Colleyville Heritage rides big plays into state quarterfinals

Clinging to a one-point lead against Lubbock Coronado at halftime, Colleyville Heritage added two touchdowns in the third quarter, and the Panthers were able to grind out a 43-34 victory Saturday in a Class 5A Division I regional playoff at Shotwell Stadium.

Heritage (10-3) advances to the state quarterfinals and a meeting with Denton Ryan (13-0) at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium.

“There were a lot of times where the kids could let them gain an advantage, and they just never would,” Heritage coach Joe Willis said. “This time of year you run the ball, work some time off the clock, keep your defense fresh, you give yourself a chance to win.”

A 47-yard field goal by Coronado’s Chance Fair closed out the first half and cut the Panthers’ lead to 28-27, putting the Mustangs (11-2) right back in the game.

“Going into halftime the momentum was really iffy,” Heritage quarterback Cam Roane said.

The Panthers promptly turned the ball over on downs to start the third quarter, but the defense forced a Coronado punt and Heritage would get two more touchdowns to build a 40-27 lead by the end of the third.

“We definitely consider ourselves a second-half team,” Roane added.

A 3-yard touchdown run by senior Mario Ortiz made it 34-27 with 7:11 left in the third quarter, and Michael Young’s 19-yard touchdown catch with 22 seconds left in the third made it 40-27.

Ortiz carried the ball 11 more times in the fourth quarter. He finished with 27 carries for a season-high 243 yards. Ortiz dazzled the Heritage fans and stunned the Mustang faithful with a 98-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

“We had a formation that got them to remove the linebacker from the box, and when that happened we had a nice crease in there,” Willis said of the Ortiz run.

Roane passed for 279 yards and four touchdowns, with two TD catches by Kam Brown. Heritage defensive back Marcus Mosely added two interceptions in the game’s last three minutes.

“How big was that,” Willis said of Mosely. “Marcus has done a great job all year, and he’s a very smart football player. I’m proud of how the defense adjusted and got some things solved in the second half.”

Before Coronado’s second-quarter rally, the Panthers had built a 28-10 lead.

Bryce Boyd opened the scoring on the Panthers’ first play from scrimmage by catching a 62-yard touchdown pass from Roane.

Ortiz followed that with his long run, then Brown sandwiched 4- and 49-yard TD passes from Roane around a Coronado score.

This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Colleyville Heritage rides big plays into state quarterfinals."