COLLEGE STATION - - Frisco Panther Creek faced a third-and-goal in overtime of the DII Texas 7-on-7 State Championship against Kilgore, and star wide receiver Jalen Lott had nothing left in the tank.

He hobbled off the field, his leg locked in a full cramp and gauze wrapped around his knee where the turf had ripped off a chunk of flesh. He’d lifted the Panthers through five-straight games, contorting his body in mid-air for long touchdown catch after long touchdown catch, but they’d have to score the last one without him.

If his day ended right there, it still would’ve been the tournament’s MVP performance. But it didn’t.

After an incomplete pass forced fourth-and-goal, Lott limped back onto the field. The No. 13-ranked player in the DCTX Hot 100 is set to commit to college football in less than two weeks. He could’ve protected himself. Instead, he visualized how his teammates would feel after he caught the game-winning touchdown catch. The moment he stepped on the field, the outcome was already written.

“I know it’s gotta be me in a clutch moment like that,” Lott said.

Lott’s out route touchdown sealed Panther Creek’s 32-26 victory, the first 7-on-7 Championship in the program’s young history. And while that game-winning touchdown was the highlight most will remember, Lott was far from a one-man show.

Panther Creek trailed 13–0 in the first half after Kilgore wide receiver/safety LaKeyleon Graves took advantage of a goal-line miscommunication with a pick-six. Led by senior quarterback Graylyn Fry, the Panthers bounced back to a 26-13 lead. Fry and wide receiver/safety Donovan Webb, the No.18-ranked player in the DCTX Hot 100, connected for a 25-yard touchdown that Webb hauled in over two defenders.

But Webb’s biggest contribution was at his natural safety spot. He and the defense adjusted to bracket coverage on Kilgore’s Graves.

“He’s a great player,” Webb said. “As a team, we had to adjust and find ways to stop him. I think we did that very well.”
But it could only contain Graves for so long. With time expiring, Kilgore quarterback Kayson Brooks threw a fade ball to Graves in the end zone as time expired. Graves then caught the conversion to force overtime.

On the first possession of overtime, Webb told his teammates he would man-up Graves for the rest of the game. Kilgore proceeded to turn it over on downs, setting up Lott’s game-winning catch.

“He (Donovan Webb) wants the big moment,” Panther Creek head coach Clint Surratt said. “He’s a dog, and he wants every part of anybody that wants it. If you’re going to go into battle, you want Donovan Webb with you.”

Surratt started Frisco Panther Creek’s program four years ago and has compiled a 24–12 record. While his team hoisted its first state championship belt in school history, he was already thinking about another trophy - a UIL State Championship.

“We think about 7-on-7 being a tool to help us in real football,” Surratt said. “Certainly happy they won one today, but the real goal is to win one in the fall.”