ODESSA, TX-As they’ve done all season, Arlington ran the ball and then ran it some more. They ran for an astounding 665 yards on the ground en route to a 77-42 win over El Paso Montwood on Saturday afternoon. It was the most points scored in a playoff game in the history of Ratliff Stadium.
“We have a really special offensive unit,” said Arlington head coach Scott Peach, “We’ve got a lot of seniors and we feel that we can ride behind those guys.”
It didn’t take long for the backfield duo of quarterback D’Montae Davis and Kenland McCray to get going early. A steady diet of McCray opened up the offense on the first drive capped off by a 36-yard pass to Trey Cleveland to make it 7-0 Colts. Davis would finish the job on the next drive with a three-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
Photo: Courtesy of Alex Nicolas
While the offense was riding hot, the defense was going strong. Kyree Dilley intercepted two Andrew Fernandez passes on consecutive drives and the Colts offense hummed right along, with each drive capped off by an 80-yard run by McCray and a 37-yard run by Davis to make it 28-0 Colts at the end of one.
Fernandez would put the Rams on the board in the second quarter, completing a 36-yard pass to Daniel Aguilar off a Davis fumble. The Colts finished off the later drives with another 14 yard run by Davis to make it 35-7. Davis finished with 330 total yards and five total touchdowns on the night.
Photo: Courtesy of Alex Nicolas
“I think our offense is one of the best in the country,” Davis said after the game, “We did well and our offensive line played a big part of that tonight.”
“D’Montae and Kenland are three-year starters for us and they are the heart and soul of this football team,” Peach said, “They’re special and very talented kids. We feel we can put the team on their backs and take us a long way.”
The Colts left no doubt early in the second half as McCray took the opening play for another 80-yard touchdown to make it 42-7. However, the senior running would leave the game later in the quarter due to injury. He finished with 221 yards on the day.
But to the credit of the Rams, they fought through the end as the game turned into a back-and-forth shootout.
Photo: Courtesy of Alex Nicolas
In his final high school game, Fernandez would throw five touchdown passes in the second half: two to Tyreese Andrus, another to Aguilar, another to Tury Cepeda and still one more to Christopher Ramos. Fernandez finished with 492 yards passing on the night.
“Give a lot of credit to Montwood,” Peach said, “We knew Fernandez was a special player and I was really proud of our defense for holding them to seven points in the first half and I was proud of them for making some separation in the first half.”
Sophomore running back Zander Benson ran for four touchdowns and 223 of his own with the majority of his numbers coming when the game was in hand.
The Rams finish the season at 10-2. As for Arlington, they will play Southlake Carroll next Saturday night at The Star in Frisco.
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