By Daniel McCrosky
special to the Bartlett Express
DICKSON--It was a night of history of the Arlington Tigers' football program last Friday night as they won their first state playoff game in the five-year school history behind the other worldly effort of junior quarterback Drew Reed who completed all 20 of his passes for six touchdowns in their dominating 56-21 win over the host Dickson County Cougars.
Arlington's initial varsity football team was in 2007 and they made the playoffs that year only to lose to Houston. They missed the playoffs in 2008 but made it in the following two years only to be eliminated in the first round.
The 2011 edition of the Tigers were very much aware of their playoff history, mainly because their head football coach Chris Wiley reminded them almost every day.
And it seemed as if last Friday's game was going to be more of the same as the Cougars jumped out to a quick 21-7 lead early in the second quarter but that's when this batch of Tigers said enough was enough and promptly scored the next 49 points to advanced to the second round this Friday night at No. 1-seeded Whitehaven. Kickoff is set for 7pm.
"We talked about getting that first playoff win almost every day," Wiley said after the game. "These kids are amazing. They have been through a lot of ups and downs but they have never stopped playing hard.
"When we got down by 14 in the second we made a couple of adjustments on defense by adding another defensive linemen," Wiley said. "Then our offense just started clicking."
Nominate Coach Wiley for the understatement of the year award.
Dickson County scored on their first two possessions for a 14-0 lead then Reed hit his big 6-4 wide receiver senior Drew Thomas for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Senior Kyle Mitchell was good on the point after to make it 14-7 still in the first quarter.
The Cougars quickly made it 21-7 before the Tigers' "offense just started clicking" to the tune of 28-second quarter points.
The unflappable Reed quickly went to work in the air and hit Thomas with a four-yard pass to cut it to 21-14 and senior Jeremy Hollister tied it up moments later with a 15-yard sco2ring catch.
Senior running back Kramer Hollenbach showed his versatility as he ran 22 yards for the next Arlington score and just before halftime he caught a 20-yard pass from Reed to make it 35-21 at the break.
Reed, who has now thrown for 35 touchdowns this year, went back to work in the third when he found Thomas again in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown. Thomas' third of the game and 13th on the season.
Mid-way through the third, Reed finished off his night with a three-yard scoring strike to junior Justin Boring.
By the end of the game, Reed's stat line read like something from a John Madden video game. He was a perfect 20-for-20 for 286 yards and six touchdowns while also rushing for 29 yards on just five attempts.
"What can you say after a performance like that," Wiley said. "He had an amazing night."
Boring and junior teammate Omari Hampton caught five passes each. The athletic Hampton, while not finding the end zone, led all receivers with 132 yards including one catch for 54.
Defensively, senior linebacker Jazz Mason was his usual unblockable self as he made 19 tackles for the game, 16 solos, three of them for losses, one sack and one fumble recovery. Seniors Jerrick White and Jordan Barnes also recovered fumbles.
"The defense really stepped up and shut them down after their third touchdown," Wiley said. "Total team effort on defense.
"Now we have to get ready for Whitehaven and they are undefeated and very good," Wiley said. "We respect them a lot but we will be ready to play. Just winning a game in the state playoffs wasn't our final goal this year. We feel we have a lot more to accomplish."
