Oladipo Awowale/The Wylie News
The Pirates charge on to the field at AT&T Stadium for last Saturday’s area-round clash with Rockwall Heath, which Wylie won 24-17.

By Greg Ford
Sports Editor
[email protected]

ARLINGTON — Defense has always been a cornerstone of Wylie football.
A few days ago at AT&T Stadium, that piece of granite was the difference in a 24-17 win over Rockwall Heath during a Region II, Class 5A area-round game. The victory sets up a third-round contest 2 p.m. Saturday against Longview at AT&T Stadium.
The win over the Hawks also gained Wylie a measure of revenge, as it was Heath that ended the Pirates’ 2014 season with a 44-6 second-round thumping.
This time around, the Hawk offense wasn’t as impressive, thanks to a quick and opportunistic Wylie defense, which slowed down their foe and produced game-changing turnovers; the latter included a fumble recovery and an interception that resulted in 11 points for Wylie.
“We’ve been playing defense better every week,” head coach Bill Howard said. “It starts up front.”
(To view the entire article, check out the Nov. 25 edition of The Wylie News)