Crowley’s big second half against Arlington Heights leads Eagles to first victory
Crowley came into Thursday’s game looking for its first win while Fort Worth Arlington Heights was coming off its first district win last week and hoping to fight for a chance in the playoffs.
But behind a big second half, Crowley picked up the 41-14 victory at Farrington Field and snapped a nine-game skid.
“We won the first half, and we lost the second half, they won it,” Arlington Heights head coach Phil Young said. “Their second half win turned into more points than our first half win.”
The tale of two halves began with Crowley (1-7 overall, 1-4 in District 3-5A D1) starting off strong five minutes into the first quarter. Then Crowley quarterback Aiden McCue lobbed a snap to Jackson Green securing the first seven points of the game.
Keeping the drive alive after an important first down fumble, Yellowjacket running back Brian Furch scored in the end zone with 7:11 left in the second quarter.
It took Heights (2-6, 1-4) less than a minute to score another touchdown when quarterback Zacary Garcia ran the ball into the end zone and Furch made the two-point conversion with a solid run. Heights led 14-7 at halftime.
“We knew we had some plays that we hadn’t run yet, so we kept them back,” Crowley head coach JJ Resendez said about the second half turnaround. “Instead of being cute, we wanted to go right at them and make them make plays.”
The third quarter began with a quick touchdown at the 10:55 mark when Crowley recovered a fumble and scored all in one play. With 7:43 on the clock, a touchdown pass was made by McCue from the 50-yard line and the extra point was good. Crowley continued to pull ahead with another passing touchdown from the 30-yard line.
Crowley scored 21 points in the third quarter and led 28-14.
To start the fourth quarter, Crowley pushed in yet another running touchdown, courtesy of Daunte Blake with 8:26 left to play. Keeping the fire lit, Seth Swords ran 80 yards to secure the final touchdown at the 4:36 mark.