Denton Ryan in championship form during season-opening rout of Arlington Martin
More than nine months since ending its season in the Class 5A Division 1 state title game at AT&T Stadium, Denton Ryan returned to Jerry’s World on Friday and beat Arlington Martin, 47-24, in the season opener for both teams.
The Raiders lost to Alvin Shadow Creek, 28-22, in December.
Ryan (1-0), which made the trip to the state final for the first time in nearly a decade, was in championship form during its first two possessions when it took a 14-0 lead with 3:47 left in the opening quarter.
The No. 1 team in the Dave Campbell’s 5A D1 state rankings, ran 10 plays on its opening drive, capping 66 yards. Memphis commit Seth Henigan hit 4-star Texas commit Billy Bowman Jr. for a 12-yard TD midway through the period. 247Sports has Bowman Jr. as the No. 3 ranked athlete in the country among the Class of 2021 and sixth-best senior in the state.
Following Martin’s second straight three-and-out, Ryan went 64 yards on three plays. 5-star Texas commit Ja’Tavion Sanders, who’s ranked as the nation’s second-best athlete and the state’s fourth-best senior, caught a short pass from Henigan, broke a tackle and ran in for six from 58 yards to give Ryan a two-touchdown edge.
Martin (0-1), which also ended the 2019 season at AT&T Stadium, against Duncanville in the regional round, couldn’t muster any offense in the first half. The Warriors punted on four of their five possessions.
The other drive resulted in a fumble on the first play and Ryan’s Michael Gee recovered at the Martin 17. But the Warriors’ defense managed to hold Ryan on back-to-back turnover on downs deep in Martin territory.
Ryan ended the half with a 14-play, 69-yard drive, capped off by a 1-yard sneak from Henigan. The drive was kept alive when a Henigan pass was deflected and landed in the hands of Michael Davis, who took it to the 1.
The Raiders out-gained the Warriors 217-35 in the first half and held Martin to one first down.
Ryan extended its lead to 27-0 midway through the third quarter when Ke’Ori Hicks scored on a 16-yard run.
Martin’s best drive came on the ensuing possession.
The Warriors went 73 yards on five plays. Quarterback Zach Mundell, a 3-star Army commit, threw a 21-yard pass to Cal Robinson, who also caught a 33-yard pass from backup QB Cydd Ford to the Ryan 13.
One play later and Zaire Barrow scored to cut the deficit to 27-8 with 4:37 left in the third.
Sanders wasn’t done when he scored on a 32-yard TD pass from Henigan, but Ryan’s extra point was blocked by 3-star junior Trevell Johnson and returned 82 yards for two points by Tramell Windham to make it 33-10 at the end of the third quarter.
Sanders added a pick-six, 66-yard return and Ryan also got a 73-yard fumble return for six by Garyreon Robinson. He recovered the loose ball, which was forced by Gee early in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 47-10.
Martin added two late TDs, a 4-yard run by Barrow and a 4-yard TD pass from Mundell to Ford.
Ryan out-gained Martin 480-319.
Henigan threw for 225 yards and three TDs on 20 of 30 passing. Hicks had a game-high 105 yards rushing on 14 carries. Sanders finished with seven receptions for 121 yards and two scores and Bowman added six grabs for 43 yards.
Martin, which entered the week as the No. 11 ranked Class 6A team, was led by Barrow, who rushed seven times for 77 yards and two TDs. Mundell and Ford combined for 163 yards passing with Mundell completing 7 of 8 attempts. Robinson had four receptions for 75 yards.
The Raiders headline next week’s games with a matchup against Denton Guyer while Martin travels to Hebron.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 7:06 PM.
