On a dreary afternoon at the Berry Center, the Cy Woods Wildcats kicked off their playoff campaign with a 66-15 shellacking of the Benjamin Davis Falcons, who were playing their first playoff game. One more point, and they would have tied their highest output in a playoff game.
This was a pretty good Aldine Davis squad and the Cats just absolutely drubbed them, flying out to a 45-7 halftime lead. They got the jump on the Falcons and went for the jugular right away. Nick Hooper and C.J. Jones ran roughshod over an imposing Falcon defense to the tune of 4 touchdowns apiece and the Wildcat defense grounded an offense littered with explosive athletes.
Good win. Now, on to the 2nd round.
So, What Happened Was...
Davis opened up the game with a first down on the first drive of the game, but the Cats quickly snuffed out the threat and forced a punt... that never got off because the Davis punter dropped the ball right as he was about to kick it. This gave the Cats the ball at the Davis 26-yard line for their first drive, and just two plays later, Nick Hooper opened up the scoring with a 23-yard run. He added a 57-yard TD run later on in the quarter, and after the Falcons got on the board thanks to Josh Vinson's 41-yard touchdown catch, C.J. Jones answered with a 54-yard scoring run.
End 1st: Woods 21, Davis 7
The Outlaw Shane Lawless blocked a punt early in the 2nd quarter and the Cats recovered the ball at the Davis 2. One play later, C.J. Jones punched in his 2nd rushing touchdown of the game. Nick shimmied and made the Davis defense look foolish with his 3rd score, which came from 14 yards out. C.J. then struck again with a 6-yard scoring run, and Luis Reyes put 3 more points on the board just before the half.
Halftime: Woods 45, Davis 7
Isaac Jackson found Darrell Hubbard for a 31-yard TD pass in the 3rd, but Nick Hooper capped off his day with a 7-yard TD run on the ensuing Woods possession.
End 3rd: Woods 52, Davis 15
C.J.'s day was done after scoring his 4th rushing touchdown of the afternoon. That was his 2nd score from 2 yards out. And finally, Jacobi Boudreaux provided the cherry by finding pay dirt with an 80-yard run.
Final: Woods 66, Davis 15
Turning Point
The Cats forced a three-and-out on Davis' first drive of the 2nd quarter. On the ensuing punt, they broke through the Falcons protection, and The Outlaw Shane Lawless got the block. The Wildcats recovered the loose ball at the Davis 2, and one play later, C.J. Jones scored his 2nd rushing touchdown of the game.
They then proceeded to open the floodgates by scoring 17 more points, giving them a 45-7 lead at halftime.
Ground
All 9 Wildcat touchdowns were scored in the running game, which, yes, is a record. The 458 yards they amassed on the ground were the 2nd-most in a game in team history; they put up 464 against Springs in 2011.
Nick did what he has done all season on the ground. His 4 touchdowns give him 20 on the year, which ties him with Fredrick Anderson for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season in Cy Woods history. C.J. Jones chipped in 4 scores of his own. The Cats had 3 100-yard rushers in a game for the first time since the 2011 season finale against Springs. Nick and C.J. joined Jeff Bogan and Fred as the only players to score 4 rushing touchdowns in a game. Jeff did it against Langham in 2011, and Fred scored 4 against Clear Creek in the 2010 playoffs.
Shifting to Nick... he has now amassed more carries in a season than anyone in Cy Woods' brief history, with 204. The previous record was set in 2009, when Colton Huntsman ran the ball 200 times.
C.J. led the way with 157, and R.J. Harmon added 118. The third may surprise you. It was 3rd-stringer Jacobi Boudreaux, who finished with 104. 80 of those came on the final Woods touchdown of the day in the 4th quarter. Nick had 88 yards.
Nick Hooper: 14 carries, 88 yards, 4 TD
C.J. Jones: 12 carries, 157 yards, 4 TD
R.J. Harmon: 8 carries, 118 yards
Jacobi Boudreaux: 6 carries, 104 yards, TD
Jordan Johnson: 3 carries, 9 yards
Reece Clark: 1 carry, -7 yards
One carry was a bad pitch that was recovered by Woods for -11 yards. It was not credited to anyone. Like anyone would want an -11 yard carry on their final line...
Air
Was not utilized much because of the immense success the ground game was having.
Nick Hooper: 6-16, 78 yards
Reece Clark: 3-7, 32 yards
Jordan Johnson also appeared at QB, but did not attempt a pass.
Zac Duncan: 4 recs, 35 yards
Jared Taylor: 3 recs, 25 yards
C.J. Jones: 2 recs, 50 yards
Defense
The Wildcat defense came up big in this game as they completely grounded a fine Davis offense, holding them to just 47 rushing yards. Their big-play threats, Lexington Thomas and Anthony Malone, were held to 81 yards combined. The Falcons' big target outside, Josh Vinson, did give the secondary some issues as he managed to gain 142 receiving yards, but he was the only receiver, and really, only offensive player for that matter, to get anything going against the Cats.
Myles Wilson, a sophomore safety, had an excellent afternoon as he led the team with 11 total tackles. He also had a chance for an interception... if he would've turned around to find the ball. It hit him right in the hand and he wasn't even looking. Shane Lawless, Wade Carson, Keith Watson, and Elijah Pierson were all disruptive forces from their linebacker spots. Morgan Tosten, a starting defensive end, recorded 4 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, as did Elijah Pierson.
Tackles: Myles Wilson 11 (5 assisted), Wade Carson 9 (5 assisted, 1 tackle for loss), Shane Lawless 9 (2 assisted, 2 TFL), Morgan Tosten 6 (3 assisted, 4 TFL), Elijah Pierson 6 (5 assisted, 4 TFL), Keith Watson 6 (3 assisted, 1 TFL), Danny Malone 4 (3 assisted), Nick Bailey 3 (1 assisted, 1 TFL), Austin Greaves 3 (1 assisted, 1 TFL), Zac Duncan 3 (1 assisted), Jake Jones 2 (both assisted), Tre' Hart 2 (1 assisted), Justyn Johnson 1 (for loss), Hayden Stoeber 1 (for loss), Chad O'Donnell 1 (assisted), Jacobi Boudreaux 1, Josh Robbins 1 (assisted), Randall Medlin 1 (assisted), Michael Wirt 1 (assisted), Isiah Clay 1 (assisted), #52 1 (assisted)
#52, a defensive end, is a JV call-up, so he didn't have a nameplate on the back of his jersey. I think his name is Jose Garcia.
Keith Watson and Wade Carson both forced a fumble, and both of them were recovered by the Cats, as Elijah Pierson and Zac Duncan were in the right place at the right time on both occasions.
Sacks: Morgan Tosten 1 (6 yards lost)
Interceptions: Nick Bailey 1 (returned for 43 yards)
Special Teams
Luis Reyes put up 12 points as he went 9-9 on extra points and nailed a 40-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the 1st half. That's 4 10-point games for the sophomore kicker.
Jordan Johnson had 5 punts for 161 yards, for just over 32 yards per punt.
The Outlaw Shane Lawless blocked the first Davis punt of the 2nd quarter and the Cats recovered it at the Davis 2. One play later, C.J. Jones punched it in for a score.
Punts blocked: Shane Lawless 1
C.J. Jones: 2 kicks returned, 47 yards
Zac Duncan: 3 punts returned, 15 yards
Taylor Tesch: 1 kick returned, 16 yards
Other Notes
- Every year, the first playoff game gets colder and colder. Not sure what's up with that.
- The offensive line took another hit, as guard Shiva Reddy left the game with a knee or ankle injury.
- Speaking of the offensive line, they did an excellent job against the massive Davis defensive line in the running game.
- It was good to see Tyler Greaves back in uniform, although he was held out after tweaking his knee last week against Springs.
- Tobi Orundami, a freshman nose tackle, made his varsity debut on the final play of the game. He's wearing #93 for this playoff run. The coaching staff is very high on this kid... he'll be one to watch over the next 3 seasons.
- And how could I not mention Andrew Gallagher's 8-yard reception? The big fella was able to rumble downfield.... too bad he's not eligible to touch the ball.
Man of the Match
You can go a lot of ways here.
C.J. delivered with his best performance on the ground to date, while Nick is on the verge of re-writing the Cy Woods record books. Or maybe even Jacobi Boudreaux, who got his chance to showcase his skills late in the game. On the defensive side, Myles Wilson had a fine game in the secondary, while Shane Lawless blocked a punt to go along with his solid afternoon from his inside linebacker spot. Wade Carson was relentless as usual, and finally, Morgan Tosten and Elijah Pierson busted up the most plays as their 4 tackles for loss indicated.
Looking Ahead
In the area round of the 2014 Texas High School Football playoffs, the Wildcats will take on the Katy T....... aylor Mustangs. Kickoff is set for 1:00 at the Berry Center on Saturday. Let's just hope it'll be a little warmer.
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