New quarterback from Nevada helps Colleyville Heritage in rout over cross-town rival
One of the first things Colleyville Heritage quarterback Weston Smith did when he arrived to Texas in January was visit Mustang-Panther Stadium. He was amazed how big the place was.
Playing high school football in Nevada, Smith said he played in front of maybe 500-600 people.
On Friday, there was easily four times that amount.
“I’ve never played in a game with so many people,” said Smith, who played at Damonte Ranch in Reno. “It was awesome.
Added wide receiver Hogan Wasson,” First thing he did was come to the stadium and he was just amazed because the difference is just crazy.”
Smith and Wasson hooked up 12 times for 207 yards and connected on a 47-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play from scrimmage. Colleyville Heritage scored and never let up, defeating its rival Grapevine, 42-7, in the Battle of the Red Rail. The game was televised on Bally Sports Southwest.
The Panthers (1-0), ranked No. 8 in the 5A D1 state rankings, beat the Mustangs (No. 10 in 5A D2) for the third straight season and ninth time in 11 years.
The defense, which returns 10 starters from last year’s regional semifinal team, was stout and gave Grapevine trouble all night. The Mustangs finally scored in the fourth quarter on a Caleb Texada 53-yard touchdown run, avoiding the shutout. Texada broke eight tackles near the line of scrimmage.
Grapevine hadn’t been shutout since the 2015 season, when the Panthers won 27-0.
“We had three turnovers and usually you can’t win when you do that, but when your defense is playing as good as they did...I think [Grapevine] had three or four turnovers,” Panther coach Kirk Martin said.
Added Martin of Smith, “It was his first varsity action and I thought he did well at times, really well. He had a really good 7-on-7 season in the summer.”
Smith, who has an offer from Florida State, threw for 237 yards on 16 of 25 passes and three touchdowns.
His 8-yard shovel pass to Mason Murdock pushed the lead to 35-0 with 11 minutes left in the game. Ensuing drive and 4-star cornerback Dylahn McKinney picked off a Grapevine pass attempt and returned it 32 yards for another score and 42-0 lead.
McKinney, who’s committed to Oklahoma State, got his second interception later in the quarter.
“Kids did a terrific job staying focus and taking care of business,” Martin said. “Defense played lights out all night.”
The Panthers went 8-1 last season and won a district title. Their quarterback AJ Smith-Shawver was an all-area player and graduated this year. He signed an MLB contract with the Atlanta Braves this summer.
Martin ran a two-quarterback system with Smith and Luke Ullrich taking turns.
Isaac Shabay scored on a 16-yard TD run for a 14-0 lead. Colleyville Heritage led 21-0 at halftime following a 36-yard TD run by Smith with 47 seconds on the clock.
Smith added another TD pass to Zackary Sogan in the third quarter for a 28-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Grapevine was also trying to replace all-district QB Max Cowgill, who also graduated. Cowgill helped the Mustangs to a 10-4 record, district title and appearance in the regional semifinals.
Walker Berryman started at QB for Grapevine and had three throws of over 10 yards in the first half, including a 22-yard strike to Drew Via. However, penalties hurt their chances to find the end zone.
Grapevine’s defense played well enough to keep the Mustangs in the game with two interceptions by Layton Towery and Saiviahn Shockley. The ball was at the CH 15 after Towery’s pick, but two sacks and a 15-yard penalty forced the offense into a fourth-and-35.
Grapevine had another great opportunity to score in the first half when it got inside the 5, but on fourth-and-1, the Panther defense stuffed a Victor Dela Cruz run to regain possession.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 11:43 PM.
