Ten Years, Ten Best Games - #1: Dallas Skyline, 2009

Well, here it is... the greatest game of the first decade of Cy Woods football.

November 28, 2009: Cy Woods 28, Dallas Skyline 21

After outlasting Westfield in the area round of the 2009 Class 5A, Division I playoffs, the Cypress Woods Wildcats advanced to the Region II semifinals against the very team that ended their season in this very round last year, the Skyline Raiders. This game took place in Temple.

Skyline rolled out a lineup of major-college talent on both sides of the ball. Mike Davis, a wide receiver, was bound for Texas. Corey Nelson, a linebacker, was heading to Oklahoma. Paul Dawson, who was a junior that year, ended up going to TCU; he became a linebacker and played a couple of seasons for the Bengals. Tony Drake, the starting running back, had some interest from Michigan and Texas Tech before he decided to sign with Colorado State. Adrian Lee, a starting safety, signed with Cal. Javia Hall, their starting quarterback, was headed to UTEP and had not thrown an interception all season heading into this game. There were at least a couple more guys who signed with Division I programs but for brevity's sake, I will move on.

No doubt that they were the best collection of talent we faced that year. I said earlier that Jermicheal Selders might have been the best individual player that we went up against in 2009, but the Raiders had infinitely more star power in their lineup than Cy Creek did.

Skyline came into this contest ranked #2 in the state in Class 5A. The Raiders entered 2009 as a potential state title contender and up to this point, they had lived up to that billing. After strolling through their regular-season schedule and the bi-district round, they got a scare in the second round against DeSoto before ultimately prevailing 41-36.

Like the Klein Oak game in week two, no one really gave us a realistic shot of winning this game, much less making this game competitive. Maybe the DeSoto game revealed some of Skyline's vulnerabilities, but again, nobody gave us a chance.

Unfortunately, this game is too far back in the archive to pull up some of the comments that were made in the lead-up to this game, so there won't be any old takes that will be exposed. Also, I think there's some kind of statute of limitations in play. With that being said, I did remember a thread on the old 5ATexasFootball.com board that was titled "We're choppin' wood... Cypress Wood!" It was created by a Skyline fan who essentially believed that the Raiders would win in a walkover.

Hahaha.

Colton Huntsman opened the scoring in the first quarter with a touchdown run, but Skyline hit back with a couple of scores of their own to take a one-touchdown lead into halftime. The score remained 14-7 heading into the final quarter until Bryce Callahan snagged a bomb from Colton to tie the game. The deadlock remained until the Raiders regained the lead, which set the stage for a thriller.

Hall threw a ten-yard touchdown to Davis with 2:54 left in the game. It wouldn't take long for the Cats to respond because they went into their bag of tricks. Fred Anderson found a wide-open Patrick LaFleur to tie the game with 1:44 to go. On the ensuing defensive series, Hall's pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and Dylan Thompson was the quickest to react to the ball in the air and his interception gave Woods the chance to get the lead... which they did when Isaiah Battle scored on a 44-yard touchdown catch with thirty seconds remaining. Bryce sealed the victory when he picked off Hall with about twenty seconds left.

On that Thanksgiving weekend, Cy Woods was the hot topic in Texas High School Football. We had upset the #2 team in the state of Texas. We defeated a team of legitimate Division I players. With this victory, we made it further than the first senior class at Cypress Woods High School.

Obviously, the following week's game against Stony Point was a massive crash. But, we're not talking about that.

With that, this series chronicling the ten best games from the first ten years of Cypress Woods Wildcats football is complete. Let's hope that the second decade produces more memorable moments like these ten games.

Know the Enemy: Cypress Ridge Rams

Week 1: Cypress Woods Wildcats vs. Cypress Ridge Rams

6:00 PM Saturday, September 1, 2018

Pridgeon Stadium

Photo by Tom Dendy

Football has returned and a new decade of Cy Woods football has dawned.

Normally, this would be a district game. But, the UIL's realignment has split Cy-Fair ISD into two separate districts for athletics. And so for the first time ever, the Cypress Woods Wildcats will take on a Cy-Fair ISD school in a non-district contest.

Previously on Cy Woods Football...

The Cypress Woods Wildcats fell 21-17 to the hated Cypress Ranch Mustangs in the 2017 regular-season finale for both teams. This was definitely a game in which the Cats had opportunities to win, but unfortunately, the Mustangs invoked some kind of black magic that allowed them to get the victory somehow. Well actually, they converted a couple of interceptions into touchdowns. A missed field goal gave Woods one final shot to steal the game, but they were stopped on fourth down to end it.

Jacob Kainer threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Jack Barrientez on the first play of the game, setting a new school record for longest play from scrimmage.

The Enemy: Cypress Ridge Rams

I don't recall the name of the school district to which they belong.
District 17-6A
2017 record: 1-8, 9th in District 17-6A
Did not qualify for playoffs

All-Time Series

Cy Woods leads 6-4.

Previous Meetings

September 22, 2017: Woods 35, Ridge 34

September 17, 2016: Ridge 36, Woods 21

September 11, 2015: Woods 59, Ridge 31

September 13, 2014: Woods 59, Ridge 28
September 19, 2013: Woods 28, Ridge 26
September 20, 2012: Ridge 54, Woods 21
October 29, 2011: Woods 45, Ridge 13
October 30, 2010: Woods 49, Ridge 40
September 25, 2009: Ridge 46, Woods 20 (Homecoming II)
September 26, 2008: Ridge 43, Woods 41

Players to Watch

I don't know whether any of them have changed numbers this season.

Noah Smith - SR ATH, most likely QB
Leslie Wellington - JR RB
Tristian Fletcher - SOPH RB
Lejune Patterson - JR WR
Kade Barnes - JR DB
JeVaun Dabon - JR DB
Branden Nguyen - SR DB
Michael Rich - SR LB
Tyler Cockle - SR DL/TE
D.D. Redmond - SR DL/LB
Vernon Broughton - JR DL

2¢ on Ridge

One year after enjoying the thrill of the most successful season in program history in which they advanced to the fourth round of the playoffs, the Rams crashed to the bottom of the standings in 2017 with a single, solitary victory over Cy Lakes serving as the barrier between them and the ignominy of a winless season.

Cy Ridge has a few pieces to build around as they look for another playoff bid and it starts with Noah Smith. Smith has served as a super-utility player on offense for three years but now he will engineer the Rams' offensive attack. Wellington and Fletcher, who saw plenty of playing time as a freshman, will platoon at running back. Patterson will likely be one of Smith's primary targets in the passing game and at 6-3, he'll have an advantage over his defender.

The Rams always seem to have quality players on the defensive side of the ball, especially in their front seven. Tyler Cockle, another three-year letterman, will team up with D.D. Redmond, Mike Rich, Centarus Smith, and Vernon Broughton, who transferred in from Spring Woods. Broughton, one of the top juniors in Texas, is a huge pickup for an already talented defense. Cockle is also listed as a tight end in the team preview in Dave Campbell's Texas Football, so expect to see him play offense when the situation warrants it. Branden Nguyen led the Rams in tackles last season as an outside linebacker; he's moving to the secondary where he'll lead a talented cast that includes JeVaun Dabon and Kade Barnes. Dabon, who might be Ridge's top prospect in the Class of 2020, impressed immensely after working his way into the starting lineup last season.

Last Time These Two Teams Met

A frenzied finish in the fourth quarter saw the Wildcats emerge with a 35-34 victory after they thwarted a two-point conversion that would have given the Rams the lead in the final minute of regulation. Jack Barrientez ran for 69 yards and a touchdown and also caught a screen pass and ran 68 yards for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.

Sub-Varsity Game Information

Freshmen at Woods, JV at Ridge. Game times are 4:30 and 6:30 on Thursday.

The Rams only had one JV team last season, so it is possible that there will only be one JV game.

UPDATE: Per Angel Verdejo, the JV Gold (B) will play Humble on Thursday at 4:30 at Woods. The freshman gold team will travel to College Station High School to take on the Cougars at 4:30.

Location of Cypress Ridge High School

For Freshman Gold team: Location of College Station High School

Ten Years, Ten Best Games - #2: Georgetown, 2008

Two more games remain in the countdown of the ten best games of the first decade of Cy Woods football. 

Let's take a trip back to the very first playoff game in program history.

November 15, 2008: Cy Woods 21, Georgetown 20

The Cypress Woods Wildcats would be traveling to Kyle Field to take on the Georgetown Eagles in their first-ever playoff football game. Both teams handled themselves well in district play and finished third in their respective districts. On paper, this seemed to be an even matchup with a few questions: How would the high-flying Wildcats fare against a Georgetown team that put up a decent amount of points, but obviously not at the obscene rate that Woods did; they only exceeded 40 points once. On the other hand, the Eagles allowed just 202 points in the regular season. But then again, Woods only gave up 194, albeit in eight games.

But, the question that burned most was: How would the first-year program fare in its first playoff voyage at the highest classification of Texas high school football?

Lucas DeVilliers was clearly far from his best as he only finished 13-33 through the air and got held to just 11 yards on ten carries on the ground. He did find Brad Korndorffer on a bubble screen and Brad did the rest for a 41-yard touchdown. Lucas also scored on a six-yard run just before halftime and that gave Woods a two-touchdown lead in College Station. The Eagles would turn the tables however as they scored the first two touchdowns of the second half, including the game-tying score at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Fortunately, Jeremy Conley stopped the bleeding momentarily with a touchdown about two minutes after Georgetown tied the game, giving Woods a lead that somehow held up for seven minutes.. when the Eagles scored again and were on the verge of tying the game with two minutes left in regulation. The Cats had other ideas, however.

Josh Theut used all of his 6-foot-8 frame to block what would have been the game-tying extra point and preserved the Wildcats' lead. Extra points make all the difference in such a tight game. Fortunately, the always-reliable Andrew Klink converted all of his opportunities. Georgetown's kicker... got shut down at the most crucial moment of the game.

Ten Years, Ten Best Players - #11: Jeremy Conley

This next series profiles the ten best players through the first ten years of the Cypress Woods Wildcats football program.

Where do I even begin with this? I've played with and seen many outstanding players in this program and it was quite torturous to just whittle the list down to ten people.

Well, I'll take a creative liberty here. 2018 is the tenth anniversary of the inaugural varsity football season for Cypress Woods High School, but this will also be the eleventh incarnation of the varsity football team at Cy Woods. I was also planning on doing this during the off-season and have it run concurrently with the ten best games series, but it's been a hectic summer at the job. So instead, I will make this a weekly feature during the season.

#11: Jeremy Conley, RB, 2008-09

Notable games

2009 @ A&M Consolidated: 13 carries, 172 yards, 3 TD
2009 vs. Klein Oak: 9 carries, 81 yards; 3 receptions, 124 yards, TD
2009 vs. Cy Falls: 6 carries, 108 yards, TD; 4 receptions, 52 yards, 2 TD

There were about 15 other people that I considered putting at #11, but I feel pretty safe with this selection.

Jeremy Conley is the template for every Cy Woods running back: elusive, lightning-quick, and a threat to score every time he touched the ball. No doubt, Jeremy was the coldest running back I have ever seen. What he also had that sets him apart from many of the running backs who have come through Cy Woods was his pure strength. Pound for pound, Jeremy was probably the strongest person in the program while we were at Woods. Jeremy also competed in powerlifting so he was truly a blend of brute force and pure speed.

I have no idea how he didn't earn any legitimate offers to play college football. Maybe Division I FBS would've been a bit much for him, but this guy overcame a torn ACL sophomore year and he worked extremely hard to return to his pre-injury form. I don't doubt that he could've held his own at the FBS level although he might've had to redshirt and then bide his time before getting a chance. Jeremy definitely would have been a good FCS player and he could've dominated Division II.

Ten Years, Ten Best Games - #3, Cy-Fair, 2014

Three games left in this countdown. Checking in at the #3 spot is... the other overtime game in Cy Woods football history and a crucial victory over one of their fiercest rivals in a bid to keep their playoff hopes alive.

October 25, 2014: Cy Woods 38, Cy-Fair 31 (OT)

Photo by Don Carson

In a double Homecoming game in 2014, Langham Creek made sure to spoil Cy Woods' festivities as Paul Watson and Toneil Carter overwhelmed the Cats in the second half on their way to a 55-31 victory. Cy Woods wouldn't have any time to recover and they wouldn't have a minnow to help them rebound right away because next up on the schedule was Cy-Fair, who started off 17-6A play in dominant fashion but began to show some cracks in a loss to Langham Creek. They also trailed at halftime against Cy Falls but managed to escape by pitching a shutout in the second half and wearing the Eagles out with their signature ground game.

Eleven penalties. Six turnovers. Four fumbles, three of which were lost. Three interceptions. Judging by those numbers, one may assume that Cy Woods was blown out in this game. 

Narrator's voice: They were not. 

Not only were the Wildcats not blown away on that Saturday afternoon, but they... won. I couldn't believe it either. With this victory, they defeated the Cy-Fair Bobcats in a varsity football game for the first time since 2010. Luis Reyes, a sophomore kicker who turned himself into a special teams weapon, hit a 37-yard field goal with five seconds to go in regulation to force overtime. This was one of the kicks that defined his career at Cy Woods. Bryson Powers did it all that season as he burst onto the scene; he caught two touchdowns against Cy Ridge before moving over to safety, where he continued to make an impact and on this day, he secured the win with an interception in overtime. 

This game surely has to be on the same tier as the Jersey Village game in 2015 in terms of absurdity. As sloppily as they played, the Cats showed why they were a great team that season by finding ways to overcome their miscues that day. Of course, a team can only commit so many mistakes before they get punished for them, but on this day, six turnovers and eleven penalties apparently weren't enough to condemn the Cypress Woods Wildcats to defeat. Luck was certainly on their side on that October afternoon. But most importantly, the Wildcats maintained their composure even as the turnovers mounted and kept the Bobcats from making them pay for those mistakes enough times to give them a chance to snatch the victory in the end.

Ten Years, Ten Best Games - #4: Cy Ranch, 2011

Number four is yet another revenge game...

I dunno, I guess I'm just a vengeful person by nature.

September 23, 2011: Cy Woods 68, Cy Ranch 21

The 2011 Cypress Woods Wildcats had a nightmare start to District 17-5A play as they got handcuffed on offense in their first two games, scoring a grand total of 12 points in losses to Cy Falls and Cy-Fair; in the loss against Cy-Fair, the Wildcats let a stellar defensive performance go to waste as were shut out for the first time in team history. They needed to find a way to right the ship before things got hopelessly out of hand.

Their next opponents, Cy Ranch, had stunned them with a game-winning field goal in the first-ever meeting between the two hated rivals in the previous season. The Mustangs entered this contest coming off wins in their first three games and they were definitely relishing the fact that they would get to go up against a reeling Cy Woods squad. Well... they had no idea just how fed up the Cats were.

The Cats realized that their early results fell woefully short of the expectations set by the community, the pundits, and most of all, themselves. They set out to prove that the reports of their demise were greatly exaggerated, and boy, they did that in emphatic fashion.

Cy Woods set out to humiliate Cy Ranch that evening and their intentions were made extremely clear when Josh Holley skied to snatch a pooch kick out of the air from right under a Mustang's nose. Should've called a fair catch... right after that, Trent Holmes left everyone in the dust for a 42-yard touchdown run that put Woods up 21-0. The second quarter only contained more pain and misery for the Mustangs and when halftime arrived, Woods entered with a 48-0 lead. This wasn't even their largest lead of the contest; they led by 54 points at two different points in the second half. They terrorized Keith Ford all evening, holding him to just 54 yards on the ground and forcing him to lose three (or maybe it was four) fumbles. The Cats forced seven fumbles and recovered five of them and if I remember correctly, they converted all of those turnovers into touchdowns.

Whenever I brought up this game with Coach Jones, he'd always say that he should've told the Cats to keep scoring. I honestly think that had he felt like doing so that night, he would've told Cy Woods to score 100 points. He definitely had disdain for Cy Ranch and deep down, he wanted to humiliate them. As it stands, though, the Cats still managed to get their revenge on Cy Ranch... and then some. This win also kick-started an eight-game winning streak that carried them through district play where they absolutely laid waste to everyone in their path. This was also the first game in a stretch where they scored at least 60 points in three straight games.

Safe to say that the 2011 Cy Woods Wildcats turned their season around with this win.

Ten Years, Ten Best Games - #5: Jersey Village, 2015

Continuing the countdown is the only loss on this list and possibly a game that we may not see for another 10-20 years.

October 30, 2015: Jersey Village 74, Cy Woods 73

Photo by Billy Schuerman

The most prolific night of offense in the history of the Cypress Woods High School football program went to waste... all because Jersey Village scored one more point. This was a game that the Cats desperately needed to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive and would have prevented them from relying on the Falcons to help them out the next week against Cy-Fair. 

Unfortunately, Deshun Qualls had other ideas as he threw for 518 yards and six touchdowns, ran for 161 more yards and scored four more touchdowns, and converted the game-winning two-point conversion with just over a minute remaining in the game to swing the outcome in the Falcons' favor. To this day, Qualls is the only opposing starting quarterback to defeat the Wildcats three times.

C.J. Jones ran for a school-record 317 yards and scored four times while Jordan Johnson became the second Cy Woods player to record 200 receiving yards. He did so on just four catches and scored on three of those receptions. But once again... it was all for naught. Josh Marvin, a linebacker who played only in garbage time until this game, was all over the field. He had an interception, a couple of sacks, and even recovered a fumble. Safe to say he made the most of his opportunity.

Yes, this was a loss that decimated the 2015 Cy Woods Wildcats' playoff hopes. Then again, it's on the countdown because of its sheer absurdity. It was one of those games where you had to be there to believe what transpired. Even now, I am still in utter shock over what occurred in this game.

What we saw that night probably will not be replicated for another decade, if ever. One team scored 73 points... and lost. A seldom-used linebacker who literally did not see any playing time until injuries forced him onto the field for this game had one of the greatest individual performances on defense in Cy Woods history. The Wildcats had a player run for over 300 yards and had another record 200 receiving yards... and lost. The Falcons had a player who accounted for ten touchdowns. Two teams and a school district had their record books forever altered.

Ten Years, Ten Best Games - #6: Cy Ranch, 2013

#6 in "Ten Years, Ten Best Games" was a particularly satisfying night in the history of the Cypress Woods Wildcats football program...

October 19, 2013: Cy Woods 54, Cy Ranch 0

For an entire offseason, the Cypress Woods Wildcats had to hear about Cy Ranch going four rounds deep in their first-ever playoff appearance while they were missing out on the playoffs for the first time ever. They'd be sure to circle the date of this matchup...

Cy Woods was coming off a 30-23 defeat at the hands of Cy-Fair in which they mounted a furious second-half comeback bid that the Bobcats seemed to have an answer for. Meanwhile, the Mustangs demolished Cy Lakes 45-3 entering this game. Both teams came in to this contest at 3-2 in District 17-5A play, so the winner of this contest would surely receive a huge boost for their playoff hopes.

Well... it turned out that this game was no contest whatsoever. The Cats stormed out to a 20-0 lead after the first quarter and pretty much dominated the Mustangs in every facet of the game as they sauntered to a 37-0 halftime lead. The Outlaw, Shane Lawless, started off the second half by compounding Ranch's misery by intercepting a pass with one hand and returning it for a touchdown. Mason Roberts completed the massacre with an 85-yard touchdown run midway through the final period, and in the end, Cy Woods dealt Cy Ranch the worst loss in their program's history in terms of scoring margin. The 54-0 final score still stands today as the Mustangs' heaviest defeat. For Cy Woods' class of 2014, they ended up beating their counterparts from Cy Ranch all four years.

There is no statement more emphatic than blowing out your most hated rival while also shutting them out and handing them their worst loss ever, especially when their fortunes during the previous season turned out to be so much better than yours. It's also particularly sweet when you had to endure the non-stop smack talk for such a long time.

Ten Years, Ten Best Games - #7: A&M Consolidated, 2008

The next entry in "Ten Years, Ten Best Games" takes us back to the very first varsity football game.

September 6, 2008: Cy Woods 28, A&M Consolidated 17

After tearing through a junior varsity schedule in 2007, the Cypress Woods Wildcats would finally get their chance to enter the big leagues in 2008. The Cats might have been the fresh faces, but they were already being perceived as a threat in District 15-5A. 

September 6, 2008. It was the first Saturday of September. This was the night that Cy Woods football formally began. The A&M Consolidated Tigers served as the first opponent in Wildcat football history and they made the journey from College Station to the Berry Center for this momentous occasion.

Well... it wasn't the greatest start. They gave up a touchdown on their very first defensive series. They moved the ball but couldn't seem to find the end zone or sustain any drives. The Tigers got another touchdown and a field goal and the Cats found themselves down 17-0 after their very first half as a varsity football program. It looked as though the Cypress Woods Wildcats would debut with a feeble meow rather than a fierce, earth-shattering roar.

Whatever words were uttered inside that locker room at halftime appeared to have a profound effect on the Wildcats as they snapped out of their slumber on offense and kept Consol off the scoreboard on defense in the second half. A couple of touchdown passes from Lucas DeVilliers early in the third quarter got the Cats back in the game and he put them in front for good with his legs, scoring on a couple of runs. This was a team that cut their teeth against some solid varsity programs in Texas in the last two seasons as they waited for their chance to finally show off their skills; the Cats proved that they belonged on the same field as those teams, the light finally switched on for them and they came to that realization in the final 24 minutes of this game.

For the first time, Texas high school football got a glimpse of what Wildcat football was all about. They got a chance to see a team that fully embraced the opportunity to build something special. They saw the massive 212° flag waving in the breeze and saw a group of guys and a community that bought in to the mantra that it symbolizes. It was truly a memorable night in this little corner of Harris County.