Argyle appeared poised to christen its new stadium with a victory Friday night, leading Oak Ridge for the first 47 minutes and 32 seconds before suffering a heartbreaking finish.
With 28 seconds remaining, the Trojans from El Dorado Hills, California, took a one-point lead and stopped Argyle’s final offensive effort to escape with a 27-26 victory.
It was a tough ending to a night meant to celebrate the Argyle football program’s success, the community’s support and the opening of the new Argyle ISD Stadium.
“The energy in the stadium… they did their part, and we didn’t do our part,” said head coach Todd Rodgers. “We’re going to have to assess our part and see what we can do and how we can change and put a better product on the field as a coaching staff and a team.”
New quarterback Hayes Hackney, who transferred from Prosper Walnut Grove this season, finished the game with 365 yards passing and had a hand in all four of Argyle’s touchdowns with three passing and one rushing.
Rodgers believes the team did well overall against Oak Ridge, but needs to refine their play moving forward.
“[Hackney] played good, the offensive line did some good things, wide receivers did some good things, we just need to look at our whole football team, see where we are and improve,” he said.
The three passing touchdowns were shared by different receivers, including running back Logan Rexroat, who finished the game with 144 yards receiving and 26 yards rushing, tight end Ricky Moore and wide receiver Ake O’Neal.
The Eagles were without wide receiver Julian Caldwell, who is committed to play at Texas Tech University.
Rodgers also credited linebacker Brody Bromar for his pair of sacks and big-time stops, but said the defense overall needed to be more consistent in pressuring the quarterback.
The Eagles commanded the first part of the game, leading 20-7 at the half after scoring on the first play of the game, an 85-yard pass to Rexroat, a scramble run by Hackney and a 76-yard pass to Moore.
Argyle gave up some big plays on defense and hurt themselves with penalties in the first half, but an offensive blemish could have meant the game. Following the first touchdown, the extra point was missed.
However, it was overshadowed by the offensive dominance of the Oak Ridge Trojans in the second half.
Oak Ridge started the half with a 11-play drive that featured a 26-yard pass, 40 yards in forward run plays and ended with a 4-yard rushing touchdown.
The mix of big pass plays and ground-and-pound offense wouldn’t slow down.
Argyle was forced to punt and Oak Ridge followed with a 17-play drive.
The Eagles and Trojans swapped 50-yard plays that both led to touchdowns and entered the last five minutes of game time with Argyle ahead 26-14.
A pair of punts later, Oak Ridge scored the go-ahead touchdown via a 4-yard rush with 28 seconds left on the clock.
The Eagles had little chance to win, but squandered what chance they did by letting Hackney get sacked on back-to-back plays as the clock hit zero.
“They made halftime adjustments, realized they could run the ball on us and work the clock,” said Rodgers. “It minimized how many offensive series we had and we weren’t able to get those points.”
Oak Ridge totaled nearly 100 yards rushing in the second half on 24 plays and 232 yards of offense total. The Eagles helped them out with more than 100 yards in penalties throughout the game.
According to Rodgers, Argyle was approached about playing an out-of-state team, and said it seemed like an attractive deal.
“Despite the outcome, he said he believes it worked out okay.
The Eagles fall to 0-1 on the season and hit the road next week, looking to bounce back against Terrell High School on Friday, Sept. 4.
