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Lion Tamers: Wildcats wear down McKinney for district-opening win
Photo courtesy of Troy Conley / buzzzphotos.com
By Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
PLANO -- In a matter of 80 seconds, the Plano Senior football team swung momentum firmly in its favor Friday night from Clark Stadium.
Visiting McKinney (4-2, 0-1) had no recourse, dropping a 38-21 decision to the Wildcats (4-2, 1-0) in each team’s respective District 10-5A opener.
“It was a big win for us,” said Jaydon McCullough, Plano head coach. “McKinney averages 42 points a game and (Flower Mound) Marcus stifled us last week, so there were reasons for us to struggle tonight, but our kids and coaches were very focused for this one.”
Taking over at its own 28-yard line with 1:22 left in the half, a pair of passes from senior Richard Lagow to seniors Braylan Campbell and Corben Whitehair maneuvered Plano into McKinney territory. A pass interference call on a red zone toss to sophomore Mitchell Hansen pulled the Wildcats into scoring range and, with three seconds left in the half, Lagow found Hansen on a 5-yard corner fade for the 24-14 edge entering the break.
“That was tough,” said Jeff Smith, McKinney head coach. “They did a great job executing their two-minute drill and the kid made a great play in the end zone. Hats off to them for battling.”
Plano ran the ball all but three times in the second half to total 180 yards on the ground. Campbell, who posted 154 yards of offense, and Lagow each accounted for 2-yard touchdown runs over the final two quarters.
The Lions were only able to muster one scoring effort, driving downfield in eight plays with senior quarterback Robert Somborn hitting junior T.V. Williams on a screen for a 7-yard touchdown to trim Plano’s lead to 31-21.
“This wasn’t as clean a game as we would have hoped for,” Smith said, “but we know Plano is a good football team and it was going to take a good effort to beat them.”
McKinney’s 21 points proved a season low for the high-powered offense, despite amassing 380 total yards.
The numbers were there: Somborn threw for 323 yards on 29-of-36 passing and two touchdowns, while senior Jonathan Shannon totaled 178 yards and Williams raked in 115 yards on 11 catches.
Despite McKinney’s ability to move the ball, the points weren’t there with Plano forcing a punt, recovering a fumble and blocking a 31-yard field goal before quashing the Lions’ final drive by sacking Somborn deep in Plano territory.
“Every time McKinney had the ball, you had a feeling they were going to score,” McCullough said, “but our defense adjusted and bottled them up a bit in the second half and more than anything, they tried to make McKinney earn it.”
It was a far cry from each team’s showing in the first half, with the Lions outgaining Plano, 192-179, and the squads combining for 38 points.
Limited as they were, the stops made early were accredited to the Wildcats. Sophomore Cody Farhat had a hand in both, deflecting a Somborn pass away on fourth down and later recovering a pooch kick.
McKinney’s defense didn’t enjoy similar success, committing a pair of personal fouls that aided the Wildcats’ first two touchdown drives.
The first gave Plano a reprieve after a bad snap to Lagow equated a minus-31-yard loss led to a third-and-35 that was negated by a personal foul. The Wildcats capitalized, moving downfield for an eventual 10-yard touchdown run by senior Andre Morman for a 7-0 lead with 2:58 left in the opening quarter.
“It’s hard to overcome penalties whenever they’re on things that happen within the game,” Smith said. “We can’t blame penalties though; we didn’t lose because of that.”
Another personal foul nudged Plano past midfield early in the second stanza and the result would prove the same, with Lagow scoring on a 1-yard keeper. With three total touchdowns to his ledger, Lagow passed for 134 yards on 11-of-15 attempts. The two touchdowns bookended a 38-yard field goal by senior Jourdan Escobar.
McKinney’s offense kept pace, though.
Somborn found Dalon Lewis with 10:58 in the second quarter while Antonio Oliver scored on a 2-yard rushing touchdown to trim Plano’s lead to 17-14 before the Wildcats staged their late scoring drive to close the half.
“We’re thankful and grateful for the opportunity to win tonight,” McCullough said, “but we can’t get too excited because we’re just getting started in district and there’s no rest for the weary.”
McKinney will endure a short week before hosting Plano East at 7:30 p.m. Thursday from Ron Poe Stadium. The next day at 7:30 p.m., the Wildcats welcome McKinney Boyd to Clark.
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