6:30 PM Thursday, October 11, 2018
Pridgeon Stadium
Previously on Cy Woods Football...
On Homecoming Friday at Pridgeon Stadium, the Cats almost squandered a 30-point lead in the fourth quarter to a Cy Lakes team that had one final kick left in them. Fortunately, Cy Woods was able to stave off the Spartans' upset bid and escaped with a 63-55 victory.
Carson Danner ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 183 and three touchdowns. Darion Morgan had 163 rushing yards, 89 of which came on the longest touchdown run in Cy Woods history. Cameron Sowell caught two passes and they both resulted in touchdowns. On defense, Mac Bird had a dozen tackles to lead the way.
Next up for the Cats is another first: the first matchup with Cy-Fair ISD's other varsity football debutant, the Cypress Park Tigers. Before we take a look at the Tigers, here are the current standings in District 14-6A and the current situation in the district.
District 14-6A
Standings
Current playoff teams in italics.
1. Cy Ranch (6-0, 4-0)
2. Cy Woods (4-2, 3-1)
3. Tomball Memorial (4-1, 2-1)
4. Cy Lakes (3-3, 2-2)
5. Langham Creek (2-4, 2-2)
6. Bryan (2-3, 1-2)
7. Cy Springs (1-4, 1-2)
8. Bridgeland (2-4, 1-3)
9. Cy Park (0-5, 0-3)
Last Week in District 14-6A
Langham Creek 28, Tomball Memorial 21
Cy Ranch 51, Cy Park 10
Bryan 42, Bridgeland 21
Bye: Cy Springs
Langham Creek knocking off Tomball Memorial gave them another lifeline in the playoff chase. Ranch is the only team I would consider to be a lock for the playoffs at this point unless some cataclysmic event just tanks them. Tomball Memorial is in a good position but the loss will probably force them to wait a little longer for their gratification. So, that leaves Woods, Lakes, Langham, and possibly Bryan to duke it out for the last two spots. Woods definitely has the upper hand as they own the tiebreakers over Lakes and Langham.
This Week in District 14-6A
Bye: Langham Creek
Thursday
Cy Lakes vs. Bryan, 7:00 at Cy-Fair FCU
Friday
Bridgeland vs. Tomball Memorial, 7:00 at Cy-Fair FCU
Saturday
Cy Springs vs. Cy Ranch, 7:00 at Cy-Fair FCU
The Enemy: Cypress Park Tigers
First varsity season.
This will be the first meeting between Cy Woods and Cy Park. The Tigers will be the 31st team to face Cy Woods in football.
Cypress Park High School opened in 2016 with only freshmen. Opening with just one grade would, in a sense, ensure that the efforts to build its traditions would be wholly organic. There are also a few people currently on the Cy Park faculty who have Cy Woods connections.
Another Wildcat football alum will be taking on the Wildcats this week: Hayden Dobbs, a 2009 Cy Woods graduate, will be facing his old school for the first time as a Cy Park coach. Hayden was a team captain and a starting linebacker on the very first Cy Woods varsity football team and went on to play college football at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. Hayden is also on the cover page of the blog this year.
Also, Mrs. (Crystal) Romanelli, a former Cy Woods teacher who switched to the administration route and is now an assistant principal at Cy Park, will be pitted against her husband, Coach (Marcus) Romanelli, Cy Woods' strength and conditioning coach. And finally, Mr. (Chris) Hecker, Cy Park's principal, is a former Cy Woods assistant principal; he served in that capacity when Cy Woods first opened.
Oh, one last note. Park is singular. Like, one park.
Cy Park season-to-date
L 29-7 @ Klein Cain
L 47-0 vs. Cy-Fair (game called at halftime - severe weather)
L 54-7 @ Cy Lakes
L 37-30 vs. Cy Springs
L 51-10 @ Cy Ranch
The Tigers went up against the other Goliath of Cy-Fair ISD football, Cy Ranch, and well, they underwent another bloodletting, losing 51-10. At least they got that over with.
Players to Watch
Michael Tolbert - JR QB #2
Blasco Tipps - JR RB/DB #3
Sergio Small - JR RB/LB #24
James LeBlanc - JR RB/DB #23
Raymond Sims - SOPH LB/RB #32
Carl Jenkins - JR DB #25
Jasper Warren - JR DB/WR #20
Bryan Gutierrez - JR OL/DL #55
Elijah Steen - JR OL/DL #63
Mark Preston - JR OL #62
2¢ on Park
In contrast to Bridgeland, Cy Park's introduction to varsity football at the 6A level has been significantly more arduous. Mrs. Romo says that this season is essentially a learning year for the Tigers. They're pretty much using this year to learn what it takes to compete in Class 6A.
I watched their game against Lakes and they might have had 30 kids dressed for that game. And then... they saw a couple of key players go down with injuries during the course of that game. The Tigers will play hard, but they're also playing two games at once: the football game, and the numbers game. The numbers game is significantly more ruthless. Because of the severe lack of depth, everyone plays both ways.
Despite all of that, the kids don't seem discouraged and there is no shortage of excitement... there was a fair amount of students in the Park section when they played Lakes and almost all of them stayed through until the end. Fortunately for Park, it sounds like they have been able to build enough depth to where they can promote a couple of kids from the JV.
Probably the best news for them is that one of the players they lost against Lakes, Sergio Small, is now healthy. Small, who was also a regional qualifier in wrestling, is the heart and soul of this Tiger team. He's their leading rusher and he busted out for 208 yards against Cy Springs. James LeBlanc is Park's leading receiver out of the backfield. He is one of only four players to catch a pass for the Tigers. The Tigers will have to get something going in the passing game with Michael Tolbert. Blasco Tipps has some big-play ability of his own; he had a 60-yard touchdown run against Ranch and also returned a blocked extra point kick against Springs.
Carl Jenkins, one of the few players who plays on one side of the ball for Park, is listed at 5-1 and he embodies the Mark Twain quote "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." Jenkins leads the Tigers in tackles from his safety spot. They also have a couple of promising inside linebackers in Raymond Sims and Omega Goodlette. Bryan Gutierrez and Elijah Steen will anchor both lines for the Tigers.
Sub-Varsity Game Information
Freshmen at Park, JV at Cy Woods.
Freshman game times are 4:30 and 6:30 on Wednesday. There will be one JV game at 6:30.
Location of Cypress Park High School
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