Allen clamps down on Rockwall in second half, faces big rematch with The Woodlands

Mo Perkins was tired of seeing Rockwall’s offense drive up and down the field on his Allen Eagles.

The Yellow Jackets’ offense was on pace to amass more than 900 yards of offense and the Eagles’ defense gave up several long-yardage passing plays by senior quarterback and Minnesota commit Jacob Clark in the first half.

Enough was enough for Allen.

Perkins, a senior defensive back, and his Eagles teammates regrouped at halftime and allowed just one touchdown in the second half to the Yellow Jackets — a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Clark — after giving up five TDs in the first half as Allen rallied for a 52-40 victory at Williams Stadium in a Class 6A Division I area game Friday evening at Williams Stadium.

“We all just came together and knew what we had to do,” Perkins said. “We were tired of getting scored on because we’re not used to all of that. You saw that. We stopped them.”

Allen (12-0) advances to face The Woodlands in a third-round matchup next Saturday at 1 p.m. at McLane Stadium in Waco. The Woodlands handed Allen its last loss in the 2016 state semifinals.

The Eagles have won 28 consecutive games since that setback. The Highlanders (9-3) defeated Cedar Ridge 53-50 Friday.

But well before Allen could think about its long-awaited rematch against The Woodlands, the Eagles had to contend with their toughest defensive assignment of the season: the task of slowing down a potent Rockwall (8-3) passing offense, led by Clark and wide receiver and Ohio State commit and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

An offensive explosion ensued in the first half with the two teams combining for 10 touchdowns and Allen overcoming a trio of rare deficits to take a 35-33 halftime lead.

Smith-Njigba had 231 receiving yards and three touchdowns by halftime including an 81-yard reception on the first play from scrimmage as well as a 6-yard halfback pass from Zach Henry with the Yellow Jackets facing fourth and goal for a 20-14 Rockwall lead with 3:39 left in the first quarter. Smith-Njigba finished with 269 receiving yards on 14 receptions.

Clark threw for 319 yards in the first two quarters of action on 18 pass attempts and went on to complete 27-of-40 passes for 428 yards and three total touchdowns.

“They’re something special,” Perkins said of Rockwall. “They showed us a lot. Plus, we haven’t seen a team like that. So that woke us up and gave us some good competition.”

Allen answered back-to-back touchdown runs of 3 yards and 83 yards by Celdon Manning to take a 28-20 lead with 9:42 remaining in the second quarter, a lead the Eagles would never relinquish. His second TD came one play after the Eagle stopped Rockwall running back Zach Henry (117 rushing yards, 2 rush TDs, 1 pass TD) inches short of a first down. Manning rushed for 113 yards on just 11 carries.

Rockwall lost Smith-Njibja for a short amount of time to injury in the third quarter and Allen capitalized with the Eagles sniffing out the Yellow Jackets’ screens with better success in the second half.

Clark ran the quarterback keeper up the middle on a third-and-goal play from 1 yard out with 7:04 remaining in the fourth quarter to reduce what had been a 45-33 Allen lead to five points. Allen forced a turnover on downs on Rockwall’s three other possessions in the second half.

“I thought we put more pressure on their quarterback and our DBs made some plays,” Allen coach Terry Gambill said.

Allen grinded out a 10-play, 5-plus minute drive to answer Rockwall’s score. The Eagles ran the ball on eight of the first nine plays, including a 22-yard scamper by quarterback Grant Tisdale, an Ole Miss commit. Tisdale completed a 37-yard catch-and-run TD pass to Theo Wease, an Oklahoma commit, to ice the victory for Allen.

Tisdale was the driving force behind Allen’s offense. He completed his first eight passes on his way to 199 yards through the air. He also rushed for a game-high 145 yards.

“There was a lot of big plays by Rockwall and us tonight,” Gambill said. “I thought as the game was clicking along it might be one of those games of whoever had the ball last. But they’re such an explosive offense. We’re an explosive offense. It was just two great football teams battling tonight.

“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. But you’ve also got to give the Allen Eagles a whole lot of credit for how we hung in there and kept on fighting and how we finished.”

Offensive player of the game: Tisdale made big play after big play for Allen, which kept its undefeated season alive. His 54-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter set up a big second half for the Eagles.

Defensive player of the game: This honor will be shared by Allen’s defense which held Rockwall to just one touchdown on four drives in the second half.

Unsung hero of the game: Perkins shed a Rockwall blocker and tripped up Rockwall wide receiver Isiah Mathis on a fourth-down play in the third quarter to force the first of three turnover-on-downs plays made by Allen in the second half.

It was over when: Wease caught a 37-yard pass from Tisdale for a 52-40 Allen lead with 1:42 remaining in the fourth quarter.

What’s next? Allen travels to Waco next Saturday to play The Woodlands at 1 p.m. at McLane Stadium.

This story was originally published November 23, 2018 at 10:33 PM.