Arlington dominates on both sides of the ball vs. Royals

ARLINGTON – Arlington coach Josh McGrain said that he and his staff weren't pleased with his squad's defensive effort last week against Liberty-Benton. "We really challenged our kids this week," McGrain said. "We kind of went back to basics, went back to fundamentals, kind of harped on the little things and our kids had a great week. I think you can see that it showed tonight on the field." Yes, it did. Caden Russell had two interceptions, Trenton Heacock and Max Jolliff each had one, and the Red Devils limited Elmwood to just 86 yards of offense in a 36-0 Blanchard Valley Conference win Friday. Arlington improved to 2-2, 1-1 in the conference. Elmwood slipped to 1-3, 1-1. "We didn't execute well offensively. When we get something going, we'd make a mistake: snap the ball over our head, drop a pass, fumble," said Elmwood coach Greg Bishop. "We were our own worst enemy. Hats off to Arlington. They executed. They didn't hurt themselves." Arlington's offense took a little while to get going. It was limited to a 22-yard field goal by Wesley Hartman on its first possession, then on it's second, quarterback Trent Heacock was picked off by the Royals' Brennan Hiser. But after that, the Red Devils got going. Russell ran in a four-yard touchdown, and the Red Devils led 9-0 after one. In the second quarter, Heacock found Ayden Cavinee for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Then, with less than a minute left in the half, Cavinee raced 39 yards for a touchdown. Arlington led 22-0 at the half, then went up 30-0 after Cavinee added a 36-yard score and Heacock executed a 2-point conversion rush. Cavinee finished with 131 yards rushing on 11 carries. "He's a kid that we know we've got to figure out ways to get him the ball," McGrain said. The same was true of Russell, who added a 14-yard touchdown in the fourth and finished with 79 yards on 16 carries. ""What's probably not going to get looked at in the stats is he did a really good job blocking on the edge for us tonight," McGrain said of Russell. "Some of the big second half runs, Caden was leading the way. That just shows what a great teammate he is." Cade Riegel registered 63 yards on 11 carries for Arlington. The Red Devils have plenty of options, and that's the way McGrain wants it. "When your number is called, we expect our kids to try and make some plays," he said. Arlington did that Friday. On both sides of the ball. Elmwood &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 – 0 Arlington &emsp;&emsp;9 &emsp;&emsp;13 &emsp;&emsp;8 &emsp;&emsp;6 – 36 First Quarter A –Wesley Hartman 22 field goal A – Caden Russell 4 run (kick fails) Second Quarter A – Ayden Cavinee 21 pass from Trenton Heacock (Hartman kick) A – Cavinee 39 run (run fails) Third Quarter A – Cavinee 36 run (Heacock run) Fourth Quarter A – Russell 14 run (kick fails)