Photo courtesy of Phlox Photography
Photo galleries for this week's games, featuring all sub-varsity teams
Bridgeland found themselves in the spotlight after they demolished Cy Ranch 48-14 last Saturday and they certainly basked in their newfound fame. The Harris poll placed them at #8 in Class 6A. The Houston Chronicle had them at #12. Dave Campbell's Texas Football had the Bears as 11-point favorites coming into this game. Bridgeland is a good football team and I don't deny that. With that being said, I thought they were getting a little more hype than what they truly deserved. I also thought I fell into that trap of hyping them up a bit too much while I was writing the preview for this game. They're good, but were they really that good?
Well, the Cats heard it all in the build-up to this game. They were supposed to provide little resistance before ultimately becoming another casualty in the Bears' march towards being crowned the new kings of District 14-6A. Oops.
The Cypress Woods Wildcats made an emphatic statement on Friday night by wrecking the Bears' Forthcoming festivities with a 20-7 victory that seemed more lopsided than the score suggested. The only scoring Bridgeland could muster up was a four-yard touchdown run from Mason Culton with 1:28 left in the ballgame. With this victory, Cy Woods took sole possession of first place in District 14-6A and they've won their first three district games for the first time in school history.
To be perfectly honest, I don't really consider this an upset. First of all, the Cats beat Bridgeland last year. Second, they came into this game believing that they were the better team and they backed up that statement by shutting down the best offense they've faced to this point this season. Taking down this team wouldn't be an easy task, but they were locked in all week to ensure that they accomplished what they set out to do.
And to think that they won this game despite the offense probably turning in their worst showing since game one. They couldn't score on fourth and goal from inside the one-yard line early in the first quarter. Jackson Jones and Trayse Holmes lost fumbles. I have previously said that when one aspect of the game falters, it's extremely difficult to make up those deficiencies in the other two phases. It's almost impossible to win when you commit four turnovers.
Conversely, the Wildcat defense more than earned their keep on Friday. On special teams, Michael Fernandez did his part in keeping the Cats in front with his two field goals. Once again, this team showed their character. Instead of moping about being forced back into duty once again because of the offensive miscues, the guys on defense just went back out and took care of business so they could give their brothers on offense another shot. I feel that the offense has shown flashes but they haven't quite put that complete game together just yet.
Next order of business: Congratulations to Sam Myers on making his varsity debut. Sam, who is a quarterback, is just the third freshman in Cy Woods history to appear in a varsity football game. The two guys who accomplished this feat before him, Samuel Stewart and Nick Hooper, turned out all right.
And finally, the Cats have won two consecutive games wearing cardinal tops and gold pants. Well, looks like that should the permanent home uniform from here on out. Personally, I think that's a sharp look.
On to Cy Lakes.
What Happened
Christian Scott opened the scoring with a four-yard run. This was the only scoring play of the first quarter.
End of 1st Quarter: Woods 7, Bridgeland 0
Jackson Jones added to the lead with a four-yard touchdown run of his own and Michael Fernandez nailed a 30-yard field goal.
Halftime: Woods 17, Bridgeland 0
Fernandez provided the only points of the third quarter (and the Cats' only points of the second half) with his 28-yard field goal.
End of 3rd Quarter: Woods 20, Bridgeland 0
Mason Culton spoiled the shutout with a four-yard touchdown run with 88 seconds left.
Final: Woods 20, Bridgeland 7
Ground
Jackson had his best game running the ball by far. He just put his head down and consistently got four/five yards every time. It was a rare rough night for Trayse Holmes as he lost a couple of fumbles in Bridgeland territory. I've seen his brothers play for this team many years ago and they rarely wallowed over poor performances. I have reason to believe that Trayse will do the exact same.
No huge runs, but the Cats wanted to chew up the clock and wear out the Bridgeland front seven and I think they did a solid job in that regard, turnovers notwithstanding.
All statistics from Varsity Wires.
Jackson Jones: 19 rush, 91 yards, TD
Christian Scott: 13 rush, 59 yards, TD
Trayse Holmes: 8 rush, 28 yards
Jeshurun Williams: 3 rush, -1 yard
Rudy Mejia: 2 rush, 12 yards
Sam Myers: 1 rush, 2 yards
Team: 2 rush, -2 yards (Jackson kneeled twice)
Air
Jackson completed five passes and all of them resulted in first downs. He did throw an interception to Gavan Kaspar in the third quarter but the Cats' defense responded by forcing Dylan Goffney to fumble and it should have been a touchdown for Ty Foster.
Jackson Jones: 5-12, 112 yards, INT
Cameron Sowell: 2 rec, 50 yards
Konner Sabrsula: 1 rec, 31 yards
Christian Scott: 1 rec, 21 yards
Jeshurun Williams: 1 rec, 10 yards
Defense
A team that scored 210 points in their first four games scored zero points for 46:32 worth of game time.
I have watched virtually every Cy Woods football game since the first year and I can say that there aren't too many games where I saw Cy Woods trot out such a resolute, ironclad defense. Conner Weigman couldn't make those throws he was making against Springs and Ranch simply because he experienced stress in the pocket for the first time all year and didn't know how to respond. Aside from their lone scoring drive, Bridgeland's offense looked as though they were in a haze all night, wondering why they couldn't get anything done against this Woods defense. They got slugged in the mouth for the first time this season and they just couldn't respond. Sounds a lot like how their game with Ranch went.
Weigman threw 28 incomplete passes in his first four games. On Friday, he threw 25 incompletions as he finished just 16-41 for 110 yards and an interception, his first of the year. Atrevion Hunter entered this game leading District 14-6A in receptions. He caught just two passes... for -9 yards. Dylan Goffney needed a 28-yard reception on a fourth down in the fourth quarter just to crack 50 receiving yards on the night. Mason Culton broke off one fairly long run, but other than his touchdown, he was largely silenced.
I'm sure Ty Foster would have really loved to have that fumble return touchdown on his line. If there's some consolation, I think he'll be satisfied with the effort he and his teammates put in on defense. He ended up getting credit for 50 yards on the return.
Seventeen Wildcats recorded at least one tackle and Foster led the way with seven. Two of his takedowns resulted in a loss of yardage. Taber Tofte and Colton Morris had six tackles apiece. No one sacked Weigman but again, they put immense pressure on him all night. Some of the hits they delivered to the Bears' receivers rattled them a bit as they dropped some very catchable passes too.
Kahlil Robinson, after just missing a couple of chances to get an interception earlier in the year, finally got one in the first quarter when Weigman literally just threw it to him. He returned it 13 yards into the red zone, but the Cats came up empty on their ensuing drive.
Through the first three games of district play, the Wildcats are allowing 252.3 yards per game. After getting gashed in non-district, the Cats' run defense has tightened up to start off District 14-6A play. After giving up over six yards per rush to Cy Ridge and Spring, they've slashed that figure to 4.4 yards per carry in district games.
Special Teams
There was a rare special teams miscue from Chase Richter as he couldn't field an onside kick and the Bears pounced on the loose ball. Fortunately, nothing came of it.
Michael Fernandez had his best game of the year as he successfully converted all of his kick attempts. He hit a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter, was good from 28 in the third, and converted on both of his extra points. Fernandez finished with eight points on the evening.
Trajan Armstrong: 3 punts, 111 yards (37 yards per punt), long of 46, one touchback
Michael Fernandez: 2-2 FG (made 30, 28); 2-2 XP
Chase Richter: 3 punt returns, 40 yards, long of 25
Christian Scott: 1 kick return, 29 yards
Man of the Match
Had to go back and forth on this but I'll have to give the honors to the Wildcat defense. They were well aware of the challenges that awaited them in Bridgeland's offense. They embraced those challenges and had a great week of practice to prepare themselves for what awaited on Friday night. When the time came for the Cats defense to face off against the Bears, they went out and nearly pitched a shutout.
Sub-Varsity Results
All I know is that they all lost.
Freshman Gold: 2-2 - L 26-13
Freshman Cardinal: 4-1 - L 26-20
JV Gold: 2-2 - L 21-12
JV Cardinal: 2-3 - L 37-24
Looking Ahead
The Cypress Woods Wildcats will face the Cypress Lakes Spartans at 6:00 PM on Saturday, October 5 at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium. Cy Woods will be the visitors in this contest.
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