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The Excellence of Execution: Eagles overwhelm Skyline for state semifinal berth
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
MESQUITE -- The Allen football team didn't let its chances go to waste Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
And as a result, the Eagles are now two wins away from their second-ever state championship after defeating Skyline, 37-17, in the Class 5A Division I Region II Finals.
"It's awesome anytime you can get into the semifinal round," said Tom Westerberg, Allen head coach. "You know you're playing great and things are going well, so we'll take it and play football for another week."
The Eagles opened the third quarter with a high kick that bounced off the chest of Skyline's Anthony Baker and right to Allen senior Oliver Pierce to set up shop at the Raiders' 34-yard line. Five plays later, senior Marcus Ward found the end zone on a 3-yard scamper for a 24-7 advantage.
"I said that [Baker] isn't used to getting the ball a lot," Pierce said. "I told our guys to try and strip it, but he muffed the kick and we were there. That really changed the momentum in the game."
Things didn't get any better for Skyline, who again fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and gave Allen a 19-yard field to work with. The result was a 40-yard field goal by junior Carlos Arochi for a 27-7 edge and 10 points within the first two-and-a-half minutes of the quarter.
Allen outscored Skyline, 17-3, in the third stanza, extending its lead to 34-10 after sophomore Kyler Murray bolted into the end zone from 6 yards out with 2:46 left in the quarter.
The drive was jumpstarted by a 38-yard run by Murray that had 15 yards tacked onto it after a late hit by Skyline. Penalties of that ilk haunted the Raiders all game long, yielding 98 yards on 11 flags to just four by the Eagles.
"At this time of year, you have to play good," Westerberg said, "and play penalty-free as much as you can. We played that way and it turned out good for us."
The aforementioned scoring run was Murray's second on the ground on a day that saw him pass for 129 yards on 11-of-22 attempts for one touchdown and one interception. The signal caller added 122 rushing yards on 21 carries while running mate Ward toted the rock 25 times for 125 yards.
"This is what we came out here to do," Murray said. "We didn't come out here to lose."
Skyline was only able to counter with a 27-yard field goal by Wilson Rivera with 7:25 left in the third and later in the early stages of the fourth quarter when quarterback Devante Kincade found Ra'Shaad Samples from 13 yards out to cut Allen's lead to 34-17.
The Eagles responded with a 23-yard field goal from Arochi to up the margin to 37-17.
Skyline never crept any closer, with its final two drives ending in a punt and an interception by junior Ryan Johnson deep in Eagles territory to preserve the victory and hold the Raiders to their lowest scoring output since Nov. 19, 2010 (a 38-0 loss to DeSoto).
"[Skyline] has all these Division I guys and a quick-strike offense," Pierce said. "We're trying to contain them and it just goes back to playing hard."
Credit the Allen defense, which limited the high-powered Raiders to just 117 yards of offense in their first five series of the second half.
The Eagles set a similar tone to open the game, dashing Skyline's opening drive with an interception by junior Mayomi Olootu. Two Raider possessions later, the Eagles' defense stonewalled Skyline near the goal-line and Rivera missed a crack at a 19-yard field goal.
Allen enjoyed a more productive offensive start to the game, marching 79 yards in 11 plays with Murray finding senior Troy Knudsen for a 9-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead with 7:09 to play in the first quarter.
Skyline wasn't able to knot that count at 7-7 until 15 seconds into the second quarter when Kincade eluded a pass rush and scrambled for a 24-yard touchdown run.
Overall, Kincade ran for 111 yards on 13 carries while throwing 19-of-37 for 220 yards, one touchdown and two picks. Ellis Onic added 55 yards on the ground.
The Eagles reclaimed the lead with 1:49 to go in the first half following a 24-yard touchdown run by Murray and even got the last laugh before halftime after moving to the Skyline 19-yard line with six seconds left.
Instead of electing for a field goal, the Eagles attempted a shot at the end zone which fell short but still left one second left for Arochi to kick a 36-yard field goal and send the Allen into the break up, 17-7.
"That was huge because it allowed us to play with a two-score lead," Westerberg said. "It changes some things defensively and takes some pressure off and then with what happened at the start of the second half with the two turnovers was huge for us."
That manner of execution kept Allen in front for all but 10 minutes on Saturday and as a result, the Eagles advance to the 5A Div. I semifinals against DeSoto, who dispatched of Southlake Carroll in a dramatic 49-45 decision on Saturday.
The two teams will square off at 6 p.m. Saturday at SMU.
"Coach said before the game that this is one of the best teams (he's had)," Pierce said, "as far as everyone playing for each other. We take it one game at a time and all summer long, people doubted us and we've used that as motivation.
"... We just really stuck together and I'm so proud of these guys."
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