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State champs run over Wolves
BY Kevin Hageland Staff Writer
ALLEN – Plano West dominated the opening drive Friday night against Allen.
The Wolves forced a fumble on the opening kick-off, it was negated, and senior Matt Luedke nabbed an interception on the second play of the game, also negated, before sophomore Grant Cooper made a pick to finally give the Wolves the ball.
That was about all West fans had to cheer about though as Allen senior quarterback Matt Brown and junior wide receiver Jonathan Lee dominated the first half, giving the Eagles a 41-0 lead en route to an eventual 55-6 victory.
Lee was especially notable as he racked up 206 yards receiving in the first half alone. Among that yardage were three touchdown receptions. Lee also took a page from Eagles alumnus Uzoma Nwachukwu’s book and ran for a score.
“We studied the film and came out ready to play hard,” Lee said. “We saw some things West’s defense did against Southlake Carroll and felt like we could capitalize on them.”
Lee scored four touchdowns in a 6:29 span to turn a 14-0 lead into a commanding 42-0 advantage.
“We couldn’t really get Jonathan on track in the first four games,” Westerberg said. “We knew it would happen, we just weren’t sure when.”
Lee’s offensive burst started with a 34-yard completion from Brown. Following a forced fumble by Allen’s defense, Lee scored once more. This time on a reverse as Lee ran 13 yards to make it 28-0 with 8:32 left in the half. That was enough to drive Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, presumably in attendance to see West senior Jackson Jeffcoat, from the game. Jeffcoat, and the rest of the West defensive front, was kept in check by a dominant performance from Allen’s offensive line.
The Eagles offense took over following another forced turnover by the Allen defense, this time a fumble scooped up senior Matt Chenault.
Allen couldn’t score as quickly this time though as it took three plays to reach the end zone. The touchdown came on a 69-yard completion to Lee, who blazed down the sidelines for the score. West still saw a measure of positivity come out of the touchdown as Luedke blocked the extra point.
The Eagles got back to their one play and a touchdown philosophy on the next drive though as Brown threw a 60-yard bomb to a wide open Lee for another score. This touchdown, the final score of the half, put Allen in front 41-0.
In addition to forcing two turnovers, Allen’s defense prevented West from getting into the end zone thanks to a late stand inside the red zone. The Wolves moved inside the 10, but junior Jersean Walder broke up a pass on 4th-and-goal from the 5-yard line.
While Lee had four touchdowns in the first half, he wasn’t the only Allen player to take it to the house.
In addition to tossing a trio of touchdowns to Lee, Brown had a 12-yard scoring throw to senior Alex Pastor. That made it 14-0 as Brown had run a touchdown in himself from 21 yards out for the first score of the game. Brown, who had 274 yards passing and another 57 rushing, shook off two defenders to reach the end zone with 6:49 left in the first frame. That advantage would balloon to 41-0 at the half.
But Allen, which gained 433 yards in the first half alone, wasn’t done.
Keeping their first string players in the game, the Eagles marched 68 yards in three plays. The first 46 came on a hand-off to junior Paul Walker and the final 30 came on a pitch-and-catch between Brown and Alex Pastor. The senior’s grab made it 48-0 midway through the third. Walker had 103 yards rushing while junior Tre Jackson gained 106.
West had a few bright spots to end the game as senior Michael Pruneau, who threw for 274 yards, led the team down the field for a touchdown. Pruneau’s favorite targets on the night were senior Blake Baldridge and sophomore Carson Smith, each with six receptions. The drive was capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run from senior Sean Ballard that made it 48-6.
But Allen closed the game with a Pick 6 from junior Alec Smith to set the final at 55-6.
“This was a very important game for us,” Lee said. “But we still have to keep taking things one game at a time and continue to play hard.”
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