Oladipo Awowale/The Wylie News
Tyrell Mauzy hauls in a 77-yard touchdown in front of the McKinney North bench; the score tied the game at 7-7. Several hours later, teammate Jordan Whaley pulled in a 13-yard scoring pass to win the game in overtime and clinch a postseason spot for the Pirates.

By Greg Ford
Sports Editor
[email protected]

WYLIE — The Pirates sure didn’t make it easy on themselves or their fans last Friday night.
However, they all left Wylie Stadium with grins, knowing that the maroon and white would live to see another day: a first-round playoff date 2 p.m. Saturday against 9-5A’s Frisco Wakeland at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
That confrontation was made available for viewing, at least in the case of Wylie’s fans, thanks to the Pirates 43-37 overtime victory against McKinney North, a contest that produced as much excitement in the final minutes as many games do in three hours.
For in those moments, the Pirates and Bulldogs — the latter was playoff-bound had it won the game — produced two touchdowns and a field goal in the final 90 seconds of regulation, and then a game-winning score in overtime. The latter came when Emilio Ames found Jordan Whaley for a 13-yard strike that sent Wylie to the postseason.
“Our kids played with a lot of heart and determination; I’m proud of them,” head coach Bill Howard said. “All year long we have been looking for that spark, and they got it as a team. They came up as a team to develop that … We have some seniors who are starting to step up, and we need the seniors to step up.”
Wylie finished the season 6-4 overall and 5-2 in District 10-5A. They will be the No. 2 Div. I seed out of the 10-5A, with district champ Wylie East (9-1, 7-0) being the top seed. The Raiders will play 5:30 p.m. Friday at AT&T Stadium against The Colony (5-5).
(To view the entire article, check out the Nov. 11 edition of The Wylie News)