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Heights earned a spot in the regional quarterfinals with a victory over Lubbock Monterey in the area round.
Arlington Heights faces an Everest-like climb Friday in the Class 5A state football playoffs, with No. 1 Aledo and its storied tradition standing in the way.
The Yellow Jackets, however, are approaching the task with the mindset of “I think I can.”
Heights and Aledo meet in a Class 5A Division I regional semifinal at 1 p.m. Friday at Crowley ISD Stadium. The Yellow Jackets enter the game 11-1. Aledo is 12-0. (Buy tickets at fwisdathletics.com.)
The size and contents of Aledo’s trophy case are well-documented. Twelve state titles, including 11 in the past 15 years, most recently in 2023.
Moreover, the Bearcats have advanced to this round by outscoring their first two opponents by a combined score of 122-12.
“I always tell our kids that the great thing is y'all play football in one of the greatest regions in the state. North Texas is one of the biggest regions of football, so you guys are pretty good football players, too,” said Heights coach Curtis James, now in his third season as head coach and 14th overall at the school.
“It's always better to play one of those schools [the state powerhouses] when you earn the right to play ’em versus just putting ’em on your schedule. Anybody can schedule ’em [in nondistrict]. But whenever you earn the right to play, they look at you differently. Every round means you've had to get some callousing to get through that round. So, let's go out, have fun, and let's see what we can make happen.”
In other words, it’s amazing what can happen when you just show up.
Heights brings its own credentials and weapons.
Running back Carson James, one of three sons playing for the coach, will get lots of attention. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder has rushed for more than 2,300 yards and 38 touchdowns as a junior this season.
Carson James has rushed for 512 yards and six touchdowns in the first two rounds of the playoffs — a 36-23 victory over Brewer and a 56-41 triumph over Lubbock Monterey.
Including the regular-season finale — a win over Paschal — young Carson James has 727 yards rushing and 11 TDs.
Carson has a twin brother Carter, a defensive lineman, and they have an older brother, senior Caynan James, also a defensive lineman, who has committed to UT El Paso.
It carries an eerie feeling, considering the last time Heights advanced this far in the playoffs was 1973.
It was Heights that ran into a beastly running back and his two brothers.
Earl Campbell — a future Pro Football Hall of Famer — ran for 183 yards on 18 carries and four touchdowns in Tyler John Tyler’s 34-12 victory over Heights in a state quarterfinal at Farrington Field. As Heights coach Merlin Priddy cautioned beforehand, Earl wasn’t the only in the offensive backfield. Lynn King had 154 yards on eight carries.
Earl had two brothers on defense — twin brothers Tim and Steve Campbell. (All of them wound up at the University of Texas.)
Half a century after Heights was undone by a legendary back and his brothers, fate offers a turnabout: The Jackets now bring their own three-brother force — and a running back capable of rewriting the ending.
If this family-powered juggernaut can somehow topple the mighty Aledo Bearcats, they’ll carve out a permanent place not only in Arlington Heights lore but in Fort Worth history.
This is what you call an opportunity not just anyone gets.
“We’ve got to get 'em off track,” Curtis James said of Aledo. “Aledo is like a big train. They're coming down that train track and every team on their schedule is just getting hit by that train. If we don't get ’em off the track, then they're going to do the same thing they've been doing every week.
“We’ve got to do some things that make them adjust. We’ve got to do some things that make them align differently. You got to make plays when the plays come to you to make. We’ve got to be very aggressive and take some risks. No risk, no reward.”
See y’all on Friday afternoon.
