Whether it was the narrowly dropped interception late in the second quarter, the string of penalties early in the third, or anything else throughout the game, the Coppell football team lost momentum at one point.

The Cowboys lost to Flower Mound, 31-17, on Friday on Senior Night at Buddy Echols Field in a district matchup that determined whether or not Coppell would have a chance at winning the District 6-6A championship.

“Penalties hinder you, but the biggest thing tonight was turning the ball over,” Coppell coach Mike DeWitt said. “We had opportunities, but didn’t execute a lot of them.”

Coppell will play Southlake Carroll in the Class 6A Region I bi-district playoffs at 2 p.m. on Nov. 17 at Dragon Stadium in Southlake.

Throughout the course of the game, Coppell lost two fumbles and one interception to the Jaguar defense.

With 7:02 left in the first, the Coppell defense got the first points of the game with a pick-six by senior cornerback Justin Murray. Throughout the season, defense as been a strength for Coppell. Led by seniors outsider linebacker Xavier Brown, safety Jonathan McGill and, of course, Murray, the Cowboys’ defense has kept them in many of the games they have won.

Then, with less than a minute remaining in the first, the Cowboys struck again with a 37-yard touchdown run by senior running back De Heath. The Cowboys had a comfortable 14-0 lead – with the momentum going their way entering the second quarter.

However, the Jaguars took the momentum by marching the ball down the field in the second with juniors quarterback Blake Short and running back Pierce Hudgens at the helm. Hudgens soon found the first points for Flower Mound on a one-yard run for a touchdown to make it 14-7 early in the second.

Then, with a 48-yard reception, the Jaguars tied it up at 14 with seven minutes left in the half. Then, before the end of the half, Flower Mound took the lead with a field goal to make it 17-14.

In the second half, Flower Mound’s offense began to dominate, scoring twice more before the end of the game. With just one Coppell field goal, it was brought to the final score.

Coppell plays Irving Nimitz on Friday at 7 p.m. at Joy & Ralph Ellis Stadium in Irving.

“You know the best thing we can do is to put [the Flower Mound game] behind us and look for a win next week,” DeWitt said.