Fort Worth Arlington Heights continues strong start, thrashes Dallas Pinkston

Fort Worth Arlington Heights took the field at Clark Stadium Thursday night, coming off a 60-0 win over Everman. Dallas Pinkston headed west to Fort Worth, looking to start their season with a win.

The Yellow Jackets dominated, seizing a 59-0 victory. Heights moves forward in their season with a 2-0 record.

Arlington Heights head coach Curtis James said he wants his team to focus on speed during these pre-district games.

“I want them to make mistakes at full speed, so I don’t have to correct their speed of the game, just correct the mistakes they make,” James said.

Heights started the game strongly with junior Carson James scoring a running touchdown with 9:29 on the clock in the first quarter. After the touchdown, Heights went for two and took an early 8-0 lead.

The Yellow Jackets didn’t make many mistakes in the game, and the team scored fast. Vito Jovanovic, Yakeime Thomas and Drew Ellis all scored touchdowns of their own in the first quarter.

The quarter ended with their team up 29-0. Ellis and his teammates each had personal goals for the night.

“I am working on staying low, being able to punch and get blocks out every play,” Ellis said.

The second half saw two more touchdowns for Arlington Heights. Carson James had his second touchdown of the night with 8:09 remaining in the second quarter, and just before intermission, Antonio Johnson scored for the Yellow Jackets.

The score was 43-0 going into halftime. For Pinkston, this game was a learning experience.

“Since this is the first game, I wanna see how well we block, how well we tackle, and how many mistakes we make,” Pinkston coach Derek Lewis said.

The Vikings came out in the second half with better coverage against the Yellow Jackets and did not allow Heights to score any touchdowns in the third quarter. Heights’ Jovanovic scored his second touchdown of the night with 11:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Jackets led 50-0. Jaquan Evans made the final touchdown of the night, sealing the 59-0 win for Arlington Heights. Despite the loss, Lewis said high school football means everything to the development of young men.

“This is the last place in my mind where a young man can actually be a young man in society,” Lews said. “It’s about teamwork, it’s about camaraderie, it’s about sportsmanship, and it’s about the ability to take a win and then take a loss and move forward. That’s what manhood is all about.”

Dallas Pinkston will take lessons from this game and look for their first win of the season when they play McCallum at McCallum’s home stadium on Friday, September 12. Arlington Heights’ next game will be against North Side on Friday, September 12, at Farrington Field.

Editor’s note: This story was produced by members of FW Southwest High School’s advanced media program.