‘Go 100 percent’: Arlington Heights thrashes Polytechnic in District 4 5A-D2 opener

Fort Worth Arlington Heights is looking for a shot at the coveted district championship trophy.

It was easy to see the passion as they dominated the district opener on Friday, feasting on Fort Worth Polytechnic at Farrington Field. The Yellowjackets, the Star-Telegram’s No. 9 ranked Class 5A team in the Fort Worth-area, defeated the Parrots 64-14.

The Yellowjackets knew it would be tough to repeat last year’s playoff run, especially with the loss of graduate Brian Furch, who now plays for Harding University, a Division II program

The season posed an even more significant challenge for the Jackets when team captain and starting quarterback Eric Orozco suffered a season-ending LCL injury due to a non-football-related activity.

These setbacks, however, would prove to be no problem for the Yellowjackets in their district opener.

The Yellowjackets stormed onto the field to start the game and quickly forced a three-and-out from the Parrots and began their first of many scoring drives of the night.

Arlington Heights found the endzone twice in the first quarter on consecutive drives. First it was with Latreal Brooks as he reached the endzone on a 27-yard run followed by a pass from Milton Max to Enrique Manzano for 39 yards.

With a struggling Yellowjackets kicking unit, the team resorted to an odd formation known as the swinging gate, when the team lined up for the 2-point conversion. The formation consisted of a normal shotgun formation with the exception of the entire offensive line, except the center, shifting down the line of scrimmage and away from the play.

The formation was run a total of four times in the duration of the game and was successful each time.

The start of the second quarter was much of the same as the Yellowjackets ran up the score to 32-0 with the running game leading the way.

The Yellowjackets were not able to secure the shutout. Parrots’ quarterback Anthony Sheppard marched Poly down the field and into the endzone on a 4-yard rushing touchdown to bring the game to 38-7 at halftime.

The second half of the game wasn’t much different as the Yellowjackets continued to run up the score on the Parrots. Poly’s offense was only able to score one more time in the game.

The opposite was true for Arlington Heights, as they totaled 510 yards with Robert Doyle leading the way with four touchdowns throughout the night.

“It’s the way we play,” Doyle said after the game. “It’s the way we train. It’s to go 100 percent.”

Arlington Heights’ offense would not be complete without Brooks, who ran for a total of 89 yards and finished with two touchdowns.

The battle for district is looking to be a tight one after non-district games concluded last week and most teams had a bye week this week.

Arlington Heights’ head coach Curtis James said he is locked on to the bye week.

“We are going to get some guys healed up, [...] look at some film and make corrections and keep finding our identity,” James said.

On the other sideline, C.J. Wilson, a former Dallas Cowboy and Baylor Bear defensive back, hopes to turn things around for the Parrots.

Wilson was hired as the head coach of Fort Worth Polytechnic in May. Prior to accepting the job, Wilson had coaching stints from 2015 to 2023.

Grapevine, who won district last year, is off to a rough start. They are 0-3 with many of their returning players not living up to last year’s standard; the Mustangs are also dealing with multiple injuries to star players.

On the contrary, third-place finisher Colleyville Heritage is off to a 2-1 start to the season with a blowout win against Irving Nimitz and close games against both Texarkana and Ennis.

With week four completed, Arlington Heights and Poly both enter into their bye week.