Three touchdowns in the first quarter help Arlington Martin to big victory over SGP
Facing possibly it’s toughest opponent in District 8-6A, it was evident Friday night that Arlington Martin is still the favorite to bring home another district championship.
South Grand Prairie came into Choctaw Stadium 4-1 overall and 1-0 in district after an 18-point win over Arlington Bowie in Week 5.
But Martin did what it always does under head coach Bob Wager, punch you in all three aspects of the game.
Martin, No. 16 in the Class 6A state rankings and No. 3 in the Fort Worth-area, scored two touchdowns on special teams, intercepted a pass and put up a nice offensive showing during a 56-20 win over SGP.
“We’re learning to play complimentary football,” Martin coach Bob Wager said. “One phase has success and one phase feeds off that. If you can get all three of them working together, you can flip 21 points in a hurry.”
Martin improves to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in district. SGP drops to 4-2 and 1-1.
Remaining on Martin’s schedule is Lamar, Bowie, Grand Prairie and Sam Houston, who have a combined record of 8-14. Grand Prairie is also 2-0 in district after this week’s games.
“Same mindset, we come out like every team is good and we make sure we play hard and do our assignment,” Martin quarterback Cydd Ford said.
Midway through the first quarter, the onslaught began.
Ford scored on a 17-yard touchdown run to give Martin a 7-0 lead. Four minutes later, 5-star cornerback and running back Javien Toviano scored from the 1.
Toviano then went untouched on the final play of the first quarter, 45 yards for another touchdown and following his two-point run, Martin led 22-0.
“Feels amazing being able to help the team succeed,” Toviano said. “Feels good to be able to do that.”
The scoring didn’t stop for Martin with two more TDs in the second quarter.
After SGP quarterback Michael Stallworth scored on a 34-yard run with 3:42 left in the half, Martin scored its pair of touchdowns in less than two minutes.
Following SGP’s score, Ford took the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to paydirt, making it 28-7. After the defense forced an SGP punt, Martin drove down to the SGP 30 where Ford threw a pretty ball to Myles Hill in the end zone for a 35-7 lead at intermission.
“Another day in the office and really it started on Monday. Coach has been harping on communication and personnel. We got that fixed and you saw the results,” Ford said.
Three more touchdowns in the third quarter really put the game to bed for Martin.
Tristan Bittle scored on a 15-yard run, Sergio Snider scored on a 64-yard punt return and Ford threw a 28-yard scoring pass to Trey Cochran, who was crowned homecoming king at halftime.
“We spend more time [on special teams] than most people,” Wager said. “We have a bunch of kids...doesn’t matter what other roles they have on the team, they want to fight to play on special teams. Cydd Ford, kickoff return for a touchdown and starting QB, how often does that happen.”
SGP would score midway through the third on an AJ Newberry 55-yard run and again in the fourth.
Martin sophomore linebacker Jake Landrum intercepted a pass in the first half.
“They put us in good position where we could score,” Ford said. “I’m just thankful that they played hard and good tonight.”
“[This group] is great,” added Toviano. “The thing is we haven’t even reached our maximum potential and in the next couple weeks, we hope to reach that and just to get better over time.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 9:33 PM.
