Turnovers help Cedar Hill roll over Arlington

By Josh Bowe

Special to the Star-Telegram

MANSFIELD -- Cedar Hill was opportunistic during its Class 5A Division II regional semifinal against Arlington on Saturday.

The Longhorns seemed to convert every big mistake by the Colts into points, picking up a 49-14 victory at Newsom Stadium and advancing to the state quarterfinals to play Waco Midway in Midlothian at 2 p.m. Saturday.

"We made the best of opportunities, especially in the red zone," junior quarterback Damion Hobbs said. "All we needed to do was execute. The scoreboard shows it. We executed in a big way."

After a 13-play drive on its first possession resulted in Hobbs' first rushing score, Cedar Hill (9-4) took advantage of some Arlington miscues. Junior defensive back Jonathan Buffin returned an intercepted pass 64 yards for a touchdown to put the Longhorns up 14-7 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Arlington (10-3) had a bad snap on a punt attempt that gave Cedar Hill the ball on Arlington's 19. The Longhorns struck quickly, with senior running back Laquvionte Gonzalez running in a touchdown on the next play to give Cedar Hill a 20-7 lead.

On Arlington's next possession, the Colts' offense appeared to be waking up. Arlington picked up two quick first downs, but then fumbled with 1:25 to play in the second quarter.

Cedar Hill again took advantage, taking just four plays for Hobbs to score his second rushing touchdown, from 3 yards out. The Longhorns led 28-7 at halftime.

"We haven't lost a game in three years when we've caused three turnovers," Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire said. "We caused three today and it was huge."

Cedar Hill's defense frustrated Arlington's offense all afternoon. The Colts scored on their opening drive, but only picked up four first downs to close out the first half, in which they were limited to just 98 total yards.

It didn't get much better in the second half.

Hobbs connected with senior wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo for a 19-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, and senior running back Larry Hill scored on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter. Senior running back Tarik Crear scored the Longhorn's final points on a 4-yard touchdown run.

Arlington didn't score its second touchdown until its last drive of the game, a 1-yard run by senior quarterback Connor Huffman.

"You've got to play your best football game and obviously today we didn't," Arlington coach Scott Peach said.

"Cedar Hill had a lot to do with that. A lot of credit goes to them."

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