FRISCO — Frisco Emerson High School is heading to 5A Division 2 state semifinals in just its second season as a varsity football program after beating Colleyville Heritage 59-48 on Friday night at Ford Center at the Star.
The Mavericks, who lost to Colleyville Heritage in last season’s bi-district round, got a stellar performance from Oklahoma commit and Allen High School transfer Michael Hawkins at quarterback as the offenses marched up and down the field all night, combining for over 1,100 yards.
Colleyville Heritage raced out to a 10-0 lead as running back Siona Vailahi capped a 65-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run following an Emerson punt. But, an Emerson fumble led to a short Heritage field goal.
Emerson quickly responded with multiple touchdown drives. Hawkins completed a long pass to wide receiver Kylen Evans and turned an interception by Brandon Maxey into a three-yard touchdown run to go up 14-10.
Heritage quarterback Luke Ullrich made up for his early interception with a 52-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers back in front, but Hawkins led the Mavericks down the field once again and added a second touchdown run.
Penalties and a 20-yard sack derailed Heritage’s response, but Ullrich helped put his team in field goal range to cut the deficit to one at the half.
The quarterbacks stole the show in the second half as the teams combined for 48 points in the third quarter.
After a Colleyville Heritage punt, Emerson had a short field, and Hawkins found running back Kameron Lockhart for a touchdown to increase the lead to eight. Ullrich responded with an impressive 20-yard touchdown run, hurdling over a defender as he ran toward the end zone. However, he was stopped on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game.
Ullrich added another touchdown run and a touchdown pass, but Hawkins ran for two more touchdowns in the quarter, and running back Ishaqq Bills scored another to give Emerson a 49-40 lead.
Heritage had another chance, trailing 52-40 in the fourth, but Emerson sacked Ullrich on fourth down and scooped up a fumble for a defensive touchdown to effectively put the game away.
The Panthers worked in a late touchdown drive, but it was too little, too late.
Hawkins finished with 444 total yards and six touchdowns (three passing and three rushing), while Evans made two touchdown catches.
Ullrich accounted for 582 of Colleyville Heritage’s 619 yards and five of its six touchdowns.
Frisco Emerson (12-2, 4-2 District 3-5A Division II) advances to the state semifinals and will face the winner of Saturday’s game between back-to-back defending state champion South Oak Cliff (11-2, 6-0 District 6-5A Division II) and Lucas Lovejoy (12-1. 7-0 District 7-5A Division II) next week.
Colleyville Heritage’s (11-2, 7-0 District 4-5A Division II) season ended after a first-place district finish and three playoff wins.
