Skip to main content

Tag: Cedar Park Football

Cedar Park and Manor Rematch 3rd Round Playoffs.

Written by Steven Ryan on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

It’s always special when a pair of Austin-area teams meet in the mid-to-late rounds of the Texas High Schools Football Playoffs. So it’ll be a treat for local fans when Cedar Park (11-1) meets Manor (7-5) play in the regional semifinals of the Class 5A Div. I bracket the day after Thanksgiving at The Pfield in Pflugerville at 6 p.m.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun because it’s really a halfway point between Manor and Cedar Park so it’s going to be a real easy game for both of our fan bases to make it to and it’s a great venue,” said Cedar Park coach Carl Abseck. “I think it’s going to be a great crowd, early Friday evening, and on a holiday. I think people are really going to show up and root their teams on so I think it’s going to be a real fun environment, just like the playoffs should be, specifically as you get into the third, fourth rounds.”

The Timberwolves come in wearing a district crown and an 11-game win streak. They rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs with triumphs over McCallum (49-10) and Friendswood (31-14). Junior quarterback Ryder Hernandez was sensational in both victories, completing 82 percent of his passes for 601 yards with seven touchdowns (six passing, one rushing).

“He’s done a great job of allowing our kids to make plays for him by taking what the defense is giving and being extremely accurate, and just making good decisions with where he’s putting the ball or whether he decides to run or scramble a little bit to buy some more time,” Abseck said. “He’s just really making good decisions, putting the ball on a spot, and the kids are making plays for him.”

Cedar Park’s esteemed “Black Rain” defense is in solid form. With 6-foot-2, 255-pound, senior defensive end Ben Bell (a Louisiana Tech commit) disrupting at the line of scrimmage and 3-year starter Tammer Alzer, a senior safety, making plays on the backend, the Timberwolves have allowed an average of just 12 points and 235.5 yards per game through two postseason performances.

“They’ve played well,” Abseck said. “Friendswood was really, really talented on offense and to hold them to 15 points is really an accomplishment because they’re well-coached and have some really talented kids. The defensive kids are playing really hard. They’re being where they’re supposed to be, doing their jobs, playing their technique and really just taking the coaching that our coaches are giving them, and putting it to use on the field. And really just doing a great job of working together and fitting everything.”

Now comes a rematch with Manor, who Cedar Park beat 49-24 on the last week of the regular season to clinch the outright district title. Hernandez accounted for six touchdowns in that game (five passing, one rushing) as the Timberwolves built an insurmountable 32-point lead at halftime. 

“We avoided turnovers on offense and that was (a) huge piece of (that win),” Abseck said. “We had some really nice returns on the kickoff return team, punt return team that allowed us to have a short field. Those were two big critical components. Defensively, we avoided the big plays for the most part.”

Manor, however, has some serious next-level talent. Senior running back Tahj Brooks will be playing for Texas Tech next fall and rushed 163 yards with three touchdowns in the Mustang’s area round playoff win v.s. New Caney Porter. The Mustangs also have 6-foot-4, 250-pound Princely Umanmielen on the defensive line, who is listed as a four-star prospect by most recruiting services.

“They have some extremely talented individuals on both sides of the ball, but the first one that comes to mind is the tailback, Tahj Brooks. He’s an exceptional runner, committed to Texas Tech, and he’s got the full package. He’s got speed and he’s about 220 pounds, so he can run over you or run around you. He’s a tough one and we really have to key on limiting his yards and trying to get a lot of hats to the ball because he’s not easy to bring down,” Abseck said. “But they’re big up front. They really kind of fit each other, being a power-oriented team. They got a big, strong offensive line, and then they do have some really talented receivers that they have to get to the ball to and if they get space they can be really tough. Defensive line-wise, there’s not a better looking defensive line. They got size and speed, and they’ve got some really talented guys on that side, so we got to do a really good job of matching up blocks, staying on blocks, and execute what we’ve been doing, which is make the catches we’re supposed to make, get a little bit of yards after catch and just keep the chains moving.”

Cedar Park Rebounds for District Push

Written by Daniel Jones on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

Cedar Park Rebounds for District Push

BY DANIEL JONES

Cedar Park Timberwolves head coach Carl Abseck is able to put things in perspective as it pertains to football and his team of high school players. “It’s not just about football,” he says in his 22nd year of coaching, his 14th with Cedar Park. “We’re training them to be successful by the lessons that we teach within the game of football.”

That’s saying a lot for a man who led the team to a Class 5A, Division II state championship in 2015, and who also as an offensive coach in 2012 helped guide Cedar Park to a Class 4A, Division II state championship. Coach Abseck’s sense of perspective has surely been tested this fall following last season’s district championship and subsequent loss to Manvel in the third round of the playoffs. This season, Cedar Park’s 28-game district winning streak came to an end when his team lost 65-21 to undefeated, district-leading Hutto.

He says that, while the loss wasn’t indicative of his team’s best, Hutto is no surprise this year, adding that they’re a talented team that will likely win the district championship.           Nonetheless, Cedar Park is still very likely to get a playoff berth. “What we’re playing for at this point is seeding,” says coach Abseck. He’s depending on players like sophomore quarterback Ryder Hernandez, who before the Hutto match had gone five straight games with at least 200 yards passing. His two favorite targets have been senior wide receivers Carson Neel and Brandon Breed, who have scored numerous touchdowns and caught for several hundred yards.

Coach Abseck says Hernandez, who last season played for Cedar Park’s freshman team, is a talented athlete whose maturity and leadership abilities extend beyond his years. “He’s got a bright future, and we’re glad to have him leading our offense,” he says. “He’s multidimensional – he can throw, he can run – and he’s done a good job of catching up to speed as a sophomore … and stepping into that role and running with it.” Hernandez’s voice gives away his youth, but his selfless nature comes out in the words he says. He doesn’t feel a lot of pressure playing at this level because he admits his job is to take the pressure off his teammates, most of whom are older than him.

After this season, his goal is to have Cedar Park win the district championship then win the state championship – which is not necessarily out of the question this season. And competing at the Division I college level would be Hernandez’s next objective. He’s not dwelling on the Hutto loss, but rather looking at how the defeat can benefit the team: “We got worked pretty good by Hutto, but I feel that’s going to prepare us even more to make good run in the playoffs.”

Cedar Park’s season wraps up November 9 at Manor High School. Manor is another district contender.  Coach Abseck says his team will finish strong if it takes care of business each week. “If we improve the way we’re capable of improving, then we’re going to be able to do some damage when it comes time for the playoffs.”

THE PRIDE of Cedar Park

Written by Steven Ryan on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

TSM: Your head coaching career began with 28 straight wins and a state title. When you first got into the profession, did you imagine your first head coaching job getting off to this good of a start?
Coach Abseck: I don’t think anyone would imagine getting off to that type of start to begin their head coaching career, however by no means was I able to do that by myself.  I have a great staff of men who joined myself, Brent Brittain and Rob Schoenfeld on that first staff and we were blessed to have a talented, experienced, and very hungry group of seniors to help lead our team that year.  Having fallen short the previous season in the championship game, they were very motivated to redeem themselves and our program and we were fortunate to fight our way to a championship.  I am very blessed to be the Head Coach at Cedar Park High School, the community, school administration and our kids are so fun to work with and are driven to be successful.
That 28-game win streak y’all had going got snapped in the regional semifinals last year with a 47-35 loss to Manvel. What did y’all learn from that defeat?
We learned that if you do not play as well as you are capable of, and or make mistakes in a big game against a talented team that the result is probably not going to be in your favor.  We were able to use that game as a huge motivator throughout the off-season and summer and it is easy to point out several seemingly small mistakes that had major consequences to our success or failure as a team in that particular game which I believe will pay dividends for us this season.
How do you feel about what y’all return on offense going into the season?
Obviously we are blessed to have one of the best, most experience quarterbacks in the state back to lead our offensive unit for the 3rd year in Mak Sexton.  Additionally, we have 3 starters back on the offensive line in Jonathan Kelly, Mason Brooks and Trajaan Chase, and our top 3 receivers in Drew McDaniel, Payden Sawicki and Carson Neel, all returning as well.  That gives us a really nice nucleus of experience to build around and we have a lot of competition for playing time and for those remaining jobs fighting it out which should bode well for our offensive success.  Some of those include, Brant McDonald, Will Lipscomb, Ibri Leal, Josh Walker, Carlos Woolery, Mitchell, Venincasa, Sammir Alzer, Braeden Hufford, Jacob Gross, Nicholas Lannan, Hunter Parks, Brandon Breed and Dalton Hayek. I feel like we are ahead of where we were this time last year and believe that with their work ethic we have a chance to be one of the best offenses we have had at Cedar Park High School.
How do you feel about the state of the defense with the season-opener right around the corner?
I believe that we will continue to be one of the better defensive units in the state in class 5A.  We have a great group of coaches that work tirelessly in preparing our young men to be successful.  We return 2 very good inside linebackers in Keegan Nichols and Jackson Buckingham to build around, Gunnar Chriswisser, Hunter Henry, and Austin Hewitt all return with experience in the secondary and we have several guys fighting for playing time on the defensive line, outside linebacker and cornerback.  Some of those include, Allen Grones, Levi Bell, Ben Bell, Jacob Munoz, Logan Mayou, Bradly Lovell, Chigozie Onyia, B.J. Jones, Aries Ramos, Eric Shine, Desmond Brink, Cole Hollen, and several others.
You’ve said before you worked under three great head coached who groomed you for this job in Wichita Falls icon Leo Brittain, and Cedar Park’s Chris Woss and Joe Willis. What did you learn from each of them that helped you get started?
I started my career as an assistant under Coach Brittain at Wichita Falls and I couldn’t have been luckier as a young coach because of his knowledge and willingness to share and the staff was much the same way.  Attention to detail, organization, dealing with athletes, leadership training were some of the things that I remember vividly from working under him. I find as I get older as a coach, that many of my philosophies as a coach were very much influenced by what I learned from Coach Brittain.  Coach Ross is such a student of the game, always working to find new ways, schemes, to attack defenses, I really learned to study our opponents and being prepared for whatever they might bring to the table to try and stop us offensively.  Coach Ross is a great communicator, teacher of the game, and I believe I am better in those areas after coaching with him for over 14 years.  Coach Willis is a master motivator, very much a thinker, always tinkering with what we did to improve it and make it more difficult to defend.  I don’t think he was ever satisfied with doing things the same way and is always thinking about how to make things difficult for your opponent.  I was always impressed with his knowledge of the game on both sides of the ball, much like Coach Ross, and I felt like he really tried to involve everyone in the process of game planning for our opponent.  Most of all I think all three of those men believed that family was important and allowed you as a coach to be involved with your kids and take care of your family as much as possible, and I always appreciated that and try to do the same for my staff.
Y’all start the season playing a Waco Midway squad that’s won seven straight district titles (five outright, two shared). What are you most looking forward to in that matchup?
I look forward to seeing our team continue to grow, improve and how are younger less experienced players react and step up while playing on Friday nights.  It is also a match up of two teams led by very talented quarterbacks and I look forward to seeing how they compare.  We have won 5 straight District Titles, one shared, and 7 in the last 8 years, so our kids are accustomed to being successful, understand the work that is required for success and expect to be successful.  Midway is a very well coached, talented group, with several Division 1 commits and others with offers so it will be a tremendous challenge for our team and will be a great gauge for us to see where we are currently and what we  have to improve on  to reach our goals for the season.  We schedule tough games that will help us grow and mature so that we can be successful when it matters most which is district, and then hopefully the playoffs.  We will be battle tested when we hit that part of the schedule for sure.