The Lone Star Rangers are now etching their own legacy into Frisco ISD lore, as they have accomplished an unprecedented feat—placing themselves just one win away from a 5A State Championship.
W Lone Star (14-1) VS Lake Dallas (12-3)—55-49 (3 OT)
Simply put, this game was one for the ages. Scratch that, as it was far too awesome to qualify with a trite sports cliche.
This game was special. It’s the type of game you high-five strangers, chest bump parents and inadvertedly hold your breath longer than an Olympic diver. Then you do it all over again, because, man, THREE OVERTIMES. This game had the climactic flow of an unhinged roller coaster during an epic earthquake.
Factor in the clutch fumble recoveries, consider the key interceptions and enjoy two of the state’s best multi-threat QBs performing at the apex of their abilities, and then you can catch the general drift. It all adds up to 1,031 combined total yards of offense; 12 TDs from the signal callers alone; and 104 total points.
Final score: 55-49.
Don’t let the score fool you. Although it looks like this was the barn-burning shootout most anticipated, three minutes into the second quarter it appeared Lone Star was in the midst of a cakewalk, up 28-0.
As has been their M.O., Lone Star scored fast and furiously, as QB Jason Shelley (520 total yds, 7 total TDs) found his fave target Jaylen Dixon (122 yds, TD) for a 74-yard strike to get the game going. Then it was Shelley himself, with a little foreshadowing, taking it to the end zone to make it 14-0.
A Darrin Smith two-yard score closed out the first quarter, with the Rangers clinging to a robust 21-0 lead. When the second quarter got under way with yet another Jason Shelley running score, this time piercing the pylon on a 13-yard scamper, it appeared as though the rout might be on. After all, coming back from a four touchdown deficit is no easy task.
Yet even with the scoreboard’s crooked numbers bearing down on the Falcons, Lake Dallas was far from tossing in the towel. After all, when you can win eleven straight games, you know your team is not just resilient, but plenty talented too.
Led by Dagan Haehn (386 total yds, 5 total TDs), the Falcons would claw and caw, on their way to their own 28-0 run. Meanwhile Lake Dallas‘ defense stopped the bleeding, not allowing a Lone Star score until the closing seconds of the third quarter, when WR Coby Shelton (59 yds, TD) made it 35-28 thanks to his 31-yard pass reception.
Oddly enough, the fourth quarter saw very little offensive action, as a Keegan Brewer (128 yds, 2 TDs) one-yard reception from Haehn was the only noise made by either team. However, it tied up the game as time expired, sending this bad boy into overtime.
OT started off with a bang, as Shelley scored on a one-yard QB keeper. The Falcons answered back as Chris Slater somehow hauled in a 23-yarder on 4th and eight, to keep the game going and the score tied, 42-all.
The second OT, much like the first, started off with a quick score, but this time it was the Falcons with the advantage as Brendan Contreras managed the circus-catch to put Lake Dallas one stop away from a win. But Shelley, as he is apt to do, scored on a run to tie it up 49-49 and send this baby into a rarely seen triple over time…
Three OTs, three running scores by Lone Star’s Shelley, this time, on a two-yard dash, put the Rangers up 55-49. Haehn’s first pass was picked up off by Lone Star’s WR Michael Johnson, to put the game on ice.
Johnson, who hauled in six passes for a team-high 131 yards had an excellent game on offense, but the catch he’ll remember most will be his game-ending pick that punched the Rangers’ ticket to the State Final.