What started off as a neck-and- neck affair between Allen and Duncanville turned in favor of Allen in the second half as Allen treaded over Duncanville to come away with the 42-23 victory.
Duncanville came out the gate swinging as quarterback Trezon Connley dialed up a long distance ball to Mackendrick Jackson for a 42-yard reception, which then set up a four yard touchdown run the next play for Tre Siggers that put Duncanville up 7-0.
Allen (14-0) would respond with an uppercut as Kirby Bennett went to the house for a 78-yard touchdown run just two plays later to have the score tied at 7-7 with 7:53 left in the first quarter.
Bennett finished his day with 136 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The scoring would come to an immediate halt though as both teams struggled to move the ball the remainder of the quarter and well into the second with both teams missing field goals and neither team able to get a leg up on the other. Duncanville would finally shake things up as Trezon Connley went to Mackendrick Jackson as he dropped a touch pass perfectly in his hands for the 34-yard touchdown pass. Allen would once again rise to the occasion on the next drive as Kirby Bennett notched his second rushing touchdown of the game to tie the ball game once again at 14.
Allen would take its first lead of the game after forcing Duncanville to punt on its opening drive of the second half and Mitchel Jonke connecting with Josh Cornell on a 34-yard touchdown pass.
“Every week our coaching staff has a game plan, and our kids believe in it. So a lot of credit goes to our coaching staff first and foremost because they work hard at game planning and what will work,” said Allen head coach Terry Gambill.
Allen would utilize their ground game to gas Duncanville in the second half and further separate themselves on the scoreboard. Brock Sturges had touchdown runs of 41 and 42 yards to help Allen have the leverage on Duncanville with a 35-17 score in the fourth quarter. Allen finished with 431 total yards on offense with 344 coming from the running game.
“Our kids trust and believe in what we do so it’s a team deal. It’s not one quarter, not two, it’s a team deal and we just go out and execute. It’s one play at a time. You don’t panic and it’s just living in the moment”, said Gambill.
Allen would shut the door on Duncanville following a fumble recovery that led to a Mitchell Jonke touchdown run, and tack on an interception on Duncanville’s ensuing drive to seal the 42-23 victory.
Allen will play The Woodlands in the 6A DI State Semifinal at DKR Memorial Stadium in Austin at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
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