Pack Attack Leaves Hays in Daze

Timberwolves Race to Quick Lead, then Clamp Down

Off to the program’s best start this century, the Cedar Park Timberwolves used a proven recipe to paste district the 26-4A favorite Hays Rebels 28-10 in Thursday night action at Bible Stadium September 14: toast ‘em quick, then turn it to a slow boil the rest of the way.

The resultant 2-0 mark is the only time a Cedar Park team has won its first two games since the very first year of Timberwolf varsity football, 1999. The team is now on a four-game winning streak that, despite its modesty, is the best in 5A football in central Texas.

Hays, picked to win their district title, had entered the game on the heels of a nice 18-point roll for a come-from behind win over a very good Boerne team, 24-13. Boerne had been the no.2-ranked sub-5A team in the San Antonio area going into that match-up. The Rebels brought to town nearly the same offensive and defensive schemes as Cedar Park utilizes.

By the end of the evening, some bizarre statistical realities had ensued. Hays piled up more rushing yards, more passing yards, a greater time-of-possession, and more first downs than Cedar Park. Of course, those stats meant absolutely nothing compared to the numbers on the scoreboard, as the Timberwolves were never in any real danger of losing control of this contest. It was the first time a Cedar Park team has ever beaten a team that had out-rushed them.

Junior quarterback Michael Cochran completed six of seven passes for 86 yards and a TD, a nine yard toss to a wide-open Blake Silguero for the game’s final score. It was the first career touchdown pass for both Cochran and Silguero. Cochran is now 13-for-18 for 170 yards on the young season, completing a stellar 72.2% of his throws, with one TD and no interceptions.

Senior running back Tyler Smith exploded early in the game, as the main instrument with which Cedar Park took control. Smith ran for 138 yards on 14 carries, with two touchdowns. “The T” went over a hundred yards before halftime. Smith has now rushed for 217 yards and four scores to open the season.

Running back Taylor Itz had a nice game, as well. The leading receiver with two catches for 32 yards, Itz pounded the line inside with six tough runs for 27 important yards, most of them coming right when the Timberwolves needed them.

The Gang Green defense was in a very supple bend-but-don’t break mode, giving up some yardage between the twenties, but clamping down when push came to shove. Hays went for it on fourth down six times, and the T’wolves stopped them on four of those; three times inside the CP thirty, and two of those inside the twenty. The CPD also caused a Rebel fumble at the end of one long Hays drive, recovered by Andrew Baughman. Another Hays drive was thwarted by a Tim Knicky interception, run back for 54 yards, much of which was erased by a penalty. Soon-to-be All-western-hemisphere linebacker Justin Allen recovered another Hays fumble at the Rebel 29.

Most of the defensive yardage yielded by the Gang Green occurred on the final three Hays possessions, long after the issue was settled: another reason the statistics were misleading. The Rebels gained 169 yards after they were already down 21-2; only 152 prior to that.

The T’wolves started the game just like they did against Harker Heights the week before- with the offense scoring points on its first four possessions, at the end of which the ball game was essentially over. That statement is true, but deceptive, and the details will reveal themselves shortly.

The first possession took only four and a half minutes. Cedar Park went 74 yards on nine plays, the keys being an 18-yard run by Smith on his first carry of the night and a 16-yard pass from Cochran to fullback Taylor Itz. Cochran ran it in for the score from twelve yards out and Jordan Greer’s kick made it 7-0 Cedar Park.

After Hays went for a fourth down at their own forty and was stuffed, the T’wolves smelled blood. A 17-yard pass and run to Hunter Dixon sparked a lightning-quick four-play drive, capped off by The T going in for his first touchdown of the night from six yards out. Greer’s kick made it 14-0 T’wolves with just 8:19 gone in the game.

At this point, Cedar Park had rolled up 114 yards of offense on just 13 plays, and Hays had all of twelve total yards. There’s the important yardage stat for this game- not the final totals.

The next Hays possession looked like they had some things solved, though. Starting from their own 35 after the kickoff, the Rebels marched 73 yards in ten plays, mostly deft runs by quarterback Brooks Pinckard, but lost the ball on Baughman’s fumble recovery at the Cedar Park two. Besides a lone TD drive in the third quarter, Hays would never come near the end zone again.

The first play of Cedar Park’s third possession was a one-yard loss on a running play, placing the ball at the one. After the quarter change, on second and eleven, Cochran took the snap and began to roll to his right, but he slipped on the turf and stumbled in the end zone, scoring an accidental safety on the play. Thus, in a roundabout way, Cedar Park kept alive its short streak of scoring points on all of its first four possessions in every game this season.

After the free kick set Hays up at their own 41, the Rebels, now down 14-2, tried to keep the offensive success they’d found in their second possession alive. But the going was tough. It took them nine plays to move just thirty yards, and even that slow momentum ended when, for the second time on the night, the Gang Green defense stopped them on a fourth down conversion attempt.

Taking over at their own 29, the Cedar Park offense looked angry, determined to make up for the inadvertent safety on the previous possession. They knifed 71 yards in just four plays – the second four-play touchdown drive of the night – and scored on Smith’s one-yard run with 5:33 left in the half.

Hays next started from their own 31, but on the first play a bobbled exchange on the option left the ball on the turf and Allen fell on it for Cedar Park at the 29. Hays was suddenly in deep trouble of being on the wrong end of a runaway score.

The T’wolves smelled the end zone and a rout, and quickly moved the ball to the Hays 11, but a fumble at that point stopped the drive.

Hays had some success moving again on their ensuing possession, but the yards were tough to come by. They moved 39 yards, but it took eight plays to go that far, and the wind left their sails when Knicky picked off Pinckard’s pass.

After a penalty on the interception return placed the ball at the Hays forty, the T’wolves milked the clock as best they could, going forty yards in four plays, lining up for a last-second filed goal from 27 yards out that just missed to the right.

At halftime, leading 21-2 and with Hays occasionally moving but finding no success in closing the deal, the Rebs’ chances were already in serious jeopardy. Cedar Park had 231 yards of ball movement to Hays’ 152 at intermission. Neither team had punted. Most of Cedar Park’s possessions had ended in scores, while Hay’s either ended in failed fourth-down conversions or turnovers.

In the second half, Coach Ross put the Sleeper Hold on ‘em. Ross’ tried-and-true strategy with multiple-touchdown leads is to take the air out of the ball and burn clock, and that’s just what happened. While the first half saw a total of eleven possessions by the two offenses, each team got the ball only three times apiece after intermission.

Hays showed some life with a touchdown drive to open the half, going 67 yards in fourteen plays, taking seven minutes to do it, and capping it off with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Pinckard on a nice lunging grab by wideout Chris Garza in the middle of the end zone. In order to put them in a position where a field goal and a TD followed by a two-pointer would tie the game, Hays went for two, converting it on another dart of a pass from Pinckard.

Seeing their lead cut to 21-10, Cedar Park decided not to pull the offensive throttles to idle just yet. The Timberwolves answered with a smart thrust of their own. Starting from their forty-one after a short kickoff, Cedar Park rumbled 50 yards in nine plays. With 27 seconds left in the third quarter, facing a fourth down at the nine, Coach Ross eschewed a possible field goal attempt and went for the bone-crusher. Cochran found Silguero running through the end zone completely uncovered and flicked an easy TD pass to him. Greer’s kick made it 28-10. Cedar Park had moved 59 yards in just four and a half minutes, and their heel was back firmly on the Rebels’ throat. At this point, Cedar Park had outgained Hays 290 yards to 219.

But the fourth quarter saw zero Timberwolf yards: that nine-yard TD pass was the final time the offense moved. On the other hand, Hays gobbled yardage. Well over one third of their total offense came in this last-gasp final quarter, and all of that went for naught.

Their first fourth-quarter possession went 75 yards in sixteen plays, Pinckard finally getting some passing yardage on the drive. In the first three quarters, Hays completed just five of nineteen passes, all on separate drives. Three completions here totaled 32 yards, but once again, when it came time to cash the check, the Rebels were short of funds. The CPD denied the transaction on fourth down, this time at the Timberwolf fifteen.

The Hays defense never stopped Cedar Park all night. But the T’wolves themselves did at this point, as two penalties shot them in the foot. They ran six plays starting from their fifteen, and actually gained a first down, but ended up punting from that same fifteen yard line, in the only punt by either team all night long. It came with less than five minutes left in the game.

Hays had one last chance to dent the scoreboard, starting from the T’wolf 43 and moving the ball down to the sixteen in five plays, but once again, for the fourth time on the night, the Gang Green stopped a fourth down play.

Cochran took a few knees to squeeze the final minute off the clock, and this game was in the books.

Cedar Park draws even with Hays in this all-time series, at three games apiece. It was their first time to beat the Rebels at Bible Stadium. Neither program has ever won back-to-back games in the series.

The crowd was of excellent size considering the Thursday night game date. They were treated to yet another very impressive display of quick and utter Timberwolf dominance over yet another very good football team. Hays may well finish the regular season 9-1. Better jump on the Cedar Park bandwagon now, before it reaches escape velocity.

Next up is the only real road trip of the year, a Thursday night ride up to Killeen’s Buckley Stadium to face the Gray Wolves of Shoemaker. Next home game is the following Friday night, as the team opens 14-5A play against Georgetown in the Homecoming Game.

	Cedar Park	Hays
First Downs	18	22
Rushes	33	44
Rush Yards	194	217
Yards/Rush	5.88	4.93
Pass Att.	7	23
Pass Comp.	6	8
Pass Int.	0	1
Pass Pct. Comp.	86%	35%
Pass Yards	86	94
Avg Yds/Att.	12.29	4.09
Total Yards	280	311
Penalties	7	4
Pen Yards	46	50
Fumbles	2	3
Fumbles Lost	1	2
Punts	1	0
Return Yards	90	95

(More stats on next page)

Scoring Summary
Q	T	CP	H	How
1	7:25	7		Cochran 12 run (Greer kick)
1	3:41	14		Tyler Smith 6 run (Greer kick)
2	11:54		2	Cochran slipped in end zone
2	5:33	21		Tyler Smith 1 run (Greer kick)
3	5:08		10	Pinckard 16 pass to Garza (Pinckard pass)
3	0:27	28		Cochran 9 pass to Silguero

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Cedar Park	14	7	7	0	28
Hays	0	2	8	0	10