FLOWER MOUND – The secret is out.

Flower Mound, which has thrived in the shadows of District 6-5A counterparts throughout the season, has now catapulted its way to the top of the district.

Flower Mound downed Coppell, 23-16, on Friday night to clinch a playoff berth, extend its winning streak to four games and gained the knowledge that it is catching heat at the perfect time.

It has been an interesting journey for Flower Mound (6-3, 5-1), which survived an offseason firestorm as its 2006 starting quarterback, Jacob Morris, abruptly transferred to Coppell last spring.

Junior quarterback Brandon Colquitt stepped in and learned on the job while keeping Flower Mound in contention.

"I think we flew under the radar a little bit," Flower Mound coach Cody Vanderford said. "I think everyone counted us out last year when our quarterback left.

"We put nose to the grindstone so to speak, and we knew we'd be a good football team before it was all said and done, and here we are."

Colquitt has been magnificent during Flower Mound's run, and added to his accolades against Coppell with two long touchdown passes: an 80-yarder to James Hanna and a 30-yarder to junior receiver/defensive back Collin Ashley.

"It's like night and day from the beginning of the year to the end of the year," said Colquitt, who finished 13 of 22 for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. "Everything seemed so fast at the beginning of the year. Now it's slowed down a lot."

With the Flower Mound victory and Flower Mound Marcus' 21-10 upset of Hebron, the playoff picture in 6-5A is set. Flower Mound, Marcus and Hebron are all tied for first at 5-1 and Lewisville is alone in second place at 4-2, but it would win a tiebreaker against Coppell by virtue of its 21-7 victory on Sept. 28.

That means Coppell (6-3, 3-3), ranked No. 16 by SportsDay, is out of the playoffs.

Flower Mound opened a 13-6 halftime lead, but both defenses were the stars of that stanza.

Coppell senior defensive back Ben Robinson had a sack, a punt block and fumble recovery, all at key points to help Coppell stay in the game.

Flower Mound's effort was a collective one, highlighted by sacks from Zack Montana and Erik Novitsky.

"Our defense has been an unsung hero for us all year, especially early, when Brandon was developing and getting the first start of his career," Vanderford said. "They've been a strong point for us and they did it again tonight. We made enough plays offensively to win the football game."

Ashley added an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter as he returned an interception 54 yards.