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Millard casts Paul on Plano defense in 61-52 Jaguar win
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
FLOWER MOUND -- These days, attempting to match the Flower Mound offense point for point can be akin to playing with fire, especially when you’re a defensive-minded football team.
But while Plano Senior was up to the task for three quarters, it was a scoreless fourth quarter orchestrated by the Jaguars defense with timely stops supplanting an unflappable offense that rode out a 61-52 Flower Mound victory from Neal Wilson Stadium on Friday night.
“I told our offense that they owe the defense a big thanks,” said Cody Vanderford, Flower Mound head coach, “because offensively, we struggled a bit in the second half.”
“We’re playing a good football team,” Vanderford said. “To come out in the second half after what we endured in the first half and shut them down, it was a tremendous effort on those kids’ part.”
Down, 52-47, entering the fourth quarter, the Jaguars offense overcame a seven-point output in the third frame, starting with a 20-yard connection between quarterback Paul Millard and receiver Josh Brake, who beat out Plano senior Blair Burns for a jump ball for the touchdown.
Millard, the area’s leading passer, tossed 406 yards on 30-for-47 passing and four touchdowns. Brake added 123 yards and two touchdowns.
A two-point conversion between Millard and Nolan LeSueur gave the Jaguars a 55-52 lead. After a Plano three-and-out on its ensuing possession, the Jaguars capitalized in bleeding the clock down to its waning moments behind the rushing of Hunter Lee, who tallied 117 yards on the ground, 118 yards receiving and three touchdowns on the night.
Lee added an exclamation point on Flower Mound’s victory by punching a 6-yard carry in with just over one minute left in the game for the 61-52 edge.
“They’ve got a good little system,” said Jaydon McCullough, Plano head coach, “and what makes it all tick is [Lee]. He’s very versatile and is great about breaking tackles. He’s strong and deceiving.”
The Jaguars’ late push countered a Plano surge in the third quarter as following a first half hedged on video game-like offensive numbers by both teams, Plano’s defense reared its vaunted head for a brief moment. Such was the case five minutes into the third frame when Plano recovered a Millard fumble inside the 5-yard line. One play later, it was a role reversal for Plano as senior Murat Kuzu zipped a screen to senior Connor Michelsen, who broke off four yards for a touchdown to give Plano a 49-40 lead.
The score supplanted a 20-yard fumble recovery by senior Ben Laures following a botched fake punt by the Jaguars.
“You have to give Flower Mound credit,” McCullough said. “They were the better team tonight, but we had our opportunities.”
Flower Mound was there to answer the call and cut the margin to 49-47 with a 4-yard touchdown run by Lee, while Plano senior Chris Moore added a 44-yard field goal one series later.
It was timely special teams and defensive play that defined the second half, but it couldn’t have served as a greater far cry from the war waged during the game’s first 24 minutes.
As chants of “defense” filled Neal Wilson Stadium on both ends, those two syllables fell on deaf ears in a half that saw both teams total 737 yards on offense and 75 points.
In last week’s 33-6 victory Hebron, the Plano defense kept the Hawks out of the end zone for 48 minutes. On Friday, Flower Mound needed just 58 seconds to find paydirt.
After three plays that amassed just 11 yards, Millard found Brake wide open downfield for 64 yards for a 7-0 Flower Mound lead. The deep ball set the tone for the contest as the Wildcats were game for a counterstrike of their own 52 seconds later in the form of a 79-yard hookup between Michelsen and senior Brandon Hamilton.
Michelsen’s night was capped at 22-for-38 passing, 408 yards and four touchdowns with Hamilton posting 175 yards on four catches.
From that point, the onlookers saw the football equivalent of two heavyweights trading haymakers, with only one punt registered and nothing but scores in between.
That came courtesy of Plano, who treaded uncharted waters in playing the style of football that the Jaguars have made a living off of this season.
Flower Mound obliged, amassing 363 yards and 40 points in the first half.
The Wildcats hadn’t surrendered more than 30 points all season.
Millard got it done on the ground too, scrambling free for eight yards for Flower Mound’s second score of the night. Touchdown passes of 12 and three yards to LeSueur were also tabbed in the first half for Millard with Lee adding a 29-yard touchdown run.
In forcing a Plano punt, the Jaguars built a cushion as steep as 34-21early in the second quarter with field goals of 28 and 37 yards from Aaron Stock bringing the Jaguars’ first-half damage to 40 points.
But for all the yardage tallied by Millard and the Jaguars, Plano trotted in the locker rooms with 11 more at 374.
Trading barbs back-and-forth with the Jaguars, Plano amassed first-half touchdown passes from Michelsen to Kuzu for 20 yards; Hamilton for 68 yards; and Kuzu for 24 yards. The quarterback added a 2-yard sneak to round out Plano’s first-half totals at 35 and a five-point deficit.
“Their plan was to make us throw the ball,” McCullough said. “They had everybody in the box. That has to do with what Connor did, and he did a great job.”
The Jaguars, now 2-1 in District 8-5A, travel to Lewisville for a 7:30 p.m. Friday kickoff. The Wildcats, 1-2, endure a road matchup with Flower Mound Marcus at the same time.
“Every time you win, you put yourself closer to where you want to be,” Vanderford said. “I congratulate the kids because now we’ve beaten the fifth (Plano) and sixth (Flower Mound Marcus)-ranked teams in the Metroplex in back-to-back weeks.”
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