5A High School Playoffs At Cowboys Stadium
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Fans of high school football in the Metroplex wait patiently each year for the playoffs to begin. What’s not love about getting to watch some of the best high school football teams in Texas compete in the best stadium in the world. The four games held on Saturday included a blow-out (Flower Mound Marcus 34 – Keller Fossil Ridge 0), a double overtime (Denton Guyer 41 – Hebron 35), a close-call for an undefeated team (Southlake 23 – Plano East 16) and an unexpected great match-up (Allen 30 – Keller Central 17). Even though all of the teams who were expected to win came thru, it wasn’t without great competition and excitement.
Flower Mound Marcus demonstrated why they are 10-1 for the season, as they dominated Fossil Ridge (6-5). The Marcus ground game was in control throughout the game accumulating 306 yards rushing of their 395 total yards. Fossil Ridge was only able to get seven first downs in the whole game and 114 total yards.
Denton Guyer (8-3) was able to squeak by Hebron (6-5) and it took to OT’s to do it. Hebron was the first on the board after a Dezmond Wortham 2 yard run with only four minutes off the clock. But, Guyer scored three unanswered TD’s on their next three possessions. With 11:35 remaining in the second quarter Guyer was leading 21 to 7 and it started to feel like a blow-out in the making. Hebron didn’t see it that way, and scored two touchdowns within the last 3 minutes of the second quarter. At the half the score was tied 21 to 21. With 5:03 remaining in the third quarter, Hebron took the lead off of a 64-yard TD pass from Tavion Pearson to Joseph Farley. Early in the fourth, Guyer answered back with a 34-yard pass of their own from Jerrod Heard to Conner Crane. It took two over time periods but Denton Guyer pulled out the win (41 to 35).
Southlake Carroll relied on their defense to get by Plano East 23 to 16 at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday. Plano East came ready to play and demonstrated they were better than their 6-5 record for the season. Southlake had a balanced attack on offense with 214-yards rushing and 215-yards passing. While Plano East relied mostly upon their passing game with 167 of 248 total yards in the air. Going into the fourth, the score was tied 16 to 16 and the Plano East fans could sense an upset. But, Southlake was able to put together a 15 play drive that took up almost half of the fourth quarter. After a 1-yard run by SL running back A J Ezzard, Southlake took a 23 to 6 lead with 4 minutes remaining in the game. In the waning moments of the game the two teams exchanged interceptions which made for a lot of
excitment, but neither could score. Southlake came out on top 23 to 6.
The final game of the evening was Allen (10-0) against Keller Central (8-2). The first thing you noticed about both of these teams is their size and speed. At the end of the first half Allen was leading 13 to 7 and KC was fortunate the game was this close. However, halftime adjustments paid dividends for Keller Central in the third quarter as they scored on a 30-yard field goal by Hunter Morrow and a 41-yard TD pass from Tanner Tausch to Martin Alvarez. At the end of the third quarter, Keller Central was leading 17 to 13. But, the sleeping giant of Allen woke up in the fourth, as they have done in many games this season. Two unanswered touchdowns and a 29-yard field goal game Allen the lead with 2:18 remaining the the fourth. Final score Allen 30 and Keller Central 17.
Next Saturday at 2 PM the biggest game of the playoffs, short of the state championship game, will take place at Cowboy Stadium. Allen, undefeated and ranked 2nd in the state, will take on Trinity, undefeated and ranked third in the state. This should be a classic with perhaps the winner destined to play Katy for the state championship in December.
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