Waco High fans showed up to Waco ISD Stadium on Friday night hoping to see the season’s fifth installment of the Darrell Harris show.

Instead, they watched Junior Session steal the show.

Session rushed for 216 yards and five touchdowns to lift the Skeeters to a 42-34 victory in a nail-biter that was close throughout and went down to the final minutes.

Waco High scored with exactly three minutes left after a long drive to pull within a score and got the stop it needed for one more chance.

Mesquite’s Brecario Ogden grabs the facemask of Waco High ball carrier Michael Branch in the first quarter Friday night at Waco ISD Stadium. The penalty set up a Lion touchdown.
Duane A. Laverty / Waco Tribune-Herald

But on third-and-10 from his own 27, Waco High quarterback Keimon McDowell’s pass sailed just high over the middle, and Charles Grant picked it off to complete the Mesquite victory.

Harris’ numbers fell well short of his season pace, but he was still productive with 166 yards on 23 carries, and he added another 73 receiving yards and a late score.

Chase Hobbs scored on his only three carries of the game on runs of two, five and seven yards for Waco High.

The Skeeters (3-2) led or were tied almost the entire game, but Waco High managed to keep it close despite missing offensive lineman Kanyon Mitchell with an injury, losing quarterback Deonte’ Phillips to an injury after the game’s first series and having offensive lineman Andrew Billings ejected following a scuffle in the first quarter. 

The Lions stormed into the lead on Chase Hobbs’ 7-yard touchdown sprint with 7:22 left in the third quarter, 24-21.

At that point, everything was going Waco High’s way and had ever since a huge hit on the second-half kickoff changed the momentum.

One play turned it back in Mesquite’s favor.

On the second play of the Skeeters’ next drive, Session found a small crease in the Waco High defense running straight up the middle. With no support at the second level, all Session had to do was outrun the secondary, which he did for a 90-yard touchdown that put Mesquite right back on top, 28-24, with 6:24 left in the third quarter.

Session took a break on the next drive, but Tyson Reed looked just as nimble on a 29-yard jaunt to paydirt that saw him take the ball outside, then make a nifty cut back inside and through a small hole provided by a nice downfield block.

That made it a 35-24 advantage for the Skeeters, and they piled on another score when Sessions bulled his way in from five yards out after Ben Diaz kicked his second field goal for the Lions to make it a 42-27 score with 8:07 left to play.

Mesquite’s Junior Session busts up the middle for a first-quarter touchdown in front of Waco High’s Chase Hobbs (6).
Duane A. Laverty / Waco Tribune-Herald

McDowell performed adequately in place of Phillips, throwing for 127 yards. He started slowly, including missing on eight straight tosses at one point, but hit seven of his last 10 attempts to finish 12-for-31.

The Lions (3-2) took the ball first and went three-and-out. Phillips punted on fourth down then came out with an apparent hip injury and returned.

Mesquite quarterback Alex Cooper took to the air immediately and hit passes of 20 and 38 yards to Dameon Gamblin and Rashard Higgins, respectively, before Session put the Skeeters on the board with a 2-yard burst.

Session scored on later runs of two and 27 yards to help Mesquite offset TDs of three yards by Hobbs and five yards by Harris, along with a 25-yard Diaz field goal at the first-half gun and take a 21-17 lead into the break.

Cooper cooled off after the opening drive and finished 8-for-17 for 128 yards. He was intercepted once.