Arlington nearly pulls off the upset, but Denton Guyer advances in double overtime
Arlington went toe-to-toe with No. 13 Denton Guyer in their Class 6A Division 2 area-round football game on Saturday afternoon.
The Colts answered every challenge the Wildcats threw at them, but in the end Arlington couldn’t make one last play as Guyer survived 38-31 in double overtime at Globe Life Park.
Guyer (9-2) advances to the regional round and will face Abilene (6-4) at 3:15 p.m. next Saturday back at Globe Like Park.
The Guyer offense is one that will pound you into submission behind running backs Byron Phillips and Tiyon Alridge. Sprinkle in a little bit of Texas A&M signee Eli Stowers at quarterback and you have a lethal combination.
But Arlington (5-5) never backed down with their own weapons in running back B.J. Rogers, quarterback Kris Sims and receiver Joel Murray. Neither team was able to build a lead of more than seven points in the game.
“Two physical football teams and we knew that they had that kind of size in their O line, and D line for that matter, but I’m really proud of our kids,” said Arlington coach Scott Peach. “They ran some tempo stuff, but we actually ran faster in practice than they did in the ball game.”
The teams traded field goals in the first overtime. Arlington’s Diego Gomez connected from 31 yards and Guyer’s Michael Mayfield split the uprights from 36 yards out.
Guyer started the second OT and had to convert a fourth-and-2 with a 3-yard run by Alridge before Stowers ran a naked bootleg around right end to give Guyer a 38-31 lead.
Arlington followed with a running play for two yards by Rogers, but three consecutive incomplete passes doomed the Colts. Guyer defensive end Rowan Briggs hit Sims’ arm to disrupt the final throw.
Arlington started strong taking a 7-0 lead on its second possession. A 54-yard run by Rogers set up his own 14-yard touchdown run with 7:37 left in the first quarter.
Rogers shredded the Guyer defense for 240 yards rushing on 26 carries and scored twice.
The Colts forced Guyer to punt to start and held the Wildcats on downs on their second possession, but the ultra quick tempo finally started taking its toll.
The Wildcats had consecutive drives of 11 plays for 73 yards and 10 plays for 84 yards. Only two passes were thrown between the two series and both were capped by 1-yard TD runs by Phillips to give Guyer a 14-7 lead at the half.
Phillips (34 carries-132 yards), Alridge (27-123) and Stowers (15-103) all rushed for over 100 yards in the game for Guyer. The Wildcats finished with 477 yards of total offense to 476 for Arlington.
Arlington pulled out the big plays in the second half.
A Guyer fumble was recovered by Colts’ defensive back Dario Conley at the Wildcats’ 48. Sims immediately hit a wide open Eli Lemonds to tie the game at 14 with 4:33 left in the third quarter.
Guyer answered with a Stowers to Bryson Riggs 37-yard scoring pass to go up 21-14. Conley looked to be in position to pick the pass off, but the ball skipped off his hands to Riggs who corralled the ball in the end zone.
Again the Colts countered. Rogers took the next snap and raced 59 yards right up the middle to pull even again at 21. Murray’s 60-yard touchdown run with 5:12 left in the game tied the game at 28 after Phillips scored his third rushing TD on a 3-yard run.
Guyer had one last shot during regulation to take the lead, but the Colts held on a fourth-and-2 at the Arlington 29 to send the game into overtime.
“What a game,” added Peach. “Just an unbelievable 6A high school football game. It’s just a shame that our kids had to go home.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 8:20 PM.