The Arlington football team had already come back from a 14-point deficit to tie Friday's game at Boys Town.
So, with just more than 2 minutes left to go, the Eagles started another drive trailing just 34-28. They earned first downs on pass receptions by Dustin Kirk and Jesse Thompson, and a third on Josh Miller's run down to the Cowboys' 17-yard line.
That's where things stalled, though.
Miller's fourth down pass into the end zone with 52 seconds left fell incomplete as Boys Town pulled out the six-point victory. The Cowboys improved to 3-5, while Arlington dropped to 2-6.
“Inside the 20 we had the defense in the spots we wanted them, but just came up short on some execution,” AHS coach Colter Mattson said. “And they had a good defensive call.”
TJ Murray wound up Boys Town's hero, finishing with 124 rushing yards and four touchdowns, according to the Omaha World-Herald. He scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, reversing field on a third-and-5 and racing 69 yards to end zone to break a 28-all tie.
Miller, meanwhile, led the Eagles' attack with 81 rushing yards and 279 passing on 32 completions. The senior quarterback scored three rushing touchdowns, including one similar to Murray's. With just 36 seconds before halftime, he ran an option play to the left, met resistance and reversed field to the right for a 12-yard score.
While Arlington trailed just 20-14 at the half, it fell behind by 14 going into the fourth quarter. Undeterred, the Eagles came all the way back to tie the game with just more than 5 minutes left to go.
“The comeback shows the type of kids we have,” Mattson said. “We stress competing and having a desire, and it showed.”
First, Miller scored on a 2-yard run to pull AHS within 28-20.
On the ensuing Boys Town possession, Weston Wollberg delivered a difference-making defensive play, recovering a Cowboys backward pass to give the Eagles a short field. Miller and company took over and scored a few plays later when Thompson crossed the goal line. Logan Kaup ran a crossing pattern on the two-point conversion play that followed, catching a pass from his QB for the 28-28 tie.
Murray, though, had the last say in the final score. His fourth touchdown proved to be the difference.
“The kids played 48 minutes of football and made some big plays, but gave up too many,” Mattson said of his AHS squad. “I'll never fault the effort within our program this season.”
While Miller had 360 yards of total offense, Thompson caught 13 passes for 129.
The Eagles close their season Friday with a road game at 1-7 Douglas County West.
