SOUTHLAKE – North Crowley had a championship style drive in the second half that lifted the Panthers past the Eagles on Saturday.
With the ball at its own 2, North Crowley went 98 yards on 11 plays – capped off with a 31-yard touchdown run from QB and TCU commit Chris Jimerson and the Panthers went on to win 49-37 in the Class 6A Division 1 Region 1 Final at Dragon Stadium.
North Crowley (14-0), #6 in the state, heads to the state semifinals for the first time since 2003.
Allen ends at 9-5.
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GAME CHANGER
The Panthers had a mishap on a kickoff return at spotted the ball at the 2.
It came after Allen went up 24-21 on a 5-yard touchdown run by Quinton House-Hammonds with 3:35 left in the third quarter. Dylan Chapman hit Micah Ellis for 24 yards two plays prior.
After an incomplete pass and rush of 1, North Crowley was facing third-and-9 from its own 3, Allen was called for a defensive pass interference, giving the Panthers a new set of downs to the 18.
Three plays later and NC had third-and-4 from the 24.
Jimerson scrambled and avoided several defenders to pick up 15 yards to the 39. After a false start, the Panthers had third-and-14 at the 35. Jimerson kept it and fumbled, but it was recovered by NC. Facing fourth-and-9 at its own 40, the Panthers ran a fake punt as the snap went directly to Ashton Searl who picked 29 yards to the Allen 31.
Two plays later and Jimerson ran in a 31-yard touchdown to give NC a 28-24 lead with 11:09 left in the fourth quarter.
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HEAD SCRATCHER
On Allen ensuing drive, the Eagles started at their own 7. After losing three and two yards on the first two plays, Ellis picked up nine to make it fourth-and-6 at the 11.
With the punt team out on the field, Allen elected to also try a fake punt.
But Gavin Akins was met immediately by three Panthers for one yard and North Crowley took over at the Allen 12. On the next play, the Panthers scored a 12-yard TD run from Cornelius Warren to up the lead to 35-24 with 8:58 left to play.
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TO THE FINISH LINE
North Crowley tried to pull away, but Allen didn’t give up.
The Panthers led by six when Allen came back and answered the bell. A 5-play and 42-yard drive was capped off with a 1-yard TD run from House-Hammonds, but the two-point try failed and the North Crowley lead was 35-30 at the 5:30 mark of the fourth quarter.
But North Crowley scored one play later.
Searl took the hand-off from Jimerson and ran up the middle for a 75-yard TD to give the Panthers a 42-30 lead with 5:16 to play. Allen scored again on the next drive capping off 68 yards on eight plays with a 1-yard run from Amir McDowell and it was 42-37 with 3:12 left.
Allen couldn’t recover the onside and North Crowley went down and scored again on Searl’s 36-yard run. Searl finished with 11 carries, 170 yard and two touchdowns.
Jimerson had 171 through the air and 77 on the ground. DK West added 99 yards on five catches.
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FIRST HALF
Jimerson had two separate 30-yard touchdown passes in the first half while Allen had two 50-yard touchdown runs. Jimerson connected with West and Mason Ferguson.
Caleb Smith ran in a TD for Allen from 53 yards while McDowell added one from 52.
Warren scored on a 26-yard TD run for North Crowley.
Brayden Nelson hit a 29-yard field goal for Allen, but a 41-yard attempt to close the first half bounced off the right post and North Crowley led 21-17 at intermission.
