Wynter Smith's heroics lead Brandeis over O'Connor in last-minute victory

Brandeis Wynter Smith (19) scores the winning touchdown on a 54 yard run. Brandeis defeated O'Connor 35-28 on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026 at Farris Stadium (Ronald Cortes/for the San Antonio Express News)

Wynter Smith rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns in spearheading Brandeis to a 35-28 win over O'Connor in a tense neighborhood showdown between the Northside ISD schools Saturday at Farris Stadium.

Two of Smith's rushing scores came in the pivotal fourth quarter, including the game-winning touchdown on a 54-yard scamper with 43 seconds remaining.

Smith's heroics put the exclamation point on a seesaw second half battle between the two squads before a packed crowd of over 7,700 fans, as Brandeis continued its recent dominance of O'Connor, a team it hasn't lost to since 2018.

It was the second year in a row that the Brandeis-O'Connor game has gone down the wire, with Brandeis winning last year's matchup 42-38.

Smith said Brandeis is a team that is used to playing in pressure-packed games.

"Last year, every game we had adversity," Smith said. "Most of our games had adversity. We have a lot of returners and great leaders on our team that know how to face adversity and handle it well. Our game plan was to get our minds right move on from what happened in the past and go do what we can do right now and handle what we can handle."

Smith said he was able to take advantage of an overly aggressive O'Connor defense to set up his scoring runs.

"They were really sending the heat from both the boundary and to the field," Smith said. "So, they left the middle wide open, and we've seen that on field and we just did it, made it happen."

Brandeis coach Kemmie Lewis said Smith has the knack for coming up with big plays when needed.

Brandeis Wynter Smith (19) celebrates his 54 yard winning touchdown run. Brandeis defeated O'Connor 35-28 on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026 at Farris Stadium (Ronald Cortes/for the San Antonio Express News)

"Most definitely, we're going to put the ball in his hands," Lewis said. "He has done this time and time again for us in the past three years. He shows his resiliency. He's one of those players, he's dynamic. He wants to have the ball in those key moments. We're going to keep feeding him."

O'Connor rallied from a 21-7 deficit in the first half to take a 25-21 lead late in the third quarter before Smith, the Brandeis senior quarterback, took it upon himself to rally his team from behind in the final quarter. Smith started the comeback on a 14-yard scoring run off a direct snap, dashing into the end zone untouched to put Brandeis up 28-25 with 7:18 remaining in the game, capping a 14-play, 82-yard drive.

On O'Connor's ensuing possession, Brandeis' Greggory Sharkey intercepted Panther quarterback Wade Carpenter, giving Brandeis an opportunity to run some time off. Instead, O'Connor forced Brandeis into a fourth-and-2 situation at the Broncos 25-yard line. Lewis made the decision to go for it, but the decision backfired when the O'Connor defense stuffed Smith for a 1-yard loss.

"We knew our defense was finally clicking, we understood what they were going to do," Lewis said. "I have full trust in my offense and respect for my O-line. We called his (Smith's) number. Obviously, they (O'Connor) played it well. We didn't get it, but I did trust my defense to come out and get a stop."

The Panthers turned the defensive stop into a game-tying 35-yard field goal by Jacob Martinez, knotting the score at 28 with over a minute left in the game.

Smith wasn't discouraged, though, as he bounced back on the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing possession, bolting off the left side on the 54-yard scoring run as he staggered into the end zone to give Brandeis the late lead. The Broncos stopped O'Connor's desperation drive in the final seconds to secure the win.

Brandeis Hakim Frampton (1) runs for yardage In the first half on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026 at Farris Stadium (Ronald Cortes/for the San Antonio Express News)

Brandeis jumped to the early lead when it recovered an O'Connor fumble on the first play of the game to set up a 15-yard scoring strike from Smith to Hakim Frampton, just 13 seconds into the game.

O'Connor tied the game late in the first quarter, utilizing its ball control rushing attack led by running back Wyatt McKenzie, who scored on a 4-yard run at the 3:24 mark of the frame, capping a 13-play, 64-yard drive that took four minutes off the clock.

McKenzie had 135 yards rushing and accounted for 217 total yards, including 82 receiving yards, to lead O'Connor.

Brandeis took a two-touchdown advantage in the second quarter, starting on a 27-yard scoring run from Bryce Potter and a 33-yard scamper from Smith, which was set up by an interception by Hampton, who also plays defensive back. It was one of two interceptions Hampton had in the contest, as Brandeis intercepted Carpenter three times.

O'Connor methodically started its comeback on a 38-yard field goal from Martinez with 2:41 remaining in the first half, bringing the Panthers within 21-10.

In the third quarter, O'Connor went to its bag of tricks to get within striking distance of Brandeis, as Mauricio Galvan threw to tight end Luke Rigby on a four-yard score on a fake field goal attempt, before Carpenter crashed into the end zone on the two-point run to trim the Brandeis lead to 21-18 with 5:25 in the third.

After forcing Brandeis to go three-and-out and punt, Carpenter connected with McKenzie up the middle for a 56-yard catch and run, giving O'Connor its only lead of the game.

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