Colleyville Heritage bounces back from slow start to beat Crowley in overtime

Running back Isaac Shabay rushed in from 3 yards out for the deciding touchdown and the Colleyville Heritage defense held as the visiting Panthers prevailed in overtime, 27-20 in a Class 5A Division I bi-district playoff game Friday night.

Heritage (7-4) will face Amarillo in the area round at either Abilene or Wichita Falls at a date and time to be determined.

The Panthers moved 25 yards to the end zone in four plays during the overtime period. A key play was a 13-yard pass from quarterback A.J. Smith to Chad Turner who fell out-of-bounds at the 8-yard line for a first down. When the ball switched over to Crowley, who needed to tie it to force a second overtime, quarterback Kevin Miller’s pass was intercepted in the back left of the end zone by Brayden Gerlich on fourth-and-11 from the 26.

Moments earlier, Chase Allen was wide on a 49-yard field goal attempt with 32 seconds left that would have given the Panthers the win in regulation.

The teams scored a touchdown each in the fourth quarter and Dominique Johnson scored the last one for Crowley with 1:38 left, but not in his customary position as a running back.

From 35 yards out, Miller threw to Johnson open midway near the sidelines. The Missouri commit took it the rest of the way to tie it at 20.

On the previous play, it looked as though Miller would be sacked on fourth-and-5. Instead a facemask penalty on the quarterback gave the Panthers a first down and new life.

Two possessions earlier, Braxton Ash scored from a yard out to culminate a 9-play, 69-yard drive. The Panthers mixed it up with three pass plays and six rushing. Smith was good on all of his attempts on the drive. He was 17 of 27 for 219 yards.

The only other score in the second half was a 4-yard run late in the third quarter by Johnson to climax a 10-play, 65-yard drive. But the extra point was botched, leaving Crowley with only a 13-12 lead.

Johnson had all three of Crowley’s touchdowns, but the Heritage defense had him bottled much of the time. He finished with 133 yards on 22 carries.

Heritage led 12-7 at the half, but the Panthers could have had more points had it not been for a couple of goal line stands by Crowley. After Johnson scored late in the first quarter on a 30-yard run in which he broke three tackles, Heritage took over at its 28-yard line after the ensuing kickoff.

Eight plays later, the Panthers were at the Crowley 4 with first-and-goal. However, a bad snap backed the Panthers to their 23. Nevertheless, Allen was good on a 40-yard field goal to make it 7-3, Crowley.

On their next possession, Heritage was again knocking at the door having moved from their 31 to the 1-yard line facing second-and-goal. But two runs by Ash netted nothing, and Smith also failed to get into the end zone.

Crowley took over on downs at the 1, but Johnson was unable to get out of the end zone on a run off tackle. The safety made the score 7-5 with Heritage getting the ball back on the subsequent kickoff.

Heritage began play at its 42 and this time the Panthers were able to cash in. Six plays later on third-and-10, Smith connected over the middle to Hogan Wasson, who had beaten the secondary inside the 10-yard line and the sophomore took it in from there for the 12-7 lead after Allen’s extra point.

Sure-handed Wasson, who appeared to run precision routes, led all receivers with 135 yards on seven catches. But they all came in the first half.

In the second half, teammate Turner picked up the slack and caught six. He finished with eight catches for 51 yards.

It was the fourth straight year the Eagles have made the playoffs without advancing beyond bi-district.

Crowley’s (9-2) only other loss this season was by one point, 48-47, to district champion Azle.