Photo by Matt Ramos, The Crimson Connection
For the first time since 2011, the Cypress Woods Wildcats finished with more points than the Langham Creek Lobos in a football game. After they fell behind 20-14 in the 2nd quarter, the Wildcats finished the game on a 34-13 run on their way to a 48-33 victory at Pridgeon Stadium on Friday night. Huge win, and that's an understatement. The Cats snapped their longest active losing streak to any opponent and have effectively put the Lobos on the brink of elimination while bolstering their own playoff hopes.
There's no doubt that the playoffs have come extremely early for the Wildcats, and even if they win out, tiebreakers may enter the equation. They'll also need some results from other games within the district to go their way. It's not going to be easy on their end, either, considering that they'll be facing Cy-Fair to begin the Week 9 slate in CFISD, and then they'll have to tussle with a Jersey Village team that has hassled them over the last couple of seasons. This team is good enough to get it done, though, and they're getting themselves going at just the right time.
So how exactly did the Cats manage to win, despite committing 19 penalties? Well, that's easy... they played 48 minutes and did not turn the ball over. This was their first turnover-free game since the 2nd round of last year's playoffs against Katy Taylor. Their last turnover-free game in district? Well, you'd have to go back to when they demolished Ranch in 2013.
So, What Happened Was...
Langham opened up with a drive inside the Woods 15 that stalled, so they called on the field goal unit. A 30-yard field goal attempt from Ryan Harwell was blocked, and the loose ball was recovered by Keith Watson, who returned it into Lobo territory. However, Langham opened the scoring with a QB sneak from Paul Watson. On a 4th and 2 play earlier in the drive, Toneil Carter slipped out of Neil Chambers' grasp and eked out just enough yards to move the chains. It didn't take long for Woods to respond, however, as C.J. Jones caught a 7-yard pass. R.J. Harmon then followed with a 60-yard run that put the Cats inside the 10, and C.J. finished it off with a 7-yard run to tie the game.
End 1: Woods 7, Langham 7
The back-and-forth began in the 2nd quarter as Watson snuck the ball in for the second time to open the scoring in the period. Kason Franklin ended up blocking the ensuing extra point. This would turn out to be a significant play as the Wildcats responded once again. Bryson Powers fought his way into the endzone from 3 yards out, and Luis Reyes' extra point put them in the lead. It was the Lobos' turn to answer as Carter streaked down the field and caught a pass from Watson in stride to put Langham back in the lead. And yet again, Woods responded with another scoring drive as Bryson broke free with a 67-yard touchdown run to put Woods back in front again. The Woods defense forced a 3-and-out on their next series, and the offense was not needed as C.J. Jones returned a Harwell punt 62 yards for a touchdown. That return was made possible by a huge block from Keith Watson (I think), who took out one defender, and slowed down Toneil Carter, who is also their special teams ace, just enough for C.J. to find the opening he needed. The defense forced another 3-and-out to finish out the half.
Halftime: Woods 28, Langham 20
The 3rd quarter has been the best quarter for the Wildcats this season, and in this game, it turned out to be more of the same. The two scoring plays in this quarter were 2 touchdown passes from Bryson to Jordan Johnson. The first one came from 21 yards out and capped off the first series of the 2nd half, while the other was an 8-yard strike following another Langham 3-and-out.
End 3rd: Woods 42, Langham 20
So, that 3rd quarter score meant that it would be smooth sailing to the end, right? Well... almost. With an offense as talented as Langham Creek's, no lead is safe. Watson scored on a 17-yard run and then connected with Quartney Davis for a 15-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion that would have made it a one-touchdown game failed, so the Woods lead remained at 9. Once more, the Wildcats had an answer for this late Langham uprising as C.J. put up an insurance touchdown with a 58-yard run with less than 4 minutes in the game to put the Wildcats up 15. The Lobos had one last-ditch drive that was kept alive by a 46-yard pass from Watson to Mercury Hayes, but the defense ultimately finished the job and wrapped up a massive victory.
Final: Woods 48, Langham 33
Ground
The Wildcats ran roughshod over the Lobo defense as they finished with 401 yards on the ground. TSRN actually took away 4 yards because Bryson kneeled twice at the end of the game.
In not-good news, R.J. was knocked out of the game in the 3rd after he careened into the Langham sideline and collided with a bench. I highly doubt that he would just collide with a bench on purpose.
Bryson's 67-yard scoring run was the longest running play for the Wildcats this season.
C.J. Jones: 17 carries, 176 yards, 2 TD
Bryson Powers: 20 carries, 159 yards, 2 TD
R.J. Harmon: 4 carries, 60 yards
Jordan Johnson: 1 carry, 3 yards
Jared Taylor: 1 carry, -2 yards
Air
Bryson did not throw an interception for the first time this season. He very nearly did, though, as a ball that was thrown behind Jared Taylor was tipped by Jared and was nearly scooped up by a Langham defender. He had some balls that came out of his hand in a weird fashion, a few passes that were swatted down at the line of scrimmage, and a couple that he just straight up threw into the ground. One of the issues that he's been battling all season is throwing behind receivers, so it's clear to me that he still has some timing kinks to work out. I do wonder if receivers see the ball come out of a left-handed QB differently than they would with a right-handed quarterback.
Bryson Powers: 11-22, 157 yards, 2 TD
Jordan Johnson caught both of Bryson's touchdown passes. On the first series of the 2nd half, he almost broke free for an 81-yard touchdown. He ended up having to settle for 19 yards and a 21-yard score to finish off the drive. But hey, a touchdown's a touchdown.
Jordan Johnson: 4 catches, 74 yards, 2 TD
C.J. Jones: 3 catches, 26 yards
Jack Barrientez: 2 catches, 39 yards
Jared Taylor: 1 catch, 20 yards
R.J. Harmon: 1 catch, -2 yards
Defense
28 first downs, 33 points and 508 yards allowed. When the defense allows those numbers, it's normally a loss. However, Woods has been in plenty of these games, and more often than not, their offense outdoes such figures. Yeah, they allowed over 30 points and over 500 yards, but this was definitely their best effort of the year. They made the stops when they desperately needed them, and not much came easily for Langham, especially in the 3rd quarter.
Kason Franklin forced the only turnover of the game in the 3rd when he jarred the ball loose from Jalen Howard and Jared Taylor fell on it inside the 1-yard line. Now, the enusing Woods possession didn't amount to anything, but that turned out to be a crucial moment in the game. The Lobos had a drive aided by 2 Woods penalties, end right at the doorstep. They were on the verge of punching it in, but Kason had something to say about that. Because of that turnover, they were kept off the scoreboard. Toneil Carter, who ran for well over 200 yards in last year's meeting, was held to 85 in this game. He did have a couple of long receptions, so he wasn't completely shut down. But, his impact in the running game was marginal at best.
The front 7 hassled Paul Watson all night and their sacks really disrupted the offensive momentum that the Lobos intended on building. Watson may have put up 354 yards, but he did not look particularly comfortable in the pocket all night. The secondary did get lucky with receivers dropping catchable passes, and yes, they did get sliced through the air, but they also kept the Lobo receivers from making the tough catches, as well.
Fumbles forced: Kason Franklin 1
Fumbles recovered: Jared Taylor 1
Sacks: Caleb Smith 2.5 (12 yards lost), Austin Greaves 1.5 (10 yards lost), Keith Watson 1 (6 yards lost), Jordan Frazier 1 (11 yards lost)
By the way, that "pass interference" penalty on Jared in the 3rd quarter was one of the worst calls I have ever seen at any level of sports.
Special Teams
Luis Reyes hit 6 of his 7 extra points; the one he missed sailed wide left. He also punted 4 times; 1 of them landed inside the 20. He's now 9 points away from tying Andrew Klink for most points scored by a kicker in Cy Woods history.
Most teams have realized that allowing the Wildcats to return a kick or a punt usually doesn't end up well for them. The Lobos kicked away from everyone for the vast majority of the night, but Ryan Harwell, their kicker/punter, made one critical error before the break in letting C.J. Jones return a punt. That turned out to be a not-smart decision as he returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. That's the 3rd time that C.J. has scored a return touchdown (2 kick, 1 punt) in his Woods career.
The block unit earned their keep as they kept 4 points off the board.
Men of the Match
On the offensive side, it's C.J. and Bryson as they just demolished the Langham defense. The front 7 harassed Paul Watson all evening as they got to him 6 times.
Looking Ahead
The Wildcats will kick off Week 9 as they take on the Cy-Fair Bobcats at the Berry Center at 7 PM on Thursday, October 22. Cy Woods will be the home team in this game.
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