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Down note: Bulldogs routed in district opener
Photo courtesy of Troy Conley
By Andrew Snyder, asnyder@starlocalnews.com
SHERMAN—McKinney North remained winless and stretched its four-game losing streak into district with Friday's 45-21 setback against Sherman. The Bearcats entered the game as a front-runner for the district title and didn't disappoint.
“[Sherman] is good,” said Mike Fecci, North head football coach. “We didn't play very well. We gave up too many big plays, but I thought we came out ready to play and I thought our kids played extremely hard the entire night.”
Sherman quarterback Dru Smith earned every bit of the 247 yards and three touchdowns he threw for on 11-of-16 passing (68 percent). The bulk of that yardage came on deep passes placed directly on target, and he used a string of accurate throws to push his team ahead in the second quarter.
“That was huge and something we thought we could do,” Fecci said. “We talked all week about how we could and for us to go out and do it was huge. It's nice when you can set up a score like that and it helped us big time.”
Sherman (3-1, 1-0 in district) responded with a 28-point second quarter to take over the game. The Bearcats opened the quarter with a 1-yard touchdown rush from J.T. Luper set up by 21- and 47-yard passes from Smith.
The same sequence pushed the Bearcats further ahead on their next drive when a 34-yard pass from Smith to Joseph Harvey segued into a 43-yard touchdown rush from running back Tre Mask. That one-two punch worked to perfection for Sherman throughout the night.
The Bearcats quickly pushed their lead to 21-6 and scored on their third consecutive drive of the quarter when Smith connected with Luper on a perfect 38-yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs had defenders in place for the majority of those lengthy receptions but it didn't matter.
North managed to make it a one-score game and temporarily disrupt the Bearcats attack late in the second quarter when junior quarterback Ben Dutze connected with junior receiver Tre Sanders on a 56-yard touchdown pass.
Dutze threw for 109 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 6-of-21 passing (28 percent), though the interception came on a desperate attempt on fourth-and-long after the Bulldogs had already falling well behind.
The Bearcats more than compensated for that momentum shift by scoring on a 31-yard connection between Smith and receiver Kiaron McKinney with seconds left before halftime. That touchdown came on fourth-and-17 after a prolonged fight from the Bulldogs defense.
“The score before the half was very crucial,” Fecci said. “We can't do stuff like that, and we have to figure out a way to stop giving up big plays. That's was our Achilles heel all night. ... We weren't in terrible shape very often, they're just good players. We just have to make plays. That's what we didn't do and what we have to do it.
Sherman dominated the second half to an equal extent and put together another onslaught of unanswered points on a 49-yard touchdown rush from Mask, a 37-yard touchdown pass to Luper –his third and final score of the night – and a 26-yard field goal from Austin Roan.
The Bulldogs didn't manage to score again until garbage time when backup quarterback Gabe Constintine threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Sanders to establish the game's final margin. Sherman was working a full slate of bench players at the time.
The Bulldogs will look to rebound next week when they host Royse City at Ron Poe Stadium. They are currently in a four-way tie for fifth place in District 13-4A with three other teams – Royse City, Greenville and Wylie – that also carry winless records.
“[Sherman] is a good football team, a playoff football team and the 13-4A champion to be real honest with you,” Fecci said. “We have to remember that and come back tomorrow and go to work for Royse City.”
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