Colleyville Heritage keeps high-powered Red Oak in check, Panthers still undefeated
Unbeaten Colleyville Heritage is alone atop District 4-5A Division 1 after the Panther defense came up big early and late Friday night in a 27-13 victory over Red Oak at Mustang-Panther Stadium.
The Panthers (4-0 overall, 3-0 district) kept the high-scoring Hawks bottled up most of the night and forced four turnovers that sealed the showdown win.
Red Oak (2-2, 2-1) lost for the first time in district play despite out-gaining Heritage, 348-286.
While big plays were a challenge for both teams, the Panther D asserted themselves, forcing four fumbles, grabbing a late interception and ending seven Red Oak possessions on either punts or downs.
The Heritage defense saved its biggest stand for late in the game. The Hawks had battled back from a 20-7 deficit to pull within 20-13 on a 29-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Chris Parson to Jace White, and took over near midfield after stopping Heritage on three plays with 10:32 remaining.
But Panther linebacker Luke Lingard stopped that drive with an open field interception, then his teammates jumped on a fumbled hand-off near the same spot on the Hawks’ next possession to end another opportunity.
With 4:06 remaining, Red Oak had seemingly its last chance, but a pair of sacks from Heritage’s Chris Knight and another on fourth down by Lucas Williams with 46 seconds remaining ended all hope for the Hawks.
The Panther D made their presence known on the first possession of the night, stopping Red Oak on a fourth-and-goal at the Heritage 8-yard line. Minutes later, the Hawks drove to the Heritage 5-yard line only to fumble the ball away again.
The Panthers opened the scoring late in the first quarter, marching 53 yards on seven plays before quarterback A.J. Smith-Shawver scored on a 5-yard play action run.
After the extra point was blocked, Red Oak got its only lead of the night at 7-6 after Tristan Edwards hauled in a 31-yard pass from Joshua Ervin, who alternated at quarterback with Parson. Edwards led all receivers with eight catches for 125 yards.
Heritage took the lead back for good at 13-7 in the third quarter when a snap sailed over the Red Oak punter’s head and the Panthers set up shop three yards away from the Hawks’ end zone.
Hogan Wasson, who had six catches for 82 yards, caught the go-ahead scoring pass. A 10-play, 52-yard drive put the Panthers up 20-7 with Wasson catching a 2-point conversion after an R.J. Williams TD reception. Zach Sanders carried the ball 34 times for 174 yards for the Hawks while Heritage got 117 rushing yards on 23 carries from Braxton Ash.