Saginaw overcomes a big Arlington Heights rally to shock the Yellow Jackets

SAGINAW

Fort Worth Arlington Heights came to Rough Rider Stadium on Thursday night, trying to keep its stranglehold on the top of the District 4-5A Division I football standings. Saginaw had other ideas.

The Rough Riders overcame a furious Arlington Heights rally in the third quarter and used a late goal-line stand to shock the Yellow Jackets in a 50-47 thriller.

“This is a huge win for us,” said Saginaw quarterback Joshua Greek, who had an incredible night hitting 33 of 55 passes for 539 yards and accounted for seven touchdowns. “We knew coming in that they were the top dog of the district and we wanted to come in and prove them wrong.”

Saginaw (4-2 overall, 3-1 district) had just taken a 34-20 lead with 8:06 left in the third quarter when Greek bulled in from the one-yard line on a sneak. But Arlington Heights (6-1, 4-1) wasn’t done.

The Yellow Jackets scored three times in just over three minutes on three huge plays. The first being a 92-yard kickoff return for a score by Ceantae Johnson on the esuing kickoff.

Four offensive snaps later, Heights defensive back Drake Morton picked off a pass and returned it 53 yards for the score. On Saginaw’s next series, a short punt was returned 22 yards for a touchdown on a heads-up play by T.J. Johnson that gave Heights its first lead of the night at 40-34 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

Despite all of the momentum swinging Arlington Heights’ way, Saginaw responded. The Rough Riders answered with a long drive that resulted in a 35-yard field goal by Roberto Guereca that cut the lead to 40-37.

The Saginaw defense then stepped up, forcing a three-and-out by the Yellow Jackets. Following the punt and on the first play of the fourth quarter, Greek hit receiver Kaiden Stewart over the middle for an 81-yard score and a 43-40 lead.

It was the fourth scoring reception for Stewart, who finished with 10 catches for 253 yards. The Rough Riders nearly had three 100 yard receivers on the night with Stewart, Derek Harris (10 catches-146 yards) and freshman Deon Duncan (8-96).

Greek hit Duncan for 14 yards and a TD to give Saginaw a 50-40 lead with 7:45 left in the game and Arlington Heights had a chance to cut the lead three minutes later. But the Yellow Jackets failed to score on four running plays inside the Saginaw three-yard line.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Saginaw coach Mike DeWitt on the Rough Riders’ comeback. “Our kids responded and I’m just super proud of them.

“Hats off to Arlington Heights. They’re a great football team and are well coached. I thought it was just two really good teams getting after it tonight.”

Heights cut the lead to 50-47 with 3:29 left on a seven-yard scoring pass from quarterback Carmelo Carter to running back Carson James on a middle screen. The play followed an interception by AH linebacker Isaiah Schuman.

Saginaw didn’t run much at all in the first half, but when the Rough Riders needed to run the clock in the second half, another freshman stepped up. Elijah Irvin picked up 104 yards rushing, 103 in the second half, on 13 carries for Saginaw and had runs of 26 and 18 yards on the Rough Riders’ final drive to help run out the clock.

Arlington Heights had only allowed 14 points in six games all season before the game with Saginaw and had pitched shutouts in five of the contests.

“We knew coming in that they blitzed a lot, that they brought a lot of pressure,” said Greek. “I knew I had to get it out quick. The whole game plan and practice was protection, protection, protection over and over again. Our line did a great job.”

A defensive first quarter was replaced with a track meet in the second period. Greek hit Stewart deep across the middle for a 61-yard touchdown with 7:09 left in the first quarter for the only score of the opening stanza.

Greek and Stewart connected again for a six-yard score on the first play of the second quarter to make it 13-0 Saginaw as the Rough Riders were playing lights out on defense.

Arlington Heights finally woke up on offense as the teams traded scores on the next four possessions of the game. T.J. Johnson had a 29-yard TD pass from Carter, and James broke free for a 61-yard TD run for Heights.

Greek found Stewart for a third time from 15 yards out and added his fourth scoring pass of the first half with a 21-yard slip screen to Derek Harris to make it 27-13 with 5:53 left before the intermission.

Arlington Heights got the ball back with 1:45 left in the second quarter and promptly marched 82 yards in nine plays. Carter capped the drive, finding a wide-open Chris Harris in the back of the end zone to cut the lead to 27-20 with two seconds left in the first half.

This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 12:19 AM.