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Rumble in the Broncs: Boyd defense stands tall in win over Plano
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
The McKinney Boyd football team opened District 8-5A play by defeating Plano West in the Broncos' first-ever victory over a Plano ISD school.
Make it two.
And while it may not have followed the blueprint of the Broncos' offensively-charged district opener, Friday's defensive struggle from Clark Stadium still culminated with Boyd victorious, 15-14, over Plano Senior.
After a debilitating third quarter, the Broncos (5-2, 2-0) responded by forcing and recovering a pair of Plano (4-3, 1-1) fumbles, including a takeaway that crippled the Wildcats' attempt at a game-winning drive.
Backed to its 1-yard line, Plano sparked the charge with a 34-yard hookup between seniors Richard Lagow and Anthony Antwine. Six plays later, the Wildcats sat at the Boyd 40 with two minutes left in the fourth. It would be as close as Plano got, with Boyd sacking Lagow on the next two plays -- the latter ending with a fumble that was recovered by Boyd junior Adam Brown with 1:23 remaining.
"We called a pass play, took a sack and that's on me," said Jaydon McCullough, Plano head coach. "We were running the ball well and there was plenty of time on the clock. All we had to do was kick a field goal to win."
One first down later, the Broncos were 2-0 in district.
"They did a great job," Drake said. "We've been creating turnovers every week for the past month and Plano did an outstanding job taking care of the ball. Our defense needed to create some turnovers and they got two, which was huge."
The defense's late stand was all the more vital after Boyd found itself at the mercy of Plano's ball control for the bulk of the second half.
The lion's share in that time of possession came on an 18-play drive that began at the 9:49 mark of the third quarter and lasted until 11:51 of the fourth. The Wildcats picked up five first downs before a third-down halfback pass from senior Brayan Campbell to Antwine drew a pass interference call in the end zone.
One play later, Lagow snuck the ball in from 2 yards out to give Plano a 14-9 lead.
"I thought Plano did a good job of eating the clock," Drake said. "They had one possession the whole quarter and for our defense to rise up in the fourth was outstanding."
Methodical in its approach, Plano's drive was offset by Boyd's biggest offensive play of the evening -- a 55-yard touchdown run by senior Bryan Driskell just over two minutes later to reclaim the 15-14 edge for the Broncos.
That run ballooned Driskell's final total to 145 yards on 24 carries, as running lanes were tougher to come by than usual for the area's second-leading Class 5A rusher.
"The defense did awesome," McCullough said. "We played well enough on defense to win this game."
A unit prone to slow starts this season, the Wildcats defense wasted little time in keying in on Driskell. Toting the rock early and often, the Broncos' prized rusher garnered just 46 yards in the first half.
The two lengthy runs he mustered -- carries of 10 and 11 yards -- jolted the Broncos' first scoring drive of the night. While a holding call negated a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Driskell, senior Curtis Ladd made up the extra ground through the air by finding senior Kevin McCormick in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard score.
Ladd added 31 yards on the ground to go with 51 yards passing and a touchdown on 5-of-9 attempts. McCormick led all Boyd targets with 40 yards on three catches.
Boyd would miss the PAT to trail, 7-6, with 8:55 left in the second quarter but managed to claim its first lead of the night one series later after senior Jared Symmank knocked through a 40-yard field goal with 3:56 left in the half.
The Wildcats' offense could only watch on, held without a first down for the entirety of the second quarter.
The first frame was a bit more abundant, with Plano taking a 7-0 lead after Lagow capped an eight-play, 42-yard drive with a 1-yard quarterback keeper for the night's first points with 1:42 left in the first.
Lagow mustered two rushing scores and passed for 122 yards on 11-of-17 attempts. Campbell led Plano with 89 rushing yards while Antwine bagged 67 yards receiving.
The Wildcats dipped to .500 in district play and eye to rise back above that mark Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they meet Plano East at Clark. The Broncos look to improve to 3-0 at that same time when they host Allen.
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