Lawton MacArthur running back Darius Graham finished with 129 rushing yards on 21 carries, but Guthrie contained him to just 40 on 13 attempts after halftime. Guthrie's focus to stop him left the defensive backs in single-coverage in several downfield passing situations, and they came up big.
“Each week, we have some guys back there that come up and make plays,” Watkins said. “People have been trying to take big shots on us back there. We're not the shiniest bunch back there, but they play hard and they did a great job of covering tonight.”
Not only did the Bluejays repeat their victory over MacArthur from last year's state championship game, they handed the Highlanders their first home playoff defeat since 2002.
“This shows the tenacity of our team,” Dutton said. “If we lose, it's over. But we stuck together and pulled one out.”
Next Story
