Justin Northwest can’t stop McKinney North in second half as Texans fall in shootout
McKinney North and Justin Northwest have struck up a bit of a football rivalry despite the two towns being separated by more than 50 miles.
The Bulldogs and Texans faced off for the seventh straight season and entered Friday night’s non-district game with the last six meetings split down the middle, 3-3.
But it was like a light bulb lit up in the McKinney North locker room during halftime as the Bulldogs just couldn’t stop scoring in the second half on their way to a 47-39 win at Northwest ISD Stadium.
Trailing 13-10 at intermission, the Bulldogs (2-0) scored three touchdowns in just over three minutes in the third quarter and scored five touchdowns overall in the second half to blow the game wide open.
It only took the Bulldogs four plays to score 21 points and turn a three-point deficit into a 31-13 lead. Jayden Walker, who went over 300 yards rushing in the game, got touchdown runs of 19 and 55 yards, and then Colin Hitchcock threw a 65-yard score to Korbin Hendrix midway through the third.
Back up running back Jalique Andrews added the other two scores, touchdown runs in the fourth quarter as McKinney North countered every Northwest response.
Northwest 4-star quarterback Jake Strong (No. 5 in the Star-Telegram Top 100), accounted for three passing touchdowns and one rushing, and over 400 yards. Strong is a 4-star Texas Tech commit and the No. 1 quarterback in the Fort Worth-area.
His final TD of the night came on a 25-yard pass to Logan Jeskevic, but on the conversion, McKinney North returned it for two points. On the play, Strong was the nearest man for the tackle, but came up limping in what appeared to be a hamstring issue. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes before walking off gingerly on his own power.
During the next Northwest drive, Strong stayed on the bench while being attended to. He eventually got up and did some light jogging and stretching on the sideline, but didn’t take another snap.
Strong went 19 of 30 for 356 yards and added 49 yards rushing, which included a 24-yard TD run that cut the lead to 38-27 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The final score came from back up QB Leddie Thompson, who threw a 4-yard toss to Kyle Cummings, but the extra point was missed to make it 47-39 with 1:14 left.
Northwest couldn’t get the onside kick and the Bulldogs took a knee.
The Texans had over 500 yards offense while the Bulldogs had 540 yards.
McKinney North, which beat Garland in the season opener, took a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Bulldogs forced a punt on Northwest’s first drive and turned it into three points, a 30-yard field goal from Trevor Dutton with 5:03 left in the first quarter.
After its first drive ended in a punt, the Texans got from their own 25 to the McKinney North 18 on their second drive. But they came up empty handed when, on a 35-yard field goal attempt, the snap couldn’t be secured and a desperation kick was low and blocked.
The Bulldogs then scored on the second play of the second quarter, a 23-yard run by Walker. McKinney North was able to convert on a fourth-and-4 during the drive.
Northwest’s offense, which put up 44 points in a Week 1 win over Prosper Rock Hill, got going on the ensuing drive, capped off by Strong’s 62-yard touchdown pass to Kenan Reil, who caught a wide receiver screen and slipped past two defenders down the right sideline.
Following a McKinney North punt, Northwest ran 11 plays before a 34-yard field goal was low, but the Texans bounced back on their next drive. Tyran Magee (No. 88 in S-T 100) tackled Walker for a 1-yard loss on third down and Northwest got the ball back at its own 9.
On the sixth play of the drive, Strong squeezed a pass to Terry Duncan, with three defenders around, and sprinted off 46 yards to the Bulldogs’ 17. Three plays after that and Cummings (No. 84 in S-T 100) scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give Northwest a 13-10 lead at the break.
Reil had five catches for 124 yards and two TDs. Jeskevic added 122 yards and a TD on eight catches.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 9:47 PM.
