Bulldogs Eke One Out

North Defeats The Colony, 38-31, In District Opener

THE COLONY – Putting up three scores in 25 seconds doesn’t happen often, but don’t be too quick to call it impossible.

In McKinney North’s 38-31 win over The Colony, the Bulldogs traded points with the Cougars in a mere matter of seconds.

North got into the end zone 20 seconds after a Cougar field goal, Friday night at Tommy Briggs Stadium, only to have The Colony come right back five seconds later with an 89-yard run for the score on a kickoff return.

Coach Shawn Pratt said these were not quite the circumstances he had anticipated.

“It was a crazy back-and-forth deal, but sometimes you just get in those types of games,” Pratt said. “I wasn’t expecting such a high-scoring game, but sometimes those things just happen in football.”

North took the early lead in the first quarter when Kris Williams ran for an 85-yard interception return to put the Bulldogs on the board. Williams was a dominant force all night on both sides of the ball against the Cougars, and he credits good training to his ability to play multiple positions on the field.

“We worked hard all summer,” Williams said, “and I just feel that I am very well conditioned. I saw the opening, and I was able to run it in.”

Twenty seconds after the Cougars made a 34-yard field goal in the start of the second quarter, Williams had another big play, this time on the offensive side, when he ran for an 80-yard touchdown at the rotating quarterback position to put North up 14-3.

Williams said it was his teammates who allowed him to accomplish that feat.

“I had a great block from Aaron Matthews,” Williams said. “He plowed open the hole, and all I had to do was run.”

David Douglas also marveled on the field when he ran a 94-yard kickoff return back for a touchdown in the second quarter.

The problems for the Dawgs came when The Colony running back Tony Peoples had the ball in his hands. Peoples had 36 carries for a total of 276 yards and three touchdowns. In fact, 102 of his rushing yards came in the third quarter alone.

The North defense still managed to prevail, and Zach Gagnon came up with back-to-back sacks in the second half to keep the Cougars from a first down conversion. Gagnon said he was just doing his job and working hard like he was taught to do.

“All 11 guys did their parts in that,” Gagnon said. “I’m lucky. I’m the one that got through.”

Pratt credited defensive play like such as Gagnon’s with sealing the deal for the Bulldogs.

“Our defense really stopped them there at the end to get the W,” Pratt said. “We fought and worked hard, and we were able to get that win, and the bottom line is the win.”

The North offense really came alive when Douglas made two clutch receptions for the Dawgs. The first came in the third quarter when Vince Stanko launched a 33-yard pass that Douglas battled to catch with the Cougar defense. Amazingly, the ball ended up in his hands for the first down.

The most significant catch from Douglas, however, came with just more than two minutes left in the game when Stanko fired a 45-yard pass downfield. Once again, Douglas left the spectators standing in awe as he grasped the ball and got himself in the end zone. Even Pratt said he didn’t originally think Douglas was going to get that score.

“That’s just David making another great play,” he said. “But he somehow fought the tackles out and was able to get the touchdown.”

Even though the Cougars made a concerted effort to tie the game for the last time, the North defense was able to hold them scoreless on the final plays, even after a 45 yard run by Peoples.

Pratt said both he and his team know they didn’t play their best, and that is something they look to improve after watching the film from Friday’s game.

“We even talked about it at halftime, but it was too late in the game,” he said. “That game just kept its crazy nature the whole time.”

The Bulldogs play next Friday against crosstown rival McKinney High at 7:30 p.m. at Ron Poe Stadium.

Score by quarters

	1	2	3	4	Total
McKinney North	7	17	7	7	38
The Colony	0	17	7	7	31

Scoring summary
First Quarter
North- Kris Williams 85 interception return (Meyer kick)

Second Quarter
Colony- Geuhler 34-yard field goal
North- Kris Williams 80 run (Meyer kick)
Colony- Philip Benning 89-yard kickoff return (Geuhler kick)
North-Meyer 40-yard field goal
Colony- Tony Peoples 28 run (Geuhler kick)
North- Douglas 94-yard kickoff return (Meyer kick)

Third Quarter
Colony- Peoples 9 run (Geuhler kick)
North- Damon Pitts 1 run (Meyer kick)

Fourth Quarter
Colony- Peoples 1 run (Geuhler kick)
North- Douglas 45 pass from Vince Stanko (Meyer kick)

Team Statistics

	North	Colony
First downs	9	18
Rushes-yards	26-154	45-309
Passing yards	129	135
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)	9-13-0	9-20-1
Punts-Average	4-33	4-45
Fumbles-Lost	5-1	5-0
Penalties-Yards	6-45	8-81

Individual Statistics
Rushing
McKinney North: Damon Pitts 12-53 , Josh Matthews 5-23 , Kris Williams 7-88, Vince Stanko 1-(-4), David Douglas 1-(-6)
The Colony: Tony Peoples 36-276 , Philip Benning 1-6 , Victor Williams 1-7 , Jimmy Chafin 1-10 , Bryce Perkins 6-10

Passing
McKinney North: Vince Stanko 8-12-0-118, Kris William 1-1-0-11
The Colony: Bryce Perkins 9-20-1-135

Receiving
McKinney North: David Douglas 9-129
The Colony: Tony Peoples 1-(-3), Jimmy Chafin 5-117, Logan Sorenson 3-21.

Staff Writer Natalie Merrill covers McKinney North football for McKinneyNews.net.