IRVING – Rowlett needed to get an early lead, use the power running of Dexter Imade and get some good fortune to slay Allen, its nemesis.
Major upset accomplished.
Rowlett took a 30-0 lead, then had to hold off Allen (10-1), the third-ranked team in the state, for a 37-32 victory Saturday at Texas Stadium.
Rowlett's stunning win in the Class 5A Division I, Region II bi-district game is one of the biggest first-round upsets in recent memory. And it happened because of Rowlett's big first half.
"It was very big to get out on them," said Imade, who rushed for 271 yards and three touchdowns. "Because you knew sooner or later, they were going to score."
Rowlett (6-5) had lost its last three games to Allen (10-1) by a combined score of 118-50, including last year's bi-district playoff.
On the first play Saturday, Rowlett popped Matt Brown, Allen's quarterback, for no gain. Brown's first pass was intercepted by Hilbert Jackson, who returned the ball 49 yards to the Allen 18.
Rowlett struck quickly on quarterback Brandon Loy's 12-yard touchdown pass to Josh Powell for a 7-0 lead 96 seconds into the game.
Things snowballed from there. Allen missed a field goal attempt on its next possession. Imade rushed for 8 yards, then broke off a 36-yard touchdown run to give Rowlett a 14-0 lead with 5:03 left in the first quarter.
Imade, who thought he would get 20 to 25 carries but finished with 41, scored his second touchdown on a 5-yard run to give Rowlett a 21-0 lead. After Davarous Jones scored on a safety, Blake Hamlin's 23-yard interception return for a TD put Rowlett up, 30-0.
Imade's 29-yard touchdown run answered Allen's first score to give Rowlett a 37-6 lead with 1:19 left in the first half.
Allen, which entered the game averaging 40.4 points per game, scored before halftime on Dan Buckner's spectacular 12-yard TD reception, giving his team some optimism for the second half.
"Even when we were down in the second half, I thought we would come back," said Buckner, who had six receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Allen did just that, finally getting some defensive stops – five of them – as it rallied behind senior backup quarterback Carlyle Aguren, who had a rushing touchdown and threw for a touchdown. Allen rattled off 20 consecutive points to get within one score.
But Rowlett erased the final 6:35 of the game behind the running of Imade and Loy. Allen helped Rowlett with a crushing offside penalty on third-and-2 with five minutes left.
Imade's 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 at the Allen 41 with just under three minutes left and Loy's 17-yard run with just over a minute left sealed the upset win.
"We had to have it," Rowlett coach Kiff Hardin said. "We had to have a drive to win. Our kids played very physical, and that's why we won."
