Tag Archives | Carson Smith

Plano clinches playoff berth, beats West, 27-17

By on November 6, 2010 in '10 Fall Season

Connor Michelsen hooked up on touchdown passes in each half with Steele Hoetger and Collin Brence had an interception in each half Friday as a group of seniors accustomed to living on the edge came through again.

Steele Hoetger had a pair of touchdown receptions Friday as Plano won the city championship and clinched its fourth straight playoff berth. / Thad Fenton

Plano (7-3, 4-3) defeated Plano West, 27-17, at John Clark Field to win the city championship and with it came a playoff berth for the fourth straight season. Plano will meet Coppell at 1 p.m. Saturday at Coppell in a bi-district playoff game.

For consecutive seasons, Plano used a late season rally to qualify for the playoffs. A year ago it took consecutive wins over McKinney Boyd and Jesuit Prep. This time, Plano rolled through Lewisville, Plano East and Plano West, all at John Clark Field, and clinched a playoff berth as it got some help from Flower Mound Marcus.

Plano was in trouble early, needing to defeat Plano West and get a Marcus win over Hebron to clinch a playoff berth. Plano West drew a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and Marcus got down to Hebron.

Then Plano began a run to keep its season alive. Michelsen capped a 9-play, 57-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to cut the lead in half with 1:23 left in the first quarter. Sam Morell and Brence interceptions helped give Plano the halftime lead. The Morell interception was turned into a 33-yard Moore field goal and Brence’s pick resulted in the first touchdown pass from Michelsen to Hoetger for a 17-14 halftime lead.

But, Marcus was still trailing.

Plano swept games against Plano East and Plano West, part of a three-game swing that swept it into the playoffs. / Thad Fenton

Plano West’s bid at upsetting Plano’s chances at a playoff berth – a feat that would have left all Plano ISD teams out of the playoffs for the first time since 1989 – seemed to get a boost when Leon Taylor connected on a 38-yard field goal to tie the game, 17-17, with 11:50 left to go.

Michelsen found Hoetger on a 4-yard touchdown pass – their second of the night – with 7:39 to go and Moore iced the game with 4:04 left when he connected on a 31-yard field goal. For good measure, Collin Brence hauled in his second interception to stop any thoughts of a rally.

At about the same time that Plano was putting the final touches on the victory, Marcus was rallying at Hebron. It was down 7-0 at halftime. Hebron got up 14-7 and again 21-14. But Marcus scored a late touchdown and was successful on the conversion run to help lift Plano into the playoffs.

Plano 27, Plano West 17

Plano West 14 0 0 3 – 17
Plano 7 10 0 10 – 27
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
W – Carlos Wiggins 78 pass from Carson Smith (Leon Taylor kick), 7:18
W – Jarrett Horan 2 run (Taylor kick), 4:38
P – Connor Michelsen 2 run (Chris Moore kick), 1:23
Second Quarter
P – Moore 33 FG, 8:22
P – Steele Hoetger 12 pass from Michelsen (Moore kick), 1:53
Third Quarter
No Scoring
Fourth Quarter
W – Taylor 38 FG, 11:50
P – Hoetger 4 pass from Michelsen (Moore kick), 7:39
P – Moore 31 FG, 4:04
W P
7 First downs 18
22-37 Rushes-yards 36-104
134 Passing yards 183
171 Total yards 287
6-17-3 Passing 12-22-0
4-154 Total punting 4-134
7-65 Penalties-yds. 14-98
0-0 Fumbles-lost 1-0

INDIVIDUALS

Rushing — W: Carson Smith 12-20, Jarrett Horan 7-14, Kameron Haddock 3-3. P: Kevin Merrill 8-47, Murat Kuzu 14-56, Connor Michelsen 14-1.
Passing — W: Carson Smith 6-17-3, 134 yards. P: Connor Michelsen 12-20-0, 183 yards; Murat Kuzu 0-1-0, 0 yards; Collin Brence 0-1-0, 0 yards.
Receiving — W: Carlos Wiggins 4-131, Ryan Doyle 2-3. P: Steele Hoetger 6-92, Brandon Hamilton 2-45, Clayton Parlin 1-27, Kevin Merrill 1-12, Hunter Gore 2-7.
Comments are closed

Game notes: Plano vs. Plano West

By on November 5, 2010 in '10 Fall Season

Plano 27, West 17 … Plano advances to meet Coppell next week in bi-district playoffs. Game will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Coppell.

  • Marcus wins. Plano just needs to close this out to advance to playoffs.
  • For consecutive seasons, Plano is attempting to reach playoffs with the fourth spot on the final week of the season.
  • Plano 27, West 17: Moore 31-yard FG. 4:04 left
  • Tank Stallings says Marcus up 22-21. They scored, went for two and are up.
  • Plano 24, West 17: Hoetger 4-yard pass from Michelsen. 7:39 left.
  • Hebron 21, Marcus 14 (5:00 left)
  • Plano 17, Plano West 17: Leon Taylor 38-yard FG, 11:50 left
  • Plano 17, West 14 (end of third quarter)
  • Hebron 14, Marcus 14 (9:12 left)
  • Hebron 14, Marcus 7 ( 3rd Quarter)
  • Plano 17, Plano West 14: Haltime
W P
5 First downs 8
10-19 Rushes-yards 17-29
124 Passing yards 116
143 Total yards 145
5-11-2 Passing 6-12-0
2-64 Total punting 2-69
2-20 Penalties-yds. 10-68
0-0 Fumbles-lost 1-0
Rushing — P: Connor Michelsen 6-1, Kevin Merrill 2-3, Murat Kuzu 9-25,
Passing — P: Connor Michelsen 6-10-0, 116 yards; Murat Kuzu 0-1-0, 0 yards; Collin Brence 0-1-0, 0 yards;
Receiving — P: Steele Hoetger 4-71, Brandon Hamilton 2-45.
  • Hebron 7, Marcus 0 (Halftime)
  • Plano 17, Plano West 14: Steele Hoetger 12-yard TD pass from Michelsen. 1:53 left.
  • Hebron 7, Marcus 0: Second Quarter
  • Plano West 14, Plano 10: Chris Moore 33-yard FG, 8:22 left in first half.
  • Sam Morrell interception has Plano offense back in business.
  • Plano West 14, Plano 7: End of first quarter.
  • Plano West 14, Plano 7: Connor Michelsen 2-yard TD run caps 9-play, 57-yard drive to cut Plano West’s lead in half. 1:23 left in the first quarter.
  • Total yards – Plano: 15; West: 141
  • Plano West 14, Plano 0: Jarrett Horan 2-yard TD run. 4:38 left in first quarter.
  • Plano West 7, Plano 0: Carlos Wiggins 78-yard TD reception from Carson Smith. 7:18 left in first quarter.
  • Kickoff just moments away. West will receive.
  • Kickoff is a little more than an hour away. Keep checking here throughout the night for updates of tonight’s action, including score updates at Hebron. The Dallas Morning News’ Kyle Whitfield looks at playoff scenarios, including a look at District 8-5A. As usual, we agree with Matt Wixon in his blog. He notes that four playoff teams are too many, except in District 8-5A. If you got Tom Kimbrough and John Clark in a room, they’d agree with Matt. Except, Tom and John are big Wildcat fans and would certainly have to consider that the fourth spot could reward their team in consecutive years.
Comments are closed

By the numbers: Plano vs. Plano West

By on October 6, 2009 in '09 Season, Varsity

The Plano Wildcats will renew it series with Plano West at 7:30 p.m. Friday at John Clark Stadium.

This will be the 10th meeting between the teams which first met in 2000.

Plano (2-4, 1-1 in District 8-5A) will be aiming to win its third straight game in the series and consecutive games for the first time this season. Plano West (3-3, 1-1) has won three of its past four games, but finds itself locked in a third-place district tie with Plano and McKinney Boyd (4-2, 1-1).

Both teams enter the game off victories. Plano defeated Wylie, 27-20, on the road. Plano West defeated McKinney Boyd, 84-40, at home. And both teams fell in district openers.

The teams have no common opponent thus far this season.

 

Series Notes

Plano leads the series 5-4-0 and took the past two meetings against Plano West. The Wolves hold the series record with three straight wins from 2002-2004. Plano opened the series with consecutive wins from 2000-01 and are out to tie the series record with three straight wins. The largest margin of victory in the series was in the 2005 game, when Plano won, 45-7. The teams have each had two coaches lead them in the series: Mark Reeve and Mike Hughes at Plano West, and Gerald Brence and Jaydon McCullough at Plano. The edge in scoring differential is held by Plano, 204-174. Plano West ties the series with a win Friday. Here’s a game-by-game look at the series:

Year When Result
2000 District Plano 24, Plano West 7
2001 District Plano 28, Plano West 14
2002 District Plano West 16, Plano 8
2003 District Plano West 29, Plano 7
2004 District Plano West 33, Plano 10
2005 District Plano 45, Plano West 7
2006 District Plano West 38, Plano 24
2007 District Plano 14, Plano West 9
2008 District Plano 44, Plano West 21
Series   Plano leads, 5-4-0

 

Notable

  • This game is more meaningful than just a rivalry game. The winner is in position to move among the top teams in the alignment. Allen meets McKinney Boyd on Thursday. An Allen win would leave Friday’s winner tied for second place with Allen at 2-1, a half-game back of Plano East. A Boyd win would leave Friday’s winner also tied for second place, a half-game up on Allen and a half-game back of Plano East. No team will have more than two wins in the alignment by the conclusion of Friday night, as Plano East is idle.
  • Defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat is listed as the state’s No. 2 recruit by Rivals.com. Plano has already faced the state’s top recruit in Temple’s Lache Seastrunk, who compiled 162 yards rushing but about one-third of it on one play. Jeffcoat had 9 tackles, 5 pressures, 1.5 sacks, an interception, caused a fumble and blocked two kicks last week. He is also used as a tight end on offense.
  • Offensively, Plano West presents a challenge. Among District 8-5A teams, it ranks second in points scored (239), second in scoring average (39.8) and first in average yards per game (495.6). Quarterback Michael Pruneau is making an early case for the district’s offensive player of the year. He has 2,005 yards and 14 touchdowns on 122-of-191 passing. Sean Ballard has 13 touchdowns on 64 carries for 596 yards rushing to go with 412 yards and 4 touchdowns on 24 receptions. Ballard has been credited with 17 touchdowns and the rest of the team combined has 17 more. Four other receivers have at least 12 receptions, 125 yards receiving and a touchdown. Ballard joins Blake Balridge (32-491, 4 TD) and Carson Smith (23-482, 3 TD) to give Plano West three players with 400 yards or more receiving.
  • Plano won’t match up with Plano West offensively, but it is hoping it won’t have to. A switch to a spread-option running game could help Plano control time of possession and keep Plano West’s offense off the field. Plano, though, is still in search of its first 300-yard offensive game of the season. It ranks last in scoring average and yards per game. But defensively, Plano ranks second with 357.8 yards allowed per game. Plano will rely on its offense to limit the number of defensive snaps it takes and get Plano West out of rhythm.
  • Plano should have an edge in special teams in about any game it plays this season because of Grant Pierce. He is averaging 38.6 yards on 25 punts and a near perfect total of 38.0 yards net on kickoffs. He is averaging 0.3 yards per kick more than Brian Sheffield, a first-team all-state punter in 2005 at Plano.
  • For more information on Plano West visit the football team page at www.planowestfootball.org.
Comments are closed