Colleyville Heritage RB Braxton Ash, defense shut down Lovejoy in football opener
Saturday night was the coming out party for Colleyville Heritage junior running back Braxton Ash.
Ash rushed for 183 yards on 32 carries as the Panthers dominated the time of possession in the second half to beat Lovejoy 13-10 at Eagles Stadium as part of the 20th annual Tom Landry Classic.
“We’ve known Braxton was a good running back, and it goes to show you tonight, he’s put on some good weight during the offseason,” Heritage coach Joe Willis said. “I think it was his coming out party, and that offensive line is just as important. Pound that ball especially in those tight ball games.”
Trailing 13-7 at halftime, Heritage (1-0) ate up 5 1/2 minutes to start the third. The Panthers went on a 15-play, 96-yard drive that resulted in a 23-yard touchdown pass from AJ Smith to Chad Turner. The Panthers went 4 for 4 on third down conversions, but couldn’t convert on the 2-point attempt. They led 13-10 with 6:30 left in the period.
Lovejoy (0-1) punted on its first three drives of the second half before throwing an interception to Josh Dobbins.
The Leopards had one more drive but turned it over on downs late in the fourth.
“Our young secondary did a great job, Josh on the pick and Dylahn McKinney did some great things,” Willis said. “I was really impressed with them overall.”
After Lovejoy punted on the opening drive, Heritage marched 72 yards on 10 plays and scored a touchdown, a 4-yard run by Issac Shabay. But the key play was a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty on Lovejoy.
Heritage had gone three-and-out and punted the ball away back to the Leopards before the drive continued.
Lovejoy threw two picks on the night — the first to Heritage senior Ryan Ward with 4:30 left in the first quarter. But the Leopards finally tied it with 9:15 to go in the half.
Following a short Heritage punt, the Leopards went five plays for 29 yards. Quarterback RW Rucker threw a 21-yard TD pass to Reid Westervelt. Lovejoy added a 21-yard field goal by Tyler Loop during a 15-play drive to give the team a 13-7 lead at the break.
“It wasn’t really pretty, but we just settled down in the second half,” Willis said. “Anytime you can win a tight game, if you can run the ball and play defense, you got a chance.”
Ash rushed for 157 yards after half with nearly 100 coming in the third quarter. He had seven carries of at least 10 yards in the second half after having none in the first half.
“During halftime, coach Willis said we’re going to run the ball more,” said Ash, who rushed for 262 yards on 41 carries in 2018. “I was ready for it. I love competition. This just boosts our confidence.”
Smith made his first varsity start at QB for Heritage and threw for 139 yards. Turner made five catches for 114 yards and one TD. Heritage will host Southlake Carroll in Week 2 on Friday.
Rucker led Lovejoy with 127 yards on 26 carries. Lovejoy will host Sulphur Springs on Friday.
For extensive coverage of high school football check out DFWVarsity.com and Sunday’s print edition.
This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 10:39 PM.
