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Highland Park feasts on touchdowns, big plays in 48-0 rout of Mansfield Legacy

ARLINGTON – Highland Park football coach Randy Allen wanted his players to watch what they ate on Thanksgiving with a third-round playoff game the next day.

But after Highland Park gorged on touchdowns in Friday afternoon’s 48-0 win over Mansfield Legacy at AT&T Stadium, Allen was ready to let the Scots enjoy a feast after reaching a regional final for the first time since 2007.

“We couldn’t eat turkey because of that protein, so now we’re going to go eat a bunch of turkey,” Allen said. “We talked about it every day. The big thing was to be ready at 12:30 today and don’t let the Thanksgiving holiday and all the family take your focus off being ready.”

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Highland Park had lost its previous four trips to the regional semifinals, falling in that round every year from 2008 to 2011 before being eliminated in the first round last season. But after winning its 12 straight game following a season-opening 44-3 loss to Aledo – with an average margin of victory of 33 points during the winning streak -- Highland Park will play South Oak Cliff or Wylie in next week’s Class 4A Division I Region II final.

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“We had 10 new starters on offense [this season],” Allen said. “We just needed some playing time, some experience.”

Highland Park junior quarterback Brooks Burgin, who didn’t throw a pass at the varsity level last season, passed for 338 yards and five touchdowns Friday. Thirteen players caught passes for Highland Park, and Burgin’s scoring passes went to five different receivers.

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“The passing game really opened up in the second and third quarters,” said Burgin after Highland Park scored 28 points over those two quarters to build a 38-0 lead. “It feels good. We’ve been stuck in the third round for a while.”

Burgin has now taken Highland Park a round farther than his older brother Brady, who was a quarterback on the Highland Park teams that lost in the regional semifinals in 2010 and 2011.

Legacy running back Kijana Amous, who entered the game having run for a team-leading 1,876 yards, returned after missing last week’s 70-49 win over McKinney North with an ankle injury. But after running for 601 yards a week ago, Legacy (10-3) managed only 13 rushing yards on 28 carries, was outgained 501-90 and had more than twice as many punts (nine) as first downs (four) as the longest playoff run in school history came to an end.

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Legacy running back Kenton Mayberry, who rushed for 340 yards against McKinney North, ran for 8 yards on six carries Friday, and Amous had 7 yards on five carries. Legacy was hurt by the absence of quarterback Terrance Ivery, who suffered a broken fibula in last week’s game.

“With their limited firepower without their starting quarterback, we were able to stack [the line] a little bit more for the run,” Allen said.

Legacy was 7-23 the previous three years, including 4-6 last season. But Legacy set a school record for wins in a season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2009.