It had been almost eight years to the day since a school from the Fort Worth ISD had won a football playoff game, and Arlington Heights needed overtime to make it happen.
The Yellow Jackets (9-2) beat Arlington Seguin (really from Arlington, unlike Arlington Heights, who just has a clever name) in overtime to earn a playoff win for their school district and their first playoff win in 30 years as a school.
"We didn’t want to talk about what’s happened the last 30 years," Heights coach Steve Hale told John Henry of the Star-Telegram. "We just want to talk about what’s going to happen now and into the future."
Well, it's good the Yellow Jackets can celebrate a monumental moment in school history, and heck, even in school district history as there wasn't a playoff winner in FWISD since Dunbar won a game in 2001. But as for the future, it's not looking bright for a repeat for Heights.
The Yellow Jackets might be 9-2 but that competition has been against fellow FWISD schools, commonly known as one of the worst football districts in the area, if not the state. Now they draw a 10-1 Denton Ryan team that is hitting on all cylinders with its explosive, high-flying passing game behind QB Scotty Young, a Texas Tech commit.
Let's face it: It would take an absolutely perfect performance from Arlington Heights and a season-worst showing from Ryan for the Jackets to stand a chance in this game, but kudos to the Jackets for ending a sad streak for an entire school district.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/award-winning blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He can't believe it's already basketball season.
