FLOWER MOUND - The Flower Mound football team entered Friday's game with two options on making the playoffs this season.

Unfortunately for the Jags, both of them required winning.

Flower Mound's season came to an end with a 24-17 loss to Denton Ryan. The Jaguars (3-7, 1-4 in District 5-5A) needed a win and a Marcus win, which happened, to make the postseason. Or, the Jaguars could have qualified by beating Ryan (5-4, 3-2) by 13 points or more, coupled with a Marcus loss.

Flower Mound head coach Dane Johnson, completing his first year at the school, said he is proud of his team's effort but said his team has a long way to go.

"We made strides this year," Johnson said. "We took steps. It's like building a house, and you need to set a foundation. We did that, but we still have work to do."

Still, Johnson was pleased that his team was playing for a postseason berth up until the last game of the season.

"They gave it all they had," Johnson said. "They wanted to change things up and make themselves one of the best teams in the area. My heart breaks for these seniors because I wanted to see them get into the playoffs."

The Jaguars not only kept their chances alive into Week 10, but they also held on to their hopes until the final seconds of the game Friday.

Trailing 24-17 with 2:47 left in the game, Flower Mound began its march down field after starting on its 12-yard line. Junior quarterback Connor Wanhanen led the drive five of seven passes to get Flower Mound as close as the Ryan 38-yard line. But a sack by junior lineman J.T. Williams with about four seconds remaining -- his second sack of the drive -- forced the Jags to attempt a last-ditch effort pass that fell short of the end zone.

Ryan had taken the lead with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter when sophomore running back Maurice Gordon sprinted in 10 yards to tie the game and capping a 13-play possession. In that drive, Ryan converted on third down twice and collected five first downs.

"They made the plays they needed to in order to keep their drives alive," Johnson said.

With 8:14 left in the fourth quarter, Flower Mound tied the game at 17-17 when Wanhanen found senior running back Cole McKeel in the end zone on a short screen pass. As he did for most of the night, Wanhanen led the drive, completing 6-of-10 passes for 77 yards.

For the night, Wanhanen was 24-for-37 with 227 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

He was also key in Flower Mound's aggressive style of play. The Jaguars were 7-for-9 on fourth-down conversions. Six of those came on Wanhanen's completions, and one came from senior quarterback Matt Hirst, who threw four passes in the second quarter.

"We had to win," Johnson said of the decision to frequently go for it on fourth down. "And we knew we had to win by 13. Our kids believe that we can get every down. We had to beat them first, though, and that's hard enough. But we knew we couldn't play conservatively."

Flower Mound came out on fire in the first half, taking a 7-0 lead on Wanhanen's 11-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Caleb Brake with 9:47 left in the first quarter. Senior receiver Brendon Ianiero set up the touchdown with a 38-yard run on Flower Mound's first play.

Junior kicker Andrew Hitscherich's 32-yard field goal late in the first quarter put Flower Mound up, 10-0.

Ryan answered in the second quarter as junior quarterback Mitchell Bridges scored on a short run and, with nine seconds left in the half, connected with junior receiver Trent Willis on an 11-yard touchdown pass to put Ryan ahead, 14-10. Junior kicker Marc Orozco's field goal made it 17-10 in the third quarter.

Ryan was led by junior running back Tyrone Williams, who rushed 17 times for 125 yards.

McKeel led Flower Mound receivers with nine catches for 66 yards, followed by Ianiero's five catches for 48 yards.

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