Argyle’s comeback falls short of title

08:59 AM CST on Saturday, December 10, 2005

By Ethan B. Szatmary / Staff Writer

TYLER — Argyle went down in the state championship Friday, but it went down fighting.

DRC/Gary Payne

Argyle’s Will Peyton, right, fumbles the ball out of bounds while being pursued by Newton’s Ricky Issac, far left, and Payton Holmes during the Class 2A Division I State Championship game at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium on Friday in Tyler.

Making its first state championship appearance in its fourth year of varsity football, Argyle looked dazed early and fell behind by 28 points in the Class 2A Division I state championship against Newton at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. However, Argyle (11-4) finally got its legs underneath it and put together a valiant but unsuccessful comeback as Newton (13-0) held on for a 28-20 victory to win its third state championship.

With most of the boys in black and red fighting off tears, Argyle head coach Todd Rodgers proudly addressed his team after the game.

“That was a great effort in the second half,” Rodgers said. “They [Newton] were a more athletic team, but we had more guts and heart. We got the silver trophy, but I couldn’t be more proud of this team. Back in August, nobody thought we’d be here right now.”

Argyle controlled the second half and had a chance to drive in for a game-tying score, but Newton senior Toddrick Pendland, who terrorized Argyle in the first half offensively, broke up a pass from Argyle senior quarterback Will Peyton to senior tight end Victor Gill on 4th-and-6 from the Newton 44-yard line with 1:47 left in the game.

Still, Argyle refused to go quietly into basketball and wrestling season. The Argyle defense came up with a stop, giving Argyle the ball back with 43 seconds on the clock, but Peyton’s next pass was intercepted by Newton sophomore defensive back Nicholas Adams, ending the game.

With Argyle trailing 28-7 at the half, its packed house of fans refused to leave and received a treat for braving the arctic climate. As temperatures dropped from 37 degrees at game time to well below the freezing point, Argyle marched right back into the game.

After struggling on the ground and in the air in the first half, Argyle’s spread offense came alive after the intermission. Junior receiver Brice Bode and Gill kept getting open over the middle, and Peyton kept finding them. Bode finished the game with 11 catches for 162 yards, Gill had seven for 94 and Peyton finished 22-of-39 for 295 yards and three interceptions with one rushing touchdown.

“I was stepping into my throws and making better throws, and the receivers were getting open,” Peyton said. “They were having a hard time covering our receivers. Brice and Victor were amazing. Brice made some great catches.”

Peyton finished his career with 2,893 yards passing and 16 touchdowns, Bode finished his season with 91 catches for 1,318 yards and nine touchdowns, and Gill ends his senior year with 52 catches for 664 yards and five touchdowns.

With the pass taking pressure off the run, Argyle senior running back Jeff Martz managed 78 yards and two touchdowns on the ground after being held to 14 yards rushing in the first half. He ends his senior season with 2,095 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns.

DRC/Gary Payne

Argyle’s Cy Zimmerman, left, tries to prevent Newton’s Toddrick Pendland, right, from catching a pass. Newton defeated Argyle 28-20.

Argyle just couldn’t find an answer for senior running back Pendland and Newton junior quarterback Darrell Jenkins in the first half. Pendland rushed for 58 of his 103 yards on the ground and scored a touchdown in the first half. Jenkins twice hit Pendland with touchdown passes and the quarterback rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown before halftime. Pendland had all of his five catches for 96 yards in the first half.

“He’s really athletic, and we just couldn’t do more than arm-tackle him in the first half,” Argyle senior linebacker Justin Lansdowne said of Pendland.

“In the first half, we weren’t really scared of them, but they dominated us,” Martz added. “We couldn’t do anything on offense, and we couldn’t do anything on defense.”

Pendland and Jenkins set the tone on Newton’s first drive. Argyle’s line came free on a jailbreak blitz at the Newton 49, and Jenkins scrambled deep into his backfield before launching a bomb to Pendland at the Argyle 22-yard line. He waltzed in for the score. Cody Walker’s kick put Newton up 7-0 with 9:22 left in the first quarter.

Argyle went three-and-out, fumbled and Newton answered with two quick scores. Before Argyle got its initial first down of the game with 9:38 left in the second quarter, it trailed 20-0. That first down just led to another stop, and Newton drove the field for another score. Jenkins converted the two-point conversion to put his team up 28-0, and Newton looked like it would bury Argyle.

Nobody told that to Argyle. Taking possession with 3:13 left in the half, Peyton started hitting Bode and led Argyle right down the field for a Martz 3-yard run to cut the deficit to 28-7.

From there, the momentum swung entirely in Argyle’s favor. It took the opening kick and drove down the field into Newton territory only to see the drive stall out at Newton’s 19-yard line.

But in this half, Argyle’s defense was a stone wall. Jenkins gained only eight yards on the ground and completed only one pass for 11 yards in the second half. Argyle forced a stop and then Argyle stormed down the field, driving 71 yards in nine plays and capped off by a Martz 1-yard plunge and Ben Parks’ kick cut the deficit in half, 28-14.

“We made some adjustments on the offensive line, and we started getting into their backfield and stopping them before they get started like we planned,” Rodgers said.

Three plays later, Argyle senior linebacker Sam Davenport stripped Newton fullback Jermaine Nash at midfield and Peyton again took Argyle right down the field, scoring from 1-yard out on a sneak. But, Parks’ kick was blocked and Argyle still trailed 28-20 with 11:58 left in the game.

From there, the defenses took over and Newton staved off the rally.

In the end, just like when Argyle fell behind to Whitewright by 28 points in the second game of the season and rallied to lose 41-40, it was too much for Argyle to overcome.

“They played their hearts out, and we played our hearts out, and they came out on top,” Martz said. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of. We didn’t think we’d make it this far anyway. Losing by eight points in the state finals – I know it sounds weird — but that’s awesome I think.”

ETHAN B. SZATMARY can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is eszatmary@dentonrc.com

Newton 28, Argyle 20

Class 2A Division I state championship

Newton         14        14        0          0          —        28             
Argyle              0          7          7          6          —        20

Scoring summary

First quarter
Newton – Toddrick Pendland 51 pass from  Darrell Jenkins (Cody Walker kick), 9:22
Drive – 5 plays, 69 yards
Drive time – 2:33
Key play – Jenkins avoids sack, scrambles and hits Pendland, who runs 22 yards untouched to the end zone.
7-0

Newton – Jenkins 1 run (Walker kick), 2:29
Drive – 11 plays, 58 yards
Drive time – 5:59
Key play – Pendland 5-yard run on 4th-and-5 from the 6-yard line.
14-0

Second quarter

Newton – Pendland 23 run (kick failed), 10:25
Drive – 9 plays, 49 yards
Drive time – 3:35
Key play – Pendland 23-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-23 from the 6-yard line.
20-0

Newton – Pendland 30 pass from Jenkins (Jenkins run), 5:48
Drive – 9 plays, 49 yards
Drive time – 2:31
Key play – Pendland 30-yard touchdown run pass from Jenkins.
28-0

Argyle – Jeff Martz 3 run (Ben Parks), 1:15
Drive – 9 plays, 83 yards
Drive time – 2:28
Key play – 29-yard pass from Will Peyton to Brice Bode moves Argyle down to Newton’s 22-yard line. Bode gets behind cornerback and is snared by safety.
28-7

Third quarter

Argyle – Martz 1 run (Ben Parks), 3:40
Drive – 9 plays, 71 yards
Drive time – 3:04
Key play – 25-yard pass from Peyton to Victor Gill moves Argyle down to Newton’s 37-yard line.
28-14

Fourth quarter

Argyle – Peyton 1 run (kick blocked), 11:58
Drive – 7 plays, 51 yards
Drive time – 2:42
Key play – 15-yard pass from Peyton to Bode moves Argyle to Newton’s 2-yard line.
28-20

Team stats

        N         A

First downs   16        24

Rushing         49-193 24-53  

Passing          136      295     

Comp.-Att.-Int.         7-8-0   22-39-3

Fumbles-lost  3-2       2-1

Punts-Avg.    4-34     2-29.5

Penalties-Yds.           5-50     1-5

Individual statistics

Rushing – N: Toddrick Pendland 21-103, Darrell Jenkins 14-62, Jermaine Nash 11-31, Josh Alfred 1-18, Nicholas Adams 1-1, Josh Samuel 1-(-22); A: Jeff Martz 17-78, Will Peyton 7-(-22)..

Passing – N: Jenkins 7-8-0-136; A: Peyton 22-39-3-295.

Receiving – N: Pendland 5-99, Terrence Freeman 1-26, Meredith Diggles 1-12; A: Brice Bode 11-162, Victor Gill 7-94, Martz 2-27, Seth Anderson 2-12.