Cy Woods 48, Langham Creek 33: Still Alive.

2015 record: 3-4, 3-3 in District 17-6A

Photo by Matt Ramos, The Crimson Connection

For the first time since 2011, the Cypress Woods Wildcats finished with more points than the Langham Creek Lobos in a football game. After they fell behind 20-14 in the 2nd quarter, the Wildcats finished the game on a 34-13 run on their way to a 48-33 victory at Pridgeon Stadium on Friday night. Huge win, and that's an understatement. The Cats snapped their longest active losing streak to any opponent and have effectively put the Lobos on the brink of elimination while bolstering their own playoff hopes.

There's no doubt that the playoffs have come extremely early for the Wildcats, and even if they win out, tiebreakers may enter the equation. They'll also need some results from other games within the district to go their way. It's not going to be easy on their end, either, considering that they'll be facing Cy-Fair to begin the Week 9 slate in CFISD, and then they'll have to tussle with a Jersey Village team that has hassled them over the last couple of seasons. This team is good enough to get it done, though, and they're getting themselves going at just the right time.

So how exactly did the Cats manage to win, despite committing 19 penalties? Well, that's easy... they played 48 minutes and did not turn the ball over. This was their first turnover-free game since the 2nd round of last year's playoffs against Katy Taylor. Their last turnover-free game in district? Well, you'd have to go back to when they demolished Ranch in 2013.

So, What Happened Was...

Langham opened up with a drive inside the Woods 15 that stalled, so they called on the field goal unit. A 30-yard field goal attempt from Ryan Harwell was blocked, and the loose ball was recovered by Keith Watson, who returned it into Lobo territory. However, Langham opened the scoring with a QB sneak from Paul Watson. On a 4th and 2 play earlier in the drive, Toneil Carter slipped out of Neil Chambers' grasp and eked out just enough yards to move the chains. It didn't take long for Woods to respond, however, as C.J. Jones caught a 7-yard pass. R.J. Harmon then followed with a 60-yard run that put the Cats inside the 10, and C.J. finished it off with a 7-yard run to tie the game.

End 1: Woods 7, Langham 7

The back-and-forth began in the 2nd quarter as Watson snuck the ball in for the second time to open the scoring in the period. Kason Franklin ended up blocking the ensuing extra point. This would turn out to be a significant play as the Wildcats responded once again. Bryson Powers fought his way into the endzone from 3 yards out, and Luis Reyes' extra point put them in the lead. It was the Lobos' turn to answer as Carter streaked down the field and caught a pass from Watson in stride to put Langham back in the lead. And yet again, Woods responded with another scoring drive as Bryson broke free with a 67-yard touchdown run to put Woods back in front again. The Woods defense forced a 3-and-out on their next series, and the offense was not needed as C.J. Jones returned a Harwell punt 62 yards for a touchdown. That return was made possible by a huge block from Keith Watson (I think), who took out one defender, and slowed down Toneil Carter, who is also their special teams ace, just enough for C.J. to find the opening he needed. The defense forced another 3-and-out to finish out the half.

Halftime: Woods 28, Langham 20

The 3rd quarter has been the best quarter for the Wildcats this season, and in this game, it turned out to be more of the same. The two scoring plays in this quarter were 2 touchdown passes from Bryson to Jordan Johnson. The first one came from 21 yards out and capped off the first series of the 2nd half, while the other was an 8-yard strike following another Langham 3-and-out.

End 3rd: Woods 42, Langham 20

So, that 3rd quarter score meant that it would be smooth sailing to the end, right? Well... almost. With an offense as talented as Langham Creek's, no lead is safe. Watson scored on a 17-yard run and then connected with Quartney Davis for a 15-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion that would have made it a one-touchdown game failed, so the Woods lead remained at 9. Once more, the Wildcats had an answer for this late Langham uprising as C.J. put up an insurance touchdown with a 58-yard run with less than 4 minutes in the game to put the Wildcats up 15. The Lobos had one last-ditch drive that was kept alive by a 46-yard pass from Watson to Mercury Hayes, but the defense ultimately finished the job and wrapped up a massive victory.

Final: Woods 48, Langham 33

Ground

The Wildcats ran roughshod over the Lobo defense as they finished with 401 yards on the ground. TSRN actually took away 4 yards because Bryson kneeled twice at the end of the game.

In not-good news, R.J. was knocked out of the game in the 3rd after he careened into the Langham sideline and collided with a bench. I highly doubt that he would just collide with a bench on purpose.

Bryson's 67-yard scoring run was the longest running play for the Wildcats this season.

C.J. Jones: 17 carries, 176 yards, 2 TD
Bryson Powers: 20 carries, 159 yards, 2 TD
R.J. Harmon: 4 carries, 60 yards
Jordan Johnson: 1 carry, 3 yards
Jared Taylor: 1 carry, -2 yards

Air

Bryson did not throw an interception for the first time this season. He very nearly did, though, as a ball that was thrown behind Jared Taylor was tipped by Jared and was nearly scooped up by a Langham defender. He had some balls that came out of his hand in a weird fashion, a few passes that were swatted down at the line of scrimmage, and a couple that he just straight up threw into the ground. One of the issues that he's been battling all season is throwing behind receivers, so it's clear to me that he still has some timing kinks to work out. I do wonder if receivers see the ball come out of a left-handed QB differently than they would with a right-handed quarterback.

Bryson Powers: 11-22, 157 yards, 2 TD

Jordan Johnson caught both of Bryson's touchdown passes. On the first series of the 2nd half, he almost broke free for an 81-yard touchdown. He ended up having to settle for 19 yards and a 21-yard score to finish off the drive. But hey, a touchdown's a touchdown.

Jordan Johnson: 4 catches, 74 yards, 2 TD
C.J. Jones: 3 catches, 26 yards
Jack Barrientez: 2 catches, 39 yards
Jared Taylor: 1 catch, 20 yards
R.J. Harmon: 1 catch, -2 yards

Defense

28 first downs, 33 points and 508 yards allowed. When the defense allows those numbers, it's normally a loss. However, Woods has been in plenty of these games, and more often than not, their offense outdoes such figures. Yeah, they allowed over 30 points and over 500 yards, but this was definitely their best effort of the year. They made the stops when they desperately needed them, and not much came easily for Langham, especially in the 3rd quarter.

Kason Franklin forced the only turnover of the game in the 3rd when he jarred the ball loose from Jalen Howard and Jared Taylor fell on it inside the 1-yard line. Now, the enusing Woods possession didn't amount to anything, but that turned out to be a crucial moment in the game. The Lobos had a drive aided by 2 Woods penalties, end right at the doorstep. They were on the verge of punching it in, but Kason had something to say about that. Because of that turnover, they were kept off the scoreboard. Toneil Carter, who ran for well over 200 yards in last year's meeting, was held to 85 in this game. He did have a couple of long receptions, so he wasn't completely shut down. But, his impact in the running game was marginal at best.

The front 7 hassled Paul Watson all night and their sacks really disrupted the offensive momentum that the Lobos intended on building. Watson may have put up 354 yards, but he did not look particularly comfortable in the pocket all night. The secondary did get lucky with receivers dropping catchable passes, and yes, they did get sliced through the air, but they also kept the Lobo receivers from making the tough catches, as well.

Fumbles forced: Kason Franklin 1
Fumbles recovered: Jared Taylor 1

Sacks: Caleb Smith 2.5 (12 yards lost), Austin Greaves 1.5 (10 yards lost),  Keith Watson 1 (6 yards lost), Jordan Frazier 1 (11 yards lost)

By the way, that "pass interference" penalty on Jared in the 3rd quarter was one of the worst calls I have ever seen at any level of sports.

Special Teams

Luis Reyes hit 6 of his 7 extra points; the one he missed sailed wide left. He also punted 4 times; 1 of them landed inside the 20. He's now 9 points away from tying Andrew Klink for most points scored by a kicker in Cy Woods history.

Most teams have realized that allowing the Wildcats to return a kick or a punt usually doesn't end up well for them. The Lobos kicked away from everyone for the vast majority of the night, but Ryan Harwell, their kicker/punter, made one critical error before the break in letting C.J. Jones return a punt. That turned out to be a not-smart decision as he returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. That's the 3rd time that C.J. has scored a return touchdown (2 kick, 1 punt) in his Woods career.

The block unit earned their keep as they kept 4 points off the board.

Men of the Match

On the offensive side, it's C.J. and Bryson as they just demolished the Langham defense. The front 7 harassed Paul Watson all evening as they got to him 6 times.

Looking Ahead

The Wildcats will kick off Week 9 as they take on the Cy-Fair Bobcats at the Berry Center at 7 PM on Thursday, October 22. Cy Woods will be the home team in this game.

A (Very, Very Early) Look Ahead to 2015, and.... On Cy Ranch Playing for a State Championship

Well... November 29, 2014 marked Day 1 of the 2014-15 offseason for the Cy Woods Wildcats. One thing you should know about me is that I'm always jumping the gun on stuff. This post is no exception. And so... without further ado, here's my look ahead to the 2015 season.

Who's Not Coming Back?

Asterisk indicates a starter.

QB Nick Hooper* 

QB Reece Clark

RB Jacobi Boudreaux

WR Zac Duncan*

WR Taylor Tesch*

WR/long snapper Chad O'Donnell

OL Ty Dendy*

OL T.J. Frank

OL Brian Biddy (injured much of the season)

OL Andrew Gallagher*

OL Wyatt Wozniak*

OL Shiva Reddy*

OL Brandon Kula

OL Hunter Rohles

DL Randall Medlin*

DL Isiah Clay

DL Morgan Tosten*

DL Justyn Johnson*

LB Wade Carson*

LB Tyler Greaves*

LB/Special Teams Ace Danny Malone

LB Shane Lawless*

LB Elijah Pierson*

DB Jake Jones*
DB Robert Barrientez

DB Michael Wirt*

DB Matthew Swalm*

DB Nick Bailey

Who's Coming Back (as far as I know)?

Italics- Junior in 2015

RB R.J. Harmon

RB C.J. Jones

WR Tre' Hart

WR Jared Taylor

WR/QB/P Jordan Johnson

OL Skylar Schulz
OL Andrew Gonzalez

DL Caleb Smith

DL Brandon Love

LB Keith Watson

LB Austin Greaves

LB Brandon DePrato

DB Kason Franklin

DB Myles Wilson

DB Bryson Powers

K Luis Reyes

Returning Statistical Leaders

Passing: R.J. Harmon (this is not a typo), 1-3, 40 yards, TD
Rushing: R.J. Harmon, 122 carries, 1,118 yards, 8 TD (C.J. Jones leads the team with 12 rushing TDs)
Receptions: R.J. Harmon and Jared Taylor, 35 each
Receiving yards: Tre' Hart, 541
Receiving touchdowns: C.J. Jones, 7
Interceptions: Bryson Powers, 3

Questions That Must Be Addressed

1. Who's going to be the QB? 

The Cats went through a similar situation after the 2010 season when Colton Huntsman departed. Gabe West, who made a couple of spot starts in Colton's stead due to an injury, stepped in the following season and while he wasn't electrifying, he provided stability at the QB position and proved to be more than a capable performer. However, this situation is a little different. The Cats will be losing both their starter (Nick) and backup (Reece). Here are three guys who are probably going to be the primary contenders in the mix this spring.

Other than Nick and Reece, Jordan Johnson was the only player on the 2014 team that had QB experience. He has played quarterback at the sub-varsity levels and has performed well in that capacity, so presumably, he might be the front-runner for the job. He got in at quarterback during a couple of blowouts this past season, but he did not attempt a pass. Jordan's an outstanding athlete. He fits the mold of the Wildcat QB: a dual threat who is capable of making plays and extending them with his feet.

Austin Goffney was one of 3 (4, maybe?) players who saw action at QB at the JV Cardinal level this year. That position was a revolving door due to injuries, and the coaching staff was looking to see who could separate themselves from the pack. Goffney also fits the Wildcat QB mold in that he is also a dual threat. Although he might need a little more refinement as a passer, he possesses a good arm. He was also deployed as a receiver and a running back in certain situations this season on the JV level, so he could help as a utility player.

Jacob Kainer, a sophomore (OK, he's a freshman, but as far as the program is concerned, he's a sophomore), performed well as the primary freshman A-team QB. His skill set is rather reminiscent of Nick when he was a freshman, and I thought he played pretty well in the 2 freshman A-team games I saw this year. If (that's the operative word) he were to make the big club as a sophomore, which would also continue a trend of freshman A-team quarterbacks making the jump straight to the varsity, my guess is that he'd be broken in as a receiver, much like Nick and Mason Roberts were when they were sophomores.

Whoever gets the nod will have some weapons at his disposal, and more than likely, in keeping with the Wildcat tradition of employing dual threats at the quarterback position, he'll be a weapon himself. R.J. Harmon and C.J. Jones are both returning; they're looking to build on electrifying 2014 seasons. Tre' Hart and Jared Taylor are the top 2 wideouts. Throw in R.J. and C.J. in the passing game, and the Wildcats are getting their top 4 receivers back for next season. The cupboard will hardly be barren for the new QB. 

2. Who's going to be protecting the QB and creating lanes for the running backs?

The Wildcats will also have to rebuild their offensive line. Skylar Schulz is the only returning starter, and if I'm not mistaken, he was the only non-senior offensive lineman in the rotation for much of the season. The Cats only brought up one offensive lineman during the course of the regular season: a junior named Andrew Gonzalez, and if I remember correctly, his playing time came when the outcome of the game was well in hand. It is pretty much a given that the 2015 season will be the first exposure to varsity football for the vast majority of the offensive linemen.

3. The Defense

The Wildcat defense surrendered 455 points, which is by far the most they've allowed in any season. They gave up 359 in the regular season alone. Again, that was also the most points that they've allowed through the 10-game regular season. I was actually much higher on the defense to begin the season, so their rather poor performance was definitely a surprise.

The front 7 will be a new-look unit in 2015; DLs Brandon Love and Caleb Smith, and LBs Keith Watson, Austin Greaves, and Brandon DePrato, who were all juniors last season, are the 5 returning defensive players on the front line who saw any sort of playing time on the varsity level. In the secondary, Kason Franklin, Myles Wilson, and Bryson Powers were all key contributors as sophomores. Bryson, along with Jake Jones and Michael Wirt, led the team in interceptions with 3. They cut their teeth in 2014 and performed admirably. Now, they're looking to take the next step in 2015.

I think the youth of the secondary was a key factor in the struggles of the defense... I mean, they played 3 sophomores. Then, when injuries thinned the ranks, the Cats had to draw from offensive players. They were also susceptible to the big play through the air. A possible silver lining from all this was that they got a healthy number of interceptions because teams were looking to throw on them quite a bit this year.

Part of this also stemmed from their inability to just get off the field. At times, it felt like the opposing team was converting on every single 3rd down situation, regardless of distance. The Jersey Village game was a prime example of this deficiency. The Falcons went 13-18 on 3rd down, and the 13th was killer, as they got a 12-yard pass play when they needed 7 yards to move the sticks. To top that all off, that occurred when the Cats had the Falcons pinned deep in their own territory late in the 4th quarter. A stop there could have given the offense the ball for one final attempt at a comeback with great field position. They were also hit by the injury bug, especially in the secondary. They had to find receivers that could play corner towards the end of the season. Shane Lawless missed some time. Keith Watson was not totally healthy this season. But... yeah, injuries are a factor, but whoever steps in has to contribute as well. It's a somewhat valid reason, but not totally valid.

Since day one, this is a defense that has subscribed to a "bend, but don't break" philosophy. The amount of yards they gave up didn't matter, as long as they kept the opposing offense out of the endzone. Keeping opponents out of the endzone didn't happen very often with this defense, where teams seemingly put up points at will on them. It's fun watching a shootout, unless you're more defensive-minded. Now, the defense played well for stretches, but they had very few games where they were able to put it all together on that side of the ball.

I'll get this out of the way, too: The offense scoring too quickly is not a valid reason for the defense's struggles. In the past, the Wildcat defense still found ways to stuff opposing offenses even as their own offense was busy running opposing defenses off the field.

I doubt that Coach Faith, who, lest we forget, was a defensive coordinator prior to taking the reins at Cy Woods, was pleased with the team's performance on the defensive side of the ball. Between now and August, I know he and the defensive coaches will be finding solutions in order that a season like this does not happen again on the defensive side.

4. How is this team going to remain a playoff contender even as the landscape of the district changes?

Simplest answer: Find 22 kids on each side of the ball that will compete fiercely on every down.

However, we all know that's easier said than done. Note that I didn't say that it couldn't be done. Thankfully, the Cats have not run into many serious complications in this aspect in the past.

Although.... admittedly, I do have my reservations about the kids coming up from within the system, and these reservations are about the kids that are probably going to be counted on to contribute at the varsity level. I won't openly elaborate on this further, but I have concerns.

5. Is there any reason why the Cy Woods Wildcats can't be a playoff team in 2015?

Maybe it's the blind homerism speaking, but on paper.... no, I don't see a reason why the Cats don't make the playoffs in 2015. But the reality is that there are countless variables that will be in play.

For one, injuries. Some key players will be banged up along the way, some more serious than others. Another factor will be how the new quarterback handles the reins. Nick Hooper's production won't be replaced instantaneously, but sometimes, stability at the quarterback position is what matters most. The defense is going to have to reinforce itself. They will need to step up, because there will be teams in the district that will be bringing back many of their key players on offense.

Cy Ranch's appearance in the state championship game just raised the stakes significantly in this district. Their run to the title game has pretty much ensured that the district will be a slugfest in 2015. Think about it. Not only will the Cats have the Mustangs to contend with, but Langham Creek will be hell-bent on defending their crown. Jersey Village is hell-bent on ending their playoff drought after getting eliminated on the final day of the regular season. Cy-Fair, in all likelihood, will do what they usually do: lean on an outstanding running game and a stout defense to get them to the playoffs.

Even the non-playoff teams look to be much improved. Falls is a proud program that has suffered long enough, and they have key players coming back to give the opposition fits. Creek looks like they've solved a problem that has plagued them for the past few seasons. The revolution at Springs looks like it's about to bear fruit. Like I said... this district is going to be as rugged as ever. But I know that the Cats will be in the mix when the dust settles.

On Ranch playing for State, from the guy who was once a player but now randomly turns up at practices and JV games

Disclaimer: I never played against Ranch, so I found this somewhat easier to type out. I know... yuck. Truth hurts, but it's got to be said.

Consider that their ultimatum. It was an ultimatum that was not just aimed at the rest of the district, but one that was composed with you, the returning Wildcat football players, in mind. Hopefully, they've gotten your full and undivided attention.

Sometimes, teams you don't like are successful. That's sports. There is really no use in being bitter.