Football: Rebels fall to Panthers in Class 5A D-I regional round, ending playoff run

WICHITA FALLS — Tascosa’s Ken Plunk couldn’t have scripted a better start Saturday afternoon against No. 4 Colleyville Heritage.

Take the opening drive down the field and score? Check.

Block a punt and recover it for another touchdown? Check.

Intercept Heritage’s deep ball on its ensuing possession? Check.

Photos: Third round high school football playoffs in South Plains, Panhandle

But the regional favorite Panthers nearly erased the Rebels’ 14-point lead by halftime at Memorial Stadium. With backup quarterback Luke Ullrich providing a spark, Heritage pulled away from Tascosa for a 41-24 victory.

Heritage (12-1) advances to face Mansfield Summit for the Region I-5A Division I title at 7 p.m. Friday in Birdville, while Tascosa ends a successful season at 10-3.

“We should have put them away at the beginning of the game and didn’t,” Plunk said. “We let them hang around, they fought back and made some plays. We had opportunities to win it, and we let it slip away from us.”

The senior Rebels who walked off the field for the last time won 10 playoff games over the past four years. And they nearly advanced to the state quarterfinals for the third time during that stretch.

But the Panthers’ swarming defense made things difficult for Tascosa’s Major Everhart, who gained only 56 yards on 25 carries after racking up more than 500 rushing yards in the Rebels’ first two playoff victories.

The TCU commit admitted he thought Heritage was the best defense Tascosa has seen this season. Nearly half of the Rebels’ 241 rushing yards came on two carries.

Tayden Barnes’ 57-yard run set up Tascosa’s first touchdown and Treshun Wilson’s 60-yard burst pulled Tascosa within 27-24 with 10:41 remaining. But the Rebels averaged 2.34 yards in their other 53 attempts.

“Just how physical and fast, just flying to the ball,” Everhart said of the Panthers. “Every one of them, all 11 were flying to the ball.”

In addition to Keevin Ledoux blocking Heritage’s opening punt and Hudson Farris recovering the loose ball in the end zone, Tascosa forced three turnovers of defense.

But the Rebels’ inability to cash in those turnovers proved costly.

Barnes picked off a deep ball on Heritage’s second possession at the Tascosa 18, but Everhart fumbled on third and long, and Heritage’s Quinn Korinek picked up the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

Jayden Whiteside came up with a strip sack and returned the fumble to the Heritage 9-yard line in the second quarter, but the Rebels had to settle for a short field goal.

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Everhart picked off Ullrich when it was a three-point game in the fourth, and the Rebels were 37 yards away from taking the lead. But Tascosa turned it over on downs, allowing Heritage to drive for an insurance touchdown.

“Hats off to Tascosa. Coach Plunk is a really good friend of mine, just an honorable man and I love him,” Heritage coach Kirk Martin said. “He’s a great, great person and has done a terrific job with this football team for a long time. Those kids played their guts out, and I knew they would because I know who their coach is.”

Martin made the mid-game decision to swap starter Weston Smith for Ullrich, who provided a spark with his legs. After a pair of long Bryan Hansen field goals in the third quarter gave Heritage the lead for the first time, Ullrich started the fourth with a 16-yard touchdown.

It was Ulrich’s 47-yard completion to Leon Covington that set up Riley Wormley’s game-sealing touchdown with 3:51 left. Wormley scored again a couple of minutes after Tascosa turned it over on downs.

While it was a disappointing ending after such a promising start, the 2021 season was a successful one for Tascosa, which won 10 games, shared a district title and had to overcome an injury to starting quarterback BT Daniel right before the playoffs.

“This senior class we played together since Day 1, a lot of us,” Everhart said. “We wish we could have gone further, but we know it comes to an end. We’re going to move on from this and continue with life.”

Region I-5A Division I semifinal

Colleyville Heritage 41, Amarillo Tascosa 24

Heritage 7 7 6 21 --41

Tascosa 14 3 0 7 --24

FIRST QUARTER

T – Treshun Wilson 5 run (Rowen Cabe kick), 9:49

T – Hudson Farris recovery of blocked punt in end zone (Cabe kick), 9:13

CH – Quinn Korinek fumble recovery in end zone (Bryan Hansen kick), 7:15

SECOND QUARTER

T – Cabe 25 field goal, 9:52

CH – Isaac Shabay 11 pass from Luke Ullrich (Hansen kick), 6:55

THIRD QUARTER

CH – Hansen 47 field goal, 7:45

CH – Hansen 40 field goal, 5:04

FOURTH QUARTER

CH – Ullrich 16 run (Hansen kick), 11:54

T – Treshun Wilson 60 run (Cabe kick), 10:41

CH – Riley Wormley 7 run (Hansen kick), 3:51

CH – Wormley 8 run (Hansen kick), 1:24

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: (CH) 19; (T) 13

Rushing: (CH) 36-135; (T) 55-241

Passing: (CH) 13-30-2—185; (T) 2-5-0—10

Punts: (CH) 3-19; (T) 5-27.2

Fumbles: (CH) 2-1; (T) 1-1

Penalties: (CH) 4-40; (T) 6-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: (CH) Isaac Shabay 16-64, Luke Ullrich 12-61, Riley Wormley 6-22, Weston Smith 2-(-12); (T) Tayden Barnes 8-112, Treshun Wilson 7-81, Major Everhart 25-56, Joshua Splawn 5-11, L’Travion Brown 5-(-2), Jayden Whiteside 2-(-5), Michael Ayalew 1-(-5), Javen Patrick 2-(-7).

Passing: (CH) Ullrich 5-11-1—104, Smith 8-19-1—81; (T) Patrick 2-4-0—10, Everhart 0-1-0—0.

Receiving: (CH) Mason Murdock 7-74, Leon Covington 1-47, Shabay 2-42, Hogan Wesson 3-22; (T) Everhart 1-7, Colin Farrell 1-3.

Records: Colleyville Heritage 12-1; Tascosa 10-3.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: High school football playoffs: Rebels fall to Panthers