Fort Worth Arlington Heights secures third straight shutout to defeat North Side
Hearts were heavy as the Fort Worth Arlington Heights Yellow Jackets took the field against the Fort Worth North Side Steers (1-2, 0-1) on Friday night.
The game began with the Yellow Jackets honoring the life of student Lily Martinez, who died over the summer after a difficult battle with cancer. While the game started with a focus on loss, the Yellow Jackets were all about a win on the field.
Arlington Heights (3-0, 1-0) has started the season with a clean sheet. They have not allowed a single point to be scored against them in their first three games of the season, and they’ve scored 189 points.
Friday night’s win at Farrington Field was a resounding 70 to 0 victory over North Side.
“I never really want to pay attention to the scoreboard,” Arlington Heights head coach Curtis James said. “The scores and the zeros and the high points are great, but what I’m really focused on is — are the kids playing fast? And are they playing solid?”
The Yellow Jackets were solid from the start, putting points on the board with running back Carson James, who fought his way into the end zone on a 30-yard run with just 11:21 remaining on the clock in the first quarter. On the next drive, Heights scored again when Carmelo Carter found Antonio Johnson. This brought the score to 15-0 only a minute and a half into the game.
This was followed by a quick four-and-out for North Side, and Heights’ James fought his way through the line to score a 75-yard touchdown to give his team the 22-0 lead. Heights continued to dominate, scoring 36 points in the first quarter.
James also dominated with four touchdowns throughout the night and many standout plays.
“I mean, it’s hard to pick,” James said. “I had a lot of breakout runs, maybe the first one that I had, that one was pretty fun because it was the first breakout run of the season.”
The Heights defense has stood out all season. Middle linebacker Kelle Johnson was one of the standout players in the North Side game. A North Side punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown by Johnson with 4:50 left in the second quarter.
“I saw that ball pop out, I went to get it, I made the scoop, and no one could catch me,” Johnson said.
The early success this season has Johnson and many of his teammates hopeful for the future.
“I want to go undefeated throughout the season and hopefully go deep in the playoffs,” Johnson said. “I think this year we have got a pretty good team, and hopefully we can do some things.”
The Yellow Jackets went into the half leading by 56. They scored another touchdown in both the third and fourth quarters. Up next for Heights is a matchup against South Hills on Thursday, Sept. 18, at Clark Stadium. North Side’s next game will be against Paschal on Friday, Sept. 19 at Farrington Field.
Editor’s note: This story was produced by members of FW Southwest High School’s advanced media program.