Skip to main content

Tag: Wimberley Texans

Wimberley QB Cooper McCollum

Written by Tucker Stephenson on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

Not many folks outside the halls of Wimberley High School thought the Texans would end up playing for a Class 4A Division II championship this season.

But senior quarterback Cooper McCollum has been confident in his team’s ability all season. In fact, the signal caller has been planning on a special 2019 campaign since before Wimberley sewed up a spot in the playoffs.

“We actually had to turn in goals for our team — we had to turn in three goals — and one of mine was to be the leader of a team that’s remembered,” McCollum said in mid-October. “We don’t want to be a team people forget. We want to get our name written in stone up on the state champs wall so when they walk in, they see our name first and they know we mean business.”

McCollum has since raised his game to a new level while helping the Texans’ offense become even more unstoppable. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior came into the state title game having already accounted for over 4,000 yards of total offense and 61 touchdowns.

They key for McCollum and the Texans has been balance. Not only can McCollum torch an opposing defense with his arm, but he’s shown the ability to keep plays alive with his feet until his wide receivers gain separation down the field.

McCollum has plenty of weaponry at his disposal, as Wimberley’s receiving corps is made up of seven players who have collected 10 or more receptions. The leader of the pack is junior Christian Marshall, who has used his 6-foot-3 frame to haul in 61 passes for 1,282 yards and 18 TDs prior to the state championship matchup against Pleasant Grove.

Juniors Josh Limely (628 yards, 11 TDs) and Jaxon Watts (692 yards, seven TDs) are also prime targets, as is senior Kolby Goforth (287 yards, TD).

Wimberley also has a solid running back in Moses Wray, who excels at getting the tough yards that help set up the Texans’ play-action passing game. Wray’s 1,223 yards and 15 scores force defenses to stay honest when attempting to game plan for Wimberley.

Of course, it hasn’t been smooth sailing the whole way for McCollum and the Texans. The quarterback was forced to leave Wimberley’s 42-14 loss to Navarro with an injury that he sustained with his team holding a two-touchdown lead.

However, that type of adversity has only led to bigger and better performances down the line. Since the postseason began, McCollum has thrown for 1,320 yards and 19 TDs, including five each in back-to-back weeks against Navarro and Silsbee.

The Texans punished Navarro 42-12 in their playoff rematch, and it looked as though McCollum was going to lead another rout in the state semifinals against Silsbee. As it turned out, Wimberley needed all five of his scores versus the Tigers, as Silsbee made a late comeback to pull within six in the fourth quarter.

The Texans once held a 49-16 lead in that game, but McCollum never showed any panic. Instead, he did what he does best — get the ball in the hands of his playmakers on the outside as Wimberley prevailed 56-43 to punch its ticket back to state for the first time since 2011.

“I wasn’t scared,” McCollum said. “I know who we are, and I knew we’d execute when it mattered the most.”

Wimberley advance to State Quarter- Finals

Written by Tucker Stephenson on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

During the Texans’ 42-14 loss to district rival Navarro in late October, quarterback Cooper McCollum was relegated to the sideline with an injury that took all of the air out of Wimberley’s proverbial balloon.

In the rematch, McCollum showcased what he was capable of doing in four full quarters of action.

The Texans (11-3) flipped the script on Navarro at the Alamodome in San Antonio, as McCollum was nearly perfect while directing a 42-12 rout in the Class 4A Division II state quarterfinals. The senior signal caller tossed five touchdown passes to lead an early onslaught that buried previously-unbeaten Panthers (13-1) from the outset.

“We jumped out on them early and then just kind of kept them at arm’s length and made them chase us all night, which is something that they don’t like to do,” Wimberley head coach Doug Warren said.

McCollum exited the first meeting against Navarro with the Texans holding a 14-0 lead, but the Panthers used a string of 42 unanswered points to run away with the victory. Navarro later sewed up the District 13-4A-II championship.

However, Wimberley looked nothing like an underdog in the Region IV-4A-II title game and was able to light up the scoreboard early and often. 

McCollum took to the air and found Christian Marshall for touchdown strikes of 21 and 31 yards in the opening stanza, but the senior quarterback wasn’t done there. He added a 6-yard TD toss to Josh Limely to close out a dominant 21-0 first quarter for the Texans.

“It was just us taking advantage of opportunities,” Warren said. “We’ve thrown the ball fairly well all season and the first time against those guys we lost (McCollum) to injury, so that kind of changed the complexion of the game a little bit. It was just a matter of us executing our offense to its potential.”

Wimberley quarterback Cooper McCollum looks for a receiver as teammate Moses Wray (5) blocks Navarro’s Brian Holmes (82). 

Navarro stopped the bleeding when Johnny Alegria tallied an 11-yard rushing score prior to halftime, but the Texans’ defense held strong throughout the third period to protect a 21-7 lead.

Marshall then threw a TD pass of his own late in the quarter, as he found Jaxon Watts on a 13-yard pass play that helped put Wimberley up by 21 once again. The Panthers answered with a short TD run by Alegria, but McCollum put the finishing touches on the triumph in the final seven minutes of the game.

McCollum capped a scoring drive with a 1-yard TD plunge and then hit Limely on a 56-yard scoring toss that put the exclamation point on the Texans’ blowout win. 

McCollum finished the contest 18 of 22 passing for 221 yards and five scores in addition to 26 yards and a TD on the ground. Running back Moses Wray added 93 yards on 15 carries, while Marshall and Limely each hauled in a pair of scores.

“We knew if we played a complete game we’d have a great chance to advance on, and so that confidence level was there,” Warren said. “They just kept feeding off of it.”

Wimberley has now advanced to the state semifinals and will meet Silsbee for the right to play for a state championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. 

Warren said the Tigers (9-3) will be yet another tough opponent for his battled-tested Texans.

“They’re going to be the best football team we’ve played up to this point and we wouldn’t expect anything less in a state semifinal,” Warren said. “Very athletic, and so they do provide challenges for you just because of team speed and their size up front. It’ll be a tough matchup for us, there’s no doubt.”

Doug Warren: Wimberley Texans Football

Written by Tucker Stephenson on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

Texas Sports Monthly recently chatted with Wimberley head coach Doug Warren about the Texans’ playoff run, as well as their explosive offense. Coach Warren also gave his thoughts on the school’s budding athletic rivalry with nearby Canyon Lake High School.

Q: Coach, your offense has averaged over 40 points per game through the first 12 contests of the season. How has that group been able to light up the scoreboard so consistently?

A: It starts with our quarterback, Cooper McCollum. The offense runs through that guy and he gets us in a lot of good spots. Moses Wray, our running back, had a really good night [against Raymondville] and rushed for about 200 yards and is a big part of that. We’ve got several receivers also — Christian Marshall, Josh Limely, Jaxon Watts, Kolby Goforth, Colby Boyle. All of those guys fit into the picture, and there are two or three others as well. 

Q: Who is anchoring the defensive side of the ball so far? 

A: Our linebacker, Cole Schroeder, has really kind of stepped up and settled into a role. (Safety) Colby Wiegman is another guy that’s on that side who flies around and has been somebody to lean on, and I think

Jadon Potts is another one. Those three guys have really kind of been the steady hands for us. 

Q: In the second round of the Class 4A Division II playoffs against Raymondville, you guys won 63-35 in a shootout. What was that game like to experience from the sidelines? 

A: It was back and forth. Neither defense could stop the other’s offense. At halftime it’s tied 21-all and then it’s 35-35 after the third quarter. Then from that point on, we were able to hold them defensively and score 21 in a row. We’ve been in some tough games and some tough situations already this year, so I think that’s an advantage for us in these playoffs.

Q: Is your third-round opponent, Rockport-Fulton, going to be similar to any team you’ve faced earlier this year?

A: They’re a Slot-T based team and run-heavy. Canyon Lake is along those lines and Navarro is along those lines, so we’ve seen teams that are like that. We know it’s a tough challenge for us. They’re going to take the ball and just try to grind it out and shorten the game down and limit our possessions on offense.

Q: Canyon Lake has become a rival of Wimberley since it opened its doors in 2007. There’s even a name for the prize between the two teams — the Battle of the Backbone Trophy. (The Texans won this season’s matchup 45-7). Has it been exciting for the kids and fans to look forward to that game every year?

Coach Doug Warren Wimberley Texans.

A: Any time you have a rivalry, it adds a little bit to the game. They’re just right down the road, so it’s pretty natural. You don’t have to throw in a trophy to make to special — that doesn’t really add anything in my opinion. It’s already what it is, and it’s not just football. It carries over into basketball, volleyball, you name it. Two schools that compete very hard against each other when they play.

Wimberley levels up to Area Round with coach Warren.

Written by Charles Branch on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

In the 2018 season Wimberley staggered to a 4-7 record. As a respectful winning team the previous two seasons they have come back to winning football this year and have made the playoffs. It didn’t sit too lightly on the players heading into the summer workouts.

“I think that the kids took it to heart, realized it was not satisfactory. They used it as fuel let that drive them. Turn it into a great summer and fall camp,” replied Coach Warren. The fuel turned this season into a successful 4A district 8-3 record. A wake-up call that helped them prepare for the playoffs. It sparked a new drive within them. As the season continued throughout the weeks Coach Warren noticed something within his team which is needed for the postseason.

“Spirits are great, they like being around each other, enjoying it.” Team chemistry is essential for a successful season and beyond. As they got back to winning football it certainly helped that their confidence was high. They will need it for Raymondville who will be there first test in the playoffs.

A formidable opponent who has Coach Warren’s respect. “They’re explosive; their two running backs get tons of yards. Twelve yards per carry, you’re doing something right when you’re doing that, very impressive. They are physical and not afraid to complete plays.”

Raymondville will provide the ultimate test for Wimberley. Spirits will need to stay up. With two players running the ball gaining a first down on every play, Wimberley will need to bring a complete team effort to come out on top. They’ve done it all year so why wouldn’t they keep the trend going. Central Texas has made noise in the postseason and Wimberley wants to be heard. 

Knights stuff Texans

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

Regents had its 26-game regular season win streak snapped last week by San Antonio Central Catholic. But the Knights didn’t let that get them down. Instead, they learned from the defeat and used it as fuel to start a new run of victories in a 48-13 demolition of Wimberley Friday at Knights Stadium in Austin. 
“We had a great practice week this week, but we had a great practice week last week,” said Regents coach Beck Brydon with his dry sense of humor. “The lesson there is just because you have a good practice week, doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good Friday night. But I think that the focus was a little sharper this week. We just went back to fundamentals and basics on a lot of things… We stripped down our playbook quite a bit this week. We used a lot of basic stuff and we repped a lot of basic stuff over and over and over again to ensure that what we did last week was not going to be repeated tonight.”
Regents doesn’t often get the chance to play a public school. The Knights last game against such a program was Florence in 2011. So when two-time state champion and 2017 Class 4A Div. I state semifinalist Wimberley came to town, five-time private school state champion Regents took advantage of the opportunity with 31 unanswered points to finish out the game.
“I think we were extremely motivated, especially after last week. We really didn’t play a clean game, played super sloppy, and them being a public school, and a bigger school, just totally motivated us even more to focus up, lock down and get our stuff right this week. I’m really proud about how everyone played and responded this week,” said junior quarterback Wilson Long. “We never want to lose, but in a way it was what we needed. I think we had gotten a little bit too high on ourselves. I think it was a good reminder that we’re human. We make mistakes, too. We’re not perfect, obviously, and I think that was just a great way to reset our focus.”
Long guided the offense with 262 total yards – 93 on the ground and 169 through the air. He completed 11-of-20 passes with a 14-yard scoring toss to senior wide receiver Jackson Mountain. Junior running back Andrew Adams added 114 yard and three touchdowns on eight totes.
“He’s a special player,” Brydon said of Long. “He’s got a great arm. He’s most dangerous with his feat, and he had a great game. With him, it’s shotgun for us on any given play, something special can happen and we know that.”
The defense held Wimberley scoreless for the last 32 minutes of play as the Texans mustered only a shade above four yards per play. Junior defensive lineman Dru Benson had back-to-back sacks at a crucial point in the third quarter that tilted the momentum decidedly in the Knights’ favor
“Really proud of (the defense),” Long said. “They played a great game. They really just stuffed them, gave us a chance. They played a great game like they usually do… Love those guys.”