Back's big night sends Abilene by Arlington Lamar

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

ARLINGTON -- Abilene running back Marcell Porter rushed for 242 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Eagles past Arlington Lamar 53-34 in a Class 5A Division II area-round game Friday night at Mavericks Stadium.

Abilene (12-0) will play the winner of today's Colleyville Heritage/Denton Ryan game in the Region I semifinals at 2 p.m. Dec. 1 at Northwest ISD Stadium.

After each team scored on their first two possessions of the second half, Porter churned out the final three touchdowns as the Eagles sealed the win.

"I knew coming in that I was going to have to have a big game," Porter said. "I would just like to give my line all of the credit. They blocked their butts off tonight and they gave me opportunities to make plays."

The Vikings (6-6) erased a 14-point deficit by scoring 20 unanswered points in the second quarter. Lamar scored on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Baird to DaQuan Thomas.

The Vikings then recovered an onside kick and capped a six-play, 46-yard drive on a 1-yard run by junior Cameron Smith, who finished with a team-high 134 yards rushing. Lamar took its first lead on a 60-yard pass from Baird to Kavonta Mayweather, but the extra point was blocked.

"There was never any doubt that we weren't giving it our best, they were just the better team," Lamar coach Trent Fuller said. "They are a really good team, they are well coached and they did a good job."

Abilene retook the lead just before the half on a 22-yard strike from quarterback Evin Abbe to Nate Kittley, who also caught a 17-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and returned the opening kick of the second half 99 yards for a score.

Lamar running back Aeron Daniels added a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter.

"I'm really proud of the way our kids worked the last few weeks," Fuller said. "I hope that's something our future kids can build off of."

Jarret Johnson, 817-390-7760

Twitter: @JohnsonJarret

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