CEDAR HILL – Next week's Cedar Hill-DeSoto matchup was thought to be the game of the year in District 8-5A, if not the area.
That game will have to go a long way to top Arlington Bowie's 57-45 upset of Cedar Hill on Friday.
Bowie (4-0, 1-0) snapped Cedar Hill's 19-game winning streak, the longest in the area. Cedar Hill's streak included winning the Class 5A Division II state championship last year.
Cedar Hill (3-1, 0-1) also beat Bowie 62-10 last season, and this year's game appeared headed that way early.
Cedar Hill, ranked No. 3 in the area 5A poll, broke out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.
Arlington Bowie, ranked No. 9 in the area 5A poll, trailed 24-7 with 6:03 left in the second quarter.
Then Bowie reeled off five consecutive touchdowns to claim a 42-24 lead with 6:07 left in the third quarter.
Cedar Hill, playing in front of its home crowd at Longhorn Stadium, roared back to tie the score at 45 with 8:21 left on a play similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers' Immaculate Reception.
On a third-and-5, Cedar Hill quarterback James Hamilton launched a desperation heave down the middle of the field. Receiver Ryan Bradley leaped and tipped the ball forward, where it fell into the arms of teammate Montrel Green, who was all alone behind the secondary.
Green took and beat the pursuit to the goal line for a 75-yard touchdown.
Bowie answered with a 12-play scoring drive highlighted by a 49-yard run by Keidrick Jackson.
With the Cedar Hill defense bunched together on third-and-1, Jackson found open space down the right side and almost scored. He finished the job with a 1-yard plunge two plays later.
However, Bowie kicker Eric Molina was injured on an earlier field goal. Bowie opted to fake the extra point kick, but Scotti Akarolo was stopped short of the goal line. With Bowie holding a 51-45 lead and 5:16 remaining, Cedar Hill just needed a touchdown and an extra point to take the lead.
Cedar Hill was forced to punt with 3:28 left, but forced Bowie to also punt with 1:11 left. However, Cedar Hill did not field Bowie's line-drive punt and was forced to take over from its 1 with 1:07 left.
On the next play, Akarolo intercepted Hamilton's pass and returned it for the final touchdown.
