Southlake Carroll Over Arlington Martin 31-14

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The weather was horrible for a quarterfinals match-up between Southlake Carrol (13-0) and Arlington Martin (13-0) at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas. The crowd was much smaller than normal, as only the most dedicated fans sat thru constant rain and, at times, downpours, to watch a high school football game. But, those who endured the weather were rewarded with a hard fought contest between two evenly matched teams.

As in many big games that occur this deep into the playoffs, it’s the team that makes the fewest mistakes they usually comes out on top. This game was no different. If you only looked at the game stats you would think that Arlington Martin was the winner. Martin had more total yards (AMA 312 to SLC 257), more first downs, twice as many rushing yards (AMA 179 SLC 88), and only slightly less passing yards (AMA 133 SLC 169). The difference in the game was turnovers and penalties.

Martin turned the ball over three times, one interception and two fumbles, while Southlake fumbled once, which is amazing given the weather conditions. Arlington Martin committed nine penalties to Southlake’s five.

The star players on both sides played well. Running back Kyle Hicks was the leading rusher for Martin with 91-yards, and Chris Turner was their top receiver (3 for 69-yards). For Southlake, QB Kenny Hill completed 42% of his passes for a total of 169-yards. His two favorite receivers for the night was Sabian Holmes (5 for 92-yards) and Peyton Williams (4 for 61-yards).

As in previous weeks, the Southlake defense was outstanding. RB Kyle Hicks for Martin was averaging 8-yards per carry coming into this game. The Carroll defense held him to 4.3-yards per carry. This was the lowest scoring game for Martin all season. Last week, a gainst the powerful defense of Trinity, they scored 19 points. Similar to last week against Arlington Bowie, Southlake did not allow Martin to score in the second half.

Next week, Southlake Carroll takes their undefeated record (14-0) into the semi-finals against undefeated Skyline (14-0). Skyline has both a potent offense and powerful defense with four shutouts to their credit this year. It could shape up to be a battle of the defenses. Whoever wins will play for the state championship.

 

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