Running back Tim Whitfield scored four touchdowns, wide receiver Jordan Gandy added three more and the West Texas Warbirds routed visiting Arlington, 68-21, on Saturday at Ector County Coliseum.
The victory improved the Warbirds to 3-0 on the season and clinched a spot in the playoffs during this abbreviated season.
“I thought we played well tonight,” Warbirds head coach Tate Smith said. “We watched film and saw some formations we thought would work against their defense and they did.
“Tim did a great job running the ball. He was a little frustrated last week because Amarillo keyed on him and took him out of the game, but he came back strong tonight.”
Quarterback Daniel Smith was 12-of-17 passing for 142 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for one score.
He played just one series in the second half before giving way to backup Trey Shaw, who finished 2 of 6 for 29 yards and one touchdown.
Whitfield scored on runs of 30, 10 and 6 yards and caught an 18-yard TD pass from Smith. He finished with 11 carries for 83 yards, with four receptions for 30 yards.
It was his second game with more than 100 yards of total offense and he was very happy to be more involved in the outcome.
“I was too hungry,” Whitfield said. “I knew what they (Arlington) were going to do; I did some extra film study on them and took advantage of what I was going to do.
“We can tell them (other teams) that you can run the ball in this league and I proved that. It’s nothing other than working hard and trying to get done what I’ve got to get done.”
Gandy caught scoring passes of 40 yards from Smith and 27 yards from Shaw and then returned an interception 47 yards for his final touchdown of the night.
Fellow wide receiver Carlos Thompson Jr. also scored on both sides of the football, catching a 19-yard pass from Smith in the waning moments of the first half before returning a fumble on defense 23 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Jordan Semanat also had an interception for West Texas.
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West Texas Warbirds 68,
Arlington Longhorns 21
Arlington………………. 0.. 13 8 0 — 21
West Texas…………. 14.. 21 20 13 — 68
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
West Texas: Daniel Smith 11 run (Justin Lehr kick).
West Texas: Jordan Gandy 40 pass from Daniel Smith (Justin Lehr kick).
Second Quarter
West Texas: Tim Whitfield 30 run (Justin Lehr kick).
Arlington: Delenzia Green 40 pass from Lauren Morales (Angel Medel kick).
West Texas: Tim Whitfield 18 pass from Daniel Smith (Justin Lehr kick).
Arlington: Juan Reese 1 pass from Lauren Morales (kick failed).
West Texas: Carlos Thompson Jr 19 pass from Daniel Smith (Justin Lehr kick).
Third Quarter
West Texas: Tim Whitfield 10 run (kick failed).
Arlington: Lauren Morales 2 run (Juan Reese pass from Lauren Morales).
West Texas: Jordan Gandy 27 pass from Trey Shaw (Justin Lehr kick).
West Texas: Carlos Thompson 23 fumble return (Justin Lehr kick).
Fourth Quarter
West Texas: Jordan Gandy 47 interception return (Justin Lehr kick).
West Texas: Tim Whitfield 6 run (kick failed).
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TEAM STATISTICS
Arlington West Texas
First Downs…………………….. 9……………….. 12
Total Yards…………………. 170……………… 269
Rushes-Yards………….. 18-28…………… 14-98
Passing……………………… 142……………… 171
Comp-Att-Int…………. 15-32-2……….. 14-23-0
Fumbles-Lost………………. 3-1………………. 0-0
Penalties-Yards…………. 8-41…………….. 7-48
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Arlington: Leslie Stone 8-20, Richard Adkins 2-4, Lauren Morales 6-3, Langston Logan 2-1.
West Texas: Tim Whitfield 11-83, Daniel Smith 1-11, Trey Shaw 2-4.
Passing
Arlington: Lauren Morales 14-28-1—139, Richard Adkins 1-4-1—3.
West Texas: Daniel Smith 12-17-0—142, Trey Shaw 2-6-0—29.
Receiving
Arlington: Delenzia Green 5-66, Juan Reese 4-45, Travis Collins-Teague 1-14, Leslie Stone 3-14, Alex Richardson 1-3..
West Texas: Jordan Gandy 4-87, Carlos Thompson 3-34, Tim Whitfield 4 – 30, Aaron Dilworth 2-18, Darien Townsend 1-2.
Interceptions
Arlington: None.
West Texas: Jordan Gandy 1-47, Jordan Semanat 1-0.
