THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Highland Park High School Athletics

FRISCO -- Halftime was ending in the biggest game of Chandler Morris' career to-date, but as the Scots huddled up on the field before the game resumed, Morris stayed back on the sideline. Morris took a minute by himself to stretch and warm up his legs, preparing himself for the half ahead. The quarterback found himself in an unfamiliar predicament: The Scots were down 21-14 after being out-played by their opponent, John Tyler, in the Class 5A Division I Region II Final. Morris -- who, despite being a first-year starter, hadn't given Scots fans much reason to lower hopes for another state title -- had only completed five of his 14 passes for 71 yards. But Morris -- and everyone else at the Ford Center Saturday afternoon -- knew that for the Scots to keep their hopes of winning a third-straight title alive, it would have to happen through him. And that it did. After John Tyler built a stunning 35-14 third-quarter lead -- Highland Park's biggest deficit all season -- Morris accounted for four fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the game-winning 1-yard score with nine seconds remaining, to propel the Scots to the state semifinals in a 42-35 thriller at The Ford Center. The Scots will face the winner of Saturday night's Denton Ryan-Birdville matchup on Saturday, Dec. 15 at noon at AT&T Stadium. Morris had huge shoes to fill in replacing John Stephens Jones, the quarterback who led the Scots to their last two titles. But, in bouncing back from a slow start to go 12 of 15 passing for 196 yards and four total touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone, Morris added a new chapter in Highland Park lore -- one that he and the next generation of Scots will look to end in the same way as those of their predecessors. "For two years, they've been watching it done by other players and other teams," Highland Park head coach Randy Allen said of his team. "They know that sometime in the game, we're going to turn it around and there's always a chance at the end of the game that we're going to win." But for three quarters, Morris's performance was a footnote in the face of a dominant John Tyler squad. The Lions, which scored the second-most points against the Scots this season, collected 515 yards of offense behind a pair of 100-yard rushers in running back Roderick Hawkins (22 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns) and quarterback Devlen Woods (11 carries for 152 yard and two touchdowns). "I think my kids played their butts off today," John Tyler head coach Ricklan Holmes said. "I think they've done everything that we needed to do to win that football game." John Tyler scored on three of its first four possession, nearly scoring on all four had Highland Park's Hudson Clark not hauled in a goal-line interception. Though the Scots kept it a one-score game at the half, the Lions defense held Highland Park scoreless in the third period, and Cam Grant and Woods added two more touchdowns to go up 35-14 with 1:16 left in the third. "They got a big offensive line, they got a great running back, and they got a couple of great receivers," Allen said. "That quarterback can go all the way -- he's like Kyler Murray -- he can go all the way anytime. That's a great football team." In shepherding the Scots' comeback, Morris first found Benner Page for a six-yard touchdown pass at the 10:18 mark in the fourth. After Clark snagged his second interception of the game in Lions territory, Morris quickly found Bennett Brown in the end zone to make it a seven-point game. The Highland Park defense held John Tyler scoreless for the game's final 13 minutes and forced two John Tyler punts towards the end of the fourth, which sandwiched Morris' game-tying 14-yard rushing touchdown with 3:25 left. The latter punt gave the ball back to the Scots with 20 seconds to play. Close calls Since falling to Rockwall in the 2017 opener, Highland Park has had some close calls squeaking out wins. Here are their closest games: -- Highland Park 34, Mansfield Timberview 32 (Third game of 2017 season) -- Highland Park 59, Texarkana Texas 49 (Bi-district round of 2017 playoffs) -- Highland Park 37, Mansfield Lake Ridge 35 (Regional final in 2017 playoffs) -- Highland Park 53, Manvel 49 (State championship in 2017) -- Highland Park 49, Rockwall 42 (Season opener in 2018) -- Highland Park 10, Frisco Lone Star 7 (Third game of 2018) -- Highland Park 28, College Station 20 (Area round of 2018 playoffs) -- Highland Park 42, Tyler John Tyler 35 (Regional final of 2018 playoffs)

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Highland Park High School Athletics

HIGH SCHOOLS PUBLISHED 2D TO KEEP THEIR DREAMS OF A THREE-PEAT ALIVE, HIGHLAND PARK NEEDED SOMETHING AMAZING TO HAPPEN – AND CHANDLER MORRIS DELIVERED

ALEXA PHILIPPOU

The Dallas Morning News | 12/11/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Melissa Macatee