The Colts lost to the Martin Warriors 28-14 on November 3.

The game began with an Arlington possession that resulted in a punt that was fumbled by Martin giving the Colts offense the ball at the Martin 37-yard line.

The Colts offense could not take advantage of the Martin mistake and traded three and outs with the Warriors. On the ensuing punt, Arlington fumbled and the Warriors recovered in Colts territory. Martin did not score on their possession. Both teams did not convert on good scoring opportunities early.

The first quarter didn’t see any points, but the Warriors broke through early in the second quarter with a 2-yard rushing touchdown by the quarterback. After another Arlington possession finished with a punt, Martin scored again on a 33-yard touchdown pass. The Colts suddenly found themselves in a 14-point hole with 6:51 remaining in the second quarter.

The offense responded well by scoring two minutes later on a 7-yard quarterback keeper by senior D’Montae Davis. The Colts were back in the game, only down seven at halftime.

Martin opened up the second half by scoring a touchdown on another quarterback keeper. The Warriors then botched the extra point attempt, in what would be a key development later in the game.

Arlington mustered some momentum on the next drive and scored on a 23-yard rush by Davis, decreasing the deficit to 20-14.  After stopping Martin on fourth down, the Colts had an opportunity to take the lead for the first time in the game.

On fourth and two at the Martin 18-yard line, the Colts turned the ball over on an interception in the endzone. The Colts felt like they missed a golden opportunity.

“It came down to execution in the biggest moments,” head coach Scott Peach said. “We just didn’t execute the play.”

After stopping the Colts, Martin put together a long drive early in the fourth quarter. Deep into Arlington territory, the Warriors threw a pass into the end zone that was tipped and intercepted by senior DB Xzavier Guyton. This was a huge play that gave the Colts another opportunity to take the lead.

In a drive that took over seven minutes and thirteen plays, Arlington faced a fourth down at the Martin 18-yard line. The Colts did not convert, giving the Warriors the ball back with little time remaining in the game.

“You need a touchdown to win the ballgame,” Peach said. “You can’t settle for field goals there on fourth and short. The problem was is that we had the right plays on both times, we just blew assignments.”

Martin added a long touchdown run after that to put the game out of reach. Arlington lost their second game of the year. However, the coaching staff is not worried going forward into the postseason.

“I was really proud of how we fought tonight, I thought our kids played extremely hard,” Peach said. “They played physical, and those were the things we needed to grow up as a football team for the playoffs, and we did that tonight.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE COLTS:

The first round of playoffs starts this week as the Colts travel to Keller to face-off with Fossil Ridge. The Panthers are 10-0 this season and won the District 3-6A championship.

The game between the Colts and Panthers is Friday night at 7:30 P.M. at the Keller ISD Athletic Complex.