Senior Analyst, TheOldCoach.com
Email questions or comments to:
FRISCO - For a program still trying to build an identity and find itself any kind of success regardless of how insignificant it may seem to some is huge. Frisco Heritage is a program looking for that identity and one may be starting to emerge as the Coyotes went an impressive 4-0 and advanced to the Texas State 7 on 7 Tournament for the first time. "We're still a building program so any kind of success is good for our kids," said Coyotes HC Che Hendrix, "Beating good programs like Lovejoy, Coppell, Frisco and Plano West gives our kids some confidence that we haven't had before. I'm excited we get to go to College Station and see some good competition and continue to build. This is all uncharted territory for us and it's exciting"
Going to the 7 on 7 State Tournament isn't new for Lake Dallas, but Falcons HC Michael Young is hoping it's a sign of things to come, "The last time we went down there (College Station) we had a good fall so I'm hoping that repeats itself. The kids played well today, especially on defense. We've always been able to score points but getting stops on defense was real encouraging," said Coach Young, whose squad went 4-0 on the day also.
Lake Dallas blitzed through Pool B with relative ease once they got past a tough Frisco Wakeland squad 34-33. The Falcons served notice with a dominant 39-19 win over Hebron and then cruised past Prosper 25-6 before a semi-final win over Forney 40-28 in a game that was never in doubt. QB Dagan Haehn and WR Keegan Brewer were nails all day for the Falcons and the defense time after time got key stops. Forney won a very competitive Pool A by one point via a tiebreaker over Richardson Pearce. The Jackrabbits started out slow losing to Frisco Liberty 34-27 but bounced back with wins over Richardson Pearce 45-39 and Fort Worth Paschal 45-26. Paschal was certainly a tough luck team losing their opener to Pearce on a last second INT return 46-39 and then dropping a triple OT thriller to Frisco Liberty 55-53.
Frisco Heritage won a very tough Pool C as the Coyotes opened up things with a 40-38 win over Lovejoy, then Heritage got a thrilling 41-39 win over Coppell in a major confidence boosting win. The Coyotes looked like a different team after that point as they came out and just drilled Frisco 36-8. In the semi-finals Heritage jumped on Plano West quickly taking a 28-7 lead in the first half and cruising to a 36-25 victory. Senior QB Malik Allen was sharp all day while receivers Chris Baez and Bubba Ogbebor were a nightmare for opposing defenses to matchup with. Plano West went unbeaten through Pool D dominating Richardson and Frisco Centennial, but they got all they wanted from Denison needing a late goal line stand to beat the 'Jackets 34-28.
Frisco SQT Scores
POOL A
Frisco Liberty 34 Forney 27
Richardson Pearce 46 Fort Worth Paschal 39
Frisco Liberty 55 Fort Worth Paschal 53 3OT
Forney 45 Richardson Pearce 39
Richardson Pearce 32 Frisco Liberty 20
Forney 45 Fort Worth Paschal 26
POOL B
Lake Dallas 34 Frisco Wakeland 33
Lewisville Hebron 34 Prosper 12
Frisco Wakeland 26 Prosper 24
Lake Dallas 39 Lewisville Hebron 19
Lewisville Hebron 26 Frisco Wakeland 20
Lake Dallas 42 Prosper 24
POOL C
Frisco Heritage 40 Lovejoy 38
Coppell 36 Frisco 22
Frisco Heritage 41 Coppell 39
Lovejoy 34 Frisco 13
Frisco Heritage 36 Frisco 8
Lovejoy 32 Coppell 27
POOL D
Denison 38 Frisco Centennial 19
Plano West 62 Richardson 0
Frisco Centennial 37 Richardson 27
Plano West 34 Denison 28
Plano West 36 Frisco Centennial 21
Denison 58 Richardson 13
SEMI-FINALS
Lake Dallas 40 Forney 28
Frisco Heritage 36 Plano West 25