We will Round Rock you: Allen pounds Westwood to advance to regional finals

WACO -- On Saturday night, Allen (12-1) scored more points against Round Rock Westwood (9-4) than any team had all season.

And did so by halftime.

The Eagles used a 42-point run in the second and third quarters at Waco ISD Stadium to expand their advantage from 14-10 to 56-10 in an eventual 56-24 victory over the Warriors in the regional semifinals.

"We felt coming in that pound-for-pound we were the better team and had the better players," said Oliver Pierce, Allen senior wide receiver. "We were a little sloppy right out of the gates, but then we were really able to get it going."

Even while playing sloppy, Allen held a 14-10 lead after the first quarter following rushing touchdowns of 2 and 4 yards by Pierce, who also caught five passes for 52 yards.

The next quarter would be more impressive.

And it was the defense that got things started.

After allowing a 49-yard field goal by Colin McGuire and a 13-yard touchdown pass from Bear Fenimore to Travis Dale to start the game, Allen's defense wouldn't give up a point on the next 10 possessions as Westwood had five punts, three interceptions, a broken up fourth-down pass and missed field goal.

"Our defense has been playing extremely well since the [regular season finale against Plano Senior]," Pierce said.

Allen's defense started its shutdown mode with an interception by junior Mayomi Olootu.

That led to a 9-yard touchdown run by senior Marcus Ward, who carried the ball 13 times for 99 yards. Eagles sophomore quarterback Kyler Murray accounted for the next two touchdowns on runs of 47 and 4 yards for a 35-10 lead with 4:10 left in the half. In addition to his performance on the ground, 10 rushes for 80 yards, Murray overcame a slow start through the air and completed 12-of-22 passes for 147 yards. That included multiple receptions by Pierce, juniors Kendall Clinton, Cole Carter and Grant Finney.

"In the second quarter, especially once Kyler settled down, we really got rolling and got into a rhythm," said Tom Westerberg, Allen head coach.

Not all of Allen's points came on offense though.

The next score came from junior Christian Sam as a pass was tipped and he scooped it up and ran 27 yards for the score.

"We had been working on that screen pass and our linemen are always getting their hands up," Sam said. "On that play, I turned around, saw the ball right there and got it."

Once Sam got the ball, he looked to the end zone.

"Oh, I wanted to score," he said. "And I got some good blocks along the way."

That brought many a smile to the Allen sideline and not just because that score gave the Eagles a 42-10 lead they would hold at the break.

"Those Pick 6s are always a lot of fun," Westerberg said. "We've got guys that make interceptions, but don't necessarily get to score many touchdowns, so that was good to see."

Allen doubled up its Pick 6 quotient in the third quarter when junior Chad Adams made an interception and returned it 42 yards for a 56-10 lead. That score, which was prefaced by a 22-yard touchdown from Murray to Carter to open the second half, capped a string of 42 straight points for the Eagles.

"Chad got the ball and man ... he is really fast," Pierce said.

Adams displayed that speed on offense as well, running the ball twice for 58 yards.

"We've been working Chad in here and there on offense," Westerberg said. "He's really fast and you might see more of that going forward."

While the flashier plays were made by the secondary, they may have been facilitated by the Allen defensive line, which was continually barreling past the line of scrimmage. Sacks were registered by juniors Marcus Davis, Jordan Radcliffe, Mason Bartke, Tay Evans and sophomore Camrin Manning. That manifested itself in the run game too as Westwood had negative-12 yards rushing in the first half and only 45 yards total.

"We were really able to stop their momentum with our defense," Westerberg said. "We went to our four-man front and turned those guys loose."

Fenimore, who completed 16-of-34 passes for 111 yards, wouldn't run the team's last two series as Sam Swensen relieved him. Swensen, who started multiple games in October and November when Fenimore was injured, completed a pass on a trick play in the first half and closed the game having connected on 5-of-7 throws for 120 yards after leading two touchdown drives in the final six minutes.

But even with those scores, as well as 12 catches for 78 yards from Ty Marshall and eight carries for 43 yards from Tanner Osborn, Westwood found itself on the wrong end of a 56-24 final.

Next up for Allen is Skyline (12-1) in the Region I Finals.

Where that game will be played remains to be seen as Eagles officials said the Raiders had declined playing the second part of a doubleheader (following Southlake Carroll vs. DeSoto) Saturday at SMU's Ford Stadium.

"I have no idea where we're going to be playing yet." Westerberg said after the game. "All I know is we'll be playing on Saturday and it will be somewhere between Skyline and Allen."

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