Mckinney, Texas.
After landing eight players on the All-District teams last year that were expected to contribute the 2019 season and 18 overall, to see what the McKinney North football team is doing -- this year shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.
Yes, the Bulldogs made the playoffs. Yes, the team put up a 90-spot in a district game last year. McKinney North has been to the playoffs in three straight years with a combined record of 20-14. In 2016, McKinney North went 6-5 (5-2) and averaged 39.6 points per game, bowing out in the first round of the playoffs. In 2017, the offense averaged 43.5 and the team finished 8-4, getting two rounds deep. Last year, it finished 6-5 and lost in the first round.
But this year's team is pumping on all cylinders on the way to a 5-1 start to the season and a 2-0 record in district play. In those six games, McKinney North is averaging 54.7 points per game and has hit more than 60 points twice. This output surge has been spearheaded by the dynamic duo of senior quarterback Dillon Markiewicz and junior running back Emanuel Fincher.
All these two have done is gone on to lead the area 5A rankings in yards in their respective categories. For Markiewicz, he leads 5A with 2,146 yards (357.7 yards per game), leads 5A with more than 100 pass attempts with a 73.9 completion percentage and shares the lead for touchdown thrown with 25.
Fincher, the junior back, is the only player in any UIL classification in the area over the 1,000-yard mark (167.2 yards/game; 6.6 yards per rush) and is tied atop 5A with 12 rushing touchdowns to his credit.
Along with a talented trio of wide receivers, McKinney North is sitting atop 5A in the area in total yardage, fifth in 5A in rushing yards and first in passing yards. The points per game is good for third in 5A.
Again, it's not like this wasn't possible considering Markiewicz's and Fincher's output in previous seasons. From his freshman through junior years, Markiewicz passed at a 61.3 percent clip, averaged 12.83 yards per completion and had 19 touchdowns to four interceptions without playing as a full-time starting quarterback. Fincher, as a freshman and sophomore, had 1,086 yards to his credit on 213 carries and 15 touchdowns.
What both have done is prove their respective values as being go-to players and making McKinney North a force to be reckoned with in 5A in 2019.
