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Saturday, September 11, 2021

Little Elm completes comeback win over Plano West behind strong performance from QB John Mateer - The Dallas Morning News

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PLANO — Watching an early 13-point lead melt away into an 11-point fourth quarter deficit would have been the end for some teams.

“That’s the kind of game we wouldn’t have won last year,’’ said Little Elm’s John Mateer.

But the senior quarterback orally committed to Central Arkansas drove his team to a pair of touchdowns in the final seven minutes and the Little Elm defense stopped a desperation Plano West threat in the final seconds for a thrilling 35-31 victory Friday night at John Clark Stadium.

Mateer completed 19 of 27 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns and called it the most competitive game of his career.

Little Elm (3-0), No. 18 in SportsDay’s Class 6A area ranking, is off to its best start since 2017.

Plano West (2-1), No. 19 in the area, rallied from an early 14-point deficit to lead 31-20 and still had a chance at the end until its final possession was stopped on downs at the Little Elm 11.

“Our kids stayed together and stayed poised,’’ said Little Elm coach Kendrick Brown. “They don’t get rattled. And kudos to our defense on that last stop.’’

The Lobos’ hurry-up offense is built for situations like the 31-20 deficit it faced with eight minutes remaining. Mateer’s 41-yard connection with Air Force pledge Dylan Evans set up the touchdown and clicked again for a two-point conversion that brought Little Elm within three. The scoring drive ended a Wolves’ 24-point run.

Plano West lost 14 yards on its following possession, setting the stage for Little Elm’s 55-yard winning drive capped by Mateer’s 10-yard throw rolling to his right to Vashawn Thomas II, parked just inside the goal line.

Dermot White, who entered Week 3 as the No. 2 area rusher in Class 6A, gave Plano West hope with a 47-yard run on its final possession. The 5-9, 180-pound junior finished with 25 carries for 135 yards and three touchdowns. He also was the leading receiver with four catches for 61 yards. The Little Elm defense stopped a fourth-down keeper by Plano West’s Vance Feuerbacher to clinch the victory.

“We knew we were playing a really good team,’’ said Plano West third-year head coach Tyler Soukup, who has the program on the upswing with a playoff appearance last year after winning only two games in the prior four seasons. “We had our chances at the end.’’

Little Elm cashed in with its quick tempo attack for touchdowns on its first three possessions to open a 20-7 lead.

Mateer found Cameran Taylor-Butler (nine catches, 87 yards) in the left flat for touchdowns of 17 and 15 yards to go up 14-0.

Plano West, playing at a much more deliberate pace, used six minutes to go 54 yards late in the first period capped by White’s 3-yard scoring run to make it 14-7.

Little Elm caught a break when a Plano West facemask foul on third down kept the Lobos third consecutive scoring drive alive. Mateer connected with Jalen Sessions on a 54-yard scoring pass to make it 20-7.

Feuerbacher’s determined 3-yard scoring run on fourth down with three minutes remaining in the half cut the Little Elm led to six. Plano West got even closer when Eli Smith recovered a muffed Little Elm punt in the final seconds of the half to set up Rishabh Sajjan’s 24-yard field goal. Despite being outgained 249-98 in the half, Plano West trailed only 20-17 at intermission.

On Twitter: @randyejennings

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September 11, 2021 at 11:36AM
https://www.dallasnews.com/high-school-sports/football/2021/09/10/little-elm-completes-comeback-win-over-plano-west-behind-strong-performance-from-qb-john-mateer/

Little Elm completes comeback win over Plano West behind strong performance from QB John Mateer - The Dallas Morning News

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