Shadow Creek slows down Denton Ryan offense in first half, hangs on for 5A D1 title
It took the past four years for Denton Ryan to reach the UIL state title game.
No Highland Park. No Frisco Lone Star.
But the Raiders ran into Alvin Shadow Creek, which was making its second consecutive trip to the state championship game while in only its second year playing UIL football.
Shadow Creek’s defense dominated high-powered Ryan in the first half for a 28-22 victory in the Class 5A Division I state final Friday night in front of a crowd of 18,139.
Trailing by six with under a minute left, Ryan went from its own 38 to the SC 40, then added 15 yards when the Sharks were called for a personal foul. With two seconds on the clock, quarterback Seth Henigan extended the play and threw a Hail Mary to the end zone, but the ball wasn’t caught at the goal line after a good defensive effort by the Sharks.
“It was rough, and I was definitely holding my breath just hoping that thing ended up on the right side,” SC coach Brad Butler said. “Both teams came in playing great defense, and it was tough sledding for both offenses all night long. Hats off to them, they played a tough ballgame, and we didn’t expect anything less.”
Shadow Creek (16-0) was state runner-up last season after falling to Highland Park 27-17, but it still own a 31-1 record in two years.
“It’s a combination of players and coaches coming together and believing,” Butler said. “It doesn’t always end up the way you want, but once you meet your goals, it ends up unfolding the right way — and it’s special.”
The Raiders ended a nine-year drought by reaching the title game for the first time since 2010. It was also their sixth overall appearance. They lost to state champ Highland Park in the semis during the past three seasons before knocking off top-ranked Lone Star last week.
Ryan’s only titles came in 2001 and 2002.
“I’m very proud. We’re all disappointed with the result. That’s a good football team. Give them credit, especially in the first half. They took it to us, but our kids were resilient,” Ryan coach Dave Henigan said. “Down 21-8 right out of the get-go there in the third quarter, to battle back and to have an opportunity to win the game on the last play of the game. We just came up a little bit short. We have nothing to hang our head about.”
Kyron Drone, who was voted title game Offensive MVP, scored from the 1 with 7:12 left in the first quarter to give the Sharks the 7-0 lead.
The Raiders (15-1) scored on a trick play when Texas commit Billy Bowman Jr. fielded the ensuing kickoff, and after two pitches, the ball ended up in the hands of Tra Smith, who darted for a 91-yard score. Bowman picked off two passes in the game.
After Alabama signee Drew Sanders’ 2-point run, Ryan led 8-7 at the 6:59 mark.
But both offenses stalled, and the next score again came on special teams.
Midway through the second quarter, the snap on a Ryan punt attempt sailed into the end zone. The ball was illegally kicked, and, for a moment, the players hesitated — not sure if the play was dead or still live.
Return man Randy Masters picked up the loose ball and scored 37 yards later for a 14-8 lead that the Sharks took into intermission.
Drones added his second TD to put SC up 21-8 with 7:58 left in the third quarter. It was Ryan’s largest deficit all season, but Sanders scored on a 2-yard run to get the Raiders within 22-15 four minutes later.
“Last year we were all in the moment, thinking that we were in the state championship,” Drones said. “This time we knew what it took to get here, and we all bought in as a family.”
Ryan had chances to tie or take the lead, including after a Shadow Creek fumble recovered by Raiders defensive lineman Dorian Anderson, but they turned the ball over on downs twice in the fourth quarter.
The Sharks increased the lead to 28-15 with 3:08 to play on a 8-yard TD run by Kelvon Brown.
Henigan hit Texas commit Ja’Tavion Sanders on a 26-yard score that capped off an 11-play, 67-yard drive to make it 28-22 with 1:14 left. The Raiders forced a three-and-out with only 27 seconds off the clock to get the ball back at their own 18.
“Great feeling, and all could do was scream and jump up and down,” said Drones, who finished with 320 yards total offense and two rushing TDs. “Happy to be state champs.”
Said Henigan about the final play: “It’s a game of inches. It’s tough. It’s been four or five years in a row where we’ve been knocking at the door, so it’s pretty tough to swallow.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 10:25 PM.
