Relentless is how Argyle has played all season long, so why change now?

As soon as the Eagles rolled off an impressive nine-play, two-minute scoring drive on the opening possession of the game, they knew they were in business.

The foot never got off the gas and Argyle cruised to its second 4A DI state title, 49-21, over Lindale inside AT&T Stadium Friday night.

The high-octane Eagles ran 79 plays in the game, the most of any team during the state championship week and over 10 more than the next closest team. They also utilized their balanced attack of quarterback CJ Rogers’ precision passing with running back Tito Byce’s ground-and-pound. Rogers, a first-year starter this past fall, threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns in the championship game.

“I came in with confidence with the preparation I put in over the off-season,” Rogers said. “I knew I was going to have some dogs on the O-Line and playmakers at wide receiver, so it was just that my team really helped me step up this year.”

Byce, who recovered from a torn ACL suffered last season as a junior, finished with 152 yards on the ground and four touchdowns and the Offensive MVP. To top it off, none of his scores were over five yards, a punishing indicator of Argyle’s methodical wear-and-tear offensive approach.

“For us to come out guns blazing offensively and have that great shut-down defense, it’s been a perfect combination for a 16-0 season,” Argyle head coach Todd Rodgers said.

On the other side of the ball, Argyle’s game plan was about as clear as it could be – stop Jordan Jenkins.

Lindale’s 3,000-yard star rusher was the bell-cow all season and faced his toughest challenge against one of the top rush defenses in the state.

The Baylor signee finished with 112 yards but needed a tough 26 carries to get it done. He added his lone touchdown on a 25-yard breakaway run late in the fourth quarter. Lindale head coach Chris Cochran contributed the struggles to Argyle’s unique defensive line rotation that kept the front seven fresh the entire 48 minutes.

“Offensively we couldn’t ever just free Jordan up,” Cochran said. “And that’s honestly what got us here. (Argyle) had a lot of speed on the field. We tried to play-action them a bit and couldn’t do that. They pressured Sam (Peterson) and he couldn’t really get comfortable in the pocket.”

Argyle’s traditionally been known for prolific offenses, but the addition of a defense that’s allowed just 15.1 all season long is the reason why Todd Rodgers’ team never trailed once this season.

“We have done a great job of stopping the run all year,” Rodgers said. “We didn’t have to change our defense or change our coverages or anything like that. We just got some good reads on their offense.

“You’re never going to stop a great running back like that (Jenkins). You just need to slow him down a whole bunch and take him out of the game per se.”

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP HUB

Team Totals LINDALE ARGYLE FIRST DOWNS 19 27    Rushing 6 12    Passing 10 11    Penalty 3 4 NET YARDS RUSHING 128 214    Rushing Attempts 36 49    Average Per Rush 3.6 4.4    Rushing Touchdowns 2 4    Yards Gained Rushing 148 246    Yards Lost Rushing 20 32 NET YARDS PASSING 159 357    Completions-Attempts-Int 17-28-0 23-30-0    Average Per Attempt 5.7 11.9    Average Per Completion 9.4 15.5    Passing Touchdowns 1 3 TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 287 571    Total offense plays 64 79    Average Gain Per Play 4.5 7.2 Fumbles: Number-Lost 3-1 2-2 Penalties: Number-Yards 6-63 8-79 PUNTS-YARDS 6-238 2-83    Average Yards Per Punt 39.7 41.5    Net Yards Per Punt 39.7 41.5    Inside 20 2 1    50+ Yards 1 0    Touchbacks 0 0    Fair catch 1 0 KICKOFFS-YARDS 3-149 5-223    Average Yards Per Kickoff 49.7 44.6    Net Yards Per Kickoff 35.0 34.0    Touchbacks 0 0    Fair Catch Yards 23 0 Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0    Average Per Return 0.0 0.0 Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 5-53-0 2-44-0    Average Per Return 10.6 22.0 Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0 Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 21:37 26:23    1st Quarter 4:25 7:35    2nd Quarter 6:08 5:52    3rd Quarter 7:04 4:56    4th Quarter 4:00 8:00 Third-Down Conversions 4 of 12 7 of 10 Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 2 0 of 0 Red-Zone Scores-Chances 1-2 6-7    Touchdowns 1-2 6-7    Field goals 0-2 0-7 Sacks By: Number-Yards 2-6 1-11 PAT Kicks 3-3 7-7 Field Goals 0-0 0-0 Points off turnovers 0 7 

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