SMU commit Isaiah Robertson leads Arlington football past Haltom in district opener

Versatile Isaiah Robertson helped Arlington prevail 35-21 in a District 8-6A opener at Old Birdville Stadium Friday night.

Robertson, whom Coach Scott Peach calls “our best football player,” rushed 10 times for 55 yards and a touchdown. He also caught five passes for 40 yards. Robertson was assisted by teammate Abe Otokiti with nine runs for 68 yards and two touchdowns.

Statistics, though, didn’t tell the story. While the Colts led twice by 21 points, the home team actually had more first downs, 18-15, and total yardage, 367-348 with the Buffaloes’ largely conservative grind-it-out offense.

In a losing cause, Vudrico Roberson finished with a game-high 175 yards on 17 carries and all three of his team’s touchdowns. Teammate Keenan Jackson contributed 143 yards on 27 carries.

Haltom was without starting quarterback junior Dominique Mounivong, out with an injury sustained in last week’s 29-28 win over Saginaw Boswell. Sophomore Gage Seely substituted in his place.

With both of his team’s previous wins coming by four points or less, Peach was glad to see his team win by a more comfortable margin.

“First, I was proud of our football team for the way we started,” said Peach, the son of former longtime Coach Eddie Peach at Arlington Lamar. “We struggled for the last three weeks and so I really challenged our defense to make that change this week. We were giving up three touchdowns to start ballgames so that was really important for us. And, of course, to get the three-and-out to start the game and get the ball back to the offense.”

This was important because “the thing that Haltom does a great job of is they maintain the clock, they stay in front of the sticks, and they turn out first downs,” Peach further observed. “And so we had a lot of fourth down plays we had to make tonight.”

Arlington (3-1) led 21-7 at halftime with a different player scoring on three touchdown runs for the Colts. They scored on their first possession with an 18-yard run by Robertson. Taking a direct snap from center in shotgun in an empty backfield, the senior went right off tackle dodging tackles with outside moves eventually to the right pylon. It ended an eight-play 60-yard drive.

Haltom (1-3) replied with a touchdown drive of its’ own to knot it at 7. Roberson scored on a 29-yard run. It climaxed a 6-play, 75-yard drive. Roberson went left off-tackle, appeared to be stopped just past the line of scrimmage when he paused, feinted to avoid a tackler in front of him, then raced to the end zone.

Arlington then answered in turn with another score to retake the lead, 14-7, late in the first quarter. Jamar Burton helped with a 30-yard kickoff return to midfield. From there, it took five plays to find the end zone, the last one a 29-yard run by Otokiti around left end and down the sideline.

Midway in the second quarter, the Colts padded their lead, 21-7, with a big 75-yard run on the first play from scrimmage by Burton. The senior went around left end, saw a crease in the defensive line, took it, and raced down the sideline to complete the touchdown run.

On the opening drive of the second half, Arlington increased its’ lead to 28-7 with a 1-yard run by Otokiti. The touchdown was set up by a 41-yard pass from quarterback Coleman Cravens to Izayah Donaldson on a post pattern. The senior wrestled it out of a defender’s hands as both went down at the Haltom 19 on the first play from scrimmage.

“After the offense went on to score on the first drive was a really big deal,” continued Peach, “and set the tone for our team to go up seven to nothing. I felt the same coming out of halftime. We got the ball first and did a great job offensively making adjustments. We went down and scored to make it 28-7. We really challenged to go three scores ahead. And so, coming out of the gate in the first and third quarters, I thought we were a really, really good football team.”

Haltom, though, answered almost immediately with a 79-yard touchdown run also on the first play from scrimmage by Roberson. As he did on his first scoring run, the junior feinted and sidestepped defenders as he went right and down the sidelines. It made the score, 28-14, Arlington.

The teams continued to alternate scoring plays in the fourth quarter with a 3-yard keeper by Cravens who followed his interference right into the end zone on third-and-goal to end an 11-play, 63-yard drive. It was set up by the Colts’ second stop on fourth down and aided by a 15-yard pass interference call to the Haltom 4-yard line.

Finally, Haltom made it respectful with a scoring play as time expired. Roberson hauled in a 13-yard pass in the end zone from Seely on fourth-and-eight to end a 13-play, 69-yard drive.

On defense, Peach singled out Tobi Akintade, Caleb Olabode, and Troy McDaniel. On offense, besides Robertson, he felt Cravens and Burton stood out.

Next Friday, Sept. 27, Arlington hosts South Grand Prairie for its’ homecoming. Haltom is at Arlington Lamar at Cravens Field. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. for both games.