Unlike last year's affair, where the offense struggled to get off the ground, the Cats raced out to a 28-0 halftime lead and were up by as much as 52-3 as they spoiled Cy Lakes' homecoming festivities, winning 52-10. The Wildcats had 4 touchdown drives of 3 plays or less.
Yes, as we all know, Cy Lakes isn't a very good team, but the Cats didn't play down to their competition. They blitzed the Spartans early and often and ended up cruising to a big win, giving them a shot of momentum heading into their biggest 3-game stretch of the season, one that may very well define their season. They won a game that they were expected to win, and did so in convincing fashion.
So, What Happened Was...
The defense forced a 3-and-out to lead off the game. R.J. Harmon had a 33-yard catch on the Cats' first offensive play of the game, and two plays later, Jared Taylor opened up the scoring with a 9-yard run. After another 3-and-out and a poor punt that gave the Cats the ball at Lakes' 25, Tre Hart scored on a 12-yard pass from Nick Hooper.
End 1st: Woods 14, Lakes 0
The offense had a couple more chances to extend the lead, but two of their drives were stopped thanks to a holding call and a sack to end the 1st quarter, and two straight 5 yard losses on their first possession of the 2nd quarter. The defense forced another 3-and-out, and Bryson Powers took a punt 75 yards for a score. The Cats' next offensive series lasted one play: Jordan Johnson caught a 60-yard TD pass from Nick.
Halftime: Woods 28, Lakes 0
Nick kicked off the 2nd half by engineering an 80-yard scoring drive that culminated in him scoring on a 16-yard run. After yet another 3-and-out, C.J. Jones found the endzone once again, this time on a 38-yard run. The Spartans got on the board thanks to a 22-yard field goal from Marcos Staiano on a drive that was aided by a personal foul and a pass interference called against the Cats. On the ensuing kickoff, C.J. left everyone in the dust as he took it 80 yards to the house.
End 3rd: Woods 49, Lakes 3
Final: Woods 52, Lakes 10
Turning Point
In such a lopsided game, it could be tough to pinpoint the instance where the momentum of the game took a dramatic shift into one team's favor. But, I'll take a shot. On Lakes' 2nd possession of the game, the Cats forced them into 3 straight negative plays, and a poor punt gave the offense the ball at the Spartan 25. 2 plays later, Tre Hart scored on a 12-yard catch.
Ground
Only 3 carries for C.J. Jones, but they all went for good gains, none better than his 38-yard scoring run in the 3rd. Interestingly, the usual suspects were rather quiet in the run game.
Nick Hooper: 6 carries, 9 yards, TD
Jacobi Boudreaux: 6 carries, 27 yards
C.J. Jones: 3 carries, 61 yards, TD
Jared Taylor: 3 carries, 35 yards, TD
R.J. Harmon: 2 carries, 5 yards
Slade Ortiz: 2 carries, 1 yard
Mikey Roberts: 1 carry, 8 yards
Jordan Johnson: 1 carry, 6 yards
Reece Clark: 1 carry, 4 yards
Reid Epps: 1 carry, 2 yards
Zac Duncan: 1 carry, 0 yards
Air
A very efficient night for Nick Hooper, who started off by completing 8 of his first 9 passes. He found Tre' Hart for a 12-yard score in the 1st, and then in the 2nd, Jordan Johnson was on the recieving end of a 60-yard TD. Reece Clark was at the helm for Woods' final scoring drive, which was capped off by Luis Reyes' school-record field goal. Jordan Johnson also came in at quarterback deep into mop-up time, but he did not attempt a pass. R.J.'s lone pass attempt came on 4th down and was incomplete.
Nick Hooper: 10-13, 196 yards, 2 TD
Reece Clark: 4-7, 64 yards
R.J. Harmon: 0-1
R.J. Harmon: 4 recs, 60 yards
Zac Duncan: 2 recs, 35 yards
Taylor Tesch: 2 recs, 32 yards
Jordan Johnson: 1 rec, 60 yards, TD
Tre' Hart: 1 rec, 12 yards, TD
C.J. Jones; 1 rec, 25 yards
Cayden Sessions: 1 rec, 20 yards
Reid Epps: 1 rec, 11 yards
Cameron Jones: 1 rec, 4 yards
Defense
Even against a lesser opponent, and with the exception of a touchdown scored against backups, the Wildcat defense was ironclad, forcing 5 3-and-outs, 6 punts, and 2 turnovers. As you saw on Friday, they kept the Spartans off the scoreboard for the first 24 minutes. The 10 points allowed are a new season low.
Wade Carson had a monster night as he posted a dozen tackles and 2.5 sacks. Randall Medlin had another solid night on the defensive line, as he recorded a sack for the 2nd straight game.
Starting in place of Shane Lawless, Elijah Pierson recorded 7 tackles and returned an interception 20 yards. The Outlaw was in uniform but was held out.
Through 6 games this season, Tyler Greaves has probably been the Cats' most consistent player on the defensive side of the ball; by my count, he's got 53 total tackles through the first 6 games of the season. He forced another fumble and teamed up with Wade to get a sack in the 2nd quarter.
Tackles: Wade Carson 12 (7 assisted, 4 tackles for loss), Elijah Pierson 7 (6 assisted, 1 TFL), Tyler Greaves 6 (5 assisted, 2 TFL), Randall Medlin 5 (3 assisted, 2 TFL), Isiah Clay 5 (4 assisted, 1 TFL), Elijah Kinnison 5 (1 assisted), Bryson Powers 5 (3 assisted), Matt Swalm 5 (3 assisted), Justyn Johnson 4 (1 assisted, 2 TFL), Brandon DePrato 4 (3 assisted, 1 TFL), Morgan Tosten 3 (all assisted, 1 TFL), Danny Malone 3 (2 assisted), Myles Wilson 3, Michael Wirt 2 (1 assisted), Jake Jones 1 (assisted), Robert Barrientez 1 (assisted), Brandon Love 1 (assisted), Justin Lawson 1 (assisted, TFL), Davion Owens 1, Juan Goodman 1 (TFL), Zach Thornton 1 (assisted), Hayden Stoeber 1 (assisted), Jacobi Boudreaux 1 (assisted), Brandon Kula 1
Sacks: Wade Carson 2.5 (18 yards lost), Randall Medlin 1 (8 yards lost), Tyler Greaves 0.5 (6 yards lost)
Fumbles forced: Tyler Greaves 1
Interceptions: Elijah Pierson 1, Matt Swalm 1
Special Teams
Luis Reyes posted his 2nd 10-point game of the season. He made all 7 of his extra points and kicked a 48-yard field goal in the 4th quarter for the Cats' final points of the evening. Luis now holds the record for the longest field goal in team history; the previous mark was Nathaniel Crea's 47-yarder against Katy Taylor in the 2010 playoffs.
Luis Reyes: 1-1 FG (made 48), 7-7 XP
No punts! Well, the Cats did line up to punt once, but a botched snap resulted in Jordan Johnson scrambling for 6 yards, which was well short of the 1st down marker. (It was 4th and 23.) It's the 3rd time that Woods didn't punt the ball in a game; the other 2 instances happened in 2008 against Falls, and 2011 against Springs.
Bryson Powers had a punt return touchdown erased against Falls, but he got his punt return TD in this game. This one went 75 yards and put the Cats up 21-0 midway through the 2nd.
C.J. Jones returned his 2nd kickoff for a touchdown with an 80-yard dash in the 3rd, which came after a Lakes field goal. C.J. now stands alone; he's returned more kickoffs for touchdowns in a single season than anyone else in Cy Woods history. 1 more return for a score, and he'll tie Bryce Callahan's single-season record for return TDs in a season, whether it be punts or kicks. Bryce returned 3 punts for touchdowns in 2009.
Bryson Powers: 2 punts returned, 76 yards, TD
C.J. Jones: 2 kickoffs returned, 95 yards, TD
Zac Duncan: 1 kickoff returned, 12 yards
Other Notes
It's fun when everyone on the roster gets in the game, isn't it?
Skylar Schulz, one of the Cats' starting offensive linemen, was credited with a tackle.... for Cy Lakes.
History! The Greaves brothers, Tyler and Austin, became the first pair of brothers to appear in the same game for Cy Woods.
You have to hand it to the Spartans. They'll be overwhelmed on most nights, but they'll fight until the clock strikes zero.
Man of the Match
Wade Carson wreaked total havoc on the Cy Lakes offense. As a unit, the defense was excellent, but I felt that Wade's effort in this game was especially noteworthy. He was in on pretty much every play, and he made a defnitive impact on this game.
Honorable mentions go to Luis Reyes for his 10-point game, Nick Hooper for a solid, turnover-free night, and C.J. Jones for providing his usual fireworks.
Looking Ahead
A monumental 3-game stretch awaits the Wildcats.... the playoffs have come early in District 17-6A, and it's going to be a frantic final 4 weeks. Looming on the horizon for the Cats are Langham Creek, Cy-Fair, and Jersey Village.
Kicking off this veritable Murderers' Row is double homecoming with the Langham Creek Lobos! Homecoming VII will take place at the Berry Center on Friday at 7:00. The Wildcats are the home team in this matchup. The longest halftime ever awaits.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.