By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
FRISCO— A year ago, the Frisco Wakeland Wolverines stunned the Frisco Lone Star Rangers in overtime on a 100-yard strip-and-score. This time, the two rivals met under the same roof with Lone Star’s mind on vengeance, and proving they are among the best in class 5A.
Originally slated to be played at Kuykendall Stadium, the game was moved indoors to The Star due to weather concerns, and the game did not kickoff until 8:30. Despite the late start, and the change of venue, Lone Star had little trouble rolling to a 34-13 victory behind a dominating second half.
The first quarter belonged to the Rangers. After forcing an early defensive stop, quarterback Trey Wright led the offense deep into Wakeland territory, setting up a 29-yard field goal from Landon Mohr. Then after another stop, Karece Hoyt found a seam and outran the Wolverine defense 92 yards to paydirt to make the score 10-0 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, momentum shifted towards Wakeland. A Ranger fumble set up the Wolverine offense around midfield. It took eight plays, but Jayden Maples was able to find Grayson Myer from seven yards out to get Wakeland on the board.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Lone Star fumbled again to give the Wolverines possession in the redzone. Braxton Cole then took control, running on four consecutive plays and capping off the drive with a three yard touchdown to put Wakeland 13-10 after a missed extra point.
The Rangers were able to salvage a little bit before halftime. They were able to reach the one yard line on fourth and goal and it appeared they were going to go for the endzone. However, a false start penalty pushed them back and they settled for a 22-yard field goal from Mohr to tie the game at 13 going into the break.
In the second half, the Lone Star defense never gave the Wolverines another inch. From there, the offense took care of the rest. Wright connected with Braxton Wambach from 28 yards out on the third play of the half to claim the lead for good.
After a missed field goal by Wakeland, Wright decided to take the next one for himself, scrambling away from the rush, finding a gap and racing 71 yards to the house to make it 27-13 in the blink of an eye.
The defense stood tall again to close out the third quarter. Late in the fourth, the Wolverines appeared to be threatening to get back in the game, but a big interception by Bryant Robinson set the Ranger offense up at the Wakeland 15 yard line. It only took one play for Hoyt to put the exclamation point on the game with a touchdown run to bring the final score to 34-13.
Lone Star improves to 8-0 on the season and 6-0 in district play. They will face Lebanon Trail next Thursday night, while Wakeland will look to bounce back against Sherman next Friday after dropping its first game of the season for an 8-1 record, 6-1 in district.
