Tim Polzer: Allen Never Panicked All the Way to State

By Tim Polzer Allen's state football championship should be remembered for so many reasons. Not only did Allen knock off the nation's top-ranked team in Trinity, the Eagles also ended the undefeated seasons of Odessa Permian and Fort Bend Hightower along the way. That's what Texas high school historians will read years from now. They'll peer down the Eagles' 9-1 regular-season blemished only by an early loss to Trinity, then follow their finger down the scores that led to the Class 5A Division I title. What football fans of the future might miss - unless they're swapping stories around an Allen Touchdown Club meeting - is the Eagles' wherewithal: They never panicked. Here's the challenge: Go find me another Texas state football champion that encountered so many give-up moments, only to answer the call beyond believability. Folks in Allen already know the tale by heart, but for those just taking notice, the Eagles' season played as if written by the television writers of "Friday Night Lights." I believe it all started with last season's disappointing first-round loss to Rowlett. (Okay, Eagles fans, your team has earned the right to never have to read that line again.) Instead of wallowing in what -could-have-beens, Allen's program carried on. The Eagles spent most of the season flying under the radar that was touting teams like Trinity and Plano. While few noticed, the Eagles' offense, led by leading passer and rusher Matt Brown, was rolling up big numbers. The Allen defense was also playing well, in fact, even better than last season's strong unit. The Eagles cruised through District 8-5A play, even beating Plano soundly, but locals outside Allen barely took notice - except Fate. Brown went down with a fractured collarbone leaving Allen to face Permian with backup quarterback Tucker Carter. Panic could have set in - especially in the mind of a junior quarterback taking on one of the state's legendary programs - but Carter calmly led the Eagles past the Panthers. Was Allen's win a fluke? Certainly the Eagles could not get past the top-ranked Trinity Trojans. As it turns out, they could. Allen dominated Trinity in every phase of the game. In the state semifinals, Allen took on a lesser known Round Rock Stony Point team that had the Eagles all but eliminated until Carter led his team on a last-minute drive topped by a game-winning touchdown pass to Dakarai Pecikonis. The only thing standing between Allen's first state football title was an undefeated Hightower team deep in college-bound talent. Hightower dominated play in the first half - holding Allen to little more than 100 yards of offense - but only managed a 7-0 lead at the half. Allen's patience paid off in the second half when coach Tom Westerberg decided to go for it on fourth-and-1. Instead of faltering under the pressure, Allen converted and found momentum. Carter found Pecikonis open for a 42-yard gain, then tossed to Jeremiah Williams for a short touchdown pass, tying the score. When Carter connected with Marcus Thomas for a 37-yard scoring strike and followed that with a nine-yard TD pass to Justin Robinson in the fourth quarter, Allen fans were thinking things were as they should be. Confidence was further buoyed when Westerberg gave his team the go-ahead to convert another crucial fourth-down play. Allen lead 21-7, but Hightower wasn't dead yet. The Hurricanes ran a kickoff back deep into Allen territory and scored to make it 21-14. That's when Allen needed first downs to eat up the clock. Westerberg again called on Tucker to convert a fourth-down situation near midfield that could have given Hightower the ball back with plenty of time to score. Carter took the snap, pivoted and stared straight into the facemask of an on-rushing Hightower pass rusher Phillip Steward. Carter somehow got the pass off and steered the ball to Uzoma Nwachukwu for a short 5-yard gain that was perhaps the biggest gain in Allen football history. Carter didn't panic, and neither did Allen. That's the legend that will be shared around the big, small-town of Allen or decades to come.