THE FLYOVER | PT gets first win; Henderson, Arp, Troup all win big / Some Friday results still to come

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re still gathering information on a couple of games – Troup at Harleton, Harmony at Beckville, and Leverett’s Chapel at Longview Christian – but we’ll have that today, and when we do, it’ll be here in this roundup.

Friday was a fairly eventful night of high school football in the ETBlitz.com coverage area.

Then again, it almost always is.

Pine Tree is no longer without a win, and one of the most feared programs in Texas, historically, is now 0-3.

This Ricky Meeks thing is really paying off so far for the Henderson Lions.

This just in: Troup is REALLY good. Ask Harleton. In fact, ask Shelbyville, Edgewood, AND Harleton. Troup beat Harleton, 62-0, Friday night.

Arp joined Troup in the 3-0 Club.

Tatum has talent and is a tough place to play, but Newton got out with a win.

Beckville showed everyone it’s not over yet with a home win over Harmony.

Let’s do the Flyover.

Pine Tree 38, Dallas Carter 29 (at Pine Tree): Pirates quarterback Colton Croft and receiver Bosston Johnson helped take down one of Texas’ most storied programs on Friday night.

Johnson was Croft’s target throughout the night, and it worked out pretty well: he finished with five catches – four of them, touchdowns – and 119 yards, as the Pirates had some pretty impressive defensive work, too, in a 38-29 homecoming win.

The Pirates, after losing their first two to Gilmer and at Van, are now 1-2, and will visit longtime rival Hallsville in their final non-district game of the season next Friday night.

In maybe the most ill-advised move of the season to date, Dallas Carter tried a fourth-down conversion in a fourth-and-1 at its own 10-yard-line in the third quarter. Carter had intercepted Croft inside the Cowboys’ 5-yard-line, but Pine Tree’s defense had risen to the occasion.

And on the fourth-and-1, Johnson and Derek Kalulu tackled Carter running back Damarion Boozer right at the line of scrimmage. It was a turnover, at the Carter 10-yard-line, and led to a 23-yard field goal by Julian Ibarra.

That kick put the Pirates in front, 23-22, giving Pine Tree a lead it would not relinquish.

The Pirates added to it on their next drive, a 20-yard run for a score by Ja’Karius Timmons. Croft connected with Ashton Valentine for 28 yards just before that, a play that really helped set up the score. And Timmons also scored another touchdown for Pine Tree earlier in the game, a

Huge standouts for the Pirates on defense included Jatavian Sonia, who had three sacks, and Rashaad Wofford, who incredibly had three interceptions in a single game.

And congratulations to Jasmine Byrd, Pine Tree’s homecoming queen this season.

Henderson 50, Jacksonville 2 (in Henderson): Ever seen anybody get taken to the woodshed?

It’s an old phrase for, getting your butt beat.

After Ella Williams was crowned homecoming queen at Henderson High School, the Lions – who have scored 50 points in two of their games this year, and 46 in another – proceeded to lay the wood to the Jacksonville Indians, a 50-2 final that included two safeties by Henderson.

The Lions are 2-1, and could very easily be 3-0, if not for a late touchdown by Athens in the closing seconds of the season opener. Henderson will play Gainesville next Thursday at Kaufman high School, the Lions’ final non-district game.

Lions running back Jesstin “Meaty” Starling had four touchdown runs against the Indians, as the Henderson offense was cooking with gas again – Henderson scored 28 points in the second quarter to blow the game open. And it’s becoming a habit: Henderson scored 46 in that opener at Athens; they scored 52 in a road win at Liberty-Eylau last week; and now 50 in the homecoming win over Jacksonville.

With nine minutes left in the first quarter, the pinball machine started to ding. And it would ding all night long.

Henderson’s defense stopped Jacksonville on fourth down – the Indians went for a fourth-down conversion at the Lions’ 39-yard-line. It failed.

And then Henderson quarterback Vince Howard made them pay for it. Like, immediately. Howard found Macen Jones on a pass, and Jones turned on the burners all the way to the house, a 61-yard touchdown. With Ivan Navarro’s extra point, Henderson had a 7-0 lead.

The defense forced another punt, and Henderson fumbled, giving the Indians a bit of a lift with the ball in Henderson territory, at the Lions’ 36.

The teams traded interceptions, and Jacksonville, late in the first quarter, went for another fourth-down conversion, this one at Henderson’s 22. It failed, as well.

The Indians wound up with their backs against their own end zone, and Henderson would get a safety out of it when Jacksonville was flagged for intention grounding, with about 10 minutes left in the half. That gave Henderson a 9-0 lead.

Maverick Walker added to the points immediately, a kick return for a touchdown, although the point after was missed. Henderson was up 15-0 with still just under 10 minutes left until halftime.

Jacksonville’s next possession also ended with an interception, and a handful of plays later, Starling was in the end zone for the first time Friday night, a 3-yard rush TD with seven minutes left until halftime.

Henderson went for two, but the conversion was no good, leaving them in front, 21-0.

The defense did its job, forced another punt, and the offense went to work yet again. After a great 19-yard run by Jamylon Ray, Howard followed with another, a 25-yarder that set the Lions up at Jacksonville’s 20.

Starling would end the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, and with four minutes left in the half, after Navarro made the extra point, Henderson led 28-0.

Stop me when you’ve heard this before: Jacksonville again went three-and-out and punted to the Lions.

Howard and Jones proved to be a lethal combination for Henderson – or maybe we should say, to Jacksonville. The duo, who had already hooked up for first-quarter touchdown, connected again, this time for 59 yards, all the way down to the Jacksonville 6.

Two plays later, Starling was back in the end zone on his second rushing touchdown of the night, with roughly a minute left in the first half (35-0). That would also be the final score of the half.

Henderson would score three times in the second half: a 51-yard rushing touchdown by Starling with 11 minutes left in the third quarter; an 18-yard pass from Blake Meeks (a freshman; coach Meeks’ son) to Jaxson Bradford; and a safety on a miscue on a punt by the Indians, midway through the fourth quarter. Jacksonville’s only score also game on a safety. Three safeties in one game? Yes.

Arp 35, Mineola 8 (in Mineola): The Mineola Yellow Jackets briefly led this game, early.

And then they trailed the rest of the way.

Arp got three touchdown runs from senior Casen Burgin, and finished with 222 yards, in a rout of Mineola on the road.

Coach Wes Schminkey and his Tigers are 3-0, now, and will host Sabine next Friday for homecoming.

Burgins ran for three touchdowns and 72 yards on seven carries Friday at Mineola, in a rushing attack where six different players carried the ball. Tanner Hunt, just a freshman, had 52 yards on four carries. Josh Smith had 44 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. Zane Borque finished with 27 yards; Ty Langley had 15; and C.P. Pierce had 12.

Langley, the quarterback, completed 7-of-11 passes for 117 yards, a touchdown to Isaac Poe, and had no interceptions. Borque caught four balls for 84 yards; Wyatt Johnson had two catches for 12; Poe’s catch was for a 16-yard score; C.P. Pierce had a catch for 8 yards; Jaxon Schminkey had one for 6; and Burgins had one for 5.

Defensively, nobody could touch Smith, who led the way with 15 total tackles, and one for loss. Chrisden Ellis had two tackles for loss (Arp as a defensive unit had six).

Johnson had an interception and a caused fumble, and Hudson Orpineda had a fumble recovery.