Arlington Heights rolls past Southwest, sets up district title game against Grapevine

Fort Worth Southwest was feeling upset as the Raiders tried to take down undefeated Arlington Heights on Friday night at Clark Stadium.

But Heights, No. 10 in the latest Star-Telegram 5A area rankings, keeps its unblemished record going as the Yellowjackets beat the Raiders 34-12.

Heights (8-0 overall, 5-0 District 4-5A D2) continues its best season since 2014 when the team won its first 12 games. The district title will come down next week when Heights visits Grapevine.

The Yellowjackets came out strong as they stuck to the running game with their star running back, Brian Furch.

Arlington Heights would finish a 5-minute opening drive with a 21-yard rushing touchdown from Furch, but with a blocked extra point, the score was 6-0 with 7:05 left in the first quarter.

Southwest (3-5, 1-4) wouldn’t let this affect them as Raider quarterback Donavon Nolden would fake a hand off and run the ball himself for a 55-yard touchdown with 6:52 left in the first quarter.

Special teams would struggle as the Raiders would miss their extra point attempt.

The Raiders then faked a punt which put them deep into Arlington Heights territory. The Yellowjackets seemed prepared for a fake as they had no one out to receive the punt. A relentless effort from Southwest’s special teams would give the Raiders the first down.

Nolden would rush for a 20-yard touchdown to put the Raiders up 12-6 with 10:22 left in the second quarter.

Ozorco led the Yellowjackets offense as they marched down the field, draining a lot of time off the clock. He capped off the drive by diving across the pylon for a 16-yard touchdown. This put the Heights up 13-12 midway through the second quarter.

On the final play of the half, the Heights offense came out in an open formation and Orozco connected with Micah Powell for a 25-yard touchdown and the Jackets led 20-12 at halftime.

Not wasting a minute out of halftime, Arlington Heights forced a Southwest punt from its own end zone.

Furch would push Southwest back and extend the Heights lead to 27-12 as he rushed for his second touchdown of the night, this time from the goal line with 6:58 ;eft in the third quarter.

On the following drive, the Arlington Heights offense took the field after a pressured throw from Nolden, in which Heights linebacker Henry Mankin earned his first interception of the game with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

Brandin Monroe, the second string running back, scored the final TD for Heights.