LIVE BLOG -- McKinney at Sherman It's senior night at Bearcat Stadium and a beautiful night for football. The 28 seniors are being introduced. The field looks rough, but the fact it's playable is a minor miracle after all the rain.

Pink ribbons have been painted at each 15-yard line in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Kickoff coming up.

Well, that was quick. Sherman took the opening kick and went 61 yards on six plays and John Welborn caught a quick dump from Madison Carter with less than two minutes off the clock. Eric Hosek's PAT was wide left, keeping it 6-0.

The Lions went three-and-out and the Bearcats strike quickly with a completion from Carter to Zac Whitfield for 61 yards to the 1. Carter kept for the TD, and it's 12-0 at the 8:03 mark. The two-point try was no good.

McKinney got its first first down of the game on a 40-yard run by Damion Willis, but the Bearcat defense held and Geoff Hooker batted away a pass from McKinney's Matt Lipka. But the Bearcats just threw their first interception all year at the 2-yard line, and several plays later, McKinney's Zach Lee hit Lipka for an 89-yard pass play to cut Sherman's lead to 12-7.

The Cats answer with a 68-yard drive covering 10 plays. J.J. Floyd took it in from the 4, and Hosek's kick makes it 19-7 at the 8:41 mark of the second quarter.

McKinney runs more than eight minutes off the clock and finally cuts it to 19-14 with 24.6 seconds left in the first half on Lee's 2-yard keeper. The Lions used 17 plays. Pretty impressive ball control.

The Bearcats get the ball back at midfield thanks to a good Floyd return, but can't do anything with it and the half ends with the Cats up by five.

At halftime both teams have 123 passing yards, but Sherman has 131 yards rushing while McKinney has 96. Whitfield has 94 rushing and 75 receiving yards. Neither team has a fumble, which is pretty remarkable considering the field condition.

Here's a stunning halftime score: Bells 13, Melissa 0.

The second half is set to start. I don't get the sense that the Bearcats are in any trouble. Other than the interception and the end of the half, the Cats have moved the ball. But the Lions get the ball first in the second half and Sherman will need a stop.

And it's a disaster from the start. Hosek slipped in the mud and touched the ball when the Cats did their usual run-up on the kickoff. The Lions get the ball on the 40. Nine plays later, including a key fourth-and-long conversion, Lee took it un untouched to give McKinney the lead. Lee's 2-point pass to Lipka was too high, keeping it 20-19 with 8:40 to go in the third.

Then Whitfield fumbled the ball at midfield and McKinney recovered — there were actually two fumbles on the play, including one on the snap which Carter saved and handed to Whitfield. The Lions go on the move again, and Sherman just got hit with an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty, but a holding penalty wiped out a Lion touchdown by Lee. There were six penalties in all in the series, but Sherman held when Welborn hit receiver Devante Harrison a yard short at the 8. What a wacky series.

The Bearcats go three-and-out and punt, and McKinney crosses midfield quickly. The Lions have the ball at the Sherman 29 as the third quarter ends. Hooker made a TD-saving tackle of Damion Willis at the 5 after a 24-yard gain. That tackle is huge because it cost the Lions four points. The Cats hold them to a 25-yard field goal by Michael Gonsalves.

The Cats finally catch a spark offensively. They go 57 yards, and Whitfield takes it in from 17 yards out. Hosek's PAT gives Sherman a 26-23 lead with 8:09 left in the game. The Lions threatened with another time-consuming drve, but again the Cats come up big, stopping the Lions a yard short of a first down at the Sherman 35 with 2:39 to go.

The Bearcats run three plays and call time out with 40.2 seconds left. The Lions will get about 30 seconds to win the game after the punt.

And the Bearcats do it. Lee passes for 21 to Lipka, but with time running out, Lee is called for intentional grounding. The last pass to Kody Minick is two yards short of a first down and still inbounds, and the Lions can't run a play. Sherman wins 26-23 and clinches the top seed in 4A Division I. They will play Carrollton Newman Smith after Denison.

Sorry about the earlier format; the machine I was using didn't allow paragraph breaks, even though to me it looked like I was putting them in. It's fixed now.