Football: Arlington High's run has been expected

The Arlington High Colts were supposed to be here, ensconced comfortably in the UIL Class 5A playoffs.

With 18 returning starters for head coach Scott Peach, Arlington High was looking to establish itself among the elite teams in District 4-5A, alongside Arlington Bowie, Mansfield, Arlington Martin and Arlington Lamar.

The Colts struggled out of the gate, however, dropping their first two nondistrict games and allowing more than 40 points in each of them.

But Peach righted the ship and Arlington went on a six-game winning streak that included victories over Lamar, coached by Peach's father, Eddy, and Martin.

"It was important for us to make the playoffs because that's one of the team goals we set at the beginning of the season," Scott Peach said. "We knew that we had a lot of experience coming back this season."

Bowie and Mansfield High brought the Colts back to earth in the final two regular-season games, with both teams scoring 42 points in their victories.

The late-season collapse didn't eliminate Arlington High from the playoffs, though the Colts were limping heading into the postseason.

They got back up to a gallop with a 21-0 victory over North Crowley last Saturday in a Class 5A bi-district playoff game.

They'll try to continue their second-season run Saturday night when they face Odessa High at 7:30 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium in a Class 5A area playoff game.

"I think this is going to be a very good football game between two very good football teams with high-powered offenses," Peach said. "We are similar both on offense and defense, so it's going to be interesting to see how things work out."

Junior quarterback Matt Joeckel, who has completed 169 of 289 passes for 2,544 yards and 23 touchdowns, with six interceptions in the regular season, leads the Colts.

Running back Jamal Nero is the leading rusher for the team with 162 carries for 1,064 yards and eight scores.

The top target for Joeckel is wide receiver Kurtis Green with 46 catches for 595 yards and four touchdowns. He added two touchdown receptions in Saturday's playoff victory.

The trio has helped the Colts become the second most-prolific offense in the area, averaging 33.1 points and 422.8 yards per game, second only to Southlake Carroll.

"Matt is the leader of our offensive unit; a born leader that everyone responds to," Peach said. "He's smart, makes good decisions, has a strong arm and is accurate.

"Jamal has been very good running the ball; he had 1,300 yards last year and is close to 1,100 this year and with Kurtis, he's a guy that we put in the slot and try to do a lot of things with throughout the game."

Defensively, Arlington High has two players who like to run to the football and make plays - Keighen Thetford and Hardy Diggs.

Thetford leads the team with 69 solo tackles, with 63 assists thrown in for good measure.

Diggs has 60 and 41, respectively.

Still, the Colts have struggled at times on the defensive side of the ball, giving up 34.1 points and 389.5 yards per game

That's next to last in the area and could pose a problem against an offense like Odessa High, which is averaging nearly 500 yards per game this season.

"Keighen in one of the captains and the leader of our defense at middle linebacker," Peach said. "He makes the calls and gets everyone where they are supposed to be and he has great football skills.

"With Hardy, he's a two-year starter as a junior and he really can do it all from the safety position. He's a good cover guy and comes up well to support the run and has done a great job for us all season."