Mansfield Summit starts fast against Birdville to clinch final football playoff spot

All the Mansfield Summit football team needed on Thursday night was to win to make the playoffs.

The Jaguars started the game with a kickoff return for a touchdown and punt return for another TD before even running an offensive play, and then held off Birdville, 38-24, in a District 4-5A Division 1 game at Newsom Stadium.

The district decided to not go with the “zone” format that a lot of districts reverted to after some teams were unable to play full district schedules due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

District 4-5A D1 opted to use win percentage of district games played and even though Summit (4-4 overall, 3-2 district) did not play Colleyville Heritage or Burleson Centennial and lost to Midlothian last week, the Jaguars captured the fourth seed and will face Abilene Cooper in the first round next week.

“The cards we were dealt were that as such and we just dealt with it,” said Summit coach Channon Hall. “We won the right games and it is what it is. Anybody can say what they want, but our kids deserve it.”

Jalon Rock opened the game taking the kickoff at the Summit 5 and racing 95 yards for a touchdown for a 7-0 lead with 16 seconds off the clock.

“I kind of bobbled it at first and I was supposed to go to the four side, but I saw a gap on the six side,” said Rock, who starts in the defensive secondary for the Jaguars. “I looked around, stepped on the kicker and then there was nothing there.”

The Summit defense forced a punt by Birdville (1-6, 0-6) on the Hawks’ opening series. Sean Smith fielded the kick at the Jaguars’ 15 and took it to the house for an 85-yard TD to give Summit a 14-0 lead with 10:13 left in the first quarter.

Birdville got a spark when Cameron Jones picked off a Summit pass in the end zone to kill the Jaguars’ next drive. The Hawks took 12 plays to drive from their own 20 to the Summit 6, but settled for a 23-yard Ethan Ballentine field goal. Birdville cut the lead to 14-10 when Gracien Anto bulled into the line then spun out and outraced the Summit secondary 39 yards to the end zone with 4:45 left before halftime.

But as was the case for much of the game, Summit responded.

Following a 37-yard kickoff return by Ahmad Moses to the Birdville 35, the Jaguars moved wide out Kainen McKinney to quarterback, where he played last season. Three plays later, McKinney hit Auburn commit Hal Presley with a 31-yard touchdown pass and the Jaguars pulled ahead 21-10 with 2:24 left before intermission.

“I played quarterback last year so I knew what I had to do to get the team where we needed to be,” said McKinney. “It was a little glimpse of last year and I’m glad to just help the team out wherever I’m needed.”

Birdville cut the lead to 24-17 late in the third quarter when quarterback Aiden Dollar connected with Connor Welsh on a 60-yard scoring pass. But Summit responded again.

McKinney ran it in from 11 yards out then hit Presley again with a 54-yard scoring pass and the Jaguars led comfortably 38-17 with 6:35 left in the game. Presley had two receptions, both touchdowns, for 85 yards.

“We’ve got dogs everywhere and we needed a change up,” added Hall. “Kainen is a senior and has been with us for a while and he knows the expectations we have.

“He knows that when he’s called upon that he needs to make plays at quarterback, receiver or wherever. He did and that’s what I expect every time.”

Birdville did score with 2:36 left on a 2-yard run by Anto to cut the lead to 38-24, but Smith ended the Hawks’ hopes when he picked off a pass in the end zone with eight seconds left.

Jaydon Lott (eight carries) and Keon Hobbs (13) had 52 yards rushing each for Summit. McKinney finished with 122 passing yards completing 4 of 6 passes.

Before being injured with 9:13 left in the fourth quarter, Dollar rushed for 65 yards on 12 carries and went 6 of 9 passing for 98 yards. Anto led all rushers with 91 yards on 19 carries.

“Abilene Cooper is a great team with a great history and great program,” said Hall. “We’re going to go down there and get in a dog fight. We’ve been playing good people for a long time at Summit High School so it doesn’t change.”

This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 12:15 AM.