Denton Guyer turns to its run game to beat Prosper for fifth time in three seasons

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DENTON — It’s maybe not a throw-the-records-out-the-window kind of game, because the record has historically favored just one side, but Denton Guyer versus Prosper is something close to that.

“It’s a friendly but rival battle at the same time,” Guyer senior Ryan Yaites said.

That’ll work as a description. The two district mates played each other four times from 2020-21 — twice in the regular season, twice in the postseason — and Guyer won all four. But aside from a 28-point difference last regular season, each has been decided by six points or less. One went into triple overtime.

This year’s installment? It was another competitive affair, one with a final score that may not be completely indicative of how close the game actually felt and played.

Oh, and a fifth-straight Guyer (4-0) victory in the three-year series.

Guyer, No. 1 in The Dallas Morning News’ area 6A rankings, turned a three-point halftime lead into a 18-point victory as it turned to the run game to beat No. 8 Prosper 23-6 on Friday at C.H. Collins Stadium.

“This is what high school football is all about,” Denton Guyer coach Reed Heim said. “Two undefeated teams slugging it out.”

Guyer, which averaged 47 points per game in its first three season contests, ended its first three drives with a punt, one with a field goal from Ford Stinson and the fifth with a turnover on downs before halftime hit. Prosper’s defensive front seven found success blitzing Guyer quarterback Jackson Arnold, a five-star Oklahoma pledge, and held him to just 39 first-half passing yards.

So, in the second half, Guyer ran the ball.

And ran it. And ran it. And ran it.

Of Guyer’s 331 total yards of offense on the game, 259 came on the ground — 138 in the second half — as junior Trey Joyner (134 yards and one touchdown) and sophomore Ahmed Yussuf (98 yards and one touchdown) each scored third-quarter touchdowns to alleviate a scuffling offense. Arnold (8-for-18 passing, 72 yards and one interception) connected with classmate Landon Sides for a 7-yard passing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Guyer ran the ball 50 times and passed it just 18 times.

“They do a great job over there,” Heim said of Prosper. “They’re going to blitz from every way, from all these different ways. If you sit back, you’re just going to see these bodies moving all over the place. Just lean back into, ‘Hey, we’ve got to be able to run the football.’”

Credit the familiarity between the two for that strategy.

“This is the fifth time we’ve seen them,” Heim said. “They’re the same, we’re the same. You just try to put together a good game plan, and if you feel like you can run the football, that’s something you need to be doing.”

Guyer held Prosper (3-1) to just 102 yards of offense, six first downs and 0.56 yards per carry on 27 rushing attempts. Prosper quarterback Harrison Rosar found tight end Dylan Hinshaw for a 21-yard touchdown with 9:01 left in the game to avoid a shutout.

“The two things we always come into this game with is preparation, one,” said Yaites, a four-star LSU safety pledge who pulled down a third-quarter interception. “And execution, two. Heim, a great head coach, a great [defensive coordinator], he’ll always have us prepared at the end of the day.”

District 5-6A, with four area-ranked teams, might be Texas’ most competitive district. No. 5 Allen and No. 16 McKinney await both Prosper and Guyer later this season.

And, who knows, maybe Prosper and Guyer await each other, once again, for a third postseason clash in as many years.

“Hopefully this will serve as a wake up call for some things that we’ve got to do better on the offensive side of the ball,” Prosper coach Brandon Schmidt said.

On Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn

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