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West passes season-opening test
BY Kevin Hageland khageland@acnpapers.com
Arlington – Arlington Martin safety Devonta Burns predicted the Warriors could go 16-0 in 2010.
One game into the season and that prediction has gone awry.
Martin’s Jaden Oberkrom missed a 49-yard field goal with five seconds remaining Thursday night to secure the season-opening 16-14 victory for Plano West.
The missed field goal was the end to a frenetic fourth quarter.
West, which trailed 7-0 for much of the evening, tied things up on the first play of the final frame. After getting stuffed three straight times from the Martin 1-yard line, the Wolves went for it on fourth and goal and crossed the plane courtesy of a keeper from junior quarterback Carson Smith.
That drive was set up by a fumble recovery from junior Grant Cooper.
Smith would be involved on another touchdown soon thereafter as West went for, and recovered, an onside kick off the foot of senior Leon Taylor.
“That’s something we have gone over plenty in practice,” Taylor said. “And it was real big tonight, especially since we scored on that drive.”
West head coach Mike Hughes reiterated the amount of times West had practiced the onside kick and had a simple explanation for how well it was executed.
“That was awesome,” he said.
West’s ensuing six-play drive was completed in the end zone as Smith connected on a 33-yard pass to senior Ryan Doyle to get the team moving and wrapped the drive up with an 18-yard touchdown toss to streaking senior Jarrett Horan, who also had 42 yards on seven carries. The extra point was off, but West still had its first lead of the night at 13-7.
Smith completed just 7-of-13 passes for 98 yards, but had 87 yards rushing and another touchdown on the ground.
Unfortunately for Smith and the Wolves, the quarterback wouldn’t be around to finish the game.
West quickly got the ball back once more after the defense forced a three-and-out.
“Tonight was the best defense we have played in a long time,” Hughes said.
West nearly made it 20-7 on the first play of its next drive, but a 56-yard touchdown run by Horan was returned due to a block in the back. Not only did that penalty cost the Wolves points, it cost the Wolves a player as Smith was injured later in the series.
After the game, Hughes said Smith had been taken to the hospital with a collarbone injury.
West, now under the helm of senior Nick Glogau, did build more momentum though as Taylor rebounded from his missed extra point with a 39-yard field goal that made it 16-7 with 4:58 remaining.
“I asked Leon flat out if he could hit that kick,” Hughes said, “and he said he could.”
Martin marched right back down the field though and pulled to within 16-14 with 3:07 remaining following a 1-yard touchdown run from Danzel Williams. Despite that score, Williams was largely kept in check for much of the night as the Oklahoma commit had just 89 yards rushing.
“Our coaches bragged a lot about [Williams] during the week,” Bass said, “and we really didn’t like it.”
After a three-and-out by the West offense, Martin got the ball back and drove for what would have been the game-winning field goal.
The exhilaration felt by the Wolves when Oberkrom missed the 49-yarder was a bookend of excitement for the night as West sophomore Carlos Wiggins got the season off to an auspicious start when he returned the evening’s opening kick-off into Martin territory. Wiggins and Doyle were also the only Wolves wideouts with multiple receptions.
West wouldn't get much further than that though as the team couldn’t manage a first down and a fake punt attempt to senior Kameron Haddock, who had 41 yards on 12 carries, was stuffed.
Martin's attempt at a trick play was significantly more successful.
After its second possession ended in a fumble recovered by Wolves junior Bryce Cottrell, the Warriors needed just one play on their third possession to get on the board. The score came courtesy of a 40-yard pass from Williams to Wesley Hawthorne, who was the offensive star of the night. Hawthorne had seven receptions, from three different players, for 139 yards and a touchdown.
The remainder of the half was marred by penalties, of which Martin had 14 for the game, and turnovers, the two teams combined for five.
Ryan Pollard accounted for both Martin takeaways as he had two interceptions, the first of which he returned to the West 4-yard line in the second quarter. Martin would complete a pass in the end zone three plays later, only the ball was caught by West sophomore Davis Roeschke, whose interception kept the game at 7-0.
That score stayed in place until West reeled off 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter of an eventual 16-14 victory.
“Success breeds success,” Hughes said. “We believed we could beat a good team and we just did it. I think that will give our guys confidence going forward.”
The Wolves will have extra time to savor the victory flavor as they have a bye next week.
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