The Friday night lights turned on once again on Friday, September 3rd as District 25-4A football teams took the field at stadiums ranging from Taylor to Gupton and all the way to Medina Valley for Week 1 of football season.
Last week, the Vandegrift Vipers traveled to Memorial Field, home of the Taylor Ducks, to get revenge for last year’s 28-31 loss within field goal range. After a kickoff by senior Rand Fredrickson, the battle started in a full stadium. After multiple flags and a near interception by senior Cameron Harris, the Vipers put the first points on the board 7 minutes into the 1st quarter with a 12 yard precision pass from senior Dakota Prukop to junior Tristan Paffe.
After touchdowns from Viper seniors Yuron Shears and Dakota Prukop as well as junior Mark Giles and Duck running back Ronald Scott, the Vipers led 27-6 into halftime. With a pass from Prukop, senior Brandon Brown opened up the 2nd half with his first touchdown of the season. Late in the 3rd, Shears brought the score to 39-6 with another handoff from Prukop. Immediately after, the Vipers received their own kickoff and Shears ran into the end zone on the first play of the series.
With multiple possessions and no score in the 4th, the Vipers went home victorious over the Taylor Ducks with a score of 47-6, bringing their season record to 2-0.
At Merrill Green Stadium in Bryan, Texas the Rouse Raiders faced off against the Rudder Rangers, hoping for their 2nd varsity win of the season and the history of the school. Duck junior Tre Guyton opened the game by securing a fumbled ball and turning 1st and goal into a touchdown. Rouse answered in the 2nd quarter with junior Logan Kinder to tie the game 7-7 into halftime. Coming out of the half, Guyton ran the ball a long 70 yards for Rudder’s tiebreaking touchdown with a handoff from senior quarterback Jamarcus Davenport.
Midway through the 3rd quarter the Raiders came back, bringing the score to 14-14 with a touchdown courtesy of junior Austin Herring. Unfortunately, with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter, a Rudder defensive end went down after a punt by Rouse. A team athletic trainer administered CPR and on-scene paramedics transported the Ranger to a nearby hospital, where he was responsive and talking. Coaches and officials agreed that the non-district game would end in a 14-14 tie in respect to the lineman’s family and team, bringing the Raider’s season record to 1-0-1. Before parting, both teams convened midfield to shake hands and give support to the Rangers.
Back home in District 25, the Cedar Park Timberwolves played the Ellison Eagles, boasting a big offense and strong defense. The T’Wolves completely shut Ellison down by keeping the Eagles under 70 total offensive yards in the first half with senior quarterback Brian Hogan leading Cedar Park into the 3rd quarter up 42-0. With a total of 427 combined offensive yards, Cedar Park triumphed over Ellison, ending the game 52-0 and improving their record to 1-1 after last week’s upset against Westwood. The Eagles gained a mere 120 offensive yards, mostly by seniors Isiah Cowan and Daryus Scott.
The Lake Travis Cavaliers hosted the Hendrickson Hawks, turning what had been labeled an uncertain win into an easy win. Led by seniors Zach Austin and Cameron Wrinkle, with footballs from junior quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Cavs got their record to 2-0 with a 43-14 win over the Hawks. Mayfield ended the game with 253 yards passing, and Austin was voted Player of the Week by MaxPreps for his 6 catches of 123 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Cavs.
In yet another upset, critics are starting to change their minds about Vista Ridge this year. This week, the Rangers were hosted by the Harker Heights Knights – both veteran teams with an experienced staff. Coming out of a 9-3 season last year, which got them to Week 12 of playoffs, the Rangers went into the half up 15-14 but end up losing a hard fought game to the Knights 22-29. Senior quarterback Blake Estes led the Rangers, with junior running back Adrian Duncan gaining 173 yards passing and a touchdown for each of them.
The Dripping Springs Tigers hosted the state-ranked Wimberley Texans to lose 26-47. The Texans started out slow, but after a field goal and safety caused by Michael McGregor from the Tigers, they woke up to score in the 2nd quarter and then again with a 73 yard catch and run by senior Brennen Blakemore, thrown by senior quarterback Brady Lambert.
In San Antonio, the Marble Falls Mustangs were hosted by the Medina Valley Panthers, a long game that came to the 4th quarter where the Mustang defense held the line to allow their team a 42-38 victory over the Panthers.
As of Week 1, Vandegrift High School is 1 of 3 schools (along with Lake Travis and Marble Falls) with a 2-0 record in District 25-4A. Vandegrift has the most points earned (91) and fewest points allowed (13) of all of District 25-4A.
Week 2 Lineup: Vandegrift vs. Boerne, Rouse @ Hendrickson, Cedar Park @ Leander, Lake Travis @ Aledo, Vista Ridge vs Del Valle, Dripping Springs @ Manor, Marble Falls @ Burnet
