Arlington Sam Houston blows by Irving behind big night from quarterback Omari Milton
Arlington Sam Houston quarterback Omari Milton accounted for six touchdowns as the Texans drubbed Irving, 48-28, in a non-district football game Thursday night at Globe Life Park.
Sam Houston (2-1) was in control throughout behind Milton, who ran for three scores and threw for three more.
“Omari is our senior leader,” said Sam Houston coach Anthony Criss. “He’s really grown and I told him at halftime that you have to lead. He’s done a great job.”
The Texans took the opening kick and marched 67 yards in eight plays. Milton capped the drive with a 5-yard TD run and the Texans led 7-0 with 10:07 left in the first quarter.
Irving (0-2) fumbled on its first possession and Sam’s Ky’ren Gibson recovered at the Texans 39. After a procedure penalty, Milton hit Tavi’On Jenkins who tuned the pass play into a 66-yard score, weaving his way through the Tigers’ defense to the end zone.
The teams traded scores on a pair of TD runs by Irving’s Jaycob Vine from 19 and 21 yards and another 5-yard scoring run by Milton that made the score 21-14 with 7:09 left in the second quarter.
That would be as close as the Tigers would get as Sam Houston pulled away with three unanswered scores.
Jenkins made the play of the night with a juggling catch that was turned into a 69-yard TD. Jenkins, who finished with five receptions for 201 yards, rolled over an Irving tackler after the catch and wasn’t whistled down. The junior had the presence of mind to keep running toward the end zone and gave Sam a 28-14 with 6:13 left before the intermission.
“He had a great night,” said Criss of Jenkins. “He had two touchdowns called back on the kickoff return and the missed call at the goal line on a run. He would have had the trifecta with a receiving touchdown, a rushing one and a kick return.”
Milton’s 5-yard TD pass to Justin Tone late in the second quarter and his 18-yard scoring run midway through the third built the Texans’ lead to 41-14.
Sam’s defense allowed 260 yards rushing, but the Texans forced six fumbles, recovering three, and had an interception to keep the Tigers at bay. Milton completed 16 of 22 passes for 337 yards and rushed 12 times for 67 more. Sam Houston piled up 528 yards of total offense.
Caden Horne was the work horse for the Tigers with 101 rushing yards on 20 carries. Vine added 70 yards on the ground on five touches. Fernando Torres returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score for Irving.
Lafeyette Kaiuway (3 catches-54 yards) and Tone (4-50) also contributed for Sam Houston.
“The offense really clicked tonight,” added Criss. “Omari Milton threw the ball great and Tavi’On Jenkins had a big game.
“Lafeyette Kaiuway did a great job. The big six foot four sophomore had some outstanding catches.”
The Texans hadn’t won back-to-back games since winning four straight in district play in 2014 before bowing out in the first round of the playoffs to Odessa Permian. Sam went 8-4 that season with a four-game win streak at the beginning of the year as well.
Sam Houston will open District 8-6A play on Friday, Oct. 16 when the Texans travel to the Gopher-Warrior Bowl to take on Grand Prairie. Game time is 7 p.m.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 11:46 PM.