PROSPER — You can’t ask for homecoming to be much better than this.
Prosper High School laid the proverbial hammer down in the final game of the regular season, earning a 49-7 victory over the Lake Dallas Falcons on Friday at Eagle Stadium — giving the Eagles their second consecutive District 14-5A Championship.
“There was a lot riding on this game,” Prosper Head Coach Brandon Schmidt said. “I’m just so proud of our kids for showing up and playing the way they did tonight. That’s a good football team that we just beat.”
Lake Dallas (6-4, 5-2) entered the matchup on a three-game winning streak with a chance to make a statement on the road after clinching a playoff berth the previous week. Instead, Prosper (8-2, 6-1) stole the show with an all-around performance in all three phases of the game.
“I thought our kids took a big step forward tonight,” Schmidt continued. “That was the most fun I’ve seen our kids have all year.”
Offensively, things got going early and often for the Eagles. They needed only 12 total plays in their first two drives of the game to put 14 points on the board. The first score came on a six-yard scamper from senior running back Kaleb Adams, who finished with 154 yards on 17 carries. The next was an 18-yard throw and catch from quarterback Keegan Shoemaker to receiver Devin Haskins.
After punting on their next two possessions, Prosper scored three straight times to end the half. They went up 28-0 with 2:47 remaining, forced Lake Dallas into a three-and-out and followed up with another touchdown drive, as Shoemaker found Haskins in the end zone again with 12 seconds on the clock. Shoemaker had arguably his best game of the season, throwing for three touchdowns and completing 79 percent of his passes for nearly 200 yards.
“There was a lot of motivation to get the district championship,” Shoemaker said. “We wanted to go back-to-back.”
For Lake Dallas, the story was much different offensively. They punted the ball eight times and had five three-and-outs, four coming in the first half. Later, they were stopped on fourth down once and lost two fumbles. Their only points came on an interception return for a touchdown once the game was out of hand with 11 minutes remaining.
Prosper’s defense was able to shut the Falcons down from start to finish. Lake Dallas rushed for 1.2 yards per carry on the night and totaled only 151 yards of offense after entering the matchup averaging more than 38 points per game against district opponents.
“Oh man, they flew around,” Schmidt said about the Prosper defense. “They got constant pressure on the quarterback and did a great job tackling and creating turnovers.”
Prosper sacked Lake Dallas quarterback Ryan Depperschmidt six times and had him under pressure all night. Depperschmidt entered the game as the go-to scoring threat for the Falcons, leading the team in passing yards, rushing yards, and total touchdowns. He finished the game with 115 yards through the air.
“We knew this was a big game,” Prosper defensive linemen Jevin Jackson said. “As a defense, we knew we had to play great to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Both teams will have a clean slate heading into the 5A Region II Bi-District playoffs. Prosper looks to take momentum into a rematch with Frisco Wakeland, the same team that eliminated the Eagles in the first round in 2016. They’ll square off on Thursday, Nov. 16 at Allen Eagle Stadium. Lake Dallas will face Frisco Reedy on Friday, Nov. 17 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco.
Alex Lessard covers prep and University of North Texas football for TexasHSFootball. Follow him on Twitter,@alexjlessard, and read more of his content here.
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