Keller’s slow start to senior night against Arlington Bowie has fairy tale ending

It was only fitting that Keller’s seniors would make the most pivotal plays in the Indians’ 34-28 win over the Arlington Bowie Volunteers on senior night.

The Indians were victorious in overtime with an 8-yard receiving touchdown from senior quarterback Beckham Robinson to senior tight end Jake Venables.

Head coach Carl Stralow said It was special that the seniors were able to contribute in such big ways on senior night.

The Indians got to overtime after being down by 14 with under four minutes left in the game with an 8-yard receiving touchdown pass to wide receiver Bradley McCroskey and a defensive stop of Bowie, which punted, pinning the Indians inside their own 1-yard line with two minutes left in the game.

On fourth-and-eight on their own 3-yard line and under two minutes in the game, Robinson connected with wide receiver Brock Meek for a 97-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 28.

Stralow wanted to go for two in the non-district game, but thought better after a Bowie timeout.

“We were going for two,” he said. “But when they called timeout and we had to adjust our motion, I didn’t want to do something we hadn’t done before.”

Despite the exciting ending, Keller struggled at the start of the game.

The Indians didn’t score in the first half and went into the locker room down by 14.

In one series, Keller recovered a fumbled punt return by the Volunteers, got the ball back and gave it up via an interception. Another drive ended on downs after Keller failed to convert on a fourth-and-two situation.

Stralow said the ability for the team to turn their play around at halftime was the most important part of the game., especially after losing by four points to Marcus High School last week.

“Well, we lost a close one last week and we tried to lose this one about seven different times,” he said. “I’m proud of how our kids fought, we were resilient, that’s something we didn’t do a week ago. We told them we needed to play hungry and I commend how hard they fought.”

Robinson finished the game with four passing touchdowns and was just shy of 200 passing yards. The other touchdown came from the legs of senior Tyler Owens, who finished with over 100 rushing yards, including 13 in overtime that put Keller in position to win the game.

Bowie’s senior quarterback Larry Nichols had three passing touchdowns of his own. Once he connected with wide receiver Zion Shelley and twice he found wide receiver Dilon Tallie. Nichols finished with over 218 yards passing.

He made few mistakes, but an interception in the end zone, caught by Keller senior defensive back Jace Franke, in overtime was the most pivotal.

Bowie’s running back Darrion Bowers finished with over 110 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown.

The Indians, on Sept. 13, start district play next week against Northwest High School. Tonight showed two different Keller teams that could produce different outcomes at the end of district play.

“The first half team doesn’t win another game, the second half team could be a playoff team, like we have been six of the last seven years,” said Stralow. “So, they just have to decide which team they’re going to be and it’s our job to lead them there.”

Bowie will continue its season on Sept. 13, when it faces Coppell in a non-district game.