ARLINGTON – It took every second for Arlington Martin to hold off Arlington Bowie in the final regular season game as the Warriors won 30-29 to clinch the District 8-6A championship on Nov. 2.
There was no doubt the outcome on Thursday.
For the second straight season, Richardson Berkner came to town with its season ending at the hands of Martin. The Warriors defeated the Rams 42-16 in a Class 6A Division 1 bi-district game at Wilemon Field on the campus of Arlington Sam Houston HS.
Martin wins its sixth straight game and improves to 8-3. The Warriors also win the playoff opener for the fifth consecutive season. They will face Allen (7-4) in the area round. Allen edged out Lewisville 18-17 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Berkner finishes with a 6-5 record.
After the Rams went three-and-out to start the contest, it took Martin just three plays to score. Brooks Brigance took the first play from scrimmage up the middle of the Berkner defense 66 yards to the 3. Two plays later, Brigance took the hand-off from QB Tristan Bittle for a 3-yard touchdown to give Martin a 7-0 lead with 8:45 left in the first quarter.
Berkner managed to get a first down on the next drive, but it also stalled after a 5-yard sack by Martin’s Brandon Smith. The Rams were forced to punt, but their defense kept the Warriors off the board.
Martin crossed the 50, but on fourth-and-4, the ball and bobbled and an 11-yard loss resulted in a loss of downs – giving the Rams the ball at the Martin 45. QB Daquwan Dunn ran a keeper for a gain of 23 to the 22, but on fourth-and-11, Jesse Ford sacked Dunn for a loss of six.
The Warriors scored on the next play from scrimmage when running back Daylon Cobb took a hand-off and gashed the Berkner D for a 71-yard TD to make it 14-0 with 31 seconds showing in the opening period.
It didn’t take long for Martin to go up three touchdowns.
On third-and-9, Ford got to Dunn for a strip sack and loss of 11 and Ryder Havard recovered for Martin at the Rams 15. Bittle gained 13 yards before punching it in from the 2 to extend the lead to 21-0 with 10:38 left in the second quarter.
Berkner, which lost to Martin 62-3 in last season’s playoff opener, avoided the first half shutout on a 6-play 65-yard drive. Jamary Williams burst through the middle and made a Martin safety miss on his way to a 39-yard TD that cut the lead to 21-7 with 7:53 left in the first half.
But any momentum in Berkner’s ballon was aired out immediately when Martin scored on the ensuing kickoff – with DB Zavien Abercrombie going 98 to the end zone. Martin upped the lead back to 21 – at 28-7.
Martin ran 21 plays – with one pass attempt that went incomplete – gained 202 yards in the first half.
Berkner ran 30 plays for 79 yards through the first two quarters.
The Warriors opened the second half with another scoring drive. Brigance was the workhorse with 31 yards on four carries. Then Bittle did the rest and capped the possession off with a 2-yard TD run to up the lead to 35-7 with 8:54 left in the period.
Following a Martin punt, the Warriors were able to down the ball inside the 1.
But Williams and Berkner didn’t care where the ball was.
On the first play, Williams took the hand-off and raced past Martin defenders on his way to tying a Texas HS state record 99-yard TD run to pull Berkner within 35-14 with 2:24 left in the third. Williams led all rushers with 183 yards on 17 carries.
Two plays later and Martin scored again – Cobb gained 14 yards to the Berkner 46 and then took a hand-off for a 46-yard TD to make it 42-14 late in the third. Cobb finished with a team high 156 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries.
Berkner added a safety in the fourth quarter.
Outside of Williams, the Rams only had 20 yards on 30 plays.
Martin still only finished with one pass attempt and had 38 rushes for 352 yards. Brigance had 126 yards on 13 carries. Bittle chipped in 61 yards on 10 carries.
The Warriors entered the year with a new head coach and under new command for the first time in nearly 20 years. Bob Wager went to Nebraska at the end of December to be on the Huskers football staff.
He was at Martin for 17 years and his offensive coordinator Chad Rives was named head coach in February.
Rives picked up his first playoff win as Martin HFC – one day after one of his daughters signed her national letter of intent. His daughter Rydlii signed her NLI on Wednesday with the North Texas women’s soccer team.
Against Bowie in Week 11, the Volunteers scored with under a minute left and went for the game winning conversion before Martin broke up the pass for another district title. The win gave Martin its fifth consecutive outright district title.
The Warriors have gone 33-0-1 in their last 34 district games.
