9-15-23 Irving
The Irving Tigers are coming off a bye week, giving them two solid weeks to prepare for the Scots this Friday night at Highlander Stadium. Hopefully the Tigers aren’t spending too much time looking at film from the Scots’ loss to Lake Highlands last week. That film could give Irving a blue print on how to compete with the Scots.
Irving, which was 0-8 in district play last season, is picked to finish at the bottom of district 7-6A again this season. Last year the Scots throttled the Tigers, 63-0.
This year the Tigers lost Game One to Fort Worth Paschal, 38-6. Irving was more competitive in the second game, losing a close one to South Garland, 14-10. Irving was marching to score and win the game in the final minutes when South Garland’s Brennan Broner intercepted a pass with 1:51 remaining to ice the game.
The leading ball carrier for the Tigers was Adriel Pena, who picked up 62 yards on 13 carries. David Diaz gained 36 yards on 12 attempts. Xavier Ybarra picked up 28 yards on 10 carries and freshman Napoleon Proctor gained 18 yards on two carries. He also caught all three passes completed by quarterback Ybarra. The lone Tigers touchdown was a two-yard run by Omar Castro halfway through the second period. Castro finished the night with four yards on two carries.
Last Friday Lake Highlands quarterback Tripp Holley introduced himself to the crowd at Wildcat-Ram Stadium by tossing a 75-yard touchdown pass to Miron Magee on the game’s first snap.
“It was a great start for Lake Highlands,” said Highland Park head coach Randy Allen. “We spent the rest of the game digging ourselves out of a hole. We fell behind by 17. Then every time we scored they would score again, putting us in the position of needing three scores to win. Our guys fought hard. We’ve got to hand it to Lake Highlands. They played a mistake-free game. No fumbles. No interceptions. And their running back, Deonte Dean, had a career night. He’s the best we’ve seen.”
The Scots lost, 51-41.
Dean, who was leading the area 6A rushers going into the game, had one of the best performances against Highland Park in years. He picked up 376 yards on 31 carries and scored four rushing touchdowns. His average was an unworldly 12.13 yards per carry. This week he was named by The Dallas Morning News as the area’s offensive Player of the Week. When he got home from the game I am certain that he had a dozen D1 scholarship offers in his voicemail box.
The Scots offense rolled up 41 points and looked good doing it. The problem was that as they rested on the bench, Dean would score on another spectacular run and the offensive break would be over.
“We’re going to show the kind of team we have,” said Allen. “We’ll evaluate everything and regroup to get better. Learning from a loss is the is a sign of a champion.”
Irving will step into the cross hairs of an angry HP football team this Friday. Then two weeks after that the Scots will face the Jesuit Rangers at SMU’s Gerald Ford Stadium. If Jesuit knocks off Lake Highlands this week, then the Jesuit-Highland Park game would be for a share of the district championship.
Either way, if you are a high school football fan and you’d like to see a rabid Scots team, don’t miss that game on Sept. 29. Prepare to fasten your seat belt.