Allen scores 36 unanswered to overcome second quarter hole and defeat McKinney
Allen, the No. 3-ranked team in Class 6A according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, has withstood every blow that been thrown in its direction so far this season.
Friday night was another example of how well the Eagles respond to adversity.
Jordan Johnson rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries and the Eagles scored 36 unanswered points after trailing by one point in the second quarter in a 49-21 rout of McKinney in a District 9-6A clash at Eagle Stadium.
Allen (5-0 overall, 2-0 9-6A) overcame state-ranked Cedar Hill (won 41-28) and Dickinson (38-24) in Weeks 1 and 2 before earning a seven-point victory over Coppell (28-21) in the final non-district game for both teams and following that up with blow-out wins over Plano (56-20) and McKinney to begin district play.
“I think this team, even though most people had us as underdogs heading into the season, I think this team is just as good as last year’s team,” said Allen senior defensive back Matthew Norman. “We just had to go through some adversity. We had some mistakes at the beginning. A lot of mistakes. But, we fixed it up in the second half.”
Johnson had only four carries in the first half but three went for touchdowns, including a 58-yard burst up the right side on the fifth play of the initial Allen drive, for a 7-0 Eagles lead less than three minutes into the first quarter.
“Most of my life I have done track, so that helps,” he said. “Football is a passion for me. Track really helps me for that.”
But for as explosive as Johnson was in the run game for Allen, McKinney sophomore quarterback Sampson Nazarko was just as equal as a threat through the air for the Lions. His quick release on passes caught Allen off-guard in the first half.. He completed passes of 6 yards, 29, 5, 1 and 22 on the ensuing McKinney drive. Nazarko’s arm set up a 2-yard TD run up the middle for junior running back RJ Carver and a 7-all tie.
Two drives later, Nazarko had McKinney set up at the Allen 11 after he completed five straight passes to start the drive. But three penalties on the Lions for holding, a chop block and a false start moved McKinney back to the 30. The Lions eventually turned the ball over on downs after a pass fell incomplete on 4th-and-33. Five plays later, Johnson ran 15 yards for his second TD for a 13-7 Allen lead.
McKinney (2-3, 0-2) took its first and only lead of the game when Nazarko faked the handoff to Carver at the Allen 1 and ran to the left for a TD and a 14-13 advantage for the Lions. This score was set up by a muffed punt by Allen and subsequent recovery by Isaiah Rojas at the Eagle 3-yard line. It was the second of two fumbles on special teams for the Eagles in the first half.
Nazarko threw for 235 of his 280 yards in the first half with 144 of that total being caught by Rojas and 106 more by Isaiah Wallace.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect that in the first half,” Norman said. “But, they had a couple of big plays at the beginning that shouldn’t have happened. But, the d-line got back there (to the quarterback) and got some momentum for us.”
Allen retook the lead at 20-14 following an 18-yard run by Johnson with the Eagles facing third and 1 at the Lion 18 with 4:01 remaining until halftime.
The biggest momentum swing came in the final few minutes of the first half.
McKinney capitalized on two personal foul calls on Allen to move the ball inside the Eagle 20 but Matthew Norman blocked a 39-yard field goal attempt by Seth Cox. Six plays later, Raylen Sharpe ran for a 9-yard touchdown and then connected with Blaine Green through the air for the 2-point conversion, and a 28-14 Allen lead.
“I told them the play before it that I was going to block (the field goal attempt),” Norman said. “That’s my specialty. I love blocking kicks.”
Allen added two more touchdowns in the third quarter on a 26-yard pass from Sharpe to Justin Hall and a 5-yard run from Sam Hunter before Celdon Manning ran from 2 yards out early in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles their largest lead at 49-14.
“Matthew has been working extremely hard on blocking field goals,” Allen coach Terry Gambill said. “He’s been real close several weeks. We talked about it this week, and it happened. I’m so happy because he’s put so much effort into it.”
Sharpe heated up after a cool start to finish 17-of-29 passing for 268 yards. Blaine Green had 89 yards receiving on five receptions. Darrion Sherfield finished with four catches for 71 yards. Manning rushed for 69 yards on 12 carries.
Allen heads into the bye week at 5-0 and with plenty of momentum heading into its next game Oct. 11 at Plano East. McKinney returns to action Oct. 10 versus Plano.
“That’s what you want to be, and that’s 5 and 0,” Gambill said. “It helps us from a confidence standpoint. But, I think our players know that we have a lot of improvement to do. We need to enjoy this and get some rest and heal and be ready to go when we come back.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 10:42 PM.