit Thomas on a slant, with Thomas splitting the safeties for a 74-yard touchdown.

New Caney (7-2, 5-2) is third in the district and already has clinched a playoff spot. The Eagles will face Magnolia next week to determine playoff seeding.