The Cooldown: Week Three

Cover Photo via the Dallas Morning News/ Chitose Suzuki

Well, week three was a weird one. After months with extreme heat and no rain, thunderstorms impacted games across the metroplex on Friday night. Some games were declared as no contest, some decided winners and losers after two quarters of play, and some games were postponed and resumed on Saturday. Fortunately, most of the games played across DFW last weekend were non-district contests with no standing on the playoffs. That made the decision to call games a little easier. All that being said, there were still some interesting results from week three. Let’s get into a few of those games now.

Lake Highlands defeats Highland Park

This game endured two different rain delays and didn’t finish until Saturday afternoon. When it did, it was Lake Highlands that prevailed with a 51-41 win over Highland Park. This one was a district game and that’s likely a big reason why the two teams didn’t call the game at the start of the fourth quarter when the second weather delay hit. In the end, the result was the same as Lake Highlands held on to its lead. The Wildcats rebounded from a 41-21 loss to Flower Mound the week prior for arguably the most impressive win in the metroplex over the weekend.

Lake Highlands racked up 616 yards of total offense on the Scots defense. Wildcats quarterback Tripp Holley completed 11 of his 20 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns. Deonte Dean was the star of the show for Lake Highlands, carrying the ball 31 times for 376 yards and four touchdowns. Tripp Marshall led the receivers with five receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns and Miron Magee caught a 75-yard touchdown pass in the win.

Highland Park quarterback Warren Peck was more effective on the ground than through the air against the Lake Highlands defense. Peck completed 13 of his 31 passes for 121 yards but rushed 18 times for 201 yards and five touchdowns. Keller Holmes added 13 carries for 94 yards and a score. Steel Tobin and Paxton Smith led the Scots in receiving with three receptions for 28 yards each. Highland Park’s defense will have some soul searching to do after allowing more than 10 yards-per-carry and 11 yards-per-pass. Lake Highlands will need to continue to replicate that offensive success throughout district play. If the Wildcats can manage that, a district championship may be in their future.

North Crowley takes down Lovejoy

This was another Friday night game that was elongated by a lengthy rain delay. The Panthers and Leopards were able to wrap the game up on Friday night. North Crowley dominated Lovejoy 43-20, scoring 35 unanswered points coming out of the rain delay. This result isn’t totally unsurprising as North Crowley has absolutely dominated opponents so far this season, but this is by far the most impressive result.

North Crowley quarterback Chris Jimerson Jr. completed 10 of his 21 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Mason Ferguson caught two passes for 85 yards and LaMarcus Davis caught four passes for 74 yards and two scores. Cornelius Warren had a fantastic night on the ground, carrying the ball 20 times for 106 yards and three touchdowns. Jimerson added eight carries for 49 yards and an additional score on the ground. Most impressively, North Crowley’s defense shut down Lovejoy’s potent passing attack and pitched a second half shutout.

Lovejoy quarterback Alexander Franklin completed 19 of his 27 passes for 184 yards. Daylan McCutcheon caught 10 passes for 95 yards to lead the receivers. Dante Dean led the rushing attack with 53 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, while Khalin Williams and Payton Pierce each contributed a touchdown on the ground.

North Crowley appears ready to repeat as district champions. Lovejoy will likely be the most talented team the Panthers face in the regular season, so all that’s left to do between now and the playoffs is refine whatever didn’t work in non-district play and get ready for another playoff run.