Sports Update
Fallen hopes: North fights hard, but falls short of Wylie East, playoffs
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
WYLIE -- Though a deceptive final score shows otherwise, the McKinney North football team wasn't ready to let its season slip away Friday night against Wylie East.
North lost, 50-26, to the Raiders (7-2, 5-1 in District 13-4A) and was down 36-7 by halftime, but a loud East crowd went silent for much of the second half. The Bulldogs (2-7, 2-4) forced back-to-back Raider turnovers and scored 19 unanswered points to enter the final frame with all the momentum.
"It's a real gutsy group of young men," said Mike Fecci, North head coach. "I don't know many teams that would've come out and fought real hard like that down that much, and that's nothing that I did. That's the kind of young men that we get to coach."
North's comeback commenced less than two minutes into the third quarter, when the Bulldogs seemed to send a message to Raiders quarterback Garrett McCain: His big night wasn't going to get bigger.
McCain, who'd thrown for 227 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 first-half passes, was popped by multiple Bulldog pass rushers and coughed the ball up at East's 38-yard line. Eight plays later, right after a 17-yard run from North senior Justin Jones sophomore Ronald Jones made it 36-14 with a 3-yard plunge.
A holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff started East from its own 10-yard line, and McCain fumbled again. Junior quarterback Ben Dutze found a wide-open Evan Jones rolling right across the front of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown, cutting it to 36-20 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
"I think a little bit of the pressure was off of them," Fecci said. "They just went out and played. They started playing the game like they did when they were in fourth grade -- just played hard and had fun."
The fun continued two minutes later when Dutze, who threw for 156 of his 246 yards in the second half, found senior Will Ashun down the right seam for a 73-yarder into East territory, then junior K.J. Bualicex for a 20-yard out route. Jones, North's leading rusher with 117 yards on 23 carries, ran for 2 of those yards and a touchdown two plays later, further erasing East's lead to 36-26.
The Raiders' offense, which amassed 298 yards by halftime, managed just 97 the rest of the way, repeatedly giving North a chance at a comeback. Ending up with 380 total yards, the Bulldogs' momentum stalled as well.
After brief consecutive possessions ending with a punt, Dutze threw his first interception to East linebacker Toby Amadi, who took it 17 yards the other way for a touchdown. Four plays later, Dutze was hit as he threw an errant pass to the left side and Henry Dues returned it 60 yards for the final score, 50-26.
The game came full circle, with East going up, 9-0, on a safety and touchdown in less than 30 seconds. After North's brief first possession, a high snap sailed over senior Jacob Maclea's head and he was forced to kick the ball out of the side of the endzone.
McCain (7-of-18 for 238 yards and four touchdowns) threw his first bomb of the night, an 80-yard touchdown strike to Marcell Ateman on the Raiders' first offensive play. Following another short North possession, McCain found Quan Jones for a 46-yard touchdown along the right sideline to put East up, 16-0, halfway through the first quarter.
"It wasn't the way we wanted to start," Fecci said. "You get behind, bang, you blink your eyes...it's just on you in a hurry but that's the game; that's what happens."
North managed to contain Raiders running back Jabari Anderson, who finished with 115 yards, but after an early 31-yard burst down the sideline, his longest run was 13 yards. Anderson did catch a 15-yard touchdown in East's first-quarter onslaught.
It was East's wide-out tandem that hurt North over the top. Quan made both of his two catches touchdowns when he hauled in another deep McCain toss and ran untouched for an 80-yard touchdown right before half.
"They are a very formative force because they run the ball so effectively and they've got guys who can get behind you, so they put you in a big bind," Fecci said. "You either have to say we're going to load the box to stop Jabari Anderson -- to do that you've got to single coverage the outside guys -- or you could back off those guys and then let Anderson get after you.
"They pose a big matchup problem for a lot of people, and I anticipate them having a very successful playoff run."
North's last game is at the same time against Denison Friday at 7:30 p.m. If the Bulldogs win and Wylie loses next week, the Bulldogs would be tied for the fourth and final playoff spot, but Wylie would own the tiebreaker because of its 35-20 victory over North.
"We've got a saying around here, 'You either fix it or quit, and quitting is not an option,'" Fecci said. "They're going to come back and go to work and finish this thing the right way."
North lost, 50-26, to the Raiders (7-2, 5-1 in District 13-4A) and was down 36-7 by halftime, but a loud East crowd went silent for much of the second half. The Bulldogs (2-7, 2-4) forced back-to-back Raider turnovers and scored 19 unanswered points to enter the final frame with all the momentum.
"It's a real gutsy group of young men," said Mike Fecci, North head coach. "I don't know many teams that would've come out and fought real hard like that down that much, and that's nothing that I did. That's the kind of young men that we get to coach."
North's comeback commenced less than two minutes into the third quarter, when the Bulldogs seemed to send a message to Raiders quarterback Garrett McCain: His big night wasn't going to get bigger.
McCain, who'd thrown for 227 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 first-half passes, was popped by multiple Bulldog pass rushers and coughed the ball up at East's 38-yard line. Eight plays later, right after a 17-yard run from North senior Justin Jones sophomore Ronald Jones made it 36-14 with a 3-yard plunge.
A holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff started East from its own 10-yard line, and McCain fumbled again. Junior quarterback Ben Dutze found a wide-open Evan Jones rolling right across the front of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown, cutting it to 36-20 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
"I think a little bit of the pressure was off of them," Fecci said. "They just went out and played. They started playing the game like they did when they were in fourth grade -- just played hard and had fun."
The fun continued two minutes later when Dutze, who threw for 156 of his 246 yards in the second half, found senior Will Ashun down the right seam for a 73-yarder into East territory, then junior K.J. Bualicex for a 20-yard out route. Jones, North's leading rusher with 117 yards on 23 carries, ran for 2 of those yards and a touchdown two plays later, further erasing East's lead to 36-26.
The Raiders' offense, which amassed 298 yards by halftime, managed just 97 the rest of the way, repeatedly giving North a chance at a comeback. Ending up with 380 total yards, the Bulldogs' momentum stalled as well.
After brief consecutive possessions ending with a punt, Dutze threw his first interception to East linebacker Toby Amadi, who took it 17 yards the other way for a touchdown. Four plays later, Dutze was hit as he threw an errant pass to the left side and Henry Dues returned it 60 yards for the final score, 50-26.
The game came full circle, with East going up, 9-0, on a safety and touchdown in less than 30 seconds. After North's brief first possession, a high snap sailed over senior Jacob Maclea's head and he was forced to kick the ball out of the side of the endzone.
McCain (7-of-18 for 238 yards and four touchdowns) threw his first bomb of the night, an 80-yard touchdown strike to Marcell Ateman on the Raiders' first offensive play. Following another short North possession, McCain found Quan Jones for a 46-yard touchdown along the right sideline to put East up, 16-0, halfway through the first quarter.
"It wasn't the way we wanted to start," Fecci said. "You get behind, bang, you blink your eyes...it's just on you in a hurry but that's the game; that's what happens."
North managed to contain Raiders running back Jabari Anderson, who finished with 115 yards, but after an early 31-yard burst down the sideline, his longest run was 13 yards. Anderson did catch a 15-yard touchdown in East's first-quarter onslaught.
It was East's wide-out tandem that hurt North over the top. Quan made both of his two catches touchdowns when he hauled in another deep McCain toss and ran untouched for an 80-yard touchdown right before half.
"They are a very formative force because they run the ball so effectively and they've got guys who can get behind you, so they put you in a big bind," Fecci said. "You either have to say we're going to load the box to stop Jabari Anderson -- to do that you've got to single coverage the outside guys -- or you could back off those guys and then let Anderson get after you.
"They pose a big matchup problem for a lot of people, and I anticipate them having a very successful playoff run."
North's last game is at the same time against Denison Friday at 7:30 p.m. If the Bulldogs win and Wylie loses next week, the Bulldogs would be tied for the fourth and final playoff spot, but Wylie would own the tiebreaker because of its 35-20 victory over North.
"We've got a saying around here, 'You either fix it or quit, and quitting is not an option,'" Fecci said. "They're going to come back and go to work and finish this thing the right way."
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