Scots Host Mansfield Legacy

by Kirk Dooley

   Going into this season, Mansfield Legacy was the popular choice to derail the Highland Park football freight train. The Dallas Morning News picked Legacy to win district 6-5A Div. I, with the Scots slated to come in second. Before the season started, Texas Football magazine had HP and Legacy as the second and third ranked teams in the state. Some predicted Legacy to win the state title because the Broncos had something nobody else had – Jalen Catalon.
   Generally considered one of the top 10 high school safeties in the nation, Catalon became an all-state defensive back as a sophomore and was named the 5A Defensive Player of the Year. As a junior he was asked to also play quarterback for the team and then was handed the keys to the offense. While still controlling half the field on defense as lightning-fast DB, he also passed for 1,120 yards and 15 touchdowns while running for a team-best 1,014 yards and 13 more touchdowns.
   He led a very good Legacy team to the state semifinals where the ride ended with a 28-21 loss to Aledo.
   Going into this season Catalon was Texas Football’s 5A coverboy and the Broncos had a goal of winning the state championship. They had been eliminated by the Scots in the 2016 quarterfinals and then lost to Aledo in last year’s semifinals. Like HP, these guys had a goal of winning the state title and nothing less.
   The Broncos lost their first game of the season against Oklahoma powerhouse Jenks, 35-14, but more importantly, they lost Catalon to a season-ending knee injury.
   The team is still very talented. Cam Clark stepped in as the starting quarterback while running back Kaleb King stepped up his role. The Broncs beat Crowley, 39-7, then dropped two games to Mansfield (14-7) and Lancaster (21-8). In the battle of the 6-5A Mansfield titans, Legacy defeated Timberview, 27-22, to re-establish itself as a district champion contender.
   This is a team that is hungry for revenge after its heart-stopping 14-7 loss to the Scots in the 2016 state quarterfinals at AT&T Stadium. The game that came down to the final play. On fourth and goal from the eight-yard-line, Catalon’s brother Kendall lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone and Highland Park defensive back George Stewart swatted the ball away as time expired and the Scots escaped with a 14-7 victory.
   This Friday’s game has been circled on the Mansfield Legacy calendars for a long time. The Broncos – even without Jalen Catalon – have the talent to win the game. They have the will. They have the emotion.
   What they don’t have is Chandler Morris or Finn Corwin. 
   Morris is leading the area 5A quarterbacks with 1,401 yards and 16 touchdowns. Corwin is the second-ranked receiver with 27 receptions for 584 yards and nine TDs. Armed with a great offensive line, the Scots’ top passing threat has been unstoppable. Could Jalen Catalon have disrupted them this Friday?
   Maybe. But we’ll never know.