On the strength of another well-rounded team performance, the Houston High School football team cruised to a 28-7 win in a South Central Association conference game Friday night at Salem.
The visiting Tigers’ offense produced a touchdown in each quarter, with the initial score coming on their first play from scrimmage.
After Houston won the coin toss and head coach Eric Sloan deferred, the host Tigers received the opening kickoff and were quickly stifled by the Big Red D. Following a short punt, the visiting Tigers had the ball at the Salem 37 yard line.
Senior center Logan Dixon then snapped the ball to junior quarterback DJ Riley, who threw a perfect pass to senior Jordan Arthur – who was behind the Salem secondary near the middle of the field – for a touchdown. Sophomore kicker Dillon Shelton then booted the first of 4 extra points he recorded in the contest, and Houston was up 7-0.
“We started about as good as you could,” Sloan said. “We jumped on them early, and I thought that was a good indication we were locked in and ready to play. That play was executed very well; DJ threw a really nice ball and Jordan made a nice play.
“It was a fast momentum-grabber with us taking the lead less than 2 minutes into the game and hopefully making a statement.”
On the final play the first quarter, the visiting Tigers moved the ball to the Salem 9 yard line on an 18-yard pass from Riley to senior tight end Maleki Morgan. Then on the first play of the second period, Riley ran through traffic and dove headlong to the goal line for a touchdown. After Shelton nailed a point-after kick, Houston had doubled the lead to 14-0.
Late in the first half, the visiting Tigers had a golden opportunity to score again, but couldn’t capitalize.
After another defensive stand by the Big Red D, the host Tigers set up for a punt deep in their own territory. But the snap was low and senior kicker James Bobbitt touched his knee to the ground trying to handle it, and Houston had the ball at the Salem 18 yard line.
Moments later on a fourth down play from the 13, Riley tossed a pass to Arthur for an apparent score, but it was nullified by an illegal receiver downfield penalty. After a pass fell incomplete on the next play, Houston turned the ball over on downs.
After a fumble recovery gave the visiting Tigers possession at their own 36 yard line midway through the third quarter, the offense went to work again.
With the ball in the red zone, senior Layne Seago ran for 8 yards to the Salem 10, and a late hit penalty resulted in a first-and-goal situation at the 5. Arthur then ran for his second TD of the contest and Shelton kicked another extra point to put Houston ahead 21-0.
The host Tigers responded in a hurry. On their first play of the ensuing possession, junior quarterback Hayden Ragsdale threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to senior Evan Mendenhall. A point-after kick by Bobbitt was good and the score was 21-7 in favor of Houston.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the visiting Tigers went to the ground game and put together a sustained drive, with Arthur lining up in the backfield and doing the bulk of the work. With 5:11 to go, Arthur ran 5 yards into the right corner of the end zone. Shelton made another point-after kick and the final score was on the board.
The visiting Tigers regained possession before time expired, and the game ended with Riley taking a knee near midfield.
Houston finished with 328 total yards, including 244 on the ground. Arthur ran a career-high 123 yards on 18 carries, and also caught 2 passes for 46 yards.
“He had a big night,” Sloan said. “Jordan’s a play-maker; I would love to leave him out at wide receiver and let him make plays, but when they’re going to double-team him it makes sense for us to put him in the backfield and hand him the ball. He’s a good athlete and he runs hard, and good things usually happen when he has the ball in his hands.”
Riley was a force on offense and defense. At QB, he completed 5-of-10 passes for 84 yards and ran for 21 yards. At safety, he had a team-high 13 tackles (including 10 solo) and recovered a fumble.
“DJ is playing very well on both sides of the ball,” Sloan said. “He’s making good decisions with the football and he’s still giving us a run threat. And he runs the alley and plays like a linebacker from the safety spot. You kind of hate to see your quarterback with that many tackles, but he’s definitely not going to shy away from contact and you love to see that out of one of your best football players.”
A pair of linebackers had big nights for the Tigers, as senior John Jordan and junior Mason Dodson were each in on 12 tackles.
Officiating was a sore issue for both teams in the game, as the crew called a massive number of penalties on both squads, and confusion reigned on numerous occasions, with both coaches wondering what was happening.
“I thought we did a lot of good things throughout the night,” Sloan said, “even though a lot of it was nullified by penalties. It was really hard to ever get in a rhythm offensively because there was always a flag on the ground. But it was both directions; we were both having to deal with overcoming obstacles and some adversity in trying to get in front of the sticks and quit going backward.”
The victory was Houston’s fourth straight over Salem (0-3, 0-1 SCA). During the streak, the Tigers have outscored their Dent County namesakes 121-39.
“It feels pretty good right now,” Sloan said. “We know what’s coming up on the schedule, but with losing so much production from last year and sitting where we are right now, I think that’s a credit to our kids buying into what we’re trying to do. We’ve made plays when we’ve had to and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
This Friday (Sept. 20), Houston (3-0, 1-0 SCA) hosts Cabool for the annual Battle of Texas County.
“There should be a big crowd,” Sloan said, “and I expect there will be a lot of blue and a lot of red and black in there. It should be a full house, and it’s always fun to play at home in front of a lot of people.”
