Week 6 started off with scattered thunderstorms all around us, but the Football Gods allowed us to stay dry for game time. We found ourselves 30 minutes north of Dallas at John Clark Stadium in Plano, Texas. The 1-3 Plano Wildcats hosted the 2-2 Marcus Marauders for this 6A District 6 Thursday night matchup.
The Wildcats would get the ball to start the half, and sophomore wide out Jordan Daniels flipped the field on one of the first few plays. Plano would sadly fumble the ball at the 17-yard line and kill all the momentum they were building. Jaxx Warren would get the start under center for Marcus High School. Nothing would come out of the Marauders opening drive as Warren would go 0/3 on his first three pass attempts. Marcus would punt the back and junior running back Kameron Jones made them pay on the very next play. Jones took the ball right up the middle for a 45-yard touchdown giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead with five minutes left in the first quarter.
Plano would force another quick three and out from Marcus High School, and get the ball back with roughly three minutes in the 1st quarter. Once again Jordan Daniels would get open down the field and haul in a 45-yard reception. A few plays later Grant Garcia would find Daniels open in the endzone for a 26-yard touchdown. Suddenly with 2:44 left in the 1st quarter the Plano Wildcats were up 14 points.
Marcus High School would continue to struggle offensively going into the 2nd quarter. Penalties and inconsistent passing killed any chance of the Marauders moving down the field. Three-star edge rusher Cam Robertson was in the backfield all night long for the Wildcats and finished the night with multiple sacks. Luckily for Marcus the Wildcats were unable to do anything either in the 2nd quarter.
With about six minutes left in the first half Garcia would throw an interception and give the ball right back to the Marauders. Gabe Espinoza helped march Marcus down the field and into Wildcat territory. Jaxx Warren would roll out the pocket a few plays later to hit Connor Vaughn for a 42-yard touchdown strike. The Marauders offensive woes weren’t full out the system yet as they would miss their extra point. At the end of the 1st half we would have a score of 14-6, Plano High School.
Once the second half started we saw a completely different Marcus football team. Four-star sophomore quarterback Cole Welliver and Jaxx Warren saw snaps on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter. After taking nearly six-minutes off the clock the Marauders finally scored again. Warren connected with senior tight end Connor Vaughn getting the Marauders in scoring position. Emmerick Dopona would punch in an eight-yard touchdown with 6:24 left in the 3rd quarter two plays later.
A light sprinkle would start to fall as the Wildcats took over on their next drive. Grant would struggle to connect with his receivers but a fumble by Marcus would keep the Wildcats on the field. It wouldn’t be till early in the fourth quarter that we would see another score in the game. Welliver would come back into the game and connect with junior wideout Isaac Khattab back to back pass attempts. One for 19-yards, and the other for a nine-yard touchdown catch. With a little over 10 minutes left in the game Marcus High School would take their first lead of the game, 19-14.
The Marauders wouldn’t take their foot off the pedal for the rest of the game. Connor Vaughn would take a dump pass from a pressured Jaxx Warren to the Plano 44-yard line. Walker Wells and Gabe Espinoza pushed the ball down the rest of the field and would help Marcus take a 26-14 lead with just three minutes left in the game. The Wildcats would be unable to muster up any kind of comeback attempt and give the ball right back. Cole Welliver and Ashton Cozart would connect on a 34-yard touchdown pass as time would expire making the final score 33-14.
Jaxx Warren would finish the game with 133 passing yards and two touchdowns while Cole Welliver passed for 103-yards and one touchdown. Plano’s Cam Robertson recorded four sacks on the night, and a bunch of pressures as well. Isaac Khattab had 54-yards on a game-high seven receptions and one touchdown. Our player of the game would have to be senior tight end Connor Vaughn who recorded four catches for 82-yards and a touchdown. Be sure to check out our second game of Week 6 as the Arlington Martin Warriors host the South Grand Prairie Warriors.
