South Grand Prairie linebacker's perfectly timed play helps defeat Irving MacArthur
· Yahoo Sports
GRAND PRAIRIE — Isaiah Allen provided the big play, a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown, to finally give South Grand Prairie something it has not had this season — breathing room on the scoreboard.
The linebacker, back from an elbow injury, put South Grand Prairie on course for a 35-20 victory over Irving MacArthur in their District 8-6A opener Friday night at Gopher-Warrior Bowl.
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“They were throwing that short sideline pass all game,’’ Allen said. “I was setting them up.’’
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The backbreaker for MacArthur ended a promising drive early in the fourth quarter when South Grand Prairie’s lead was 28-14.
“Isaiah’s timing on that play was perfect,’’ South Grand Prairie head coach Laban DeLay said.
South Grand Prairie (3-1, 1-0 District 8-6A), No. 16 in SportsDay’s Class 6A area ranking, entered with its three previous games decided by a total of eight points.
MacArthur (2-2, 0-1), seeking to end a decade-long playoff drought, showed reason for optimism with the hard running of sophomore Jayden Burnett and the passing of senior three-year starting quarterback Brock Casas-Willis.
Burnett surpassed his game average in the first half and finished with 212 yards on 32 carries before leaving the game with an injury midway in the fourth quarter.
Casas-Willis completed 28 of 49 passes for 232 yards.
South Grand Prairie sophomore punter Ricardo Guevara-Lara, making his varsity debut, twice pinned MacArthur in the shadow of its own goalpost in the second half and played a role in blanking the Irving team until the final minutes of the second half.
Logan Thomas returned a hurried MacArthur punt from its end zone 31 yards to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Kevin Leonard for a 28-14 lead in the third quarter.
Running back Joshua Armendarez was South Grand Prairie’s top weapon with 191 yards on 25 carries. The 5-9, 180-pound senior finished off a pair of scoring drives with short touchdown runs on the first two possessions. A fumble recovery by Christopher Ramirez set up a short field for the first South Grand Prairie score.
Junior quarterback Zackary Martinez threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Amari Wyatt for a 22-14 lead.
MacArthur played on near-even terms statistically in the opening half and finished scoring drives on an 8-yard pass from Brock Casas-Willis to tight end Cannon Spencer and a 5-yard run by Burnett.
Gabriel Burnett accounted for MacArthur’s only touchdown in the second half with a 5-yard run.
MacArthur missed a scoring chance in the final seconds of the second quarter with a miscue on a short field goal attempt.
Both sides had turnover issues in the opening half, with South Grand Prairie committing four of the seven.
MacArthur saw its record in recent district openers drop to 2-9 while South Grand Prairie won its third in a row.
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