It looked like Northwestern commits Jacob Jefferson and Grayson Mann were on a collision course to meet for the Texas state high school championship. But it wasn't meant to be as Mann and previously undefeated Ft. Worth All Saints suffered their first loss of the year.

Now Jefferson, of Houston St. Pius X, is the last Wildcat standing.

Wide receiver commit Jacob Jefferson of Houston St. Pius X scored on a 39-yard touchdown pass with close to 8:36 remaining in the decisive third quarter, helping the Panthers post a 34-15 victory against the Bishop Lynch Friars.

Jefferson finished the game with eight catches for 98 yards and the score. Even after missing several games with an ankle injury, Jefferson still passed the 1,000-yard receiving benchmark on the year.

This game was not as easy as the score might indicate, though. After yielding an early safety, the Panthers had to rebound immediately with a 98-yard touchdown drive. They missed the PAT but converted a 2-pointer on their next TD to take a 14-2 lead.

Then the Friars decided to remind everyone why the held a 12-0 record coming into the game: A 67-yard touchdown pass from Sam Vrana to Jack Bradley narrowed the margin to 14-9 at halftime.

The second half, however, belonged to the Panthers, who scored three unanswered touchdowns to put the game out of reach.

In the third quarter, Texas A&M-bound quarterback Grant Gunnell, who finished with 269 yards passing, two TDs and an interception, threw his scoring pass to Jefferson. Then Kaleb Ducros scored on a 9-yard run for a commanding 28-9 lead. In the fourth, Ducros, who ran for a game-high 127 yards and three TDs, scored on an 11-yarder to put the game out of reach.

The Panthers' ability to move the ball was not surprising: they averaged 51.4 points per game, topping 50 points six times. This game, in fact, was their lowest scoring output of the season.

Jefferson has just one more game left in high school career. He and St. Pius X, now 10-1, will battle it out for the title in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) opposite Plano Prestonwood Christian this weekend.

Inside linebacker Grayson Mann and Ft. Worth All Saints Episcopal Saints fought back from deficits all night long, but they succumbed to Prestonwood Christian Academy by a score of 55-48 to end both their perfect season and a shot at a state title.

Defense was less involved as it was a showcase day for both quarterbacks. Prestonwood’s Wylie Green threw three touchdown passes, while All Saints’ QB Shaun Taylor threw four touchdown passes and caught another one on a fake field goal. Other top performances came from Prestonwood’s Mason Suitt, who caught 14 passes for 126 yards and two scores and threw the touchdown pass to Taylor, and All Saints’ Jacob Matlock, who rushed for 144 yards.

Prestonwood scored first on a 3-yard TD midway through the first quarter, leaving All Saints behind on the scoreboard through much of the game. After All Saints responded with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Suitt with just 1:48 to play in the quarter, Prestonwood's Ricky Baker took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.

All Saints kept pace, though. They got a 72-yard touchdown run from Matlock with just one second left to play in the first quarter. Once the second quarter began, Green began showing off his arm, finding Oklahoma-commit Austin Stogner for a 23-yard touchdown on fourth down, and Baker on a 52-yard bomb that went for another score before halftime.

When the first-half smoke cleared, Prestonwood held a 40-28 lead at halftime, though statistics were much closer: each team had 13 first downs and total yards were just three yards apart: 331 for All Saints and 334 for Prestonwood.

Despite three more touchdowns in the second half, Grayson Mann and the All Saints' defense had few ways of stopping the Prestonwood Lions' offense. Baker, in particular, was electric for the Lions, finishing the night with 139 yards receiving and a touchdown on nine catches, as well as his aforementioned 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Lions’ running game was equally effective, as the combination of Timothy Taylor and Jacob Cunningham combined for more than 100 yards and three touchdowns.

Having avenged their regular season loss to Ft. Worth All Saints, Prestonwood now advances to play Jacob Jefferson's St. Pius X for the TAPPS state championship game.

All Saints finishes the year at 11-1.