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Tag: Tahj Brooks

Manor knocks out Cedar Park in close playoff win.

Written by River Tompkins on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

The conditions were harsh, the stakes were high but the will to win was even stronger as a Round Three Regional Playoff game took place in the foggy and damp P-field Stadium between the Manor Mustangs and the Cedar Park Timberwolves. The Wolves were highly favored coming into the game but the Mustangs put that aside and pushed right through them for a 17-14 nail-biter victory.

Cedar Park received the ball to start the game, and came out firing. Junior quarterback Ryder Hernandez completed three passes all to Josh Cameron for 14, 7, and 23-yards. In the dangerous conditions, Hernandez bobbled and fumbled the snap leading to a Manor Mustang recovery.

The Mustangs were determined to do the opposite of Cedar Park as they worked the ground-and-pound game with three consecutive runs. Manor ran themselves straight into a 3 & out and were forced to punt. Luckily for them, they got the ball right back as the Timberwolves receiver Gunner Abseck coughed the ball up for another turnover.

After both teams punted the ball Manor was in possession. Junior running back Lavonte Benford found a seam and exploited it for a whopping 52-yard run placing Manor on Cedar Park’s 23-yard line. The Mustangs than found themselves in a 4&13 situation, choosing not to kick the 42-yard field goal, Manor went for it on 4th down and somewhat predictably did not get it.

Coach Mitchell celebrates with his team after the 17-14 win over district rival Cedar Park.

“Well, we just have to keep working hard, we need to throw the ball better”, said Manor head coach Jimmie Mitchell.

After Manor missed a field goal from 42-yards out the Timberwolves were on the attack. Cedar park mounted a strong drive in which they ran it nine times successfully. Running back Jonathan Stockwell lead the pack with explosive runs of 16 and 18 yard carries. Cedar Park would cap the drive off with a 14-yard flip pass to Jordan Cameron for the first score of the game.

Heading into halftime Cedar Park was in the lead but neither team felt satisfied or comfortable with their position. For Manor it was about getting Tahj Brooks going, the Mustangs were a power run offense and they needed to act like it. Brooks had only six carries and 6-yards going into halftime. For Cedar Park, it was simply about holding onto the ball. The last drive looked great but they could not afford to turn the ball over anymore.

“We had to start running the ball with Tahj Brooks he is our star running back and he didn’t do much in the first half, so we needed to get him going and we did. We put him [Tajh Brooks] at quarterback, we put him at running back, we put him everywhere”, said Jimmie Mitchell.

Manor followed the advice and immediately started using Brooks. Brooks was lined up all over the place at quarterback, running back and occasionally receiver, no matter where he was he was touching the ball. On their first drive, Brooks carried the ball nine times for 62-yards as well as a touchdown to tie the game up.

Manor’s defense would then stand strong forcing a Cedar Park punt. Mustang quarterback Matt Hill tried to dance in the pocket but could not avoid big-boy Ben Bell who sacked, striped, recovered and ran the ball in for a Cedar Park TD. Manor would immediately go back to what worked for them in Tajh Brooks who had 29 touches and 145-yards from scrimmage. 16-yards away from the endzone Manor employed a little bit of trickery as running back Che Nwabuko threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Carl Chester.

At this point in the game the energy was high, both teams fighting to stay alive. Once again the Cedar Park offense was unable to get anything going handing the ball over to what was becoming a well-oiled machine in the Mustang offense. Manor once again would drive down the field with ease but fall just short this time. On 4th down quarterback, Matt Hill overthrew his receiver who would have had a walk-in touchdown, giving Cedar Park the ball.

The game was getting down to the wire as Cedar Park was progressing their way downfield. They then found themselves 23-yards away from the endzone in a 4&3 situation. They could risk the field goal at 40-yards or go for it. Head coach Carl Abseck kept the offense on, Ryder hiked it and was immediately brought down in the backfield for a loss.

It was all or nothing, the Mustangs had to get downfield and score. Surprisingly it was not Tahj Brooks that carried them downfield, but Matt Hill who had only completed six passes coming into this drive. He would string together three completions for 10,10 and 20-yards to get the Mustangs in field goal range just like that. It was all up to kicker Yael Sanchez, with the crowd roaring behind him and everything on the line he hit it perfectly through the uprights clinching the win for Manor and sending them to the 4th round of Texas High School Playoffs.

Mustangs advance to the Regional Round at the Alamodome Saturday Dec 7th to face the Shadow Creek Sharks in the 4th round of the State Tournament.

The Mustangs will head onto the quarterfinals where they will square up against Shadow Creek who is fresh off a 35-31 win over Foster. It should be an exciting one as both of these teams have the ability to go all the way.

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.”