Birdville rallies to beat Heritage in running back’s return; sets up district title showdown
Laderrious Mixon was a 2,000-yard, all-state honorable mention running back last season and entered 2019 as one of the top players in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
But the Birdville senior would miss six games with a foot injury following Week 2.
He was all smiles in his return Friday night.
Mixon rushed for a game-high 127 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries as Birdville rallied to beat Colleyville Heritage, 32-31, at Mustang-Panther Stadium to set up a championship showdown in Week 11.
“The injury was hard and the mental game was super challenging,” Mixon said. “But now I’m happy and my teammates are happy.”
For the second straight season, Birdville (7-2, 6-0 District 4-5A Division 1) will meet Denton Ryan (9-0, 6-0), which is No. 3 in the Dave Campbell’s state rankings, for the district title in the final game of the regular season, 7 p.m. Thursday at Birdville Fine Arts Athletic Complex.
It will be the third time the two teams face in the past two years. Ryan beat Birdville in last year’s playoffs.
“They’re good. We’re familiar with them and we’ll work hard this coming week, and see what happens on Thursday night,” Birdville coach Lon Holbrook said. “This is what Texas high school football is all about.”
The Panthers (5-4, 4-2) forced a punt to end the first half, but Birdville was hit with two 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalties that allowed kicker Chase Allen to hit a 39-yard field goal, which gave Heritage a 25-13 lead at intermission.
But the Hawks rallied to score the next 13 points, starting on the second play from scrimmage of the third quarter.
Facing a second-and-7 from its own 36, Birdville quarterback and Abilene Christian commit Stone Earle hit Gage Haskin on a post route and Haskin sprinted toward a 64-yard touchdown to bring the score to 25-20.
Birdville’s defense forced Heritage to punts on its first two possessions of the second half and the Hawks took their first lead at 26-25 following Earle’s 4-yard TD pass to Connor Welsh with under four minutes to play in the third quarter.
The lead lasted 33 seconds as Heritage responded two plays later. QB AJ Smith first hit Chad Turner on a 58-yard gain and then found Isaac Shabay on a 17-yard score to get the Panthers back in front, 31-25.
The Hawks regained the lead on the ensuing 9-play, 59-yard drive when Mixon rumbled in from the 8 to open the fourth.
“It’s been a long process for him and he’s been very patient with it,” Holbrook said. “The kid has a great heart and I haven’t seen a smile on his face for awhile. It was nice to see him back in his element.”
Heritage snapped the ball 19 times — vs. 5 for Birdville — in the final quarter and possessed the ball nearly eight minutes, but the Panthers first ended a 9-play drive with a punt.
Birdville ate up clock with the lead, but Luke Mabe picked off his second pass of the night at the Heritage 22 with 4:16 to play. The Panthers got down to the Birdville 27, but missed on a 44-yard field goal try and the Hawks were able to run out the clock.
“Defense made some adjustments in the second half,” Holbrook said. “We knew we’d face some adversity tonight, they’re a good football team, and we just weathered the storm. Kids were resilient and found a way.”
Heritage made a statement on the game’s opening drive, going 66 yards on three plays. Smith found running back Braxton Ash for a 34-yard gain and then found his other back, Shabay on the next play for a 23-yard TD.
The Hawks forced a Heritage punt on its second drive and Mixon took the next play from scrimmage 76 yards for the game-tying score midway through the first quarter.
“He’s a spark plug,” Birdville senior Hosea Armstrong said. “He’s a huge difference maker and we love to have him back.”
Heritage responded with a 9-play, 75-yard drive, which was capped off by Shabay’s 28-yard TD catch. Brayden Gerlich scored on the 2-point conversion and the Panthers led 15-7 with 2:17 to go in the period.
Ethan Ballentine booted two field goals for the Hawks from 25 and 43 yards to bring the score to 15-13 with 8:22 left in the second quarter.
The Hawks forced to punt, but three plays later, Luke Mabe picked off a pass attempt and returned it to the Birdville 23. Heritage took advantage and extended its lead to 22-13 on a 14-yard TD run by Ash with 3:23 in the half.
Heritage can clinch the No. 3 seed in district with a win vs. Denton at 7:30 p.m. Friday at C.H. Collins Complex.
