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Lake Travis knock out San Antonio Madison

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

Lake Travis senior wide receiver Garrett Wilson is back and badder than ever. The prodigal Ohio State pledge had eight catches for 169 yards with three total touchdowns (two receiving, one rushing) in the Cavaliers’ dominating 56-35 area round playoff win against San Antonio Madison Friday at Cougar Stadium in New Braunfels.

Wilson missed four of the five last regular season games with a back injury and his absence had started to cast doubts on Lake Travis’s state title aspirations. But he returned in time for the postseason and has looked spectacular with 313 yards in two playoff games, which means the Cavaliers are as dangerous as ever as they chase down a seventh state championship.

“Garrett’s incredible. There’s probably not another athlete like him in the country so we’re certainly better with him and he’s getting more and more back into shape,” said Lake Travis coach Hank Carter.

Lake Travis scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions to build a 35-14 halftime advantage. The first score came on the Cavs’ first offensive snap. After starting with the ball at Madison’s 28-yard line following a shanked punt off a three-and-out, the Cavaliers motioned Wilson out of the backfield into a diamond quad formation of receivers to the left, which took the Mavericks’ attention away from the right side and allowed junior quarterback Hudson Card to rumble that way for a long touchdown run. 

The Cavs second touchdown came off another short field thanks to a shanked punt following a three-and-out. Starting from the Mavericks’ 40, Lake Travis needed nine plays before finding pay dirt on a five-yard touchdown pass from Card to sophomore running back Weston Stephens. Card was wheeling and dealing all day, and finished 21-of-27 for 210 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while adding 57 yards and a score on the ground. Stephens led all rushers with 82 yards and a score on six carries as Lake Travis hit the 200-yard mark both on the ground and through the air.

“We started out fast and that was a goal,” Wilson said. “Once we start out fast, it’s really just on us from there. (Card) didn’t miss a lot of throws. We made some good runs. It was a really balanced attack, which made it easy.”

Wilson scored all three of his touchdowns in the second quarter. Wilson had been known for using his versatile athleticism to affect the game in a number of ways. He showed that off when he took a toss out of the backfield for a five-yard touchdown on the opening play of the second period. He also got an easy 39-yard touchdown catch on a trick play when the defense bit on a double pass and hauled in a 14-yard score and an inside-breaking route.

His best catch, however, came in the third quarter when he went over the top of his defender on a deep pass down the right sideline for a 35-yard gain to the two that set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by senior running back Sean Brown-Nixon to make it 56-14.

“Once I see the ball – ‘it’s mine’ – that’s what’s going through my head,” Wilson said of his acrobatics catch in the third. “I see it go up there I got to get it.”

The 35 points given up by Lake Travis is a bit deceiving as three of the five touchdowns came with the outcome well in hand and some of the defensive starters standing on the sideline. Lake Travis’s pass rush was harassing Madison senior quarterback Dante Haeggins much of the day. Haeggans was taken down for three sacks and rushed out of the pocket a number of times. While the Cavs didn’t get a takeaway until the final seconds of the game, they did force seven three-and-outs.

Vandegrift beats Tomball Memorial 35-14

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

District championships are won in the regular season, but the greatest of high school football glories are achieved in the playoffs. After polishing off its first perfect season in school history last week, Vandegrift (11-0) took the previous sentence to heart and started the postseason with an exclamatory 35-14 win against a strong Tomball Memorial squad (8-3) in the bi-district round of the playoffs Friday at Monroe Stadium in Austin.

In what Vandegrift coach Drew Sanders called a “total team win,” the Vipers held the Wildcats 28 points below their season average and to 283 yards on 50 plays for 5.7 yards per play, while the offense totaled 488 yards on 60 plays for 8.1 yards per play in what was their greatest scoring output against a playoff team all season.

“They’re a good opponent,” said Vandegrift coach Drew Sanders. “For us, we just needed to go out and play our game, and we did that. (I’m) really impressed… Offense was very good and defense was outstanding.”

The Vipers are used to getting outstanding performances from their defense, which ranks among the top in Central Texas, but it was the offense getting career-best performances from senior quarterback Dru Dawson and senior running back Isaiah Smallwood that allowed them to win by a comfortable 21 points.

Dawson threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions on 16-of-19 passing while adding 24 yards and a score on the ground. Smallwood pounded away for 180 yards on 29 carries with a touchdown.

“(Offensive balance) opens everything up,” Sander said. “When you can throw, then they start to widen and it allows you to run, or vice versa. When you start running, they hunker down, and it allows you to throw… I’m really proud of (Dawson). He threw the ball well… (We) protected well. We ran the ball well.”

A seven-yard run touchdown run by Dawson and 44-yard scoring dash by Smallwood gave Vandegrift a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Tomball Memorial cut the lead in half with a 19-yard touchdown scamper from sophomore quarterback Colton Marwill. 

The Vipers reasserted themselves, however, with two touchdown passes from Dawson to Trey Mongauzy (five catches, 76 yards). The first came in the final minute of the first half, the second in the opening minute of the second. 

The Wildcats got the deficit back down to 14 with a 19-yard touchdown connection between Marwill and senior Jordan Grice. But Vandegrift put the nail in the coffin when Dawson faked one of the short perimeter throws he had been completing all night, got the defense to bite and unleashed a beautiful 71-yard bomb which senior Brendon Bennett hauled in on the run for the game-sealing score.
Vandegrift senior Ryan Merrifield led all receivers with six catches for 105 yards. The Vipers will play Klein Collins in the area round next Friday at 1 p.m. at Waller.
 
“We’ve never made it past the second round in 6A. It’s right here in front of us” Sanders said. “We’re playing a very strong 6A team. Klein Collins has been one of the better 6A teams for probably the last eight years so this is a great matchup for us. If we really want to prove that we’re elite in 6A, because we said that’s one of our goals, we got to beat an elite team, and here we go.”

Texas survives Tech & Prepare for Iowa State

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS, UT FOOTBALL.

Texas held off the Red Raiders in a nail-biter last Saturday night in Lubbock getting the win 41-34 over Texas Tech improving to 7-3 on the season.

The win came from some improved plays on the offensive side of the ball for Texas with the sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger hooking up with Humphrey once more for the go-ahead touchdown. The two hooked up earlier in the game when Humphrey hauled in his fifth catch for a 9-yard touchdown. That gave Texas the lead, 10-7 with 3:46. Texas played loose at times but this game basically came down to whoever had the ball last before the clock read zeros.

Ehlinger has thrown 274 consecutive passes without a pick setting a Big 12 conference record.

SERIES HISTORY: Texas leads the all-time series, 50-17. The Red Raiders won a decisive 27-23 victory over the Longhorns in Austin in November of 2017.  Neither team has won on its home field since the Longhorns defeated the Red Raiders 41-16 in Austin in 2013.

The Longhorns have had several close games this season and now prepare for a statistically tough defense in the Big 12 with Iowa State coming to Austin this weekend.

No. 14 Texas (7-3, 5-2 Big 12) vs. No.18 Iowa State (6-3, 5-2 Big 12)
November 17, 2018
Where: Austin, Texas
Stadium: Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium
Time: 7 p.m. CT
TV: Longhorn Network

 

AUSTIN SPURS TO HOST ‘FRIENDSGIVING’ GAME

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS.

AUSTIN SPURS TO HOST ‘FRIENDSGIVING’ GAME NOVEMBER 18
Fans Are Asked to Bring a Canned Food Item to Exchange for a Free Ticket

AUSTIN (Nov. 12, 2018) – The Austin Spurs, presented by SWBC, will host their first ‘Friendsgiving’ game on Sunday, Nov. 18. Tipoff vs. the Oklahoma City Blue at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park is set for 4 p.m.

Fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable canned food item that can be exchanged for one ticket for that night’s game. Fans can redeem one ticket each. All food items will be donated to the Central Texas Food Bank.

To purchase tickets or find more information regarding the Friendsgiving game, call the Austin Spurs office at (512) 236-8333 or go to austinspurs.com.

 

About Central Texas Food Bank:
Central Texas Food Bank works with food donors across the country, financial supporters and volunteers to fill unmet needs in Central Texas. This commitment from private, government and charitable partners has allowed them to bring 45 million meals to their community last year and into the hands of families and local nonprofits that turn to them for help. There are three key ways they do this:

  1. They share free food and knowledge on low-cost, healthy eating with families in need.
    2. They assist families who qualify for federal assistance programs.
    3. They make food affordable for charitable and government partners. The quality food and food resources they provide means that they can spend their limited resources to enhance their programs.

They are a registered 501(c)(3), which means that they are not a religious, political or advocacy organization. A leader in the fight against hunger for nearly 35 years, their mission is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in the fight against hunger.

Bastrop over Glenn w/Elgin loss equals Bears Playoff Birth

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

Bastrop had too much on the line to fold following a disastrous start. After spotting Leander Glenn a 14-point lead in the first four minutes, the Bears stormed back with 35 unanswered on their way to a 42-28 victory Friday at Bastrop Memorial Stadium in Bastrop.

The win, combined with East View’s 38-7 conquest of Elgin, catapulted Bastrop into the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

“We preached it all week that we could play with Glenn,” said Bastrop coach Todd Patmon. “They’re a good team, not taking anything away from them. But we just felt like, we’re 4-0 at home, want to be 5-0 at home. We wanted to be 4-3 (in district). We wanted to be 6-4 (overall). That’s all we talked about. We didn’t talk about playoffs or anything like that. We said ‘we take care of our business. Everything else will take care of itself.’”

Bastrop’s first offensive play couldn’t have gone worse. After Glenn marched down the field for a touchdown on the opening possession, Bastrop junior quarterback Desmond Young had the ball slip out of his hand while winding up to throw. Glenn senior defensive lineman Jeff Francis Diaku recovered the fumble on the run and jaunted into the end zone to make it 14-0.

Less than six minutes later, however, the score was knotted up. Bastrop junior running back Jhe’Quay Chretin had 24 and 20 yard runs to set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by Young. Following a Glenn fumble, Chretin had a 24-yard run and Young completed a 13-yard pass to junior wide receiver Nathan Blair on third-and-six that led to four-yard score for Chretin.

Young had a 12-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter and Chretin found pay dirt on a 44-yard dash a minute before halftime to give the Bears a 28-14 lead into the break. But the Bears weren’t done there. Senior defensive end Zevon Burnett got a sack on fourth-and-five with Glenn inside Bastrop’s red zone. Four plays later on fourth-and-one from their own 35, Patmon elected to go for it and Young broke through the line on a QB power and blasted off for a 65-yard touchdown.

“(The quick, resounding response to the early deficit) talks about our kid’s character,” Patmon said. “Sometimes, we don’t get that label placed on us, but our kids showed character. They didn’t blink. They believe in the scheme and they just kept fighting.”

Glenn got back within seven on a pair of long touchdown drives that were aided by four unnecessary roughness of personal foul penalties by the Bears. But Bastrop regrouped and got a fourth down stop with less than four minutes to play, which was followed by a sharp four-play, 36-yard drive (all Chretin runs) that ended with an eight-yard score by Chretin to ice the game.

Young and Chretin’s gashing of Glenn’s usually stout defense was the biggest culprit in the Bears’ win. Young finished with 88 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries and Chretin sliced up the Grizzlies for 212 yards and two touchdowns on 31 attempts.

“(Chretin is) amazing because everyone knows that’s who you come to stop,” Patmon said. “I’m so happy for him because he had a hamstring (injury) early in the year and now he’s just slowly starting to get healthy… (He has a) strong lower body. He has quick feet, and then he has a burst. He’s worked his tail off to get where he is. Our O-line has done a great job, and I tell you who else we forget about a lot is Eddie Brown, our H-back. He blocks for Jhe’Quay. He called that last play. It’s an awesome team win.”

Stars Salute Service this weekend.

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS.

Stars Recognize Armed Forces Saturday for Military Appreciation Night

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, are pleased to host the team’s Fall Military Appreciation night presented by Re-Bath of Austin this Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. The Stars will face the San Antonio Rampage for the first time this season when the puck drops at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

thumb20181109_SAS.pngFans who arrive early to the game will receive a Stars Knit Cap presented by Re-Bath of Austin. The Stars will also be wearing specialty Stars and Stripes Jerseys which will be auctioned off online through DASH Auction. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Texas Stars Foundation. American Flag Themed Mystery Pucks and 10th Anniversary Challenge Coins will be available for purchase for $20 at the Texas Stars Foundation table, located outside section 104 on the concourse.

Saturday will be a Texas Lottery Lucky Row Night where the first Stars player to score wins free scratch tickets for a lucky row of seats at H-E-B Center. Fans can purchase a Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Family Four-Pack on Saturday, offering four tickets, four hot dogs, and four soft drinks for $17 per person.

Texas to Face Red Raiders

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in Football, TEXAS SPORTS.

Can the Texas Longhorns rebound after dropping two in a row in Big 12 play?
Tom Herman’s young Longhorn team has cooled like the Texas weather in recent weeks after defeating 3 top ranked teams in a 6 win streak after falling to Maryland in week 1.

The Longhorns slowly climbed the top 10 ranks eventually getting to #6 in the nation before loosing to Oklahoma State 3 weeks ago then falling yet again to Big 12 Power West Virginia.

Going into the Tech game this weekend Texas fans are bewildered as to what Herman team will show up. Has Todd Orlando’s defense given away the secret sauce to the rest of the Big 12? He is certainly going to have to make adjustments moving into this late in the season in conference play.

Red Raiders Alan Bowman’s partially collapsed lung will apparently keep him from starting against the Longhorns so Tech QB Jett Duffey will start QB against Texas.
Duffy who is listed at 6’1 and 200 pounds, is a smaller back, but ran a 4.60 40-yard dash in high school.While Duffed isn’t Kyler Murray, he does have elite agility and could give the Texas Defense extra running and spying duties Saturday.

Red Raiders host Texas tomorrow night on FOX. Get your umbrella out horns fans, the Tortillas will be thrown at you most likely in Lubbock this weekend.

Formula 1 Grande Premio Heineken do Brasil 2018

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in MOTOR SPORTS.

by Luca Colajanni

It has been very tight in terms of lap times at the first day of track action for
the FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO HEINEKEN DO BRASIL 2018. In free
practice, the fastest four drivers all lapped within 165 thousandths of a
second of one another. Valtteri Bottas was fastest overall with a lap in
1.08.846 in the second session for Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport
going down to Max Verstappen, the slowest of the quartet, with a 1.09.011
for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. In between, the now five times world
champion, Lewis Hamilton, was second fastest, just three thousandths
slower than his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport team-mate, with his
worthy rival Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Ferrari) third in FP2 with a best lap of
1.08.919.
The gaps are always small here, as Interlagos is such a short and quick track,
which has usually produced spectacular racing with plenty of overtaking.
As was the case a fortnight ago at Mexico City’s Hermanos Rodriguez circuit,
here at another track named after a famous driver from the past, namely
Carlos Pace, Red Bull proved capable of mixing it with the two teams still
fighting it out for the Constructors’ title. Unfortunately, reliability problems
continue to be the Milton Keynes team’s Achilles Heel. At the start of the
Brazilian weekend came the news that Daniel Ricciardo will take a five place
grid penalty, for changing the turbocharger on his power unit. As for
Verstappen, he lost the first half of the second session, apparently due to an
oil leak that took a long time to fix. It meant that the winner of the Mexican
Grand Prix completed just 44 laps in total today, four less than Bottas
managed in just the second session.
As always, evaluating the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres is a major part of
everyone’s Friday programme and the results must always be looked at with
extreme caution, especially on a “green” track like Interlagos. The same goes
for the apparent signs of degradation seen on some cars. The work of the
engineers over the next few hours will be crucial in adapting the cars to the
predicted track evolution, given that, at the moment, the forecast is for much
warmer conditions on Sunday.
While the Drivers’ title was decided in Mexico, the Constructors’ one is still up
for grabs with Mercedes leading Ferrari by 55 points. To keep the fight going
down to the final race, the Maranello team has to score 13 more points than
its rival.

Chaps “Shellacked” Rebels in District Route

Written by Steven Ryan on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL. 1 Comment on Chaps “Shellacked” Rebels in District Route

Westlake raced out to a monster first quarter lead and never looked back in a 70-14 beat-down of Hays Friday at Chaparral Stadium in Austin.

The Chaps (7-1 overall, 6-0 District 25-6A) got three touchdown passes from senior quarterback Taylor Anderson and a pick-six from senior linebacker Ben Pankonien to build a 28-0 advantage in the opening period. 

From there, it was smooth sailing as the Chaps were able to empty the bench late in the third quarter of a game that was supposed to be more competitive.

“(Getting off to a strong start) is what we talked about all week because against a team like that you never know how often you’re going to get the ball back,” said Westlake coach Todd Dodge. “Every possession has got to be crucial. Sometimes, it’s running the ball, keeping the ball away from them. Tonight, it was we got the matchups we wanted in the passing game. We were able to exploit that.” 

Hays (7-1, 5-1) came into the game undefeated but had yet to play an opponent of Westlake’s caliber. The Chaps quickly put the Rebels back in their place.

Typically reliant on a stingy defense and powerful run game, Westlake decided to let loose on this night and Anderson threw for more yards (199) in the first quarter than he had in a single game all season.

He finished the evening 11-of-14 for 260 yards with five touchdowns and no turnovers. Senior wide receiver Mason Mangum led all pass catchers with five receptions for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Jackson Coker had two highlight-worthy scoring grabs in the first half and finished with three catches for 60 yards as the extra attention the Rebels gave to Westlake’s leading wideout, senior Penny Baker (two receptions, 14 yards), freed things up for his speedy teammates.

“They ran man coverage a lot, which can be effective if you have the defensive backs for it, but I don’t think any team has the defensive backs for our four wide receivers,” Anderson said. “If they try to double one guy and leave another guy in man coverage, it’s going to be a touchdown every time and I think tonight showed for that… (Mangum and Coker) are both track guys. They run 4.5s. They’re the fastest guys I’ve ever seen. I trust them every time beating a guy one-on-one even if he knows he’s going deep.”

Westlake’s defense proved ready for the challenge of Hays’ run-heavy offense as they forced five turnovers (three interceptions, two fumble recoveries), had four fourth-down stops and held Hays to 265 yards on 63 plays for 4.2 yards per play.

The first two turnovers were especially crucial. Hays had driven into the red zone on its first possession before senior safety Drew Webster got in the backfield and forced a botched exchange which he jumped on to extinguish the threat.

Down 21-0 late in the first period, Hays went away from its base slot-T look and instead threw the ball out of a shotgun, four-receiver set. The results, however, were catastrophic as Pankonien read the quarterback and stepped in front of his pass for a 33-yard interception return for a touchdown that felt like a Mike Tyson first-round knockout punch.

“All year long you watch (Hays) and they put 15, 16-play drives together, and you look up and the first quarter is over with. Hats off to our defense for not allowing that to happen,” Dodge said. “It helped that we played against a similar type of offense last week. We prepared for Del Valle and played that game, so I think that’s part of it. The second thing is we got a lot of veterans on defense. A lot of kids that got a lot of pride. A very intelligent bunch over there (that’s) very much in tune with what (defensive coordinator) Tony Salazar is putting into a game plan and we came out and executed.”

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.”