Roos lose regular-season finale at Arlington

The Weatherford Kangaroos fell short in the final minutes in the red zone at Arlington on Thursday, Nov. 5.
The Colts defense sacked Roo quarterback Braelyn Jones on fourth-and-goal to preserve Arlington's 33-28 win.
Weatherford came into the game in third place with a one-game lead on the Colts, who needed to win the game to qualify for the playoffs.
The Colts offense, now fully run by mobile quarterback Canon Cambran, consisted of many jet sweep runs to running backs and receivers, with an option for Cambran to keep it as well. That combination was tough to stop for Weatherford all night, but especially in the first half.
Arlington scored touchdowns on its first three drives, with long touchdown runs from receivers Gray Cambron and Kason Brown, and Canon Cambron.
Weatherford's offense scored on its first drive when Jones hit receiver Jakob Hemphill with a 40-yard contested touchdown catch. Unfortunately for the Roos, the offense turned the ball over on downs and later a high snap on a punt gave the Colts the ball on Weatherford's 11 yard line.
The Roo defense kept up its season-long trend of tough red-zone defense, forcing Arlington to kick a 35-yard field goal.
Trailing 24-7, Weatherford was able to get some momentum before halftime as Jones scored on a short run to cut the lead to 24-14. With the Roos getting the ball to start the second half, there was a good feeling on the sideline of things turning around.
Weatherford took advantage as Hemphill took a jet sweep 78 yards for a rushing touchdown on the Roos’ first play from scrimmage to start the second half. Weatherford's defense was able to stifle the Colts’ offense in the red zone again, and Arlington settled for a 25-yard field goal to extend its lead to 27-21.
Before the third quarter ended, the Roo offense had a five-minute drive punctuated by running back D.J. Quimby bowling over a defender on a short run to give Weatherford its first lead of the game, 28-27, heading into the final period.
Arlington answered with a scoring drive to start the fourth quarter. Canon Cambron scored on an eight-yard run. A failed two-point conversion put the Colts up 33-28 with 7:38 left.
Weatherford moved the ball down the field, with Jones finding Hemphill during the drive to convert a fourth down at some point, before the Roos found their way to the Colts’ 9 yard line with a first-and-goal.
Weatherford was trying to waste as much time, getting to the 5 yard line and using its last two time outs, one to prevent a delay-of-game penalty and another on fourth down to make sure the play call was the one the team wanted to use.
It did not go the Roos’ way. A sack put the ball at the Arlington 17 yard line, but with 3:20 left in the game Weatherford could still get the ball back if it could prevent the Colts from getting a first down.
Arlington came through on third down, getting a first down so it could kneel the ball to end the game.
Weatherford coach Marshall Williams, who is the offensive play-caller, was devastated over that last sequence in the red zone.
"We had to bust through some timeouts so it wasn't the best execution on my part with trying to get some plays that involved some things with some motions and some different formations and whatnot," Williams said. "I try to get guys in position to make some plays, and (Arlington) made more plays than us today. We lost the game; I get it, but with how we played and how we tried to finish the game, I really feel like we ran out of time."
Weatherford ends the regular season 6-4 and 4-3 in district and is sitting in fourth place. Roo fans will be cheering on Aledo on Friday, Nov. 6, as an upset loss to Arlington Lamar could potentially push Weatherford out of the playoffs.