DAWG BITES

- Wylie is inches away from clinching a playoff spot as Jadin Karleskint throws four touchdown passes

- The Bulldogs defense surrenders less than 75 yards and comes up with four takeaways

- Blaze Ruffin, who returned a kickoff 95 yards against Lubbock-Cooper in 2025, catches an 80-yard TD pass

- Wylie’s Cooper Jones and Cooper Hill do damage against Lubbock-Cooper

The Wylie Bulldogs on Friday night showed they’ve moved on.

A week after a long road trip to Amarillo to absorb a 53-10 loss to first-place Palo Duro, the Bulldogs regrouped with a statement win over Lubbock-Cooper. Quarterback Jadin Karleskint threw four touchdown passes and the Wylie defense smothered the Pirates all night in a 42-3 win at Sandifer Stadium.

Karleskint did not throw a touchdown pass against PD, his only game without one this season.

The victory evened Wylie’s home record at 2-2, with one more to go.

With Wichita Falls Memorial losing to the surging Dons, Wylie all but clinches a playoff berth. Mathematically, it’s not a done deal but the Bulldogs took care of their end.

“They’re all important. We’re right in the middle of district play,” Wylie coach Clay Martin said. “I think the middle matters most.

Now come the two biggest games of the season. Wylie travels this week to Wichita Falls to take on much-improved Legacy. The Leopards pushed their record to 5-3 and 2-2 by blasting Coronado 63-9. After that comes the Southtown Showdown, and it could be for second place if Wylie and Abilene Cooper win Friday.

The Coogs are at Shotwell Stadium and have an easier task against winless Coronado.

“We’re heading down the home stretch. We have two big ones but only one to worry about next Friday,” Martin said.

DO UNTO OTHERS...

Two weeks ago, Wylie stunned Memorial with a well-planned and well-executed pooch onside kick. The Bulldogs started their first drive in Mavericks’ territory and drove to a touchdown, taking the upper hand in the game.

Lubbock-Cooper bounced a more traditional onside kick to start Friday’s game and made the recovery at the Wylie 46. It looked as if Bulldog Griggs Holland had the football, but L-C was awarded possession.

It literally was a moment of celebration for the Pirates.

On their first play, Antarius Johnson was stripped of the ball and Bo Kates fell on it for way for Wylie.

Just 10 seconds into the game and the football already had exchanged hands twice..

The Bulldogs started at their 44 and drove to an opening drive touchdown again. No play was longer than 9 yards, with running back Jett Wilson making a defender miss and easing into the end zone from 2 yards out.

Not securing the opening kickoff was the Bulldogs’ only mistake of the night. Wylie did not lose a fumble or have an interception - Karleskint had two against PD, doubling his season total. A week after Palo Duro played in Wylie’s backfield most of the game, the Bulldogs had only four plays that lost yardage and those totaled just 11 yards.

“I thought we showed up ready to play. That was the talk all week,” Martin said. “I am proud of our guys and the start we got off to on both sides of the ball. I thought we played all three phases very well and … we played relatively clean.

OFFENSIVE NUMBERS BELIE EFFECTIVENESS

The Pirates committed three more turnovers in the first half and two led to Wylie touchdowns as the Bulldogs built a 28-0 lead.

The other Wylie touchdown came after Lubbock-Cooper first drive that ended with a punt downed at the Bulldogs 20.

On first down, Karleskint looked long and saw that Blaze Ruffin had steps on defensive back Brae’len Childers after making double move. The pass was on target and Childers could not catch Ruffin, making a last-ditch dive.

“I felt him,” said Ruffin, who grabbed his 11th scoring pass from Karleskint.

“We were able to connect on some big plays offensively,” Martin said.

It was otherwise a quiet night for Ruffin, who had just two more catches for 6 yards.

His pass-catching partner, though, came through twice. Jackston Williams found open space in the end zone for 2- and 5-yard scoring grabs.

Karleskint and Williams hooked twice for touchdowns in the Memorial win.

Wylie had 307 total yards, a number knocked down because the Bulldogs went 23, 33, 47, and 35 yards on four of their six scoring drives. The longest drive, the 80-yard catch-and-run play, took the shortest amount of time - 11 seconds.

If the 80-yarder was the most exciting touchdown catch of the game, Karleskint’s pass to K.J. Villegas in a tight window was the best effort. After catching his first TD of the season late in the game against Palo Duro, Villegas made a nice grab on a throw to the visitor edge of the end zone line for a 36-yard score to give Wylie a 28-0 lead in the second quarter.

Wylie’s final touchdown came with almost the entire fourth quarter to play. After a short punt into the wind, backup quarterback Myles McCarty directed a 35-yard drive on which Cooper Jones carried five times for 16 yards. He went 2 yards for the touchdown.

For the game, Wylie had 121 yards rushing and 186 passing. Wilson totaled 45 yards on 10 carries while Karleskint was10-of-16 for 155 yards and the four scores. McCarty continued to be effective, hitting three of four throws for 31 yards, including a 13-yard to Williams.

Another player off the sideline who showed in the second half was sophomore Landry Hammond. Added to the varsity this season, he got seven carries and totaled 44 yards.

“It’s fun. I’ve been waiting all year for this moment,” Hammond said. “Getting the opportunity is just a blessing.”

He scored on a 20-yard run, veering to his left, on McCarty’s second drive. A penalty, however, wiped out his first varsity score.

He shrugged it off as how the game goes, but added, “I wish I could have it back, though.”

He had a 21-yard gain that did count.

“They work hard, just like everybody else and everybody got a chance to play, for the most part,” Martin said of getting players into the game when the outcome seemed assured. “To play in front of the home crowd is always special.”

Wylie had a chance at three more points on that same late fourth-quarter drive but Kannon Ruffin’s 43-yard kick into the wind sailed just wide left.

McCarty’s last drive consisted of three kneels to run out the clock.

‘D’ IS FOR DOMINATING

As Wylie did against Memorial, especially in the second half, the Bulldogs defense was a force.

The Bulldogs gave up 61 yards for the game as sacks lowered the Pirates’ total.

“I thought the defense played really, really fast,” Martin said. “I thought we had a really good game plan on both sides of the ball. I thought we played complimentary football. We took advantage of the turnover when we got them. We put a lot of pressure on them.”

Brody Martin had two interceptions in the first half.

“Oh, you know, I just happened to be in the right spot,” Brody Martin said. “The ball just kinda came to me.”

He never has intercepted two passes in a game. The picks were his second and third of the 2026 season.

“Man, we were great,” he said of the entire defensive effort. Everybody executed and we did our job. We executed. That’s the name of the game.”

Some of Wylie’s best defense, ironically, came on Lubbock-Cooper’s only scoring drive.

The Pirates used the last 8 minutes of the first half but came away from only three points.

LCP registered four of its seven first downs in the game, moving the ball from its 8 to the Wylie 2. The Bulldogs helped the drive with facemask and interference calls, giving the Pirates 30 yards.

Lubbock-Cooper looked poised to score with a minute to play and was getting the football to start the second half. The Pirates had a chance to get back in it.

Wylie sank that ship.

On first down, Cooper Hill dropped Daniel Castro for a 3-yard loss.

On second down, Hill slung down quarterback Noah Clark for a 14-yard loss.

On third down, Garrett Taylor and others sacked Jayden Ramirez for a 6-yard loss. Lubbock-Cooper used four quarterbacks in the game, sometimes alternating on drives and at other times on plays.

That put the ball at 25 and forced a 42-yard field goal try with the wind by Cole Robertson. The Pirates were out of timeouts but were able to set up and kick with 2 seconds showing.

The football barely cleared the crossbar, prompting the Wylie radio crew to comment that it landed with yellow paint on the pigskin.

The half ended on the kick.

“They were right there in the red zone and ready to score. Coach sent me on a blitz and I was right there for the tackle,” Hill said. “That was a big momentum shift. If they had scored, they would’ve carried that momentum. We wanted to keep that score as low as possible. The coaches set us up real well this week.”

LCP had 53 total yards in two quarters and would add little in the second half. Their possession chart reads:

3-and-out

3-and-out

3-and-out

3-and-out

7 plays, one first down, turn over on downs

The Pirates’ total offense was 8 yards after halftime.

“The defense played amazing and the play calls were amazing. We were all on the same page,” said lineman Garrett Taylor, one of several Bulldogs who chase quarterbacks all night. “I thought we came out there with a lot of energy.”

He said the team “has gotten better” from the Palo Duro loss.

Does the offense say thank-you for setting up short fields?

Taylor smiled and said they do.

For the game, the Pirates rushed 32 times for 38 yards. Wylie registered 11 plays for negative yards, including a pass play.

The four quarterbacks combined for four completions for 23 yards with two interceptions.

Hammond’s showing may make him a bigger part of the playoff push.

“We’re looking pretty solid. We obviously have some work to do,” the sophomore said. “But for the next two weeks, our base is looking really, really good right now.”

YARDSTICK
LCP WHS
First downs 7 20
Rushing 32-38 36-121
A-C-Int 4-15-2 13-20-0
Passing 23 186
Total offense 61 307
Punting 5-36.6 2-39.0
Fumbles/lost 3-2 0-0
Penalties 6-28 4-45

SCORE BY QUARTERS
LCP 0 3 0 0 - 3
WHS 21 7 7 7 - 42

SCORING
First quarter
WHS - Jett Wilson 3 run (Kannon Ruffin kick), 7:46
WHS - Blaze Ruffin 80 pass from Jadin Karleskint (K. Ruffin kick), 3:52
WHS - Jackston Williams 3 pass from Karleskint (K. Ruffin kick), 0:57
Second quarter
WHS - K.J. Villegas 36 pass from Karleskint (K. Ruffin kick), 10:27
LCP - Case Robertson 42 FG, 0:00
Third quarter
WHS - Williams 5 pass from Karleskint (K. Ruffin kick), 4:01
Fourth quarter
WHS - Cooper Jones 2 run (K. Ruffin kick), 11:54


WYLIE INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing - Jett Wilson, 10-45; Landry Hammond, 7-44; Cooper Jones 12-34; Jadin Karleskint, 4-11. Team 3-minus 13
Passing - Karleskint, 10-16-0-155-4; Myles McCarty, 3-4-0-31-0
Receiving - Jackston Williams, 4-29-2; Blaze Ruffin, 3-86-1; Jayden Naemi, 2-18; Wilson, 2-14; K.J. Villegas, 1-36-1; Jones, 1-3

2026 DISTRICT 2-5A STANDINGS
Team District Season
W L Pts. Def. W L Pts. Def.
Am. Palo Duro 5 0 228 47 8 1 346 106
Wylie 3 1 135 89 5 3 242 168
Ab. Cooper 3 1 124 104 5 3 216 181
WF Legacy 2 2 144 114 5 3 308 208
WF Memorial 1 3 121 118 3 5 325 303
Lub-Cooper 1 3 71 112 1 7 134 284
Lub. Coronado 0 5 42 281 1 8 146 398

LAST WEEK'S GAMES
WF Legacy 63, Coronado 9
Wylie 42, Lubbock-Cooper 3
Palo Duro 35, WF Memorial 21
Abilene Cooper open

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Wylie at WF Legacy
Coronado at Abilene Cooper
Memorial at Lubbock-Cooper
Palo Duro open