Justin Northwest squashes Frisco Memorial comeback hopes with late touchdown pass
Down to their final play of the game, Justin Northwest pulled victory out of an almost certain upset loss, holding off Frisco Memorial, 21-20, with a dramatic last-second touchdown pass at Northwest ISD Stadium Friday night in the season opener.
Facing a desperation fourth-and-goal situation at its own 29 with just 21 seconds left on the clock, Northwest’s sophomore quarterback Jake Strong found Jak Poe tip-toeing along the sideline in the corner of the Memorial end zone for the deciding score. Suddenly, a 20-15 deficit was a 21-20 lead.
The dramatic ending quashed what would have been a valiant comeback for Memorial, which was coming off two consecutive 1-9 seasons. After trailing the Texans, 15-3, at halftime and being tripled up in first-half offensive production, the Warriors scored 17 second-half points to take control of the scoreboard with less than two minutes left.
The Texans (1-0), who only managed just 16 total yards of offense on their first two second-half possessions, found themselves on the wrong end of the score before the third quarter ended.
The Warriors (0-1) marched 53 yards and connected on a Ethan Lollar-to-Jackson Schoolcraft pass to cut the lead to 15-10. Then, Memorial went 78 yards on a 9-play drive and Lollar found Tyler Arnold on an 18-yard strike to give the Warriors a 17-15 lead.
As the fourth period begin, the Texans again stumbled with a couple of penalties and a third-down sack that forced a punt on their first attempt to retake the lead. After giving up a field goal that made it 20-15, Northwest was thwarted again, this time with an incomplete pass on a fourth-down play at the Memorial 22.
The Warriors were able to run the clock down to 1:24 before giving the ball back to the Texans, who were able to start just 51 yards away after a short punt. The big play on the drive was an 18-yard run by Kyle Cummings down to the Memorial 31. But after another sack and three incomplete passes, Northwest was down to its final shot from the Warriors 29.
The Texans built a 15-3 first-half lead by putting together a 99-yard drive on their second possession and then a 75-yard march on their third At the half, Northwest held a 296-85 yard advantage in total offense.
Strong finished the game 16 of 26 passing for 163 yards and two scores – both to Poe, who had six catches.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 10:47 PM.