South Oak Cliff holds Argyle out of the end zone as Bears head back to state title game
With a trip to Jerry’s World waiting in the wings, Argyle and Dallas South Oak Cliff left everything on the field on Friday night at Crowley ISD Stadium.
In a defensive slug fest on a foggy evening, SOC running back Danny Green scored from the 1 with under three minutes left and the Golden Bears held Argyle out of the end zone for the 14-6 win in a Class 5A Division 2 state semifinal.
SOC (12-3), winners of 12 straight after an 0-3 start, will defend its 5A D2 championship against Port Neches-Groves (13-2) next Friday Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
SOC won its first state title over Liberty Hill last season, Dallas ISD’s first in football in more than 60 years.
PNG beat Liberty Hill 42-14 on Friday to clinch its spot.
The last time a Dallas ISD school won a state championship was Dallas Washington in 1958, a Prairie View Interscholastic League (PVIL) 3A game over Houston Washington.
Washington also won a PVIL title in 1950 over Houston Yates. Dallas Sunset won a city championship over Houston Reagan also in 1950. Dallas Carter beat Converse Judson in 1988, but was later stripped of its title.
Meanwhile, Argyle ends the season at 14-1.
The Eagles had every chance to tie or take the lead in the second half despite offensive struggles. Argyle trailed 7-0 at halftime, but picked up some momentum off two defensive interceptions.
The first interception came from Devon Owen midway through the third quarter to set Argyle up at the SOC 28. The Eagles managed to get to the 10, but had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Carter Buxton to cut it to 7-3 with 3:09 left in the period.
On the ensuing possession, Argyle picked off its second SOC pass when Darian Doyle deflected William Little’s attempt at the line and Grant Mirabal came down with it at the Bears 33.
One play later and Argyle QB John Gailey connected with Wayne Pritts for a 27-yard gain to set the Eagles up with first-and-goal at the 6. It was Argyle’s longest play of the night.
Jacob Robinson got to the 2, but on third-and-goal, Argyle was called for a false start to push it back to the 7. The third-down pass was incomplete and Buxton made a 29-yard field goal to pull the Eagles within 7-6 with 11:52 left in the fourth quarter.
SOC did its best to put the game away with an ensuing 16-play, 75-yard scoring drive.
The Bears converted a third-and-7 on the fifth play of the possession when Argyle was flagged for a defensive pass interference. It was a spot foul and ball was at the Argyle 49.
On a fourth-and-3 at the Argyle 19, Little hit Rickey Evans for 6 and a first down to the 13. Then the Bears went to Green on four straight plays, the last one resulting in his 1-yard touchdown run to up the lead to 14-6 with 2:53 remaining.
Still, Argyle had a chance down one possession.
Gailey hit Will Krzysiak for 45 yards on the first play of the ensuing Argyle drive to the SOC 41. Krzysiak caught the next pass and appeared to get away from a tackle, but was ruled down after a 7-yard gain to the 34. The Eagles got to the 25 before a pass attempt sailed over Pritts, who was wide open and ready to walk into the end zone.
Then SOC’s defense made the biggest plays of the night with back-to-back sacks from Billy Walton and Courtland Kidd to give Argyle a fourth-and-20. Gailey rolled out on fourth down before an incomplete pass turned it back to SOC, which took to knee to run the clock out.
Argyle was held to its fewest points in its playoff history.
The Eagles finished the game with 203 yards of total offense (98 rushing, 105 passing). RJ Bunnell led with 52 yards on 16 carries. Robinson added 47 yards on nine attempts. Krzysiak had 66 yards on four catches.
SOC had 200 yards with 131 coming on the ground. Green had 78 yards on 18 carries. His 29-yard touchdown run gave the Bears a 7-0 lead with 3:18 left in the first quarter.
Argyle’s first half drives included four punts and a turnover on downs.
The Eagles also punted on their first drive of the second half.
This story was originally published December 9, 2022 at 11:33 PM.
