GRAPEVINE — After Wylie quarterback KJ Long’s fourth-down pass was intercepted with less than six minutes remaining and his team trailing Colleyville Heritage 40-30, there was a sigh of relief on the home side of Mustang-Panther Stadium.

It was clear from the reaction to Bryson Burgess’ pick that most in the Panthers’ cheering section and on the Heritage sideline thought that was the knockout blow in a wild Region I-5A Division II area-round matchup.

It was also clear from that reaction that those same people hadn’t followed Wylie’s season closely enough.

The Panthers’ hadn’t broken the Bulldogs’ fighting spirit, they’d ignited it. And after forcing and recovering a fumble on the very next play, Wylie sandwiched a pair of clutch touchdown drives around a huge fourth-down stop to escape Grapevine with a thrilling 50-40 win and earn a region semifinals date next week with Canutillo.