Colleyville Heritage pulls away from Grapevine to win Red Rail in coach’s team debut
Colleyville Heritage outscored Grapevine, 20-0, in the second half and the Panthers got the better of their crosstown rival Mustangs, 48-24, on Saturday at Globe Life Park in Kirk Martin’s head coaching debut with the program.
Martin was hired by the district in February, replacing Joe Willis, who went to Tyler Legacy after five seasons with the Panthers. Martin spent a dozen years with Manvel, compiling a 108-25 record and won six district titles, went to the playoffs eight straight seasons and played in two state championship games.
“Proud of our kids,” said Martin, who was an assistant coach at Syracuse during the past two years. “Proud of the win, rivalry game, good start. You always want to be 1-0 after the first one. Grapevine gave us all they wanted in that first half and our kids kind of woke up in the second half.
“Coach Martin started calling more runs and we ran the ball better and that opened up the pass game.”
Heritage ran 10 plays to open the game, but the Panthers fumbled on a fourth-down attempt. Mason Shimkus recovered for Grapevine and returned it 30 yards to the CH 24. The Mustangs couldn’t get a first down, but settled for a 33-yard field goal from JD Rice to take a 3-0 lead with 9:19 to play in the first quarter.
The Panthers (1-0) responded with another 10-play drive, capping 65 yards. Quarterback AJ Smith-Shawver connected with Leon Covington on a 3-yard TD pass to take a 7-3 lead with 5 1/2 left in the period.
Grapevine (0-1) went back in front 10-7 late in the quarter after Derek Engel’s 4-yard TD to Griffin Edwards capped off a 11-play, 67-yard drive. The Mustangs were able to eat up more than four minutes off the clock.
The Mustangs’ defense held the Panthers to a turnover on downs on the ensuing possession, but two plays later, they put the ball on the turf and Taylor Steele recovered for Heritage at the GV 30. Steele recovered another fumble in the second half.
Next play, Smith-Shawver pitched the snap to Mason Murdock, who did the rest on his way to a 30-yard score that gave CH a 14-10 lead at the 10:08 mark of the second quarter.
Heritage was the first to go up double digits, 21-10, on its next drive when Smith-Shawver threw a 45-yard TD strike to 3-star Kansas State commit Brenen Hawkins-Roth with 8:34 until intermission.
Hawkins-Roth, who caught 14 TD passes at Godley last season, committed to K-State in June.
“He came to our school in the spring and we just bonded ever since,” Smith-Shawver said. “It’s awesome having him out there. He’s such a great target.”
Added Hawkins-Roth, “He threw it perfect. I just reeled it in and made a play. We knew we needed a score and coach put us in hurry up and we got after it.”
But Grapevine scored 14 unanswered - first on a 28-yard TD pass from Max Cowgill to Parker Polk midway through the quarter. Then, the Mustangs ran 15 plays for 60 yards and regained a 24-21 lead on Cowgill’s 8-yard TD to Edwards, who made a terrific one-handed grab, with under a minute left on the clock.
Instead of taking a knee, Heritage took a 28-24 lead at halftime when Smith-Shawver and Hawkins-Roth hooked up for a 54-yard TD. The pass was deflected and tipped, but Hawkins-Roth stayed with it and hauled the pass in.
“Coach Martin is all about taking shots and we proved it out here today,” Smith-Shawver said. “It worked out and gave us a really big momentum swing. Brenen made a great play and sometimes you have to be lucky.”
The Panthers added three TDs in the second half - an 85-yard TD from Smith-Shawver to Hawkins-Roth, a 3-yard run by Braxton Ash, and a 4-yard run by Isaac Shabay.
Heritage takes the Battle of the Red Rail for the second straight season and is 8-2 against Grapevine in the past 10 meetings.
The Panthers out-gained the Mustangs 453-276 in total yardage. Smith-Shawver threw for 322 yards and five TDs. Hawkins-Roth had 216 yards receiving and three TDs. Ash had a game-high 78 yards rushing on 16 carries.
Edwards had 12 catches for 126 yards and two TDs for Grapevine. Polk added 110 yards and a TD on seven grabs. Cowgill and Engel combined for 248 yards on 24 of 49 passing.
“O-line just blocked great the whole time, picked up blitzes, gave me a lot of time and my receivers made plays all day,” Smith-Shawver said.
This story was originally published September 26, 2020 at 11:05 PM.
