Football, Week 1: Colleyville Heritage looks to build on Aledo loss
Some teams made statements, some took a step back, and some records were broken — all in an opening week of high school football. Where can we start?
In Grapevine on Friday, Aledo came in ranked No. 1 in Class 5A. But as Colleyville Heritage coach Joe Willis said, the Panthers were entering twice as good as last season when they made the 6A playoffs.
Aledo won, but barely, 41-36.
“We answered the bell in several situations,” Willis said Friday night. “They’re a really good football team, and there were times last year when I didn’t know if we were going to be able to respond, and every time we stepped on the field we did respond [against Aledo].”
Many picked Aledo to win by double figures, but Heritage wanted to prove something — prove that it could hang with the Bearcats — and prove that it could be a UIL state contender in 5A.
This was a very good football team we played and that’s why we scheduled them, but this was not our Super Bowl.
Colleyville Heritage coach Joe Willis
The Panthers came up 19 yards short of winning — Aledo’s Logan Childs sealed the Bearcats’ win with an interception with 20 seconds left. But Heritage is here to stay.
“This was a very good football team we played and that’s why we scheduled them, but this was not our Super Bowl,” Willis said. “Our kids know what our mission is this year. Our team is really hungry right now. This is a game that we’ll build off of.”
Heritage junior receiver Ke’von Ahmad is the real deal. A 6A all-state nod last year, Ahmad finished with seven catches for 107 yards Friday and touchdowns of 8, 31 and 15 yards.
In just 12 career varsity games, Ahmad has 100 yards or more in receiving nine times.
As for Aledo, the Bearcats will be just fine. There’s a reason they’ve won five state titles in the past seven years, but coach Steve Wood knows there’s work to be done.
“So many mistakes, turnovers, drops and we have a lot of work to do, but I’m proud of the way they battled,” Wood said.
Staying in 5A, another surprise team is Richland. The Rebels, who also dropped from 6A, got 338 yards passing and a whopping six touchdowns from senior quarterback Trae Self in a 47-14 win over Nolan Catholic on Thursday.
Richland hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009, but it looked good in the opener and has a chance to turn some heads in 8-5A with Heritage.
Old news, new faces
The Arlington Martin defense handled Dallas Skyline 55-7; Mansfield won over rival Summit as senior Kennedy Brooks rushed for 185 yards — his 15th straight 100-yard game; and Euless Trinity earned another win over an out-of-state team, 39-16 against Broken Arrow, Okla.
But teams that didn’t get much media attention played well in Week 1, including three from District 3-6A.
Keller Fossil Ridge, led by the duo of Max Akin and Stefan Cobbs, looked good against Arlington Lamar in a 41-31 win. Cobbs has a strong Play of the Year candidate, catching a touchdown pass by trapping the football onto a defender’s back.
Keller Timber Creek edged Irving Nimitz 49-48, setting school records in passing yards (Cade Schrader, 468), receiving yards (Erik Ezukanma, 261) and receptions (Ezukanma, 12).
Haltom may be a surprise playoff contender in the district — the Buffalos beat Grand Prairie 21-7. Senior J.Q. Reed had 223 all-purpose yards, 179 rushing.
Haltom snapped a nine-game losing streak. In fact, it has only defeated Grand Prairie (twice) during coach Jason Tucker’s tenure (2-19). The Buffalos play Dallas Sunset on Friday and can go 2-0 for the first time since 2005.
In 6-5A, Haslet Eaton played its first varsity game on Thursday and defeated another first-year program, Denton Braswell, 55-0. Eaton quarterback Riley Taylor accounted for 220 yards and five touchdowns, and running back Titus Swen rushed for 181 yards and two scores.
The Eagles face another first-year team, Frisco Reedy, on Thursday.
Two other area teams played their first varsity football game: Fort Worth Benbrook lost 35-14 to Ponder, and FW Young Men’s Leadership Academy lost 46-0 to Saginaw Chisholm Trail.
In 7-5A, FW South Hills beat Dallas Seagoville as senior Tracin Wallace accounted for 260 yards and four touchdowns in his first game since Nov. 14, 2014.
Works in progress
Teams that are works in progress:
▪ Weatherford was predicted to contend for the fourth playoff spot in 3-6A, but the Kangaroos lost to 5A Fort Worth Arlington Heights, which only returned one skill player on its offense.
▪ Arlington was seen as vastly improved and could surprise Martin and Mansfield for the 4-6A title. The Colts lost 22-20 to South Grand Prairie, which is no slouch, but the Colts committed four turnovers and had two bad snaps on punt attempts. They’ll have to fix those things before facing Flower Mound Marcus this week.
▪ Southlake Carroll has one of the most experienced defenses in the area with nine returning starters. But the offense lost key stars such as Zach Farrar (Oklahoma) and Lil’Jordan Humphrey (Texas), and it showed in a 21-10 loss to Tulsa Union.
Willis put it best, saying that Week 1 isn’t the Super Bowl, nor is it the state final. But if teams want to contend for a district title and in the playoffs, plenty have things to clean up.
Then again, we’re only through Week 1.
This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Football, Week 1: Colleyville Heritage looks to build on Aledo loss."