MESQUITE POTEET'S WALTER DAWN JR.
What he did: Poteet trailed by 11 points in the third quarter of its Class 5A area-round matchup against Wylie East when Dawn took a screen pass 79 yards for a touchdown. Dawn then scored from 37 yards (run) and 41 yards (reception) in the fourth quarter and ran in a two-point conversion to tie the score. On the next possession, Dawn, playing safety, intercepted a Wylie East pass with 2:20 left. Back on offense, he made a 16-yard reception to set up the game-winning field goal, which gave Poteet a 46-43 win. Dawn finished with 141 rushing yards and one touchdown as well as 213 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Who is he? A 5-7, 175-pound senior slot receiver.
The stats: Dawn leads the team in receiving with 45 receptions for 850 yards and seven touchdowns. He leads the team in rushing with 25 carries for 783 yards and 13 touchdowns. He is also 1 for 1 passing for seven yards and a touchdown.
He said it: When the field goal went through, "I was saying, 'Oh my gosh.' It was an amazing feeling. I didn't think we could just, just make a miracle happen."
Coach said it: "We went from having a 10-point lead to down by 11 with right about two minutes off the clock [in the third quarter]. He just had such a calming effect on the kids. It was the best leadership I've seen out of a kid in a long time, just the way he kept the game under control and kept the kids believing and not panicking. It showed. He had a big 79-yard touchdown run to kind of stop the bleeding, made it back to a 29-25 game. It was kind of a reality check for everybody. All right, we survived the storm." -- Kody Groves
Did you know? Dawn hasn't played defense since his freshman year. He had practiced on defense the past three weeks. ... Dawn is ranked as a composite two-star recruit according to 247Sports. He has offers from Nevada and New Mexico and is talking to other schools, including Boston College, Iowa, Michigan State and TCU. ... Poteet plays Mansfield Lake Ridge in the Class 5A Division I Region II semifinals at 9 p.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
Honorable mention