The Redhawks did not feel the sting of the Denison Yellowjackets on Friday as they brought home a 49-44 win in their penultimate District 7-5A game of the season.

After jumping out to a 14-3 lead, the Redhawks looked to take control early, but then the Yellow Jackets went on a 21-0 run to lead 24-14 at the half. After the break, the Redhawks offense kicked back into gear as the team rallied for the win.  

“This season has really been about us reaching a goal we all set,” head coach Matt Swinnea said. “I’m just proud of the guys and how resilient they’ve been all year. It’s the culmination of a lot of effort and a lot of time.”

Senior Jack Bryant had a total of eight catches for 228 yards making way for three Redhawk touchdowns.

“This win is just really big to the team because now we can just go further in the playoffs because we have an easier opponent in the first round,” Bryan said.

Keeping the offense strong, quarterback junior Keldric Luster threw for 430 yards and ran for another 214 yards, having a role in all seven touchdowns.

“I really feel like my leadership has gone right for me these past few games,” Luster said. “It really gets the team going when we’re up or down in the game. It really gets our confidence going.”

As the final home game of the year, Friday was also Senior Night for band, cheer, color guard, Red Rhythm, trainers, and the team. 

“It definitely came a lot faster than I thought it would four years ago,” senior Joseph Hancock said. “I didn’t feel like it would fly by as fast but it definitely did. It’s pretty surreal.”