Frisco Wakeland stuns state No. 2 Lone Star in one of the wildest finishes you’ll ever see

It was one of the wildest games of the Texas high school football season, decided by a walk-off 100-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Frisco Wakeland was on the verge of defeat at the end of regulation and again in overtime Thursday night before pulling off a miraculous 65-59 win over rival Frisco Lone Star, ranked No. 2 in the state.

When it comes to crazy finishes, this one ranks right up there with Auburn’s Kick Six to beat Alabama in 2013 and Galena Park North Shore’s immaculate Hail Mary to shock Duncanville in the state championship game in 2018.

Frisco Lone Star had won its first five district games this season by a combined score of 238-58, and it was just inches away from a game-winning touchdown that would have given it a 20th straight district win. Lone Star had overcome the loss of superstar Davian Groce — the No. 2-ranked running back in the nation — to an injury and was poised to beat Wakeland for the 10th time in 11 all-time meetings as quarterback Karece Hoyt pushed the pile forward and tried desperately to reach the end zone amid a mass of players that had converged on him.

But in a game that featured 1,133 yards of offense — including 775 passing yards — it was an astounding defensive play that gave Frisco Wakeland perhaps the biggest upset in the state this season.

Wakeland’s Austin Wilson ripped the ball away from Hoyt near the 1-yard line to save the game, retreated into the end zone for a couple of seconds, then raced 100 yards the other way without being touched to hand Lone Star its first district loss since it fell 38-10 to Wakeland in 2022. Wilson was dogpiled by the parade of teammates who had followed him down the field while providing a couple of crucial blocks along the way, and Wakeland players swarmed the field.

But there was no big celebration beyond that, Wakeland coach Chandler Isom said.

“We didn’t do anything special,” he said. “It was definitely a highly contested game, and I’m just really proud of our kids and their resiliency in coming through with a victory against a really good football team.

“The mantra around here is just to believe, and that was really the message all week, especially playing a team that is as good as Lone Star and in a rivalry game like that. We were telling our kids all week, ‘You’ve got to believe, you’ve got to believe, and it’s not over until it’s over.’ That was proof last night.”

Wakeland led 56-42 with 8:52 remaining in regulation, only to see Lone Star storm back to take a 59-56 lead with 40 seconds left on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Hoyt to Dekhari Dean. Wakeland started its next drive at its 25 and needed just two pass completions to move the ball to the Lone Star 26, setting up Jack Minsky’s game-tying 43-yard field goal as time expired.

But things looked bleak for Wakeland after it got the ball first in overtime and turned it over on downs when quarterback Jayden Maples was stopped at the 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal. All Lone Star needed was a field goal to remain in first place in District 5-5A Division I.

“After stopping them on fourth down, the whole mind-set was kick a field goal to win it,” Lone Star coach Jeff Rayburn said.

Lone Star was well positioned to do just that, with a first down at the Wakeland 13 on its overtime possession. Two running plays by Hoyt gained 4 yards, but instead of kicking then or taking a knee to set up a short field goal, Lone Star ran one more play on third-and-6 from the 9 and disaster struck as Hoyt had the ball stripped a yard from the end zone.

Lone Star (7-1, 5-1) can still win a district title by beating Frisco Lebanon Trail (3-5, 1-5) next week and then first-place Frisco Reedy (6-1, 5-0) in the final game of the regular season. But a concern will be the status of Groce, rated the third-best player in Texas and the 31st-best recruit in the nation in the Class of 2026.

He was injured in the first quarter after having one carry for 2 yards and two catches for 13 yards and didn’t return. He was in a walking boot on the sideline during the second half, and it was a huge loss for Lone Star, as Groce has a combined 925 yards and eight touchdowns running and receiving.

Rayburn declined to comment on Groce’s injury and whether he is expected to miss any time.

Hoyt threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns for Lone Star and also ran for 161 yards and three touchdowns. But Wakeland (6-3, 5-2) put itself in great position to make the playoffs — it currently sits in third place and has only one district game left — as Maples threw for 402 yards and five touchdowns and Ryder Treadway, Grayson Myer and Lucas Mangham all had 100-yard games and combined for 23 catches for 368 yards and six touchdowns.

“[Maples] did a great job. The whole line did a really good job,” Isom said. “They have a really good defensive line, and the O-line was able to hold up and give him some time. He did a great job of finding the open receivers and taking some of the short underneath stuff and getting the ball to our playmakers.”

Several years ago, the “Whatabowl” was all the rage in Frisco ISD as its schools battled to see who ran the district in football and could claim they “owned” the local Whataburger. But there was no team trip there after Wakeland ended Lone Star’s bid for its second undefeated regular season in school history.

“That’s really something between the student sections,” Isom said.

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