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Opening Day: District in session for all of MISD
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Santos / jennifersantosphotography.com
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@starlocalnews.com
McKinney North continues its 13-4A season and looks for its second win of the season Friday against undefeated Lovejoy, while McKinney and McKinney Boyd open district against Plano and Plano West, respectively.
Boyd (3-2) vs. Plano West (3-2)
Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Ron Poe Stadium
This time around, they each enter Friday's game with the same record and one of the area's most prolific rushing attacks. Boyd's offense is built around senior running back Bryan Driskell, while West is riding the triple threat of quarterback Travis Korry and running backs Auston Anderson, who leads the team in scoring with seven rushing touchdowns, and Sotonya Jamabo, who leads the team in rushing yards (534) and carries (68).
West is averaging 446.6 yards and 33.4 points per game with an attack predicated largely on the play of Korry, who has thrown for 644 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions on 42-of-73 passing (58 percent) and rushed for 299 yards and four touchdowns despite missing a game with a sprained ankle.
“I think they're going to threaten us in the passing game,” said Don Drake, Boyd head football coach. “They're going to throw the ball down the field probably more than we've seen so far this year. Obviously, the threat of giving up the big play is going to be there, so we're going to have to do a good job of not giving up huge chunks of yardage. We're going to have to make them be efficient and methodical and move the chains and work for what they get.”
Korry's injury kept him out of one of West's two losses, a 34-19 setback to Lake Highlands. The Wolves other loss was a 49-35 setback to undefeated Mesquite.
The Wolves wins came against Flower Mound Marcus (35-25), South Garland (31-21) and Flower Mound (47-7).
“I haven't seen a whole lot of big plays against them,” Drake said. “If you're going to move the football, you have to be pretty methodical in how you're going to do it and pretty efficient. I think for us that's going to be the key. We're going to have to be pretty disciplined in terms of our execution and not make mistakes, because it will hurt us if we have to rely on the big play to get it done.”
McKinney (4-1) vs. Plano (3-2)
Friday at 7:30 p.m. at John Clark Stadium
McKinney is moving on up to Class 5A.
The Lions will begin their time in the state's top classification against Plano – the most vulnerable of their new opponents. Friday's game is their best chance at an upset, and after using extra time provided by last week's bye to study the Wildcats, they're well-versed in what to expect.
Plano's offense is helmed by University of Connecticut commit Richard Lagow, who has thrown for 939 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions on 40-of-72 passing (56 percent) and rushed for another five touchdowns. His favorite targets are receivers Mitchell Hanson, who leads the team in receiving yards (370) and receptions (13), and Anthony Antwine.
“Lagow is a very good player,” said Jeff Smith, McKinney head football coach. “He's 6-6, a big guy and has a great arm. He's the best arm we've seen up to this point in our schedule, the best quarterback, I would say. He throws the deep ball really well and makes good decisions.”
Plano's backfield is predominantly made up of running backs Andre Morman, who leads the team in rushing yards (410) and carries (59), and Braylan Campbell.
Overall, the Wildcats are averaging 363.4 yards and 24.2 points per game.
Plano pairs that offense with a stingy defense capable of keeping games close and low-scoring. They've allowed an average of 340 yards and 22.2 points per game and have been particularly stingy against the passing game, where they're allowing an average of just 129 yards to opponents.
Whether their defense will be able to contend with McKinney's high-flying attack remains up in the air. The Lions feature several of the most productive offensive players in the area – including quarterback Robert Somborn and wide receivers Jonathan Shannon, Connor Fuentes and TV Williams – and are averaging 508 yards and 42.2 points per game.
“Their secondary is very steady,” Smith said. “They don't let anything over their head, and that's something we've had success with – is throwing over people's heads. They do a good job keeping things in front of them. So, we're going to have to be smart and make good decisions and take what we can get to move the chains.”
North (1-4) vs. Lovejoy (5-0)
Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Lovejoy
The Bulldogs bounce from their first win of the season to a meeting against undefeated Lovejoy, which has annihilated each of the two district opponents it has faced so far, beating Wylie (47-21) and Greenville (46-13).
The Leopards have made the transition from Class 3A and 4A as smooth as possible so far with a five-game winning streak built on wins against Frisco Heritage (53-14), Forney (38-16), Frisco (35-24), Wylie and Greenville.
The Leopards have been one of the most complete teams around this season, with an offense averaging 432.4 yards and 43.8 points per game and a defense holding opponents to 330.8 yards and 17.6 points per game. Their average margin of victory is 26.2 points.
Lovejoy running back Nick LaSane has been one of the most productive rushers in the area and so far has totaled 640 rushing yards and five touchdowns as the biggest member of a three-tier backfield that also includes running back Danial Sefcik, who is also the team's leading receiver, and Zach Saffle.
Saffle is one of the most intriguing players around. As an all-purpose weapon for the Leopards, he plays at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, return man and safety. He leads the team in scoring with 11 touchdowns and a two-point conversion and has scored at least one rushing, receiving, passing and return touchdowns.
Lovejoy freshman quarterback Bowman Sells has thrown for 815 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions on 57-of-96 passing in his first year under center.
The Leopards are currently in a three-way tie for first place in 13-4A with Sherman and Wylie East, while North is tied for fourth – the district's final playoff spot – with Royse City after beating them 35-21 last week.
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