5A-I Region I:Arlington Martin vs. Euless Trinity, noon Friday, Bedford's Pennington Field
After how much we came down on them in the regular season sometimes, it's only fitting that three Arlington ISD teams (Arlington, Bowie and Martin) are still alive in the third round of the playoffs -- together they account for nearly half of 5A's Region I now! But this week, all three are underdogs (or close to it), which may mean 4-5A could go from penthouse to outhouse in a hurry. This weekend, Martin has a tough draw against Euless Trinity, which has long since been one of the area's top defenses, especially on the ground. To beat a team like Trinity, I think you need a variety of weapons ... a large base of options you can go to in the run game and at receiver. But Martin has two stars that it leans on heavily -- RB Danzel Williams and QB Russell Bellomy. Last week against Odessa, Bellomy threw all ten passes and the two stars combined for 30 of the team's 36 rush attempts. Now that's knowing who your horses are! But that works to Trinity's advantage, I think. The Trojan defense should come out and aggressively attack the run, which has been a winning formula for years.
Prediction: Euless Trinity 31, Arlington Martin 21
Jerry Forrest's pick: Trinity by 13
Arlington vs. Coppell, 1 p.m. Saturday, North Richland Hills' Birdville ISD Complex
Another one of out Arlington ISD teams in action, the high-powered Colts travel to Birdville tomorrow to clash swords with Coppell. We'll lead off with three degrees of separation -- Arlington was beaten badly by Southlake Carroll early in the season, but Coppell didn't look all that hot against those same Dragons near the start of district play. Since then, Arlington seems to be playing much better, especially defensively, which is going to help it against Coppell. That's what the Cowboys do best, after all, is defend -- they'll play sticky defense against Arlington's receivers and hope that Matt Joeckel, Arlington's A&M-bound quarterback, doesn't pick them apart. Coppell's best win of the season was against Highland Park earlier in the year; in that one, the Cowboys forced turnovers right and left, never letting the Scots' offense get into a groove. I would think that would be the similar goal here. Joeckel has played extremely well over the past few weeks, so breaking up that feeling in a hurry should be of the utmost importance for Coppell.
Prediction: Arlington 26, Coppell 22
Jerry Forrest's pick: Arlington by 1
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