Varsity wins first ever district championship

Season comes down to game against recognized opponent

“In my three years of varsity, I would say this was the one to remember,” senior Malik Dean said. “I had a great year playing with my family, I really could count on them.”

Varsity started the season against familiar foe, Red Oak. The season started out on a high note, as they ran away from the Hawks, 49-7, behind their new explosive offense.

A week later, they faced all too familiar Mesquite Poteet, a team they lost to in the 2012 playoffs on a gut-wrenching flag in the final minutes. Varsity had never defeated Poteet, before vanquishing them in the second week of the season, 50-41, behind Eno Benjamin’s 230 yards and 5 TDs.

“I always wanted to beat them,” Kolby  Williams, 12 said. “When we finally did, it relieved a lot of stress and gave us confidence.”

The boys began to look forward to district, with the only game in-between was a meeting with 6A Denton Ryan, a game they lost 43-20. The loss may not be as bad as it seems, as Ryan’s sole loss was against Allen, a team so good it borders on unfair, in the playoff regional finals.

District started inconspicuously, with a meeting at the end of the week versus McKinney North, a team they always start the district season against. Varsity prevailed in a high-scoring affair, 72-43. It was becoming evident that offense was the name of this team’s game.

“We came to take care of business,” Jesse Odle, 12, said. “It was like that every game, we knew we had to take care of business and we did.”

Leading the team on the field week after week, is highly recruited running back, Eno Benjamin, 11, who finished the season with 2,652 rushing yards and 41 rushing touchdowns, along with 3,035 all purpose yards and 45 total touchdowns. Along with him was Braden Shewmake, 12, who played quarterback and ran the offensive machine smoothly.

“They are the two best athletes I’ve ever played with,” Justin Bailey, 12, said.

District was full of tough tests, including the “Crosstown Showdown” but the team prevailed at every stop, defeating Wylie, 56-28.

Varsity won three out of the four previous meetings against the Pirates, and went on a 28-0 first quarter romp before allowing the Pirates to battle back, 35-28 at halftime. However, this year, they slammed the door on Emilio Ames’ and his Pirates team, and prevailed: 56-28.

Their greatest test of district was against unlikely playoff fringe team, Prosper. Playing away, in a cold, unfriendly environment may have had a hand in this. Prosper took a quick lead in that game, before losing it in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, as Benjamin proved he not only could run, but throw the ball on a flea-flicker to senior Jared Wyatt in the back of the end-zone. The Raiders won, 32-31, to preserve their unbeaten district record.

A week later, they faced rival Lovejoy, a team that seemingly never loses. In football’s history as a varsity program, it has never beaten Lovejoy. Until this season. In a fun, high scoring game, varsity defeated Lovejoy,42-28 as their defense found a way to slow Bowman Sells.

“It was relieving to finally beat them,” Williams said.

The rest of the year ran smoothly for varsity football, as they prevailed against McKinney, 55-10 in a virtual monsoon. They later defeated Denison, 63-42 and Sherman, 56-7 as they won their very first ever district championship, finishing as the second ranked 5A team in the area.

Because of this, varsity clinched a top seed in the UIL state playoffs, being placed in 5A’s division I bracket. Their first opponent? The Colony, the fourth seed out of District 9-5A.

The first round of the playoffs was held at AT&T Stadium, known more affectionately as “Jerry’s World.” It was a game that Wylie East was heavily favored in, especially with their offensive match-ups.

Varsity endured an offensive chess match between the boys, led by Eno Benjamin, and The Colony, led by Khalil Banks. At halftime, the Raiders led, 44-36, a score that felt like it came straight out of a video game. However, in the second half, the defense stepped up to make key stops as the offense continued firing on all cylinders. Behind Eno Benjamin’s 260-yd, seven touchdown night, they defeated The Colony 71-48 to advance out of the first round for the first time since 2012.

During the game at Jerry’s World, a foe all too familiar to the varsity team faced Carrollton Newman Smith in Carrollton’s Standridge Stadium. Mesquite Poteet dominated Smith, as their defense shut the door on the Trojans and the offense had a field-day behind quarterback Kaleb Fletcher’s four touchdown passes.

The stage was set: a crucial rematch for the varsity team was held the next week in AT&T Stadium against the Poteet Pirates.

It was a scene that felt too familiar for some of the seniors who were around the last time they played Poteet in the playoffs, in 2012. Jesse Odle, now a senior, was called on an illegal man downfield penalty, which negated a 61-yard completion with no time-outs left from then-quarterback Garrett McCain to receiver Marcell Ateman on fourth down.

There were a lot of similarities between the 2012 Raiders, and the 2015 Raiders. Offense was their forte, as they both scored insanely high numbers that felt like they were coming straight from Madden. Both teams were led by standout running backs, in 2012 it was Jabari Anderson, who ran for 314 yards and four touchdowns against Poteet, and in 2015 it was Eno Benjamin, who rushed for 230 yards and five touchdowns in the previous week two meeting between the teams.

Similarities ran through the playoff game, as varsity deferred to the second half and as Poteet jumped to an 18-8 halftime lead. The lead in 2015 was much smaller than the lead in 2012, 35-14, however it felt just as suffocating. The Pirates’ defense swallowed up the Raiders offense. The Pirates’ offense felt like it could move at will, led by dual-threat running back and receiver, Walter Dawn Jr., much like Rodney Douglas led Poteet in 2012.

The second-half led to an awakening for the offense, as they scored three times in two minutes, to move from an 18-8 deficit to a 29-18 lead 2:16 minutes into the second half. Once they received the ball, the Raiders scored quickly on a 57 yard Eno Benjamin TD run. Coach Joe Lepsis decided to gamble with momentum on their side, and sent special teams out with a mission: Surprise Poteet with an onside kick.

The onside kick was recovered, and Wylie East never looked back as Braden Shewmake hit Jared Wyatt in stride for a 48-yard TD on the second play of the drive. Without looking back, Wylie East decided: Let’s surprise them again. At kickoff, junior Cody Thomas drilled it into a Pirate, and East pounced on it and recovered once again. Now, with momentum fully on their side, they capped the drive off with yet another touchdown. Two minutes of game time went by during this time, and East scored 21 points to take a 29-18 lead in the third.

With an odd, almost direct parallel, in 2012 Wylie East scored 14 points in less than three minutes to tie it up at 49 in the fourth quarter. Comebacks were in the Raiders’ blood.

The second half made up for a first half oddly devoid of offensive fireworks, quite possibly within the first three minutes of the second half. Poteet answered quickly, when Dawn Jr. took a screen pass 79 yards to the house, to bring them within a touchdown. 29-25. Scores were exchanged as the clock winded down and the fourth quarter began, with Wylie East leading 36-28.

However, Benjamin displayed his game changing ability as he scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, taking the ball 44 yards to extend the lead 43-28.

Poteet continued to wear down the East defense, as Dawn Jr. continued his scoring tear, running in a touchdown. Poteet forced Shewmake and crew to punt, and Dawn Jr. caught a touchdown pass almost immediately. He even was on the receiving end on the successful two point conversion, tying the game at 43-all.

Everything came to a head on the Raiders’ last possession of the day. Three quick stops by the Poteet defense forced the Raiders’ to attempt a third and 10 near midfield.

It was a drive bordering desperation, much like 2012’s drive. The score then was 52-49, with McCain, Ateman, Jones and Anderson realizing the desperate 10 yards they needed. That game, on fourth and 10, McCain completed a 61 yard pass to Ateman as the crowd erupted. But flags flew. The referees called an illegal man downfield, stating then freshman (now senior) Jesse Odle as the culprit. The play was extended 10 yards, redoing fourth down. The play failed, and Poteet won.

Receivers lined up and down the line, as Benjamin and Shewmake stood in shotgun formation behind the line. “Hut!” shouted Shewmake.

Blitz. The pocket collapsed, forcing Shewmake to run and evade three onrushing Pirates. Shewmake sent up a desperation heave in the direction of Justin Bailey and Jared Wyatt.

Interception. Walter Dawn Jr. snags the ball in the air and takes the great field position. Wylie East’s defense rushed onto the field to do their best to stop Poteet’s offense.

Poteet’s offense marched down the field, running down the clock as they turned into field goal range.

Poteet’s offense sent a screen pass to Dawn Jr, who twisted and turned and evaded defenders before going down at the 19 with three seconds remaining.

Time-out. Poteet’s field goal unit rushed onto the field and set up a potential game-winner. Coach Lepsis burns a time out to ice the kicker, but to little avail as Poteet’s field goal goes center through the uprights as time ran out.

46-43. Varsity’s season was over, at the hands of one of their most familiar foes.

The team finished 10-2 on the season, ranked #2 in the area and #10 in the state in the AAAAA classification.