After a Sept. 1 loss to West Point-Beemer, the Arlington High School homecoming king wished for two things to come out of the next week's practices.
“Healthy bodies and heavy contact,” senior Josh Hamre said after the 31-0 home loss. “Kind of contradicting there, but it's what we need.”
Coach Colter Mattson's Eagles (1-1 overall) beat Raymond Central during the opening weekend of the season, but suffered a letdown against the Cadets (1-1). The road team led 18-0 after one quarter and ultimately spoiled AHS' homecoming game, which preceded the coronation and dance.
“I think that we just needed to be better in practice, really,” senior Jacob Beans said after the loss. “The first week or whatever was really good and, then, this week it kind of died down.”
Hamre suggested the Eagles may have gotten a little high on themselves after the overtime win against the Mustangs in week No. 1.
“We really just need to pick it up,” Beans added.
West Point-Beemer, meanwhile, started up against Arlington. The Cadets scored on their first possession when Blaize Brockmann ran to the left of his offensive line and found the end zone from 22 yards out.
From there, the visiting quarterback, Conner Troyer, threw a 73-yard touchdown pass and returned a punt 89 yards for a score on the final play of the first quarter.
Oliver Ladehoff ran for a first down on the Eagles' ensuing possession, but AHS was forced to punt. To keep itself in the game, though, coach Mattson's defense came up with two second-quarter stops itself.
“Our defense was getting better,” Hamre confirmed.
It wasn't strong enough to completely shut down the Cadets, though. The visitors — who entered the game 0-1 after a 42-0 loss to open the season — tallied a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. Troyer completed a second scoring throw before Brockmann added a second run across the Arlington goal line.
“We just need to be more together,” Beans said after he, too, took part in coronation ceremonies. “We're there, but we're not all the way there, I guess.”
AHS next plays 1-1 Pierce, which beat Columbus Scotus on Sept. 1, 28-20.
“We just need to show out next week and see what we can do,” Hamre said, the homecoming king's crown atop his head.
WEST POINT-BEEMER 31, ARLINGTON 0
WPB (1-1) 18 0 13 0 — 31
AHS (1-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
WPB: Blaize Brockmann 22-yard run, PAT failed
WPB: Treven Weddle 73-yard pass from Conner Troyer, 2-point conversion failed
WPB: Troyer 89-yard punt return, 2-point conversion failed
Third Quarter
WPB: Brayden Doggett 35-yard pass from Troyer, 2-point conversion failed
WPB: Brockmann 4-yard run, Colten Haber PAT
