The calendar says September, but the game felt like November. Inside Collins Stadium on Friday night, two of the top teams in 5A took the field. Denton Ryan and Frisco Lone Star played their final non-district game of the season and the Raiders defeated the Rangers 51-34.
“We challenged our guys to play state championship football against a state championship team,” Denton Ryan head coach Dave Henigan said. “With the exception of the penalties (Denton had 13) I thought we played really well.”
In the first half, the Raiders piled up 385 yards of offense and the only two possessions they didn’t score on was their first, when they threw an interception and the final one of the half, when they had to end it on a hail Mary into the end zone that was nearly caught, all of their other five possessions reached pay dirt.
Denton Ryan junior quarterback Spencer Sanders – five touchdowns with 203 passing yards and 153 yards rushing with another 2 touchdowns on the ground – was picking apart the Lone Star defense with his arm and legs. He accounted for five of his seven touchdowns in the game
“The offensive line was great tonight, they gave me lots of time to make sure I could set my feet under myself so I could get good throws off,” Sanders said. “When I watched film, I knew I was going to be able to get outside when I wanted to run and as you saw it worked tonight.”
For Lone Star in the first half, after a one-yard touchdown run by Jason Shelley, he limped off the field and looked to be injured. But good news for the Rangers, the Utah commit only missed one play and played the rest of the game. Shelley on the evening had 187 yards passing with three touchdowns and 87 yards on the ground and one touchdown. The defensive line was pressuring Shelley all night and the most effective play of the evening for Lone Star was the quarterback draws up the middle with Shelley.
“This game is going to make us better,” Lone Star head coach Jason Rayburn said. “With the bye week before going into district play we are going to be able to fix our warts, but this was a great atmosphere for both teams and we will be better because of tonight.”
In the second half, Lone Star made it a one possession game after they converted an interception off of Denton Ryan’s first possession of the second half into a touchdown making it 34-26 on a Kavita Pittman 19-yard pass from Jason Shelley.
The Raiders were then able to rattle off 17 unanswered points and were able to get some key defensive stops that put the game in doubt.
“We had hoped to score, but with the turnover and score they had all the momentum so those were big drives for us, offensively and defensively,” Henigan said. “We have been a second half team all season so I wasn’t surprised our guys responded.”
Ryan’s defense was able to force four turnovers on the night and three in the second half to put a dagger in the Rangers comeback.
Denton Ryan starts district play next week against Denton High and Lone Star has a bye before opening up district play against Frisco on September 30th.
