By Marcus Krum
Sports Editor
@marcuskrum
Coming into a late-season game, the second week in a row with bad weather, the matchup on Halloween already looked as if it was going to have some flare even before kickoff.
The wild game, complete with two high-powered offenses scoring less than 35 total points, lights-out play from a backup quarterback, and late game drama, did not disappoint, as the Cowboys (5-4, 3-2 District 7-6A) pulled out the 19-14 victory over Colleyville Heritage (4-5, 2-3)
The Cowboys began the game with a long drive, but on fourth and one at the 10 yard line, a run was stuffed by the Colleyville Heritage defense. The Cowboys defense came out strong, forcing the Panthers to punt after losing five yards on the possession.
“We had a great week of practice on both sides of the ball,” coach Mike DeWitt said. “Defensively, those guys play hard every week. I was really proud of their performance.”
For the rest of the first quarter, the Cowboys simply could not find a rhythm in their offense. The Heritage took the field with 5:11 left in the first, and drove 67 yards on 16 plays, finally scoring as the quarter came to a close on a one yard touchdown run, going up 7-0 as the second quarter began.
On each teams’ first two drives of the second quarter, the defenses played very stout, forcing three and outs. Finally, sophomore quarterback Brady McBride and senior running back Brandon Rice led the offense on a 12-play, 69-yard drive that was capped by a 12 yard rushing touchdown from Rice, who finished with 124 yards and 3 touchdowns on 33 carries. After the extra point was missed, the Cowboys went into halftime down 7-6.
“We knew we had to win this game… we knew we came out flat in the first half,” senior defensive back Josh Mulumba said. “We talked at halftime that we needed to step it up, and we all got hyped at halftime to just come out and just get this [win].”
Coming out of the half, the Coppell defense played another great possession of football, forcing Heritage to punt for the fourth time. However, as the offense came onto the field, McBride stayed on the sideline with his arm in a sling due to an injury he apparently sustained on the final drive of the first half. In for him was sophomore quarterback Wiley Green, who came into this game with only one pass thrown the entire season.
On his first drive behind center, Green went 3/4 for 32 yards, leading to Rice’s second touchdown of the game, giving the Cowboys a 12-9 lead. He remained calm and composed in the pocket, including on a big nine yard third down completion to Josh Fink that kept the scoring drive alive.
“He played great,” DeWitt said. “He’s a great kid. It’s a great testament of a guy that’s been a team player this whole time. He got snaps earlier in the year playing junior varsity, and we brought him up after Southlake for this reason, and he was fine with that. He practices like he’s going to be the starter every week. I’m just really proud of him.”
For the rest of the third quarter, the Cowboys defense continue to play incredible against a potent Heritage offense. Junior outside linebacker Cody Masters made several plays in the backfield, as did junior linebacker Eric Loop and senior defensive lineman Daniel Storie. The Panthers offense gained a total of only 22 yards in that quarter on three possessions, never making it past their own 39 yard line.
Going into the fourth, both teams were struggling to put more points on the board. On their second possession of the quarter, Green, who went 2/2 for 25 yards and ran for 13 yards on this drive, and Rice drove the ball right down the field on 13 plays that ate up over four minutes of clock time. Rice finished it off with a 22 yard touchdown run that gave the Cowboys a comfortable 19-7 with 3:02 left in the game.
Finally, the Heritage offense, who had not had a play of over 15 yards to this point in the game, broke free. A 63 yard touchdown pass with 1:46 remaining pulled them to within 5. After bouncing off several Coppell players, the onside kick attempt from the Panthers was recovered by Heritage, giving them the ball at the Cowboys’ 35 yard line with 1:40 left to play.
Once more, however, the Cowboy defense came up huge. Heritage needed a touchdown, and junior running back Joe Fex broke up a pass in the end zone on fourth down to give the ball back to Coppell with 1:08 remaining.
“We’re looking to hold Haltom (next week) to goose egg, keep a zero on the scoreboard,” Mulumba said. “Going into the playoffs, week one whoever we get, we’re just starting off 0-0 and just get the [win] first round playoffs.”
The offense took the field for the final time, Green kneeling the rest of the time off the clock. He finished the game 8/10 passing for 102 yards in his first game getting major playing time.
“I had the whole team behind me,” Green said. “They trust me, I trust them, they have my back, I have theirs, and that’s just how we came out and won.
“We’re looking to go deep into the playoffs. We’ve got the abilities to, we’ve got the chance to, and that’s just what we’re going to try to do.”
