Head coach Jerry Edwards’ first season with Colleyville Heritage ends in regional final
A memorable season in Jerry Edwards first as the Panthers’ head coach has come to an end.
Colleyville Heritage (12-2) failed to contain Frisco Emerson quarterback Michael Hawkins, a transfer from Allen, in a 59-48 loss Friday at the Ford Center in a Class 5A D2 State Quarterfinal. Hawkins, an Oklahoma commit, tallied 444 total yards and 6 touchdowns in the game.
“We accomplished a lot,” Edwards said. “New coach coming in. Everybody wrote us off from the beginning of the year and to be able to make it this far is a testament to these kids buying in.”
Colleyville Heritage, in 2022, defeated Frisco Emerson but couldn’t get past Wylie in the area round. One year later, the Panthers reached the quarterfinal but couldn’t get past Emerson for a consecutive time.
Edwards said he was proud of the team’s season. The Panthers won 12 games for the second time in program history and put together a spectacular comeback to defeat Argyle in the regional semifinal.
The Panthers and Mavericks went back and forth in the first half, and Emerson had a slight upper hand heading into the break. After a Heritage punt to start second half, seven consecutive touchdowns were scored all in the third quarter in a back and forth affair.
“We didn’t do a good enough job slowing them down,” Edwards said. “They have an explosive offense. We knew that coming in.”
Heritage’s offense was led by quarterback Luke Ullrich, who tallied 413 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 169 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Hetallied 582 total yards and scored five times.
“I thought he played great,” Edwards said. “He’s been our leader all year. He was Superman.”
The Panther defense, however, simply couldn’t do enough to stop Hawkins’ efficiency. The Maverick QB completed 84% of his passes and had 128 rushing yards that helped extend drives.
Turnovers were also costly in a game where stops were hard to find. Ullrich, at the Maverick 21 yard line, underthrew a pass that was intercepted that gave Emerson some momentum at the start of the second quarter.
Ullrich did make some spectacular plays and had some terrific throws to keep Heritage in the game. The highlight of the night was a 20 yard run in which Ullrich hurdled a defender en route to a touchdown.
Ullrich made spectacular Johnny Manziel-esque efforts to escape pressure and extend plays, but it didn’t always work out for the senior quarterback. He took a few sacks and lost a fumble that Keiton Blanton returned 45 yards for a touchdown.
Receiver Braden Blueitt led the Panther receivers with 175 yards on nine receptions, averaging 19.44 yards per catch. The star receiver was taken out of the game in the fourth quarter due to an injury.
“The injury bug caught up to us tonight on both sides of the ball,” Edwards said. “Kinda hampered us a bit.”
Receiver Hayden Golden also had a significant showing, gaining 120 yards and finding the end zone twice.
A game changer on the defensive end for Heritage was defenive lineman Jacob Roppolo, who tallied two key tackles for loss and a sack.
For Emerson, wide receiver Kylen Evans was Hawkins’ primary target, recording 196 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Penalties were costly for both teams but more so for Colleyville Heritage. The Panthers racked up 12 penalties for 98 yards while the Mavericks had 10 for 87 yards.
The Emerson Mavericks will face either South Oak Cliff or Lovejoy; the two teams play Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at Choctaw Stadium.
This story was originally published December 2, 2023 at 1:09 AM.
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