DAWG BITES

- Wylie is in for the playoffs after a one-year absence and will be host to Abilene Cooper on Friday for second place

- The Bulldogs score twice in the first minutes of the second half to break open a back-and-forth game

- Jadin Karleskint throws three touchdown passes while the Wylie defense comes up with four interceptions, including its first pick-6

WICHITA FALLS - The Wylie Bulldogs are in the playoffs.

After a year's absence, the Bulldogs earned a berth in the Class 5A Division II bracket with a 41-16 here over Legacy on a rainy Friday night.

Combined with Abilene Cooper’s 48-7 win over, the battle for second place and a home playoff game is set. Amarillo Palo Duro, which was off Friday, already has nailed down its second straight District 2-5A championship.

Now, the Southdown Showdown in Abilene, which falls on the final night of regular season play, will determine the runnerup.

That game kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday back at Sandifer Stadium, where Wylie won 29-22 last year.

In Wichita Falls, it will be a winner-take-all game.

Both Legacy and Memorial are 2-3 in district; the winner gets the No. 4 seed in the district. It would be the first playoff venture for Legacy, in its third year of existence.

On Friday, Wylie spoiled senior night at Memorial Stadium for Legacy. Bulldogs fans were fewer than normal, likely due to the rain, and the state-bound Pure Gold band was not there, for sure because of the rain.

The faithful under umbrellas or in rain gear saw Wylie muscle its way to an important win.

“This was a big win for our program. They are a dangerous team and well coached,” Martin said. “This puts us in a spot for the playoffs and now it just depends which one, based on next week.”

The Bulldogs have worked to make the Cooper game meaningful. Game 10 last year against Plainview was a matter of finishing the season.

“Just a belief in this team, and each week we’re getting better,” senior Blake Frailing said.

Senior Cooper Hill the Bulldogs will have no problem prepping for the Cougars.

“It was the funnest game last year, and it will be the same this year,” he said.

THE TURNING POINT

The Bulldogs and Leopards traded blows in the first half but two Wylie touchdowns in the first minute of the second half blew open a five-point game.

Wylie was up 21-16 at halftime, having missed a 45-yard field goal at the end of the first half. Placekicker Kannon Ruffin, however, would get a chance to redeem himself.

The Bulldogs had deferred possession and got the second-half kickoff. Legacy pooched it, and Ruffin caught the ball at his 35. The Leopards may have thought he was making a fair catch, as Wylie had done earlier, but Ruffin instead made a quick move, found a crease, and raced to the Legacy 35.

Jett Wilson, who had not been in the game, ran for 13 yards and on the next play, Jadin Karleskint threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Frailing - his first TD of the season.

It was a simple pass to the left side but Frailing shook off a tackle, stayed inbounds, and scooted down the Wylie sideline into the end zone.

“It felt good to finally get one,” Frailing said. What kind of move did he make to get around his defender?

“I don’t know. I just did and went down the sideline. It felt good to get an opportunity and make the most of it,” Frailing said.

Kannon Ruffin reentered the game for the point-after, and Wylie was up 28-16 just 44 seconds into the quarter.

Legacy’s Da’Kendrick Jones let Ruffin’s ensuing high kickoff sail over his head, bound for the end zone. It didn’t get there in the damp air. Instead, it dropped and stopped near the 5 and Jones had to scramble to get the football. He made it as far as the 12.

A first-down pass went incomplete. On second down, Leopards quarterback Knox Hodges tried a throwback screen after rolling to his right. He overthrew his running back and the ball landed in the arms of linebacker Hill, who ran 5 yards into the end zone with Wylie’s first defensive touchdown of the season.

“That was crazy. I’ve never done that before,” Hill said.

HIll said he was not ready to make a play.

“Not at all. I was coming off a block and getting ready to make a tackle. The ball went right into the hands,” he said. “That gave us some confidence, for sure.”

With 11:01 showing on the clock, Wylie had a 34-16 lead after Kannon Ruffin’s PAT went just left - his first missed extra point.

“I’m just proud of how we came out and answered in the second half,” Martin said. “I thought we played extremely sloppy in the first half and made a ton of mistakes. To correct things at half and to come out and execute and get those two quick scores was obviously the difference in the game.”

Hill said the quick scores are what Wylie needed.

“The first half was a little rough. We had a ton of penalties and stuff, so we just had to fix our attitude,” Hill said. “Everyone came out and did their jobs and, boom, it was right there.

The Bulldogs had a three-score lead but Legacy is the kind of team that can score points.

However, the Wylie defense didn’t let that happen.

For the third time this season, the defense did not allow a second-half point. Legacy had 196 total yards at halftime and finished with only 102 more. The Leopards had been averaging well over 400 yards a game.

Wylie allowed 35 rushing yards, recovered a fumble, and intercepted four passes.

Hodges, a prolific passer, was 24-of-41 with just one touchdown against the four picks..

Still, he netted 263 yards.

BOXERS TRADING PUNCHES

After letting Coronado take a surprising 13-0 lead in the district opener, Wylie now has scored on its opening drive the past four games.

Legacy moved the ball on its first possession, with Hodges hitting J’Quan Carroll on a 29-yard pass play to the Wylie 32. Legacy got 10 more yards to the 22 on a pass to Jourian Wiggins.

Wylie’s defense stiffened and on fourth down, Hill sacked Hodges at the 33.

The Bulldogs marched 67 yards the other way, with Cooper Jones ripping off a 17-yard gain to the Legacy 30. On the next play, Karleskint threw 30 yards to Blaze Ruffin going down the visitor sideline to put Wylie on the board halfway through the quarter.

The teams traded turnovers, with Legacy losing a backward pass and Bo Kates falling on the football at the Wylie 45.

Two plays later, Karleskint went deep to Blaze Ruffin but was short on the throw and Da’Kendrick Jones intercepted for Wichita Falls.

His team turned that into points as Kaden Tolbert Jones booted a 21-yard field goal with a minute left in the opening quarter.

The field goal came after Wylie put up a defensive stand after Hodges passed 21 yards to Carroll to the 3. Two carries by Ke’Shadd Johnson lost three yards. On third down, Hodges had Wiggins open crossing left but overthrew his receiver.

Wylie drove 70 yards in six plays to move ahead 14-3. On first play of the second quarter, Karleskint and Jones teamed for a 22-yard gain on third down. Wylie came through again on third down as Karleskint hit Jackston Williams for 38 yards. Williams outplayed Ke’Shaad Johnson for the football.

The 14-3 lead didn’t last long as Legacy drove 75 yards in 11 plays.

Wylie had a rough first half with penalties, totaling 82 yards at halftime Three - offsides, deadball, and facemask - came on this drive.

“There were way too many penalties tonight. We’ve got to play a cleaner football game,” Martin said.

He had called the game the week before against Lubbock-Cooper his team’s cleanest of the year.

Carroll got the touchdown on a 2-yard run.

Wylie responded again, going 64 yards in just five plays. A 33-yard completion to Williams and a 27-yard run by Jones were the big gainers. Dylan Regala scored from a yard out in the box formation to make it 21-10.

Legacy needed two minutes to score again as Hodges completed three passes, the last a 9-yarder to Wiggins on a crossing route. The PAT was blocked to make it 21-16 with 3:25 left in the half.

Wylie worked its way downfield, with a 30-yard sideline grab by Blaze Ruffin the key play.

The Bulldogs got one yard into the red zone but stalled. Under pressure, Karleskint threw away two passes but was sacked on third down to the 28.

Kannon Ruffin scooped his kick on the field goal try with 10 seconds to go and it was short to the right.

Legacy kneeled out a half that saw more than 400 combined yards, 37 points, and no punts

The second half would be a different game.

'D' DOES ITS JOB AGAIN

Wylie turned up the defense in the second half, starting with Hill’s 5-yard pick-6.

Brody Martin intercepted his fourth pass of the season on Legacy’s next drive. That came after Hill's pressure forced Hodges to intentionally ground a pass.

Legacy punted on its third possession.

Kates intercepted Hodges on the fourth.

Griggs Holland intercepted on the fifth.

“To make those plays and win the turnover battle … you get that many turnovers, it gives you a great chance to win,” Martin said.

The Wylie coach didn’t say the back-to-back touchdowns changed the defensive plan for the second half, but the Bulldogs upped the pressure on Legacy.

“That is our plan, to be aggressive. I think we made some really big plays,” Martin said.

Legacy totaled 102 yards, with 32 of that coming on a nice pass from Hodges to Ben Barnard.

After netting 16 first downs in the first half, the Leopards had just five after halftime.

The Bulldogs were taking no chances with Hodges and his group of talented receivers. Wylie at times put three defenders at the line and the other eight back. Still, Hodges was pressured and the Bulldogs were able to intercept him three more times.

“I knew they were going to throw the ball more because they to, so I was keeping my eyes on their better receivers,” said Regala, who plays in the secondary.

Williams even got defensive duty and made coverage plays in the second half.

Even with an 18-point lead, fans finally felt the game was in hand when Regala scored for the second time, this one on a 9-yard run with 6:37 to play.

“I wasn’t getting the ball much at receiver, so I did what I did,” Regala said.

Wylie totaled 365 yards, with 169 coming on the ground. Jones had 15 carries for 84 yards.

Karleskint was just 9-for-18 but totaled 187 yards as six completions went for more than 20 yards - four for more than 30.

After being flagged for nine penalties in the first half, Wylie had just one after halftime. Half the penalties, however, were of the 15-yard variety, giving Martin plenty to talk about with his team at halftime.

Frailing said the personal fouls was “all Coach Martin talked about at halftime. Clean it up and play Wylie football the way it is supposed to be.”

After all, it was three first-half turnovers in the 2025 game that kept Legacy with three points entering the fourth quarter. A slim lead late in the game with this year’s Leopards was not what Wylie wanted.

Now it’s Wylie vs. Cooper. The Legacy game prepared the Bulldogs for what now is the biggest game of the year.

“I think it gets us ready for Cooper,” Regala said. ““I am ready for that, and the playoffs after that.”


YARDSTICK
Wylie Legacy
First downs 23 21
Rushing 40-169 22-35
A-C-Int 10-19-1 24-41-4
Passing 196 263
Total offense 365 298
Punting 2-36.0 1-36.0
Fumbles/lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties 10-97 5-48

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Wylie 7 14 13 7 - 41
Legacy 3 13 0 0 - 16

SCORING
First quarter
Wylie - Blaze Ruffin 30 pass from Jardin Karleskint (Kannon Ruffin kick), 6:33
Legacy - Karden Tolbert Jones 21 FG, 1:04
Second quarter
Wylie - Jackston Williams 38 pass from Karlesking (K. Ruffin kick), 11:09
Legacy - J’Quan Carroll 2 run (Jones kick), 7:06
Wylie - Dylan Regala 1 run (K. Ruffin kick), 5:31
Legacy - Jourian Wiggins 9 pass from Knox Hodges (kick blocked), 3:25
Third quarter
Wylie - Blake Frailing 22 pass from Karleskint (K. Ruffin kick), 11:16
Wylie - Cooper Hill 5 interception return (kick failed), 11:01
Fourth quarter
Wylie - Regala 9 run (K. Ruffin kick), 6:37

WYLIE INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing - Cooper Jones, 15-84; Dylan Regala, 5-34; Jett Wilson, 6-28; Landry Hammond, 6-20; Jadin Karleskint, 5-13; Landry Pate, 1-minus-1. Team 2-minus 9

Passing - Karleskint, 9-18-1-187-3; Myles McCarty, 1-1-0-9

Receiving - Jackston Williams, 3-80-1; Blaze Ruffin, 2-60-1; Blake Frailing, 2-27-1; Jones, 2-19; Heston Stanton, 1-9.

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 4 1 176 105 6 3 283 184
Ab. Cooper 4 1 172 111 6 3 264 188
WF Legacy 2 3 160 155 5 4 324 249
WF Memorial 2 3 157 132 4 5 361 317
Lub-Cooper 1 4 85 148 1 8 148 320
Lub. Coronado 0 6 49 329 1 9 153 446

LAST FRIDAY'S GAMES
Wylie 41, Legacy 16
Abilene Cooper 48, Coronado 7
Memorial 36, Lubbock-Cooper 14
Palo Duro open

FRIDAY'S GAMES
Abilene Cooper at Wylie
Memorial vs. Legacy
Lubbock-Cooper at Palo Duro
Coronado season complete