Quarterback Brodie Lambert led an offensive charge with three touchdown strikes
Dallas – Arlington Martin finished the Red Bull Game Breakers 7 on 7 Tournament undefeated, including a 28-5 thumping of Clairton (Pa.) in the finals at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on Saturday night.
With the win, the Warriors became the first Texas school to win the title. Last summer Cy-Fair fell to St. Augustine (New Orleans).
Martin defeated Clairton (23-12) earlier in a semi-final match to earn a berth in the finals. Clairton then defeated Houston Westside (26-14) in a playoff to gain the championship round.
“I thought the heat would be a factor; it’s a 105, 106 degrees out here,” said Arlington Martin’s Coach Bob Wager. “When you lift weights twice a day and run outside every day in the middle of the day and train like your hair’s on fire. We were excited to have it at 105 degrees, that’s an advantage for us.”
Clairton HS, a small Class A school that boast 5A size talent, is located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The city of Clairton commingles with the Monongahela River in Western Penn. The school is nationally recognized for football and packs a 31-game winning streak, while in search of their third consecutive state WPIAL Class A title and fourth overall.
Interesting fact, Clairton goes from nearly not making the trip to Texas, to earning a berth in the championship round. Thomas Jefferson (Pa.), the only team to defeat the Bears this spring in the Woodland Hills Tournament (Pa), earned the right to play in the Red Bull Finals, but opted to cancel out due to a pre-scheduled tournament in Hoover, Alabama, which was scheduled a week before.
Clairton took first possession at the 45 yard line and moved 22 yards while converting two first downs to gain two points before turning the ball over on downs. The turnover gave Martin a point and possession of the ball.
On the first play from scrimmage, Brodie Lambert found Reagen Luce all alone on the left sideline for the catch and run that covered the distance. After an unsuccessful extra point try, the Warriors led 8-2.
“The thing is, trust your receiver, be on the same page. Day after day we go out in the heat to make everything right, everything crisp, so when we come out here to the game it comes out smooth,” said Lambert, Arlington Martin’s quarterback.
More bad luck was right ahead of the Bears, a pass deflected off the hands of star wide out, Trent Coles and into the waiting hands of Martin’s LB Cameron Williams, also resulting in a point, 9-2. But Clairton forced a three and out to gain their third point of the game.
Coles, a Pitt recruit, is the real deal. He boasts great size (6’3” 190) and speed to go with his leaping ability.
Defensive back Trevor Stewart intercepted the Bears as the buzzer sounded for intermission to give Arlington Martin a commanding 11-3 lead. Led by the Amoako twins, Stewart and LB Cameron Williams, the Warriors defense was solid all evening.
Arlington Martin started on offensive to begin the second half, but with less than a few seconds into the drive, Lambert was picked off by outside LB Devonte Gradlock. That would conclude the Bears’ point production with five.
Meanwhile the Warriors earned two more points with a defensive stop and a sack before promising Junior Kyle Hicks reeled in two of Brodie’s touchdown passes, for 45 and 25 yards, to cap the scoring.
Wager also mentioned, “The investment our players have put in with a tireless effort in the heat and I thought we got stronger in the second half. We don’t get too big on 7 on 7 around here, but this is a big deal for Martin High School.”