North Crowley keeps rolling; Panthers score at will to down Midland Legacy

By some accounts, this year’s North Crowley football team isn’t as explosive on offense as last year’s state championship squad. Don’t tell that to Midland Legacy.

North Crowley scored touchdowns on nine of its 10 possessions, including three after halftime when the starters sat down, as the Panthers drubbed Legacy 63-17 in a Class 6A Division I area-round playoff Saturday at Shotwell Stadium.

After the game, North Crowley head coach Ray Gates said that “if you’re practicing football on Thanksgiving, then there are no more turkeys left in the playoffs.” Coppell (10-1) is also one of those teams, and North Crowley (11-1) will meet the Cowboys in the regional semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Midlothian Multi-Purpose Stadium.

North Crowley quarterback Hayes Cloutier has had a lot to do with the success of the Panthers’ offense after moving in from California and winning the starting job as QB of one of the top Class 6A programs in the state.

“He’s grown a lot from the time he got here a couple of weeks before the season to now,” Gates said. “We force-fed him what we do, and there are a lot of expectations that go with that. As the weeks have gone by he has progressed, and he’s starting to play his best football.”

Gates said Cloutier understands what the expectations are and what he needs to do to be successful. Cloutier has a lot of guys around him that can make plays, maybe even more that last year when Quentin Gibson and Chris Jimerson were tearing up opposing defenses.

“He has a great supporting cast, and when you have that, it takes some of the pressure off,” Gates said. “You don’t have to be Superman and make every play.

“Just give it to your guys and trust who they are and who God has made them to be. He’s done a great job.”

“It’s an absolute blessing that I was able to come here and earn the starting job,” said Cloutier, who completed 12 of 15 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. “I get to work with all these great players every day and such great coaches that put so much time and effort into getting us prepared every week.”

North Crowley had its way with Legacy in the first half when the starters were in the game, scoring on seven of its eight possessions. The only drive that didn’t result in points was an interception on a wide receiver pass when Cloutier lateraled to Pryce Demerson, whose toss was picked off by Legacy’s Ben Cano at the Panthers’ 41 yard line.

Two plays later, North Crowley got the ball right back when Jordan Herigon returned the favor with an interception at the Panther 19.

Cloutier got things rolling for the Panthers with scoring passes of 18 and 16 yards, both to Damarion Mays on North Crowley’s first two possessions. Following the interception, the Panthers got consecutive scoring runs of 2 yards by G’yrell Smith and TDs of 1 and 2 yards by Kiante Ingram, the latter making it 35-3 with 1:23 left in the first half.

Legacy (6-6) was sporting its “Lee” helmets during the game even though the return to the Midland Lee school name won’t be official until the start of the next school year. The Rebels drove from their 36 to the North Crowley 19 on their first possession, but had to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Steven Verastegui.

“Our defense, outside of that first drive, was lights out,” Gates said of his defenders, who allowed 140 yards of total offense before the intermission. “We made some adjustments, and they were stout against the run and we made them check the ball down to areas that we wanted whenever they threw. I’m very proud of our defense.”

Cloutier finished off the scoring in the first half, hitting Mays for the third time from 5 yards out with 18 seconds left to make it 42-3. The play was pretty much a jump ball in the back of the end zone that is pretty much there anytime North Crowley wants to dial it up.

“Any jump ball and he comes down with it,” Cloutier said of Mays, a 6-3 sophomore. “He works his butt off. We’ve really got six or eight guys outside that can all play, as you saw in the second half ... we’ve got some dogs.”

North Crowley had eight receivers catch passes in the game. Hayden Green had a 9-yard touchdown reception from Demarcus Harris II in the third quarter.

Harris tossed another TD of 13 yards to Aiden Whitmore early in the fourth quarter, and Whitmore closed out the scoring with a 51-yards scoring strike from Chris Alexander with 5:11 left in the game.

Legacy was led by workhorse running back Hayes Hamm, who picked up 143 tough yards on the ground on 41 carries. Hamm came two carries short of tying the Rebels’ school record for rushing attempts in a game.

This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 7:47 PM.