12-5-25 Frisco Lone Star

This Friday two of the best 5A high school football games in the state will take place at the same time. Highland Park faces Frisco Lone Star at the Ford Center at The Star while Denton Ryan is taking on Aledo at Northwest ISD Stadium. The winner of each game will play next week in the state semifinals.

   Denton Ryan and Aledo are in the same district and Aledo won the district title by beating Ryan 15-14 in October. The difference in the game was a safety.

   All four teams mentioned have been in the top 5 in the state most of the season. The cream has now risen to the top. Only the winners will advance. Some very good teams will bite the dust.

   Lone Star is 13-0 and you can bet that its players and coaches are still thinking about how the Scots eliminated them, 41-28, in the quarterfinals last season.

   Here’s what has changed with Lone Star since last December. The Rangers’ star sophomore quarterback, Karese Hoyt, who passed for 3,173 yards and ran for 1,463 yards, has been replaced at QB. Hoyt, who will play on Saturdays after he graduates from high school in a year and a half, has been switched to running back and also safety on defense. Coaches will move him around to get him near the ball as much as possible.

   Hoyt’s replacement at quarterback is sophomore Trey Wright who is now one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the state. His stats look they were ripped from Kyler Murray’s playbook. Wright has run for 1,311 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 72 percent of his passes for 2,921 yards and 34 touchdowns.  

   Wright and Hoyt are only two of several D-1 skill players on the Lone Star roster. The leading receiver is Davian Groce who has surpassed 1,000 yards while catching 13 TD passes. 

   HP coach Randy Allen says Wright is lightning fast and can throw the deep ball. He says that Lone Star has great athletes on both sides of the ball and the big difference in the Rangers last season and this season is their speed. Last week the Scots faced some very good athletes on the Wakeland squad and the HP players rose to the occasion. The Scots offense snatched up 572 yards of total offense and the defense forced three turnovers and a safety. After the Dylan Palmer safety the Wolverines had a free kick and Cannon Bozman ran it back 73 yards for a touchdown. Then the Scots added two points as Harrison Cullum caught a pass from Cash Tanner. Looking back it was your standard 24-point quarter for the Scots. The second half was close but the second quarter outburst was the difference in the game. Highland Park won, 47-20.

   Oddly, Lone Star won its game last week, 47-20. It feels like we’re in the Twilight Zone. 

   With Charlie Olmstead sitting this one out due to an injury, Cash Tanner and Colton Hammel, will fill in. Quarterback Buck Randall was on fire last week, completing 74 percent of his passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. Cullum caught seven passes for 138 yards and running back Matthew White had 125 total yards. 

   Inside linebacker Beau Jones and outside linebacker Langedon Murray lead the team in tackles and their energy will be key for the Scots this Friday. 

   The Scots are averaging 48.3 points per game. Lone Star averages 43.5 ppg. Highland Park is first in area 5A passing with 327.5 yards per game. 

   This is a game both teams have anticipated since the end of last season. It has the making of being a classic.

   We’ll call it “Friday Night Lights: Inside an Indoor Practice Facility That Seats 12,000”.