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Lions let another game slip away
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@acnpapers.com
McKinney just needed a stop and it would have had its first win of the season. With under a minute to go in Friday's game against Richardson Pearce, the Lions were one down away from retaking possession and running the clock out on what would have been the only success they've yet experienced.
On fourth down, the Mustangs threw it to Corey Coleman, the player that got them back in a game McKinney had completely controlled early on. The pass initially looked incomplete. Coleman was lying on the ground when it reached him, draped in defenders, but when he got up the signal came: touchdown.
Pearce (3-5, 1-4 in District 10-4A) had the option to tie the game or go for the win. They chose the later, faked the extra point and won the game, 38-37, when kicker Evan Harmon connected with J.R. Griffin for a successful two-point conversion.
“It was different than last week,” said Jeff Smith, McKinney head coach. “I saw some good things. I saw us get a three-and-out in the fourth quarter. I saw us go down and score when the game was tied; we haven't done that this year, so that's a real positive. They went down the field and scored on a fourth down play, so hats off to them. Their kids made a great play. We were right there. It's a game of inches. That's the way football is. It didn't go our way tonight, but I saw some real positive things down the stretch.”
Coleman rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns and came up with the game-winning touchdown reception in one of his most dominant performances of the season. He started and finished the Mustangs' offensive attack, leading his team to its first district win of the season.
McKinney once again put up big numbers in the first half, scoring 23 unanswered points with a strong combination of offensive and defensive playmaking, mixed with a bit of good fortune. The Lions picked up their first touchdown after an interception by Dalton Harris set them up deep in Mustangs territory, where Somborn hooked up with Connor Fuentes on a 5-yard touchdown toss.
Somborn completed 22-of-32 pass attempts on the night for 197 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions.
McKinney picked up two more points on the ensuing drive via a bizarre play that saw the ball snapped over the head of the Mustangs punter and all the way into the end zone, where he kicked it out to give the Lions a safety but avoid allowing them a touchdown.
Unfortunately for Pearce, the Lions took the ball from there and drove down the field to score again on an 8-yard touchdown rush from Red Shannon.
After another Pearce punt, McKinney scored again on a lengthy drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown reception by Shannon, who ended the night with 113 yards rushing for a touchdown and five catches for 45 yards and another score. He was the Lions best playmaker and they were determined to keep the ball in his hands.
Pearce saw how well that was working and followed suit, installing Coleman at quarterback. He attempted few passes, but snapping the ball directly his way allowed him to get a jump on the Lions defense on nearly every rush. In his first series as signal caller, he rushed for 49 yards and got the Mustangs on the board on a 14-yard touchdown carry.
The Lions answered when J.J. Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to erase the impact of Pearce's score. It looked like McKinney had learned its lesson from what happened the week before against McKinney North, when it squandered a huge first-quarter lead by coming up short on offense the rest of the way.
Coleman wasn't done yet, though. Determined to carry his team into contention, he opened the Mustangs follow-up drive with a 43-yard carry and took the team the rest of the way to score again on a 1-yard rush and cut the Lions' lead to 30-14, where it would stay until halftime.
Pearce was onto something. Both drives with Coleman at quarterback had resulted in touchdowns. The Mustangs modified the plan a bit in the second half, bringing in starter Rhett Svetgoff when they wanted to pass, but their star still took most of the snaps and for good reason.
Coleman would lead the Mustangs to two unanswered touchdowns to start the second half, one he carried in himself and another he left to running back Kelvin Kissi on a 13-yard carry after a nasty fake punt, to tie the game, 30-30, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lions were resilient, though, and answered on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Somborn to wide receiver T.V. Williams to retake the lead. After forcing a three-and-out on Pearce's answering drive, they were in position to put the game out of reach.
But three plays into what could have McKinney's game-sealing drive, the Mustangs came up with an interception to give themselves the chance to take the lead. Their offensive deception and risky play calling paid off in the end, leaving McKinney with the prospect of looking for its first win against the likes of Wylie East (7-1, 4-1) and Highland Park (8-0, 5-0), the teams that fill out the rest of its schedule.
“We go back to work tomorrow,” Smith said, “get ready for Wylie East and keep playing. I feel like we have a lot to play for. We're going to play for our pride, we're going to play for our school and we're going to play to get better. We've got two games left and we're going to finish strong. That's the way we do things. We're not going do anything different. We're going to work harder. We're going to keep battling.”
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