Arlington can’t dig out of early hole, ousted by Tascosa in first loss of season

Arlington High brought an undefeated record into Wichita Falls’ Memorial Stadium, but Amarillo Tascosa rode a 21-point outburst in the first quarter to end the Colts’ season with a 35-24 win in a Class 6A Division II matchup Friday night.

King Doerue opened the scoring for Tascosa with a 17-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. The Rebels stretched their lead with a pair of quick scores. Joseph Plunk ran for a 10-yard touchdown with 4:46 to play in the opening quarter, then finished a drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put Tascosa up 21-0 with 3:31 to play in the first quarter.

Arlington (11-1) got on the scoreboard one minute into the second quarter when Griffin Kell connected on a 24-yard field goal. Tascosa answered with another pair of quick touchdowns. Plunk ran 5 yards for a touchdown with 7:47 left before halftime. He connected with Doerue for a 55-yard touchdown pass to stretch Tascosa’s lead to 35-3 with 6:03 left before halftime.

The Colts found the end zone twice in the last three minutes before halftime to keep the game from turning into a rout. Jahari Rogers scored on a 2-yard run and Zander Benson added a 4-yard touchdown run to cut Arlington’s deficit to 35-17 at the break.

With 10 minutes left in the game, Arlington recovered a fumble on its own 12-yard line to stop a Tascosa drive. The Colts drove down the field and scored when Benson bulled his way in from the 3-yard line for a touchdown with 6:26 to play.

The Colts moved to the Tascosa 47-yard line with 2:00 remaining, but Tascosa lineman Alex Mincey ended Arlington’s desperation drive with an interception.

What’s next? Amarillo Tascosa will play the winner of Saturday’s Denton Guyer-Mansfield Lake Ridge on Saturday, Dec. 1. Location is to be determined.