Ellis County Sports Your source for Ellis County Sports News
By Travis M. Smith | Ellis County Sports
ARLINGTON — In just its second season in Class 5A, Midlothian Heritage claimed its second District 5-5A Division II football title on Thursday.
The (9-0, 6-0) Jaguars entered CH Wilemon Field as the third-ranked team in 5A DII for the fourth consecutive week. Second-year head coach Eric Edwards used a creative rushing attack and leaned on his stout defense to defeat Arlington Seguin 21-14 and secure the district title.
The Jaguar defense stole the show, limiting the Cougars to just 197 total yards and forcing two interceptions. Seguin rushed for a measly 49 yards on 30 attempts for a 1.6 yards-per-carry average in the loss.
Midlothian Heritage quarterback Carter Rutenbar paced the offense by completing 9-of-his-18 passes for 121 yards. The junior also rushed a game-high 80 yards on 15 carries and a game-sealing 4-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Jaguar running back Kadyn O’Neal scored twice on runs of 20 and 7 yards in the first half. O’Neal finished with 9 carries for 59 yards. Stetson Sarratt led all receivers with 5 catches for 81 yards.
The computers at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football favored the Jaguars by 16 points and gave Midlothian Heritage an 83.4% chance of winning.
The Jaguars have now won 14 consecutive district ballgames, dating back to a 55-14 victory against Alvarado on Nov. 5, 2021.
THE PLAYOFF PICTURE
With the district title already secured, Midlothian Heritage closes out the regular season against (5-3, 3-2) Everman on Thursday, Nov. 3 at Midlothian ISD Multipurpose Stadium.
The Jaguars routed the only one-loss team in (5-3, 4-1) Mansfield Summit, 42-7, on Oct. 5.
Mansfield Summit closes out its season with a road tilt against Joshua on Friday and a home against Ennis next Friday, Nov. 3.
The latter could determine one of the final four 5-5A DII playoff spots, as the Ennis Lions are currently in the fifth position and on the outside looking into the playoff picture.
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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith
tsmith@elliscosports.com
