BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
MANSFIELD – It was a chilly afternoon on Saturday with a mix of cloudy and foggy at Newsom Stadium and once North Crowley and Allen kicked off, rain began to fall and continued throughout the first half and the start of the third quarter.
The wet and slippery conditions seemed to trouble Allen for most of the game – with a number of dropped balls and miscues on punt attempts. North Crowley took advantage and came away with a 35-7 win in the Class 6A Division 1 Region 1 Championship.
North Crowley (14-0) advances to the state semifinals next week in a rematch with defending champ Duncanville (13-0), which beat Cypress Bridgeland on Saturday. It’s the first time in program history that North Crowley has gone to the semis in back to back seasons. The Panthers beat Allen in this round last year 49-37 before losing to Duncanville 52-10 in Mesquite.
The only other semifinal appearance came in 2003 when they won the 4A D1 state title.
North Crowley took the opening kickoff and marched downfield – capped off with a short touchdown run by 3-star QB Chris Jimerson Jr., who signed his NLI with North Texas on Wednesday. The Panthers led 7-0 with 7:20 left in the first quarter.
The first of two straight bad punt attempts on Allen (13-1) helped the Panthers extend the lead. The first was a bad snap and North Crowley had possession at the Allen 27. Kiante Ingram scored on a 10-yard TD and after a failed conversion, the Panthers led 13-0 with 9:09 left in the second quarter.
Another bad snap put North Crowley at the Allen 9.
Ingram rushed in his second touchdown and following a successful conversion from Ingram, the lead grew to 21-0 with 6:38 left in the period.
Ingram then added a 69-yard run on the ensuing drive, but the Panthers lost the ball on a fumble inside the red zone. Allen linebacker Don Quist and safety Henson Amaehi jarred the ball loose on a run attempt and lineman Chandler Bryant recovered inside the end zone for a touch back near the end of the half.
Allen turned the ball over on downs several times in the second half. After not converting a fourth down try near midfield, Ingram ran the ball to the Allen 33 and then Cornelius Warren added 19 to push the ball inside the red zone.
Jimerson Jr. connected with star wideout Quentin Gibson (Colorado) on a touchdown pass to extend the lead to 28-0 with 4:40 to play in the third quarter.
Warren gashed the Allen D on a 79 yard run to the 12 and North Crowley got its final touchdown of the day to make it 35-0. The Eagles avoided a rare shutout when they scored late in the fourth quarter.
The last time Allen was shut out in any game came in 2006 during the 5A D1 state semifinals – a 38-0 defeat to state champ Southlake Carroll. However, the 28-point loss is the worst playoff loss since that Carroll game. Allen lost by 26 points to Carroll in 2021 and 25 points to Lewisville in 2022.
