Midlothian Heritage remains perfect in district after a strong test from Ennis

The Midlothian Heritage football team was dominant in Class 4A Division 1 a season ago. But moving up to 5A Division 2 and into a district with tradition rich programs such as Ennis, Everman and two-time state semifinalist Mansfield Summit, one would think that the Jaguars might struggle.

It turns out that it has been just the opposite.

Heritage, No. 6 in the Class 5A D2 state rankings and No. 7 in the area rankings, kept its perfect district record in tact as the Jaguars survived a second-half rally by Ennis to beat the Lions, 38-35, in a District 5-5A Division 2 game on Friday night at Midlothian ISD Stadium.

“We knew what we were coming into when we moved up to 5A,” said Heritage quarterback Kaden Brown, who accounted for 380 total yards on the night. “Our head coach left over the summer and I think that really brought us together more than anything.

“A lot of throwing routes by ourselves, not with the coaches, and just a lot of team work.”

Ennis (2-5 overall, 2-2 district) looked anything like a two-win team. The Lions took a 35-30 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jackson Gilkey with 4:48 left in the game, but Heritage (6-1, 4-0) battled back.

The Jaguars faced a fourth and 15 from their own 20 yard line when Stetson Sarratt made the play of the game. Brown, a South Dakota State commit, threw up a prayer that Sarratt managed to wrestle away from an Ennis defender for a 37-yard gain and a first down at the Lions’ 43.

“He threw it up and I had to make a play or else we were going to lose the game so I had to bring it down,” said Sarratt, who finished with three catches for 59 yards. “I just trust in my quarterback, he’s a Division 1 player, and my coaches rely on us and trust us to do our best.”

“I was just trying to make a play,” said Brown, who threw for 256 yards completing 17 of 25 passes and rushed 23 times for 124 yards. “I knew what yard marker that we had to get to and I knew he would go up and make a play.”

Six plays later Mason O’Neal scored his second touchdown of the game darting off left tackle from 12 yards out. O’Neal also ran in the conversion to put Heritage up 38-35 with 1:35 left.

“I was thinking that we were finally going to win the game,” said O’Neal who carried 18 times for 65 tough yards on the night. “We were down in the second half, but I think I really helped pick up the team. It feels good to beat Ennis, my heart is still beating real fast.”

Ennis had one last shot after moving down to the Heritage 30, but a 47-yard field goal attempt was no good and the Jags were able to run out the clock.

“Coach (Sam) Harrell and Ennis is as good a program as there is in the state,” said Heritage coach Eric Edwards. “We knew that coming in and we knew that they could make this a battle all the way through and they did. They played their butts off.”

Heritage built a tenuous, but seemingly comfortable 20-7 lead at the half. Touchdown passes from Brown, No. 57 in the Star-Telegram Top 100, of 1 and 10 yards to Xavier Moten and Sam Hopkins respectively and a pair of short field goals by Dylan Riggins helped build the lead.

Following the second field goal by Riggins, the Heritage defense took over.

Interceptions by Rylan Figueroa and Solomon Hopkins kept the Lions’ offense at bay.

Solomon Hopkins’ pick was returned 23 yards to the Ennis 28 with 1:43 left before the intermission. Brown hit Sam Hopkins at the two before he fought his way in for the score with 16 seconds left in the half to give Heritage the 13-point cushion.

The teams traded TDs to open the second half.

Gilkey hit Wondame Davis, Jr. with a 5-yard scoring pass, the duo connected for a 16-yard TD in the first half for the Lions. Heritage answered with a touchdown run of three yards by O’Neal to push the lead back to 13 with 7:25 left in the third quarter.

Gilkey did everything he could leading the Lions, accounting for 323 total yards of his own. The senior ran 20 times for 117 yards and completed 19 of 32 passes for 206 more.

Ennis then rode a wave of momentum to take its first lead. The Lions embarked on a 16-play, 85-yard drive capped by a 3-yard scoring run by Ma’Qua Smith to cut the lead to 27-21.

On the second play of Heritage’s next series, Ennis linebacker Malachi Perez picked off a Jaguars’ pass and raced 41 yards for the score to give Ennis its first lead at 28-27 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

The teams traded punts before Riggins connected on his third field goal of the night, this time from 30 yards out, to put Heritage back on top 30-28.

“Our guys played hard until the end,” said Edwards. “We had a lot of penalties that hurt us and some stupid stuff.

“But the fact that we just held on and kept plugging even though the guys were getting frustrated, they just never stopped. That’s probably what I’m most proud of.”

Heritage and Everman are on pace to both be undefeated in district when they face each other on the final Friday of the regular season at Everman.

This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 11:24 PM.