Last-second interception sends Colleyville Heritage past Birdville in 5A regional round
During the first meeting of the season, Birdville edged out Colleyville Heritage by one point. With a bigger stage on Saturday, the two teams fought back and forth as district rivals should.
And it was Heritage moving on to the state quarterfinals.
Sophomore cornerback Dylahn McKinney came down with a game-sealing interception on the final Hail Mary attempt, and the Panthers beat the Hawks 24-17 in a Class 5A Division 1 regional-round game at the Ford Center.
“It was a close game the first time, and we expected nothing less,” Heritage coach Joe Willis said. “Our kids responded at halftime, we made some adjustments on defense and offensively, we converted on a few things we missed out on in the first half.”
Heritage (9-4) makes its first state quarterfinal appearance since 2016 and will take on another district team in No. 3 Denton Ryan (13-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Ford Center.
“We told our kids, ‘Today is the last day of November, and now we get to play December football,’” Willis said. “It’s the second time we get to do that since I’ve been to Colleyville Heritage, and I’m super proud of the kids for accomplishing that.”
Tied at 17 midway through the fourth quarter, the Panthers marched 65 yards on four plays, and with a first and 5 at the Birdville 28, running back Braxton Ash took a handoff, ran up the middle, broke one tackle and found pay dirt for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:57 left.
Then, Heritage defenders Jorge Paredes and Matthew Powers sacked Birdville quarterback Stone Earle on the ensuing drive to force a punt. However, the Hawks had one more drive in them.
Earle started the drive 4 of 4 for 40 yards to get the Hawks to the Heritage 45.
But with one last play, his final pass attempt was picked off by McKinney in the end zone with four seconds showing.
“At first I kind of second guessed it, then I saw the ball in the air and seized the moment,” said McKinney, who also recovered a Birdville fumble in the third quarter.
Heritage had turned the fumble recovery into points for its first lead at 17-14 on Isaac Shabay’s second 2-yard TD run with 4:03 left in the period. His first score came midway through the second to pull the Panthers within 14-10.
“Feels great, but can’t do it without my offensive line or my defense making big stops when we needed to,” Shabay said. “It’s a blast, but I have to give it to them.”
“Our offensive line has been the MVP the past two weeks. They’ve kind of dominated,” Willis added. “That was the difference to me. We got a lot of good movement inside.”
Birdville (9-4) took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Earle connected on a 16-yard TD pass to reigning player of the week Cooper McCasland.
After Heritage kicker Chase Allen booted a 36-yard field goal late in the frame, Birdville went up 14-3 early in the second with a 4-yard scoring run from RB Laderrious Mixon. Hawks kicker Ethan Ballentine hit a 20-yard field goal in the fourth that tied the game at 17.
“I feel amazing right now,” McKinney said. “It feels great. Onto the next one, fourth round.”
Birdville outgained Heritage 408-329, but the Panthers had 195 yards rushing, led by Ash’s 166 on 26 carries. Chad Turner led the Panthers with eight catches and 64 yards.
In their final games, Earle threw for 299 yards, and Mixon ran for 105. Gage Haskin had seven grabs for 123 yards, and McCasland added eight catches for 87 yards. Carter Self chipped in 73 yards on three receptions.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 2:49 PM.
