Midland Lee football player Hayes Hamm
Christopher Hadorn/Reporter-Telegram
Midland Lee football player JP Reyes
Christopher Hadorn/Reporter-Telegram
Midland Lee football player Ja’Braylen Anders
Christopher Hadorn/Reporter-Telegram
Midland Lee found a way to answer Plano whenever it needed a play during Friday’s season opener.
Hayes Hamm scored on a 43-yard touchdown run with 61 seconds left to secure the Rebels’ 41-33 win over the Wildcats in a non-district football game at John Clark Stadium in Plano.
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Lee (1-0) had a balanced offensive attack as JP Reyes completed 21 of 35 passes for 308 yards, three TD passes and two interceptions; Hamm ran 26 times for 156 yards, and Ja’Braylen Anders had nine catches for 130 yards and two TDs.
“We found a way to win,” Rebels head coach Clint Hartman said. “I’m proud of the kids.”
Lee took a 15-0 lead after Reyes completed a 74-yard TD pass to Anders and a 21-yard TD pass to Kameron Norman.
The Rebels led 21-9 after Maddox Marquez returned a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.
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However, the Wildcats (0-1) kept battling back and closed their deficit to 28-27 when CJ Smith completed a 5-yard TD pass to Kameryn Brown with 10:41 left in the third quarter.
“Defensively, we did not play very well in the first half,” Hartman said. “We didn’t do what we coached them to do. All of the sudden, we made some adjustments at halftime, we gave up one (scoring) drive and after that, we started playing well. We played really, really well. I think we had five three-and-outs in a row.”
Hartman said the Rebels defense got two sacks from Gavin Hernandez and one sack each from Tayvin Fields and David Ihediwa.
With the Rebels clinging to a 28-27 lead, Tyler Day provided a spark when he found daylight on a 71-yard TD run on fourth-and-1, pushing the lead back to 35-27 with 2:01 left in the third quarter.
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“He played great on defense, he’s a great football player,” Hartman said of Day, who starts at defensive back.
Plano capitalized off a Lee interception late in the fourth quarter when Brown scored on a 28-yard run to cut the deficit to 35-33 with 1:53 remaining. The Rebels stopped the Wildcats on a 2-point run to keep the lead.
Lee needed only three running plays on the next drive, capped off by Hamm’s 43-yard scamper.
“We have a young football team on the road and we found a way to win against a team that beat Permian last year,” Hartman said of Plano’s 27-17 win over defending District 2-6A champion Odessa Permian in the 2025 season opener. “We found a way to be 1-0 and I’m proud of them.”
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The Rebels outgained the Wildcats, 537-297, in total yardage.
Reyes also completed a 5-yard TD pass to Anders, which gave Lee a 28-12 lead in the second quarter.
“JP had a great night,” Hartman said. “He had a late interception that he will learn from but I will tell you this I’m very proud of him.”
Jordon Shields had four catches for 82 yards for the Rebels, while Hamm had two catches for 37 yards to finish with 193 total yards from scrimmage.
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Lee hosts El Paso Franklin in its home opener at 7 p.m. Sept. 4.
Brown had 16 carries for 129 yards and two TDs for Plano; Kaedyn Brown caught seven passes for 124 yards, and Smith went 14-of-21 passing for 183 yards and a TD pass.