Fort Worth Arlington Heights stays undefeated after a strong second half against Wyatt

Fort Worth Arlington Heights and Fort Worth Wyatt both came in to their District 4-5A Division 2 showdown with unblemished district and overall records.

But a big second half by the Yellow Jackets kept Heights perfect and on top of the standings with a 28-15 win over Wyatt on Friday night at historic Farrington Field.

Heights improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2014 when it won its first 12 games.

Arlington Heights (5-0 overall, 2-0 district) relied on a strong running game behind Brian Furch and Brandin Monroe to pull away after being tied at the half.

“We had a bye week last week so we’ve been practicing hard for the last two weeks,” said Furch, who finished with 129 yards on 21 carries with TD runs from 26 yards and a yard away. “We knew that Wyatt had a good team, but we came out and did what we did. We’re going to go on with the flow and whoever comes up we’re going to show them what we can do.”

Monroe’s slashing 23-yard scoring run with 5:32 left in the third quarter put the Jackets up 14-7.

“We just went into the locker room and built up confidence and that took us a long way,” said Monroe who added 81 yards on nine carries. “All Brian (Furch) and I do is uplift each other. This is a really big win for us and important as far as going to the playoffs and we pulled it off.”

Monroe darted for a 41-yard gain down to the Wyatt 21 yard line to start AH’s next possession. Three plays later a keeper by quarterback Eric Orozco resulted in an 11-yard score to up the lead to 20-7.

An interception by Arlington Heights’ linebacker Roy Wright at the Wyatt 33 set up Furch’s 1-yard TD run that gave the Yellow Jackets a comfortable 28-7 lead with 6:40 left in the game.

“Our coaches do a great job of understanding what they’re doing to us with our guys in the booth,” said Arlington Heights coach Phil Young. “We spent about ten minutes making adjustments at the half that weren’t magic, but just adjustments we make when people do stuff to us to give us a better chance. It’s a chess game.”

Wyatt (4-1, 1-1) was unable to get explosive quarterback Kaid Barrett room or time to get the Chaps passing game rolling. Barrett, No. 83 in the Star-Telegram Top 100, completed on 15 of 35 passing attempts and was pressured frequently by the Jackets’ defense.

Barrett had 104 yards passing before Ashton Larkin took a pass in the left flat and raced 79 yards for a touchdown with 2:50 left in the game. The play cut the lead to 28-15, but it was too little, too late.

“We know that he has such a strong arm that we can’t give him time to let his receivers get downfield and he’s dangerous when he rolls out,” said Young of Barrett. “So all of our blitzes and packages were designed to make sure that he didn’t get to the sideline and throw on the run because he’s really good.”

The teams played to a 7-7 stalemate at the half.

Heights took the opening kickoff and marched down the field behind Furch who carried five of the six plays on the 79-yard drive. Furch put the Yellow Jackets ahead with a 26-yard scoring run with 8:51 left in the first quarter.

Wyatt was on the move on its opening drive as well, but a fumble was recovered by Wright at the Yellow Jackets’ 20 yard line.

But an ill timed fake punt on Heights’ next series came up short and the Chaparrals took over at the Jackets’ 29. Five plays later, on fourth down, Barrett hit Ahstin Watkins, who made a terrific one-handed catch on the right sideline of the end zone, to knot the score with 2:56 left in the opening quarter.

It was a defensive battle from that point to the half with each team punting twice and losing the ball on downs once.

“O.D. Wyatt is a really good football team and we already knew that,” said Young. “Coach (Zachary) Criss and his staff do a great job just like our coaches do a great job. This is always a close game, like it was last year, and a hard-fought game.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2022 at 10:33 PM.