Colleyville Heritage survives a late two-point conversion try to hold off Summit
Colleyville Heritage defensive end Kadin Richards stopped a Mansfield Summit two-point conversion try with 1:44 left in the game to preserve a 35-34 win in what was arguably the District 4-5A Division 1 championship game on Friday night at Mustang-Panther Stadium.
“All I was reading was the tackle blocking down and my job was to take the dive,” said Richards. “The quarterback had been pulling it all night so I decided to take him because I knew our safeties had that running back and I got the tackle.”
Colleyville Heritage (6-1 overall, 4-0 district), No. 2 in the Star-Telegram Class 5A rankings, looked like it might run away with the game after scoring 21 unanswered points in the second quarter.
Summit (4-3, 3-1), No. 3 in the S-T 5A poll, had taken a 14-7 lead with 3:37 left in the first quarter on a pair of touchdown runs by Keon Hobbs from 5 yards out and a yard away. Those were sandwiched around a 21-yard scoring pass from Panthers’ quarterback Weston Smith to freshman Braden Blueitt.
On the first play of the second quarter Isaac Shabay scored on an 18-yard run down the left sideline. The teams traded punts before Smith found Mason Murdock down the left hash for a 24-yard score to take a 21-14 lead.
The Panthers forced another Summit punt which Hogan Wasson hauled it in at Heritage 43 then raced down the right sideline for a 57-yard score.
“We work it all week,” said Wasson. “We have probably three periods at every practice for special teams. It just set up perfectly how we practice it every single day, picking up blocks. The ball was in the air, I caught it and took off, had great blocks and took it all the way.”
“He’s really electric,” said Colleyville Heritage coach Kirk Martin of Wasson. “This was our first punt return for a score this year and when he caught it I was yelling ‘house call’ because I just felt it in my bones.
“He turned it on and burnt down the sidelines. He was sucking all the trash out from underneath the bleachers as he went by.”
Jaguars’ quarterback David Hopkins gave Summit a spark right before halftime. Hopkins guided the Jaguars on an 8-play, 75-yard drive with runs of 13, 14 and 24 yards before capping the march with a 27-yard TD run to cut the lead to 28-21 at intermission.
The teams traded interceptions to start the third quarter with Heritage’s Jordan Springer making an incredible catch to pick off a Summit pass. The Jags’ Tavare Smith returned the favor two minutes later, with an interception in the end zone to kill a CH drive.
Summit linebacker Maruio White pounced on a Heritage fumble at the Jaguars 40 yard line on the Panthers’ ensuing series. The play set up a 49-yard touchdown run by Orlando Scales to tie the game at 28 with 1:02 left in the third quarter.
Colleyville Heritage wasn’t deterred. Smith hit Blueitt, who made a terrific catch on the sideline, for a 40-yard gain. The play set up a 1-yard TD run by Luke Ullrich with 9:57 left.
Summit forced a Heritage punt with 3:06 left that Ahmaad Moses returned 20 yards to midfield. Four plays later Hopkins hit Kerya Powell with a 27-yard touchdown pass to set up the deciding two-point conversion try.
“We’re in a hostile environment and we felt like we knew what they were going to do,” said Summit coach Channon Hall on the decision to go for two. “We just didn’t execute, that was it. You execute and you have a chance, you don’t and that’s what happens, but we’ll live, we’ll be all right.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2021 at 11:53 PM.