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Top McKinney Sports Stories 2012 - (No. 3) Snowball Effect: Turnover jolts McKinney, commandeers win over Plano East
By Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
(Editor's Note: A year after enduring a winless season, the McKinney football team started 2012 with a 5-2 record, highlighted by a win over district rival Plano East, the largest high school in the state. The original article appeared on Oct. 18.)
When the 2012 season got under way, prognosticators questioned whether the McKinney football team would enjoy so much as one District 10-5A victory.
By all indications, the Lions' mood Thursday at Ron Poe Stadium was anything but one of defeat. McKinney (5-2, 1-1) snapped a district losing skid that dated back to Oct. 28, 2010 by turning away Plano East, 24-12.
East head coach Johnny Ringo declined comment following the loss.
What may well have been East's (4-2, 0-2) biggest play of the evening was followed by its most costly. Trailing, 7-6, and backed up at the 1-yard line with 2:01 left in the third quarter, East sophomore quarterback Taylor McGehee hurled a 51-yard strike to senior Collin Shaw to bring the Panthers just past midfield.
On the next play, a short pass from McGehee went off the hands of senior Ricky Ilodianya and into the waiting arms of McKinney senior Matt Reynolds, who returned the interception 57 yards to the East 3.
A 3-yard touchdown run by senior Jonathan Shannon followed to extend McKinney's lead to 14-6 with 1:26 left in the third.
"The difference between winning and losing games in this district is razor-thin," Smith said. "Everybody is so good and well-coached that it comes down to a handful of plays. It was nice to see us make those plays."
The Lions didn't relent from that point forward, capping their next drive with a 43-yard touchdown from senior Robert Somborn to senior Connor Fuentes for a 22-6 advantage after Shannon ran in a 2-point conversion. The Fuentes' score highlighted an evening that saw the wideout account for 158 receiving yards on 11 catches.
"Tonight Connor did some great things, but they all did," Smith said. "This was a total team effort."
Another McKinney takeaway followed with senior Troy Taylor jumping a McGehee screen pass.
The Panthers would stop the bleeding with a 14-yard touchdown pass from McGehee to Shaw with 1:27 left in the fourth, but even that score was dampened on the 2-point conversion when Shannon intercepted McGehee and returned the PAT 98 yards for the 24-12 final.
"It's very special to our student body, our administrators and community," Smith said. "Our parents, fans and kids deserve this."
McKinney's second-half stronghold followed a first half that was anything but what was advertised between the high-powered squads.
For two teams that capped their respective non-district schedules among the area leaders in both total offense and scoring, the Panthers and Lions combined for a mere 13 points through one half.
The Lions struck first, bolting down the field in five plays. The drive was led by the running of junior Tommy Candela, who was playing in his first game since sustaining a collarbone injury in Week 0, and finished with 128 yards. Nevertheless, it was a short pitch pass -- a weapon utilized plenty by McKinney on the night -- to a receiver in motion that did the trick, with Somborn dropping the ball into the hands of Shannon, who scampered for a 26-yard touchdown with 8:08 left in the opening quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Shannon totaled 85 yards on the night, while Somborn threw for 221 on 18-of-26 attempts alongside two touchdowns and one interception.
The Panthers answered with a scoring drive of their own, with McGehee and Ilodianya marching the Panthers downfield. The latter capped a nine-play drive with a 2-yard rushing touchdown to pull the Panthers to 7-6 with 4:12 left in the first.
Ilodianya was held to 41 yards on the ground, while McGehee put up 73 rushing yards to go with 181 passing yards on 13-of-29. Shaw led East with 90 yards receiving.
The Panthers wouldn't move past the McKinney 48-yard line for the rest of the half, while the Lions mustered a pair of red zone stops and came away empty-handed on each trip. A 30-yard field goal attempt by junior Matt Roberts went wide right with 24 seconds left in the first quarter and McKinney's final series of the half was curtailed via an interception by East senior Nimoy Tennison on Somborn in the end zone.
The stops didn't deter McKinney from picking up its 24-12 district win and the first victory over a Plano ISD school in what Smith estimated to be more than a decade.
The Lions will next visit Plano West Friday at 7:30 p.m. from Kimbrough Stadium while the Panthers meet Plano Senior at Clark Stadium at the same time.
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