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Hutto Hippos 2020

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

The Hutto Hippos are a program on the rise within the Greater Austin area. Since current head coach Brad LaPlante arrived in 2014, Hutto hasn’t missed the playoffs and are now looking to book the Hippos’ first postseason trip as a Class 6A competitor. Texas Sports Monthly got the opportunity to catch up with LaPlante prior to the 2020 season to ask what makes Hutto a budding Central Texas power.

Q: Of course, it’s been the most unique offseason in Texas high school football history with the pandemic. Were you able to stay in contact with your team over summer and did it end up affecting summer workouts?

A: We still stay in contact, whether it’s Google Meet or Zoom or text or phone or team communications app. We shut down for a little bit there with our strength camp just as a precaution. That was the end of June going into July, so we missed just a few days of strength camp.

Q: What has helped the Hutto program not only gain success but become a consistent winner among a very competitive and talent-rich area of Texas?

A: That’s one of the best things about our kids — they get along, they believe in each other and they want to win. They’ve had success and they want to keep that going. The last time Hutto wasn’t in the playoffs was 2013, so these kids work hard to make sure that we keep that going. The other part of that is they do know that tougher competition is coming and they want to respect that and we’ve got a lot of respect as a coaching staff for the other Round Rock and Leander schools. This year, a favorable thing for us is we had so many unknowns. It wasn’t pressure from the coaching staff, but I think just from each other like, ‘OK, who’s going to start this year? I don’t know, so I better be working hard to make sure I’m the guy.’ The fact that we’re going to be really, really young kept these guys hungry I think.

Q: Coach, who is going to be back on defense to try and help slow down some of the high-powered and uptempo offenses that are featured every week in District 25-6A?

A: Defensively, we’re going to have our team leader back — and everybody knows him — Landyn Watson. He’s a rush end and an outside backer and a recent TCU commit as a four-star kid. Joining him is an inside backer, Braylon Sugg, and our other outside backer is going to be a sophomore, Brody Bujnoch. I think our linebacking corps is going to be pretty salty in our 3-4 defense. Then we have Junior Torres, he was a freshman up on varsity last year. We had four freshmen up on varsity last year playing against Shadow Creek in the second round of the playoffs. Defensively, those are some probably names that people are going to need to familiarize themselves with.

Q: As a team, you guy were able to average 399 yards per game and more than 35 points per outing offensively. Who will be relied upon to try and improve those numbers this season?

A: We do have a retuning quarterback in Grayson Doggett who was a sophomore last year. By watching him in our skills session and if you came to a practice, you would not know that we missed spring ball and 7-on-7. He is looking fantastic and is sharp. His offensive line in front of him is a veteran group. There’s not DI guys all over the place, but four out of five of them have game experience and they’re just good, hardworking kids and there’s cohesion between the group. We do have four guys who are going to get some reps at tailback and that will shake out in the scrimmage and early games. We have a receiver coming back, Jairiez Lambert, who has super soft hands and he’s getting some good receiver looks and he may start at safety for us too and play both ways. He’s a good competitor and kind of the rest of the receiving corps could be unknowns that didn’t play varsity last year.

Q: What are the unique challenges provided by the move from Class 5A to 6A, and specifically, into 25-6A alongside new foes like Vandegrift, Westwood, Vista Ridge, Cedar Ridge, McNeil, Round Rock and Stony Point?

A: That even stretches out into our non-district with College Station and Waco. We haven’t had those rascals on the schedule for a while. We played College Station a couple of times in the 5A playoffs and Steve Huff does a great job down there. Lot of respect for them. Then, of course, you open up with Anthony Wood and Westwood over at Dragon Stadium as our first district ballgame. That one could be 78-77 or whatever it’s going to be. They have a salty bunch and a new defensive coordinator over there. The McNeil and Round Rock, and some people have said they can’t wait to see us against Vandegrift the week before Thanksgiving, and I’m thinking we just have to get through game one. We’ve got to make sure we build up our numbers and get our depth going and do things right.

Cedar Park defeats Hutto

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

Cedar Park’s 20-16 win over Hutto Friday night at John Gupton Stadium in Leander, TX, was far from a masterpiece. But as the Timberwolves have shown many times before, grit goes a long way in the game of football.
Cedar Park hung around with defense while its offense had an off night. Then, when it mattered most, that same offense flipped the switch with a decisive late touchdown to win the game and put the Timberwolves in the driver’s seat of District 11-5A Div. I.


“They just stuck with it,” Cedar Park coach Carl Abseck said of his team. “It’s a game of ebbs and flows. You’re going to have some good things happen and some bad things happen, but our guys stuck through it and fought until the end… We did enough at the end to pull it out but I couldn’t be more proud of them.”


Going into its final drive, Cedar Park had just 140 yards of total offense on 49 plays for less than three yards per play. The run-game was nonexistent and junior quarterback Ryder Hernandez was misfiring left and right. But with less than three minutes left, no timeouts and the game on the line, Hernandez fired darts of 15, 11 and 20 yards to juniors Josh Cameron, Gunnar Abseck and Preston Scott. A facemask penalty on the last of those got Cedar Park into the red zone, where Hernandez broke through the middle on a quarterback draw for the 15-yard game-winning touchdown.
“We just had to overcome a lot of adversity. (Hutto had) a great squad over there. It was a great game throughout the four quarters. We just came out on top at the end. It’s just a testament to what our coaches are about there. We just had to finish the game out,” Hernandez said. “Their front came after me the whole game. They did a great job of that, and I think on that last drive we were just getting out quick, letting the playmakers make plays.”

The Cedar Park defense did a magnificent job throughout, holding the Hippos to 271 yards on 57 plays for 4.8 yards per play and 4-of-15 on third downs. They also forced back-to-back three-and-outs before the game-winning touchdown drive, ensuring the offense got the ball back with enough time to score.


The unsung hero of the game was senior defensive back Caden Combs, who chased down Hutto senior wide receiver Dajon Harrison on a long pass play to prevent a touchdown in the third quarter. The next play, senior Ronald Caldwell got around the edge for a strip-sack fumble that was recovered by sophomore defensive lineman Murray Robinson and returned to almost midfield. Without that sequence, the Timberwolves almost surely would’ve taken a loss.


“Defensively, I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Abseck said. “(Harrison is) one of the fastest players in Williamson/Travis County, and Caden’s pretty fast, too, but what he didn’t do was give up. To chase him down and make them snap it again and get the turnover, that’s huge… A lot of people don’t remember that. They just think, oh, the fumble happened right after that. But they don’t realize that that kid ran 60 yards to catch one of the fastest guys around.”

Hippos defeat Panthers AGAIN 42-14

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

Hutto’s defense has come a long way since last year’s Liberty Hill game. On that night, the Hippos got gashed by the Panthers’ Slot-T offense for 51 points and 531 rushing yards at 8.2 yards per pop.

But in Friday’s rematch in Liberty Hill, it was a different story. Hutto held the Panthers’ offense to just one touchdown and contained their rushing attack to 211 yards at five yards per carry in a 42-14 at Panther Stadium.

“Our defense has matured a bunch,” said Hutto head coach Brad LaPlante. “But we reflected last year even before we played them, some of these kids have never played the Wing-T, Slot-T kind of teams because even youth football for them, they’ve gone up against spreads. So not only do they have that style of offense, Liberty Hill runs it one of the best in the state… (This time) they knew what they were up against. They didn’t know last year.”

This performance came on the heels of Liberty Hill opening the season with 442 rushing yards and three runners hitting the century mark in a dominant victory over defending District 5A-13 DII champion Leander Glenn. Add in the fact that Hutto’s defense also forced five turnovers and stymied a solid West Mesquite squad last week, and it’s clear this Hippo defense isn’t messing around.

“Our defensive line controlling the line of scrimmage was huge and our backers filled really well tonight,” LaPlante said

The offense, meanwhile, churned out 575 yards at 9.6 yards per play. Senior running back Mekhi Kimble rumbled for 202 yards and three scores on 16 carries and senior wide receiver Dajon Harrison added an 88-yard touchdown run to give the Hippos 352 yards on the ground.

“Our offensive line going against the defensive line every day in practice, they’re getting better every single day, so now they’re starting to gain confidence against other opponents,” LaPlante said. “You saw the confidence with the offensive line, and then Mekhi just wiggles, he finds the holes, he makes good reads and he always makes something out of nothing, or something bigger than what it should be because he always keeps his feet moving.”

Hutto kept Liberty Hill in it until halftime with four turnovers. One of those was a fumble forced by senior cornerback Matthew Montes that got recovered and returned for a touchdown by senior defensive lineman Hadley Weems to make it 14-14. But the Hippos cleaned it up in the second half and ran away with the win.

“That’s just our kids. We play the next play. We had a pregame speech all about power,” LaPlante said. “Well, power is we’re always going to forget if it’s good or bad and go on to the next thing at hand. So our guys did a great job at that.”

Hutto gets first Win over West Mesquite

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

Hutto looked a lot different than it did last year, but the results were still the same. While the offense needed some time to get going, the defense dominated as the Hippos ran away from West Mesquite in a 41-21 win Saturday at Waco ISD Stadium in Waco, TX.

West Mesquite scored on only one of its first ten possessions, and that came on a drive that started at Hutto’s eight. Junior LSU commit Landyn Watson combined with senior Lordswill Uwa and junior Braylon Sugg on a defensive line that didn’t allow the Wranglers to get the push up front necessary to move the ball consistently.

“To put 41 points on the board, you’d think that’s an offensive number, but let’s start with the defense and the way that they played,” said Hutto head coach Brad LaPlante. “You noticed that they weren’t running inside? They were throwing the screens outside to try to get downfield, or running to the outside edge… They were not going to line up at their own 25 and drive the length of the field all day.”

West Mesquite scored 14 of its points in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand and Hutto playing its backups on defense. The defense even got in on the scoring when senior Jordan Phoenix intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 43 yards for Hutto’s first touchdown.

That play helped spark a Hippo offense that started the game playing like it had a lot of new faces. Sophomore quarterback Grayson Doggett’s first pass was intercepted when he threw late on a short out route. West Mesquite scored on the next play to take a 7-0 lead.

But the offense dealt with few issues after that. Doggett rebounded nicely and finished with 278 yards and a touchdown on 19-of-26 passing. Senior Xavier Phoenix caught the lone score on a three-yard fade route. Sophomore Jairiez Lambert provided a pair of explosive plays with receptions of 40 and 41 yards. Senior Dajon Harrison, one of Hutto’s lone returning starters, caught five balls for 55 yards.

“(Doggett is) fine. If you’re ever going to judge a kid based on one play you’re probably not going to be in the business very long. If you saw our coaching staff, all we did was go back and coach,” LaPlante said. “His maturity is way beyond a sophomore, as well.”

Hutto was also able to lean on a run game that churned out 196 yards on 30 carries, most of which came in the second half. Senior Makhi Kimble (18 carries, 148 yards, three touchdowns) helped put the game out of reach with scoring jaunts of 68 and 26 yards in the third quarter. Senior Kendall Williams (five carries, 46 yards, one touchdown) scampered for a 19-yard score in the fourth quarter to cap a 42-0 run for the Hippos.

“Here’s the deal with Mekhi, he’s kind of been the secret,” LaPlante said. “Last year we had a different brand of offense with (former running back) Chux Nwabakou where we were throwing the ball a little bit more. But even though Mekhi is not a huge guy, he can run between the tackles. He’s got great feet. He’s got great vision. He keeps his feet going. He just moves the pile. I’m going to say he’s the reason our offensive line got better today because they believed in him, so that’s just how one player can make the guys elite around him… But I think that we made an identity for our offense through the game that we have not been able to do during fall camp.”

Hutto Reloads 2019

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

Despite losing key players, this year’s team shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Last season, the Hutto Hippos stomped its District 5A-11 competition, many times outright embarrassing their opponents and taking no mercy whatsoever. The team beat Pflugerville Connally 78-14, Cedar Park 65-21, Pflugerville 59-13, Manor 65-35, Rouse 40-0 and McCallum 58-7. Thanks to two powerhouse players and Division I commits, quarterback Chase Griffin (UCLA) and running back Chux Nwabuko III (Texas Tech), the team continued its prowess well into the playoffs but found its match in Foster, who beat Hutto 41-31 in the third round of the state championship semi-finals. “I think everybody knows that the target is on our backs,” Hutto head coach Brad LaPlante said. “I think that’s a big challenge for our kids to repeat as district champions. Yet I know they’ve worked hard to get that opportunity to repeat.” He said his players have a winning mentality, and they care about each other and give their best to their teammates and their coaches. “And that’s a great place to be.”

The 2018 season was the fifth consecutive year Hutto made the playoffs when the team had an 11-1 (6-0) record; so that team isn’t a one-year wonder. Coach LaPlante said that’s because he and his staff are building a program, not just a team from season to season. Sure, last year’s team lost a lot of experience and talent, but he said this year’s team also has a lot of talent and experience returning. This includes a hard-running offense lead by senior tailback Mekhi Kimble, who runs the forty-yard dash in 4.4 seconds; just as speedy is senior slot receiver Dajon Harrison. Coach LaPlante believes senior outside receiver Trey Pinelli “is the best blocker in all of CenTex,” who LaPlante also anticipates will get more ball action this season.

Of course the big question mark is filling the quarterback position now that Chase Griffin graduated and off to UCLA. Hutto has two or three possible quarterbacks, with rising sophomore Grayson Doggett and senior Brock Bujnoch being the top two competing for the position. Key returners on defense are senior outside linebacker Landyn Watson, “a key to the defense’s success.” Senior noseguard Lordswill Uwa has some Division I interest, and junior defensive end Braylon Sugg “at times has the best hands and feet out of all them,” coach LaPlante said. Senior Logan Tipton is a three-year starter at left tackle, and Jayson Vogelpohl is a returning all-district linebacker. 

“We’re going to control our own destiny. We’re really good when we want to be. But we have to make that decision every day to be really good. I like the fact that we are in control. I think we have the pieces to the puzzle to make a run. We may just have to do it in a different way that we did last year.” Coach LaPlante said the returning players have to create a team identity, which will have to start on defense, an element of the team that he feels particularly confident about. Altogether, Hutto’s defense will have about eight returning starters on the line, at linebacker or in the backend as well. Naturally, Hutto’s offense will be forced to fill in big shoes left by Nwabuko and Griffin, who last year was named a Gatorade Player of the Year in quarterback for the state of Texas. Last year, Griffin had 4,051 passing yards, 51 passing touchdowns, 415 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. “You can’t replace them,” coach LaPlante said. “But you find a way to manage the players that you do have. Our offensive coaching staff has done a good job at that. I think everybody thinks we’re done. We had a lot of big-time seniors leave last year, but I think we’re going to sneak up on some people with our team’s speed and how well we play together.”

Hutto Exploits Georgetown

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

Hutto coach Brad LaPlante knows he has a special team with high aspirations. That’s why when asked how he felt about his team’s 38-14 win against Georgetown Friday at Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex in Georgetown, LaPlante didn’t exactly bask in victory.
“I would like to think we would’ve played better,” LaPlante said. “I’m going to give all the credit in the world to Georgetown, but there were times we didn’t play well enough on defense or offense. You saw it. Running backs and receivers running into each other. Those aren’t things that we normally do.”
The critiques may seem harsh for an undefeated team coming off a 24-point win. But LaPlante is aware it takes better efforts than that to win state championships. He’s not judging his squad by the scoreboard. He’s judging his squad against perfection.
Though LaPlante sees plenty to chew on in practice next week, most fans left happy after seeing their team win easily against an opponent they needed a last-second field goal to beat the year before. Senior Chase Griffin threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 19-of-27 passing.
His second touchdown pass came on a three-play, 68-yard drive that lasted about 30 seconds to end the half. He started it with a 26-yard dart down the right sideline to senior running back Chux Nwabuko, then threw a wide receiver screen to junior Dajon Harrison for 21 yards and capped it with a beautiful 21-yard toss to senior D.J. Baptist on a go route. The late score gave Hutto a comfortable 28-7 entering the break.
“When you get the ball at the end of the half, some people are afraid to screw up,” LaPlante said. “We have full trust in our quarterback that he’s going to make good choices. So when you have somebody that’s either going to run it and slide for a seven-yard gain, throw the ball away or make the throw like he did to Chux down the sideline to get us going, you can call higher risk plays… When you have a good decision-maker, it’s easier to be more aggressive.”
Senior Caleb Forrest led all receivers with eight grabs for 104 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown to get the scoring going in the first quarter. Nwabuko rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries and added 22 yards on four catches. 
Griffin called his own number for two scores on the ground – one from five yards out in the second quarter and the other from nine yards out in the third. He worked with Nwabuko’s dad in the offseason to improve his speed and its added another dimension to his game. After rushing for just 65 yards and three touchdowns last year, he already has 106 yards and five scores in less than half as many games.
“Rick alluded to the question of ‘what do we need to do to get to state?’ We need to be more versatile in our offense,” LaPlante said. “You can’t drop back against the Cedar Parks and throw the ball 51 times a game. So when you have three good running backs, five or six good wide receivers, well now, they have to worry about Chase running the ball? 
“That is an added element. So credit him No. 1 for getting faster and working on it, but No. 2 we realize that’s just one more way we’re dangerous.”
After surrendering 30-plus points in each of its first three games, Hutto’s defense has now held two straight opponents to 14. Georgetown gained only 319 yards on 62 plays for 5.1 yards per play. The Hippos blew a coverage on a fake wide receiver screen that left senior Noah Drum wide open for a 44-yard touchdown, but other than that points were tough to come by. Hutto’s young-but-talented defensive line of sophomore Landyn Watson, junior Lordswill Uwa and sophomore Braylon Sugg caused problems for the Eagles’ offense and allowed the rest of the Hippo defense to drop back into coverage and defend the pass.
“You saw (No.) 21 Landyn Watson. There was a time eight out of ten plays where he took over that game. That’s how good of a player he can be when he figures out he’s better than the kid across from him,” LaPlante said. “All three of those guys. We have a junior and two sophomores, so we’ve got a couple years with that good front left. (Watson) is the leader of that pack and his motor brings more intensity to those other kids.”
Texas Sports Monthly

The Heat of Hutto Hippos

Written by Charles Branch on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL, TEXAS SPORTS.

The dry Texas heat, the grass clippings, the pairs of cleats stabbing the dirt, and the yelling from coaches  to play with more effort. It’s football season folks. On the outskirts of Austin lies Hutto a rural town that supports their Hippos, last season brought execution and success into the playoffs for this team.
A lot has changed for the school most notably a new coaching era. Meet Coach Brad Laplante, the former offensive coordinator who takes over the reins from recent retired Coach Steve Van Meter. Van Meter led the Hippos to a very impressive 11-2 record before losing to Fort Bend Marshall 35-32. Hutto is believed to be in great hands in Laplante who has great admiration for his formal coach.
“Coach VanMeter is a person that I will forever be thankful that our paths crossed.  God put us in the position to meet when coaching colleagues of mine informed Coach Van about me and he trusted the coach and person I was during our interview.  Coach got here in 2013, and after 1 season, I arrived to work with him.  Our discipline, leadership, academics, standards, and level of play all rose because of his leadership, the good families we get to work with, and because of the good staff he put together here at Hutto.  His biggest influence for his players and coaching staff was to have us all trust each other and “do what’s in your wheelhouse.”  He wanted us all to be who we were and embrace that.  Love that man.”
 
This will be Coach Laplante’s third coaching gig. Not much will change but he will get creative putting his players to make plays this upcoming season.
”Coach VanMeter and I worked side by side to instill our offensive philosophy, develop plays, and put our players in position to succeed.  We lost 3 very good senior starters on offense.  Other players will be asked to play an expanded role, some players may play both sides of the ball, and the experienced players coming back have great leadership to help out the new guys.  As our team moves forward, we will be better because our defense continues to improve, and last spring ran to the ball really well.  We don’t need to play mistake-free ball, but we hurt ourselves in the losses we had last year.”
A lot of that responsibility falls on junior quarterback Chase Griffin. Griffin recently committed to UCLA and looks to add to his resume this season. Making smart decisions and controlling the game is crucial for the quarterback to put points on the scoreboard. The past two seasons he has limited his mistakes committing less than ten interceptions in each of those seasons.

“Chase is the most complete QB on and off the field I have had the absolute pleasure to coach.  Elite players make the other players better around them.  His numbers, production, limit of turnovers won’t need to improve.  His leadership, we expect, will rise to another level this year, and he will make other players around him better.  For us to go deeper than we ever have, his checks at the line of scrimmage will need to be on point, and his ability to read the pocket pressure and get the ball out quickly will serve him well.”

It all starts in the off-season, practice, as well as the weight room. And it all starts with the coach.
“My vision for this season is to watch our players and see them play so hard, that I never have to question what the scoreboard says.  The excitement level has to be high each and every day.  Good, mature players understand that everything we do matters as a team, and everything we do is for the success of the team.  I would love for our practice intensity to grow, and our football IQ to grow so we don’t understand just the play/coverage etc., but we understand the concept of it as a whole.  We have had an awesome off-season.  Our players have been hungry in the weight room, we did well in lineman challenges, our guys have shown out at camps, and we were very successful at 7 on 7.  When our players work hard, positively affect the others around them, and play at their highest level, we are a tough group to beat.”
The Hippos open the season beginning with West Mesquite then go on to play Liberty Hill and Del Valle. Times are pretty exciting for the Hippo fans which expect a full house in every home game.
“As a head coach, my intention is to build on what our staff has been working on for 5 years.  It’s a great time to be a Hutto Hippo, but we can still raise the bar in academics, recruiting, and our play.  Our players have bought into #EverythingMatters!”
Everything will matter once they step on that field against Mesquite. One things for sure it all starts with their identity on both sides of the ball.
“Our style or brand of play won’t change, we may even try to play faster on offense.  Defensively 2 big goals are to be better in 1 on 1 coverage situations and stop the big play.  I truly believe teams will have a hard time moving the ball on our defense the length of the field without explosive plays.”
Everyone get ready. Central Texas high school football has come alive and is here to stay.