Madison overcame a wild fourth quarter to defeat Wilmer-Hutchins, 21-16, at Pleasant Grove Stadium and clinch the 12-3A district title.
Wilmer-Hutchins (7-3, 3-2), appeared to have the game in hand after a Damien Lawry recovered a Jamon Brewers fumble at the 1-yard line and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown, giving Wilmer-Hutchins a 16-15 lead with 4:33 to play.
On the ensuing possession, after Madison (7-3, 5-0) moved the ball into Wilmer-Hutchins’ territory before the drive stalled after a Terry Ross fumble and a personal foul penalty. After a timeout, Madison went for it on fourth down and Ross found Brewers in the end zone with 2:33 remaining to give Madison the lead.
Wilmer-Hutchins had one final chance, moving the ball to the Madison 29-yard line but couldn’t score after throwing an interception.
Madison will be the Division I representative in the playoffs, and Wilmer-Hutchins will be the district’s second seed in Division II.
Whitesboro 60, Pilot Point 7
WHITESBORO — For the first time since the school was established in 1911, Whitesboro is headed to the playoffs following a 60-7 victory against Pilot Point on Friday night. Whitesboro earned the final playoff berth in District 9-3A with the win.
Two years after its Class 2A Division I state championship, Pilot Point missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Pilot Point (2-7, 1-4) was without 10 players on Friday night, eight of which were starters.
Whitesboro quarterback Jordan Gill anchored a strong rushing attack. Gill had six carries for 124 yards and four touchdowns in the victory for Whitesboro (7-3, 3-2).
Pilot Point struggled on both sides of the ball. The visitors gained a mere 138 total yards while allowing Whitesboro to rack up 530 yards of total offense. Pilot Point’s only score of the game came on a 51-yard touchdown run by Tristen Jurecka with 4:21 remaining in the third quarter.
Kennedale 52, West 14
KENNEDALE — Kennedale’s backfield scored seven rushing touchdowns in a 52-14 District 8-3A victory over West for coach Richard Barret’s 100th win at the school.
Junior Trey Williams scored on runs of 18, 39, and 27 yards, while Brett Wade and Cody Coleman each had two scores for Kennedale (6-4, 3-2).
Coleman, with 208 yards on 12 carries, went over the 1,000-yard mark with 1,139 yards on the season.
Kennedale, the Division II runner-up will play Decatur on Friday at Saginaw.
West (0-10, 0-5) got a two-touchdown performance from Tyler Littlejohn. The sophomore finished with 239 rushing yards on 38 carries.
Aubrey 24, Gainesville 21
GAINESVILLE — Josh Giles’ 24-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining lifted Aubrey past Gainesville, 24-21, on Friday night.
Aubrey (4-6, 2-3 in 9-3A) and Gainesville (2-8, 0-5) appeared headed for overtime before Gainesville quarterback Chance Sikes threw an interception to Aubrey’s Colton Kelly with 1:43 left in the contest. That set up Aubrey at the Gainesville 27.
Aubrey maneuvered its way to the Gainesville 7, where Giles knocked the game-winning kick. He then provided a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff that Aubrey recovered to end the game.
Prosper 62, Princeton 14
PRINCETON — Prosper (8-2, 5-0) secured the District 11-3A championship with a resounding 62-14 defeat over Princeton (6-4, 3-2).
Princeton scored on the first play of the game with a 67-yard screen pass from Stacey Dillard to Marquis Thomas.
But then Prosper took charge, scoring 35 unanswered points to take a 35-7 halftime lead.
Prosper quarterback Javelle Allen threw for 174 yards and three touchdowns and added 114 yards and another score on the ground to lead Prosper to the victory and an undefeated run through the district.
Ferris 41, Crandall 28
FERRIS — Robert Grady rushed for 268 yards and three touchdowns as Ferris (3-7, 3-2) defeated Crandall (4-6, 2-3) 41-28 at Jacket Stadium.
Ferris had 400 yards on offense and had scores of 1, 2, 4, 11 and 79 yards. Grady capped the win with a 79-yard touchdown with 33 seconds remaining.
Crandall started the game strong and led at halftime 28-21, but from then on it was all Ferris.
Jason Bryant had 144 total yards and scored two touchdowns for Crandall.
Lovejoy 43, Nevada Community 15
NEVADA — Nick LaSane rushed for 138 yards on seven carries and had four rushing touchdowns, and Zach Saffle finished 8-for-9 for 134 yards with a scoring pass as Lovejoy (7-3, 4-1) defeated Nevada Community (0-10, 0-5) in District 11-3A play.
Cullon Greene also caught a 51-yard touchdown pass for Lovejoy which will play Madison next week in the Class 3A Division I Region II bi-district playoffs.
Lovejoy, which held Community to 11 rushing yards, led 23-0 at halftime after LaSane ran for touchdowns of 32, 4, and 14 yards in the first half. He added a 55-yard scoring run in the third quarter.
North Forney 35, Mabank 14
MABANK — In a game that included six turnovers and 18 penalties between the two teams, North Forney (9-1, 5-0) relied on its defense and special teams to fuel a 35-14 victory over Mabank (4-6, 1-4) at Panther Stadium.
Armani Watts had a 40-yard punt return for a touchdown, while Forrest Garza returned an interception 33 yards for a score to give North Forney its first 14 points of the night.
Van Alstyne 40, Anna 29
ANNA — Van Alstyne used a bruising rushing attack en route to a 40-29 season-ending win.
Anna jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter but Van Alstyne had 382 yards on the ground and took advantage of two Anna turnovers to erase that advantage.
The Drew Dennis-Jordan Barnes combo accounted for more than 343 rushing yards and all of Van Al;styne’s offensive scoring. Anna scored on its first two possessions but managed six points in second half the second and third quarters and could not overcome the deficit late.
Celina 43, Commerce 9
CELINA — Despite being without its leading rushing Jamarick Simmons for most of the game, Celina had 311 rushing yards and defeated Commerce, 43-9, to win the District 10-3A championship Friday.
Celina’s Eliot Bush had a season-high 134 rushing yards in the victory. Bush had 93 rushing yards in the first half as Celina (9-0, 4-0 District 10-3A) led 29-2 at halftime.
Simmons had five carries for 44 yards on Celina’s opening drive before leaving the game with a leg injury. The senior entered the regular-season finale needing 81 yards to become the first Celina player since 2008 with more than 1,500 rushing yards in a season.
Commerce (8-2, 2-2 District 10-3A) had a chance to clinch a share of the district championship if it defeated Celina. However, Commerce in the loss was held to a season-low 70 offensive yards and failed to score at least 20 points for the first time this season.
With this victory, Celina will play Sanger (9-1, 4-1 District 9-3A) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Denton in the bi-district round of the Class 3A Division I playoffs. Commerce will be in the Class 3A Division II and opens its postseason against the District 9-3A champions Argyle (9-1, 5-0 District 9-3A) next week.
Arlington Oakridge 30, Fort Worth All Saints 20
BEDFORD — Arlington Oakridge completed its undefeated conference season with a hard-fought victory over Fort Worth All Saints to claim the SPC Division II Championship on Friday night at Pennington Field.
Calvin Garrett led the Oakridge offense, accounting for 345 of the team’s 395 total yards. Garrett, the nephew of Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, finished the night with 324 yards passing and found three different receivers for scores. Daniel Lott pulled in six of Garrett’s passes for 139 yards, one of which came on a crucial third down with just 4:02 remaining to keep alive an eight-minute drive that resulted in an Andrew Read 34-yard field goal that gave Oakridge (10-1) a 10-point advantage with 2:05 remaining.
All Saints had success running the ball early, but when Daniel Gresham left the game late in the second quarter with an injury, the team was never able to re-establish a consistent ground attack. Before leaving with a leg injury, Gresham carried the ball six times for 44 yards and a score.
All Saints standout quarterback T.J. Millweard, who is committed to Arizona State, finished with 195 yards through the air but was intercepted twice. Josh Atkinson picked off one of those passes on All Saints’ (9-2) final possession, which allowed Oakridge to run out the clock.
Garland Christian 70, Richardson Canyon Creek 35
PLANO — Garland Christian won a resounding victory over Canyon Creek on Friday to clinch the district title. This is the second consecutive year Garland Christian has won or held a share of the district title.
After Canyon Creek scored on its initial possession, Garland Christian scored 28 unanswered points and led 35-21 at halftime.
Garland Christian was led by Hayden Burnett’s 465 yards passing and eight touchdowns and 136 yards rushing.
Caleb Petersen led the Garland Christian defense with 22 tackles.
Bishop Lynch 57, John Paul II 20
Bishop Lynch tuned up for its playoff game next week by thrashing John Paul II, 57-20, in the TAPPS 1-I finale for both teams.
Bishop Lynch (6-4, 3-3) gave a total team effort as 10 rushers — led by Ira Nunley’s nine carries for 71 yards — combined to control John Paul II (3-6, 0-3) and the game while gaining 369 yards on the ground.
The teams combined to score six touchdowns before the first quarter ended. But Bishop Lynch contained John Paul II for the rest of the game until it scored late in the fourth quarter.
Bishop Lynch got two touchdowns from R.J. Williams on runs of 19 and 3 yards as well as scores from Kevin Huffacher (a 79-yard kickoff return), Chris Jordan (3-yard run), J.D. Bornstad (19-yard run), Max Hermanovski (39-yard reception from Bornstad) and Nunley (3-yard run).
Grapevine Faith Christian 14, Arlington Pantego Christian 12
GRAPEVINE — It was a tale of two halves as Grapevine Faith clinched a playoff berth with a come-from-behind victory over district rival Pantego on Friday night. Pantego (6-4, 1-4) came ready to take a share of fourth place with a dominant first half as it controlled all phases of the game to take a 12-0 lead into the half.
Pantego faked a punt on fourth down as LeAndrew Gordon completed an 18-yard pass that led to quarterback Ryan Reese’s 10-yard scoring run three plays later. On another fourth-down play, Gordon caught a 6-yard strike from Reese, but Pantego’s second attempt for two points failed, and it went into the locker room with a 12-0 lead. Pantego held Faith to just two first downs in the first half and only 33 yards of total offense.
Faith (6-4, 3-2) put together two scoring drives in the second half, aided by two Pantego turnovers. Faith took advantage early in the third with a Trey Moore 1-yard run to pull Faith within five points and gain some momentum. Early in the fourth, Faith again was opportunistic, taking advantage of another Pantego turnover as Faith’s Trey Moore again found the end zone with a 3-yard run.
Late in the fourth quarter, Pantego stopped Faith on fourth-and-5 to take over with just under two minutes left in the game. Pantego drove to the Faith 38-yard line, aided in part by a 15-yard penalty and some hard running by Reese. But Reese’s next pass was picked off by Bryce Wasserman with :25 left in the game to seal the eighth straight playoff appearance for Faith.
Fort Worth Nolan 47, TCA-Addison 10
ADDISON — Joseph Prud’homme passed for 224 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score as Fort Worth Nolan, SportsDay’s No. 1-ranked large private school, defeated TCA in a TAPPS 1-I game.
David Moser added 195 yards rushing and two touchdown runs as Nolan churned out 650 yards of offense — including 417 on the ground — while improving to 9-1 and 5-1.
In the first half, Prud’homme threw touchdown passes to Moser, Amyn Maloney and Ben Patterson. Prud’homme and Moser also had rushing touchdowns as Nolan moved ahead, 38-10.
TCA’s Daniel Davidson threw for 326 yards and a touchdown to Nick Plumlee that tied the score early in the first quarter at 7-7. But TCA had five turnovers and didn’t score again after Alexander Beiersdorf kicked a 33-yard field goal to pull TCA (5-5, 3-3) within 28-10 with 3:04 left in the first half.
Trevor Baum added two field goals for Nolan.
Midland Christian 61, Arlington Grace Prep 22
GRAND PRAIRIE — Midland Christian dominated the last game of the regular season by defeating Arlington Grace Prep. Midland Christian closed out a perfect record in district play by improving to 5-0 and 8-2 overall. Grace Prep fell to 6-4, 2-3.
Midland Christian’s offense scored six touchdowns on plays of 30 yards or more.
Prestonwood Christian 35, Bishop Dunne 28
In overtime, Prestonwood Christian Academy (7-2, 5-1) defeated Bishop Dunne (3-7, 2-4) in a District 1-I TAPPS game at Earl Hayes Stadium.
The winning touchdown came on an 18-yard pass from Parker Ash to Brandon Henry.
Raleigh Beougher scored four touchdowns, two on passes from Ash and two rushing, to lead Prestonwood Christian.
Thomas Cook led Bishop Dunne with 122 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries.