Photo by Tom Dendy
Photo gallery for this week's games
After the third quarter, the Cypress Woods Wildcats trailed the Spring Lions 40-20 and they looked utterly shellshocked. Getting outscored 28-6 in twelve minutes can have that effect on teams.
But suddenly, the Cats found a second wind in the fourth quarter and they found themselves with a 43-40 lead with 7:45 left. And then Spring quarterback Alden Bradley scored on a keeper with 1:19 to go in the game. The Wildcats responded with a drive in a last-ditch attempt to reclaim the lead but sadly, Jackson Jones' hail mary went unanswered and the Lions wound up stealing this game right back from the Cats, escaping with a 47-43 victory.
And just like that, the fact that the 20-point deficit was the largest deficit ever overcome by a Cy Woods football team just becomes a footnote in a game that they ultimately lost. There's no worse feeling than doing all that work to come back (and take the lead!!!), only to lose in the end.
I'm always excited for a new Cy Woods football season and this year (still) has the potential to be truly special. As we've seen, however, this season hasn't started out the way we all expected. The non-district phase, mercifully, is over. There's still plenty of time to right this ship.
The Cats showed tremendous character in erasing that 20-point deficit, no doubt. But this team is too good to settle for moral victories. In the end, they didn't finish, and that's why they're entering district play 0-2 instead of 1-1. No time to wallow over this loss, either. Tomball Memorial is definitely relishing the chance to put Woods in an early hole. Lest we forget, this is a Tomball Memorial team that turned last year's game into a rout in the second half.
What Happened
A rather ho-hum first half gave way to a chaotic second half in which the Lions were on the verge of a blowout victory until Cy Woods finally woke from their stupor.
After a 49-yard pass on third and 16, Alden Bradley opened the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown run. The Cats responded with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Jones to Amari McDonald.
End of 1st Quarter: Woods 7, Spring 6
Cy Woods got the ball to start the second quarter and Rudy Mejía finished off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run. A Jackson Jones pass was picked off shortly before halftime and Spring got back on the board as Terrance Singleton got the pitch and fired it to a wide-open Cadyn Bradley for a 46-yard touchdown.
Halftime: Woods 14, Spring 12
That touchdown kicked off a stretch of 21 unanswered points for the Lions, who wound up with a 33-14 lead at the end of it. Bailee Davenport caught two touchdown passes of 18 and 14 yards and Bradley scored on a 41-yard run. Christian Scott stopped the run when he caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Jackson, but the Lions responded with a 75-yard touchdown run from Singleton and it looked like the Wildcats' death knell was impending.
End of 3rd Quarter: Spring 40, Woods 20
Christian scored again on a one-yard run and after a Taber Tofte interception and a Spring personal foul penalty that put the ball at the Lions' five-yard line, Trayse Holmes punched it in from five yards out and then Jackson found Colton Morris for two points. The Cat defense forced a turnover on downs on their next series. The offense suddenly found itself moving backward, but Jackson heaved one up for Cameron Sowell, who caught the ball while fully extended, absorbed the contact from the Spring defensive back, kept his balance, and outran everybody for a 75-yard touchdown. On the ensuing two-point conversion, Konner Sabrsula got the ball on a reverse and found Jackson wide open in the end zone. Cy Woods, down 40-20 entering the last twelve minutes, now led 43-40.
It was all for naught as Bradley scored on a 14-yard run with 1:19 left in the game. This came after Woods went three-and-out in an attempt to burn some clock and a 24-yard punt that gave the Lions the ball at the Cats' 38. The Cats got to the Lions' 22-yard line, but that was as close as they could get. A sack and fumble drove them back to the 39, and Jackson's last-gasp heave towards the end zone was picked off.
What a moronic game.
Final: Spring 47, Woods 43
Ground
For a team that wants to run first, averaging less than two yards per rushing attempt is absolutely unacceptable. Linemen not blocking, receivers not blocking... whatever the cause, the Cats did not get a thing from the run game in non-district play.
All statistics from Varsity Wires.
Trayse Holmes: 10 rush, 39 yards, TD
Christian Scott: 7 rush, 28 yards, TD
Rudy Mejía: 4 rush, 15 yards, TD
Konner Sabrsula: 4 rush, 8 yards
JJ Williams: 2 rush, 4 yards
Team: 1 rush, -2 yards
Cameron Sowell: 1 rush, -6 yards
Jackson Jones: 13 rush, -9 yards
Air
Too many throws bouncing off receivers' hands in this one. Some of them looked hot, but a few more of them looked like they were right on the money; the plays just weren't being completed.
Jackson Jones: 15-30, 293 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Christian Scott: 0-1
Christian Scott: 5 rec, 111 yards, TD
Amari McDonald: 2 rec, 49 yards, TD
Cameron Sowell: 1 rec, 75 yards, TD
Trayse Holmes: 3 rec, 10 yards
Rudy Mejía: 2 rec, 5 yards
JJ Williams: 1 rec, 35 yards
Konner Sabrsula: 1 rec, 8 yards
Defense
The tandem of Terrance Singleton and Alden Bradley gashed the Cats to the tune of 272 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries. They ran zone read like 90% of the time in the second half and it seemed like that play always resulted in positive yardage for the Lions.
Kahlil Robinson broke up a couple of passes, one coming on a hit to jar the ball loose. On the other one, a more nitpicky ref could have called him for pass interference. Taber Tofte had a huge interception in the fourth quarter that set up a Woods score.
Eighteen different Wildcats recorded at least one tackle in this game; Chase Richter and Riley Redgrave shared the top spot with eight apiece. Redgrave and Austyn Cohrs had two tackles that resulted in a loss of yards.
Sacks
It's been a while since I saw a Woods defense get consistent pressure on the quarterback.
Riley Redgrave 1.5
Austyn Cohrs 1
Jason Christenson 1
Tyler Sherrill 1
Mason Rickmers 1
Colton Morris 0.5
Interceptions
Taber Tofte - 1, returned 25 yards
Special Teams
Another bad snap on a punt... this time, it sailed about ten feet over Michael Fernandez's head and rolled inside the Cats' five-yard line. He didn't fall on the ball; instead, he ended up kicking it into the ground while under severe duress. Unfortunately, that set the Lions up at the Woods 14 and they ended up scoring, but he at least managed to kick the ball away. Fernandez will need to improve on the 27 yards per punt figure that he's bringing into district play.
On the placekicking side, Fernandez has been largely steady, even though he did have an extra point attempt that was blocked. He went 5-6 on extra points in this one.
Michael Fernandez: 5-6 XP; 5 punts, 152 yards (30.4 yards per punt), long of 38
Christian Scott rattled off a 42-yard kickoff return in the first quarter, following Spring's first touchdown. Chase Richter looked like he had a nice punt return in the cards until he got upended out of nowhere.
Amari McDonald: 4 kick returns, 49 yards, long of 16
Christian Scott: 3 kick returns, 78 yards, long of 42
Chase Richter: 1 punt return, 5 yards
Man of the Match
Christian Scott was there when the Cats needed a big play, or at the very least, a decent gain. In all, he recorded 217 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
Riley Redgrave shined on defense as well and his 1.5 sacks in this game puts him on top in that category for the Cats entering district play.
Sub-Varsity Results
Spring Freshman B 14, Cy Woods Freshman Gold 12 (0-1)
Cy Woods Freshman Cardinal 40 (2-0), Spring Freshman A 22
Cy Woods JV Gold 36 (1-0), Spring Sophomores 22
Spring JV 22, Cy Woods JV Cardinal 15 (1-1)
Looking Ahead
The Cypress Woods Wildcats will open District 14-6A play against the Tomball Memorial Wildcats at Pridgeon Stadium on Friday, September 13. Kickoff is at 7:00.
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