Defending Champ Highland Park Edges Texas High, 56-49

FRISCO — Texas High's second-half rally came up just short, the Tigers cutting their deficit to seven points three times against Highland Park during the Scots' 56-49 win Saturday in a Class 5A Division I bi-district game at the Ford Center.

Tigers quarterback Riley Russell ran for 122 yards and a touchdown and threw for 376 yards and six touchdowns on 21-of-34 passing. Tevailance Hunt hauled in nine catches for 201 yards and a TD, and Chris Sutton had 60 yards rushing and two scoring receptions.

John Stephen Jones propelled the Scots (10-1) with his 466-yard, six-touchdown afternoon. Jones was 22-of-30 passing with an interception and also rushed for a score.

In the third quarter, Texas High (7-4) scored three times to cut a 21-point halftime deficit to a single score. In the fourth quarter the teams traded scores, Cade Saustad catching his third touchdown from Jones and finishing with five grabs for 176 yards.

Paxton Alexander also had six catches for 159 yards and a TD.

Russell had his rushing touchdown to start the third quarter rally, and after Conner Allen scored his second touchdown for Highland Park, Russell threw scores to Vonderic Stanley (22 yards) and Mason Jones (46).

Chris Lyles also had a scoring grab for the Tigers, and Sutton added a 5-yard touchdown with 10 seconds remaining.

Jones orchestrated a four-play drive, hitting on four straight passes, after getting the ball back with less than a minute to play in the second quarter. Jones hit Alexander for a 48-yard gain on the first play, the two hooked up again for an 11-yard reception to set up Scully Jenevein's 6-yard TD catch.

Jones threw four touchdowns in the first half — three in the second quarter to give the Scots a 35-14 lead at halftime — and had 292 yards passing. He tossed a 70-yard strike to Alexander on the second play of the game.

Two drives later the Tigers answered when Hunt got behind the defense and his hands on a bomb from Russell, racing the rest of the way untouched for a 65-yard strike, tying the game with 7:35 to play in the first quarter.

Jones' next pass was intercepted by Jaqualen Brown at the HP 33, and five plays later Sutton caught a pass out of the backfield and broke a pair of tackles en route to a 19-yard TD reception.

Allen's 6-yard jaunt around the right side knotted the score again with 2:34 remaining in the first.

Saustad capped the next two Highland Park drives with scoring grabs. He had a 39-yard TD catch and a 32-yard catch while under good coverage in the end zone with 7:28 to play in the half.