All photographs in this post are courtesy of Phlox Photography unless stated otherwise. Here are the photo galleries for this week's games.
"All the underdogs in the world!
A day may come where we lose, but it is not today.
Today we fight!" - BTS
I must admit that coming into this game, knowing what happened last season when Cy Woods tussled with Tomball Memorial gave me a sense of dread and I also wondered what would be going through their heads after losing a heartbreaker to Spring the week before. Woods definitely came into this game as the underdog (or cat, I guess); they were stumbling into district play at 0-2 while Tomball Memorial made short work of Tomball and Klein, looking like threats to contend for a district title once again.
When Tomball Memorial scored in two plays after Woods had opened up the scoring, I had the feeling that it was going to be another shootout and it wouldn't bode well for the team that ran out of bullets first.
Instead, both teams stood their ground and traded scores all evening. Cy Woods started the scoring and in the end, they finished the scoring as Michael Fernandez's 24-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in regulation sailed through the uprights and gave Cy Woods a 31-28 victory over Tomball Memorial in a game filled with its share of dramatics.
Yes, winning one of the two non-district games would have been nice. But then again, having success in district play is the ultimate determination between making the playoffs and missing it. Not only did Cy Woods start off on the right foot in district, they also avenged a blowout loss in the process.
We have seen the true character of this team over the last five quarters of football. This is a team that believes that they will always have a chance to win a game, no matter the odds. They displayed their resilience in coming back against Spring even though they ultimately lost. Against Tomball Memorial, they utilized the hard lessons they had to learn after such a bitter defeat in order to finish off a victory against one of the best teams they will face all season. Without a doubt, they finished this game.
And now, on to Langham Creek.
What Happened
After a nice punt return from Chase Richter and a personal foul on Tomball Memorial, Trayse Holmes opened the scoring with a 13-yard run. Tomball Memorial responded with a 72-yard touchdown pass by Colton Marwill to Joseph Manjack. On the ensuing kickoff, JaVarian Stewart took it 93 yards to the house. There was a flag but the penalty was on Tomball Memorial, so Stewart got his first touchdown as a varsity football player.
End of 1st Quarter: Cy Woods 14, Tomball Memorial 7
Marwill pushed a pile and found the end zone from four yards out. Christian Scott had a nice return on the ensuing kickoff and then on the ensuing drive, Dylan Cormier took the ball on the reverse and fired it to a wide-open Christian for 43 yards. Christian capped off that drive with an eight-yard touchdown run.
Halftime: Cy Woods 21, Tomball Memorial 14
Marwill hit Logan Kyle for a 24-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring in the second half. Woods turned the ball over on downs on their next drive, but Reagan Simmons put them back in front by picking off Marwill and taking it 43 yards to the house. Tomball Memorial re-tied the game after Carbrey Barnes took it up the middle and scored from 24 yards. A tense final twelve minutes awaits...
End of 3rd Quarter: Cy Woods 28, Tomball Memorial 28
Eleven minutes and fifty-four seconds elapsed in the fourth quarter without a point until Michael Fernandez's 24-yard field goal. Cy Woods was set up by another good punt return by Chase Richter, who took it to Tomball Memorial's 39. On the first play of the drive, Jackson Jones threw it to Cam Sowell, who made a one-handed catch and then trapped the ball against his helmet to secure it. Christian Scott caught a pass for six yards and Fernandez came on to win it.
Final: Cy Woods 31, Tomball Memorial 28
Ground
After running for just 136 yards as a team in non-district play, Cy Woods busted out for 200 against Tomball Memorial and gained a little over five yards per rush. That's a little more like it. They had to grind out some yardage against a stout Tomball Memorial defensive line, which was what I sort of expected. The outside runs proved to be the key as it allowed them to get out of the mess up front and they managed to unlock the defense once Christian Scott got involved. Christian busted out a few nice runs, including a 31-yarder that put them at the foot of the red zone in the fourth quarter.
Jackson Jones also found his footing in the run game; he had a 47-yard run that was negated by a holding call. I'm sure he would have loved to have that run shown on his line, but he did find Cam Sowell to get Woods out of first and 35 on the next play.
All statistics from Varsity Wires.
Jackson Jones: 18 rush, 65 yards
Trayse Holmes: 10 rush, 43 yards, TD
Christian Scott: 7 rush, 81 yards, TD
Konner Sabrsula: 1 rush, 11 yards
JaVarian Stewart: 1 rush, 1 yard
Air
It would've been nice if Woods could have made it 2-2 on offensive drives in the first quarter to make it a two-score game. Christian Scott was outmuscled by Kerwin Ross, who ended up getting an interception in the red zone to turn Woods away.
No touchdowns in the passing game, but that doesn't mean that Woods was shut down in this phase. They also used some... creative means to move the ball through the air as well. Oh, and that catch from Cam Sowell in that situation... players make plays.
Jackson Jones: 7-17, 153 yards, INT
Dylan Cormier: 1-1, 43 yards
Konner Sabrsula: 0-1
Cameron Sowell: 5 rec, 124 yards
Christian Scott: 3 rec, 72 yards
Me, after seeing that catch:
This was a screenshot I took on my computer a long time ago
I don't think I've seen a team successfully convert three fourth-down situations on one drive, but Tomball Memorial did, right after they got the ball back on Ross's interception. That was part of a 14-play, 90-yard drive that was capped off by Marwill's touchdown run on... fourth down. That's rough, but every defense is bound to give up those kinds of scoring drives. TM went 2-13 on third down but somehow went 4-6 on fourth down.
Kahlil Robinson had two more pass breakups and came up huge again late. Early in the fourth, with Tomball Memorial driving to try and take the lead yet again, Marwill threw one up to the end zone for Joseph Manjack, who had gotten the better of Kahlil in the first quarter with a 72-yard touchdown. Manjack was a step in front but Kahlil recovered and got to Manjack right as the ball reached his hands to break up the pass and keep the game tied. One play later, Tomball Memorial turned it over on downs. Logan Kyle was... oddly quiet, even though he did have a 24-yard touchdown catch. He had six other catches and recorded a meager 43 yards on those six.
Carbrey Barnes ran for 191 yards, but everyone else on his team combined to run for eight yards. I'll admit, it did get frustrating watching him run off tackle to the left and getting six or seven yards every time. But then again, he wound up emptying the tank in three quarters. In the fourth, he ran for only nine yards on six carries and had a fumble. Marwill did score once, but most of the running he did was for his well-being because Woods got solid pressure on him all evening.
Eighteen Wildcats recorded at least one tackle and Taber Tofte led the way with eleven. He also forced Barnes to fumble on the third play of the evening. With his eleven tackles, he now moves ahead of Colton Morris in that category by one (Taber 21, Colton 20).
Trajan Armstrong, Chris Agnew, Jakob Jones, and Colton Morris all got to Marwill in this game and they hung a total loss of 34 yards on Marwill's rushing line.
Reagan Simmons' pick-six couldn't have come at a better time. Cy Woods had turned the ball over and Tomball Memorial was looking to take the lead. Reagan obviously had other ideas.
Special Teams
In terms of kickoff and punt returns, I don't think Cy Woods has had a better game than this one. JaVarian Stewart became the seventh Cy Woods player to return a kickoff for a touchdown. This was Cy Woods' first kickoff return touchdown in five years; the last time this occurred came in 2014, when Jordan Johnson ran one back against Jersey Village. Tomball Memorial thought they'd get away with kicking it to Christian Scott instead, but they somehow forgot that Christian has been Woods' primary kickoff returner for three years. Chase Richter returned two punts into Tomball Memorial territory and Woods came away with points each time.
Christian Scott - 3 kicks returned, 85 yards; long of 33
JaVarian Stewart - 2 kicks returned, 103 yards, TD; long of 93
Chase Richter - 2 punts returned, 67 yards; long of 48
None of them made a blunder as big as Kyle, who fielded a kickoff at the two-yard line and his momentum ended up taking him into the end zone. Unfortunately for him, that meant that he couldn't kneel, otherwise Woods would have gotten a safety. He ended up getting swallowed up at his team's own six. I also learned that the kicking team can also be called for holding on kickoffs. Don't think I've seen that before.
Michael Fernandez may have missed his first two field goal attempts but when he absolutely needed to make one, he did just that. He also made all four of his extra point attempts. Trajan Armstrong took over the punting duties and I believe that this will benefit Woods' special teams unit moving forward.
Michael Fernandez: 1-3 FG (made 24; missed 34, 20), 4-4 XP
Trajan Armstrong: 2 punts, 69 yards (34.5 yards per punt); long of 36
Man of the Match
1. Michael Fernandez
Michael could've just packed it in and called it a night after seeing his 34-yard field goal attempt sail just wide to the left. His second try, from 20 yards, ended up getting blocked. When he was summoned once again, however, the third time proved to be the charm as his 24-yard field goal was the difference between the Wildcats and the Wildcats. He showed his resilience by putting his two prior misses behind him and nailing the biggest kick of his career so far. Michael should be even better now that it looks like he'll be focusing exclusively on placekicking.
2. Cameron Sowell
One of the best catches you'll see all year. In all my years of watching Cy Woods football, this might be the most spectacular catch I've ever seen, especially given the game situation. In any other system, Cam could put up 1,000 yards easily. Playing in this Woods offense as a wide receiver requires a great deal of sacrifice because as we've all seen, Woods is now very much a run-first team.
That hasn't stopped Cam from making big plays, however. He may not have scored on Friday, but getting 43, 40, and 26 (on that catch) shows that he's a playmaker. After recording just one catch through the first two games, him getting five in this one was great to see.
3. Returns
Special teams played a crucial role in this Woods victory. At this point, I've discussed Michael Fernandez's kick ad nauseam, so let's look at the kick/punt return game.
The return game was won by Woods in an absolute landslide. JaVarian Stewart wrestled the momentum back to Cy Woods' side with his kick return touchdown. Tomball Memorial thought they'd be off the hook by deciding to kick to Christian Scott. Both of Chase Richter's punt returns set up Woods scoring drives.
In addition, Woods turned the ball over on downs to a Tomball Memorial team looking to take the lead for the first time. Reagan Simmons came up with the interception and returned it for a touchdown to put Cy Woods back in front.
4. Christian Scott
Speaking of Christian, he came into this season with high expectations. He was expected to be the guy who would replace the vast majority of Jake Tesch's production last season. So far, so good. Another touchdown on the ground and with his contributions on kickoff returns, he certainly had a huge game.
5. JaVarian Stewart
Not a bad way to score your first touchdown at the varsity level. He's made some good things happen in the return game and with Rudy Mejía's injury, JaVarian looks to be in line to take on a greater role in the offense.
6. Kahlil Robinson
Probably made the defensive play of the game. He also missed a couple of opportunities to get an interception, but he certainly did his part in saving the night.
Sub-Varsity Results
Freshman Gold (1-1) 40, Tomball Memorial 0
Freshman Cardinal (3-0) 44, Tomball Memorial 8
JV Gold (2-0) 28, Tomball Memorial 24
JV Cardinal (2-1) 15, Tomball Memorial 0
Looking Ahead
Cy Woods will kick off Week 4 in District 14-6A when they face the Langham Creek Lobos at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium on Thursday, September 19 at 6:30 PM. Cy Woods will be the away team in this game. After three straight weeks at Pridgeon to start the year, I welcome this change of venue.
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