Playoff Bound!
Timberwolves hold off Dragons to
clinch second playoff trip in three years
Posting
their second one-point win and their fourth down-to-the-wire victory of the
season, the resilient Cedar Park Timberwolves beat stubborn Round Rock 21-20 at
Bible Stadium Friday night to punch their playoff ticket and set up a shot to
claim their share of the district title against Leander November 10. It was the
50th win in the short history of
The
T’wolves ran their record to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in district play. It is the
fourth time in eight seasons the program has posted eight or more wins. The
high-scoring Dragons, off to their best record in nearly a decade, fell to 6-3
overall and 3-3 in district.
The win
cemented another important stat- the T’wolves went undefeated at home (6-0) for
the first time since the inaugural season in 1999. This one’s far more
impressive, however, as the list of opponents includes 5A heavyweights and not
the slew of 2A and 3A teams (although four of them were district champions) faced by that ’99 CP team, which consisted
of 85% sophomores and just a handful of juniors.
Cedar
Park appeared to dominate this game on nearly every level, and yet after
posting a quick two-touchdown first quarter lead, at which point the T’wolves
had out-gained Round Rock by 122 yards, the Timberwolves found themselves in a
dogfight. In the second and third quarters, the Dragons clawed their way back
in and made the home fans quite uncomfortable the rest of the way, despite the
fact that most of the game’s 124 plays produced results favorable to Cedar
Park. At one point in the third quarter, the T’wolves actually trailed during a
game in which the yardage stats were never very close at any point in the
contest.
Blame all
that on James Kirkendoll. District 14-5A’s most dangerous player, Kirkendoll is
the key to the Dragons’ success. Contain him; beat Round Rock. Cedar Park just
barely did, and thus just barely did.
There
were three plays that very likely kept this game from being a routine Timberwolf
domination of another good team much like the win over Hays…
1) a huge
Dragon kickoff return after the 14-0 lead was established,
2) a
sprinting tackle of Tyler Smith at the five at the end of a long run, and
3) an
amazing reversal of a failed reverse that turned a twelve yard loss into a
touchdown.
Kirkendoll
made all three of those plays. If none of them happen - a tackle is made on the
kickoff return, Smith evades him for five more yards on his long run, or the
twelve yard loss actually happens on that foiled reverse - then Cedar Park wins
this game going away, 28-6 or 28-9.
The Gang
Green defense actually did a fine job on Kirkendoll, denying him the number of
touches he usually gets. At least six Round Rock passes were batted by
Timberwolf defenders either at the line or by the coverage. Kirkendoll ended up
with only the one kick return, three catches, and one rush: five touches out of
fifty-nine Round Rock chances. Not a bad containment plan. And yet from those
five touches and the one long run-down of Smith, Kirkendoll nearly delivered a
win to his team. Nebraska appears to be very interested in the speedy
game-changer, and rightly so.
Two other
Dragon passes were touched by Cedar Park, as well- the two that ended up in the
hands of Anthony Peneschi, whose two picks tied him for the school record for
interceptions in one game with Brandon Haug (2005), Daniel Dilworth (2004),
Trevor Myogeto (2004), and John McMillan (1999). The team’s interception total
now stands at nine for the season- second only to the 15 picks in 2004.
Field
position is usually a big indicator of the winner in football. In this game,
Cedar Park only once started any of their ten possessions in Dragon territory,
and that one ended up losing twelve yards and ending at midfield. Outside of
that one, CP averaged starting at their own 24. Round Rock averaged starting at
their own 43, but they had four possessions start in Timberwolf country, at the
CP 48, 28, 27, and 11.
The
Dragons scored over thirty points five times this year, but this night, their
normally potent offense was well-contained by a Cedar Park defense that had
been frankly run over the past two games. The Dragons did run for 210 yards,
but 63 of that came on just three of their 38 attempts. RR QB Brent Hotard
completed just six of seventeen for only 83 yards, and one quarter of Hotard’s
passes that were caught ended up in Peneschi’s hands.
Outside
of a four-possession stretch sandwiching halftime, the Cedar Park offense moved
almost at will, logging six possessions on which they moved 52, 59, 61, 69, 81,
and 84 yards. The Timberwolves punted only once – the first possession after
halftime – and yet still only 21 points were scored. Turnovers played the
biggest part in that, as the T’wolves coughed it up four times. Once they were
stopped on downs after achieving a first and goal at the five. Two possessions
were cut short by lost fumbles, one long drive was stopped by an interception,
and the other fumble came on a kickoff return. But the total offensive
production of 431 yards was the second-most ever under Chris Ross (to the 445
against P’ville two weeks ago). It was the third time over 400 yards this
season.
Tyler
Smith, after a brief appearance against Westwood, made his first start since
suffering an injury in the first quarter against McNeil. The good news was that
The T ran for 167 yards and a touchdown - his thirteenth of the year - in the
first half alone. The bad news was that he gained only three more yards the
rest of the night, on six carries. T left the game in the third quarter after a
hard hit returning a kickoff. He did not return, and his status for the
championship game against Leander is not known.
On that
chilling note, let’s get to the action from Friday night’s win…
After the
opening kick, Round Rock started at their twenty and gained twelve yards and a first
down in three plays before the fourth ended in Peneschi’s first interception,
at the CP 48.
Cedar
Park briskly moved 33 yards on five plays to the Round Rock nineteen, where the
officiating, which was rather creative most of the evening, intervened. Smith
took the ball and ran around the left side and through some tacklers for a
touchdown. After he crossed the goal line, a flag flew into the far right side
of the backfield. Given the circumstance and the placement, about the only
thing this should be was a personal foul of some sort, but the call came up
“holding”; a flag you never see thrown on the other side of the field from - and
twenty yards behind - a player who’s already scored.
So the
ball was moved back to the 29, but that proved insufficient to stop the
Timberwolves from scoring anyway. On the first play after the odd call Hunter
Dixon took the ball to the left side on his first carry of the night for a 29-yard
touchdown. Jordan Greer’s kick made it 7-0 Timberwolves just 4:55 into the
game. They amassed 62 yards of offense on the 52-yard drive.
After
returning the kickoff to their thirty, the Dragons went only two yards in three
plays and were forced to punt.
The
T’wolves took over at their thirty-one and cruised 69 yards in nine plays, with
The T doing the honors on a one yard plunge. Greer’s kick made it 14-0 Cedar
Park with 2:12 left in the first quarter. Cedar Park overcame the first of many
false start penalties to rack up 74 yards of offense on this scoring drive.
So at
this point, the game had started out like so many other Cedar Park wins have
these last few years; race out to an unassailable lead before the other team
even gets its offense out of the garage. The Timberwolves had a two-touchdown
cushion and had out-gained the Dragons 136-14.
But Round
Rock is a very good football team, and good football teams – as we’ve seen our
own Timberwolves do often enough – know how to get points even out of marginal
productivity. It turned out that Cedar Park certainly needed that
fourteen-point cushion.
The
kickoff after the second touchdown was a mistake. The first two kicks were
purposely steered well clear of the dangerous Kirkendoll. The third kick proved
why that was a sound approach. It went right to him. A couple of quick breaths
later, Kirkendoll was in the clear and heading for a touchdown, but was tracked
down by the last man (someone please get
me his name!) at the Cedar Park 28.
From that
close in, the Dragons mounted a short drive to the goal, scoring in five plays
on a one-yard run by halfback Marcus Jackson just eight seconds into the second
quarter. The workhorse of the Dragon offense, Jackson would end up with 98
yards on 22 carries, but early on the Gang Green had him snuffed. His first
seven carries of the game produced, in succession, 2, 2, 1, 0 , 2, 1, and 3
yards each. Daniel Patterson’s kick made it 14-7.
A
fifteen-yard kickoff return started Cedar Park’s third possession back at their
own twenty. Once again, the offense showed how unstoppable it is with Tyler
Smith in the mix. With The T on the prowl, everything else opens up, as well.
Knifing down the field in big gulps, the Timberwolves went 59 yards in just
five plays, but an interception by Round Rock’s Jimmie Anderson – one of only
two incomplete passes Travis Watson would throw all night – stopped that nice
drive at the Dragon 21.
At this
point, Cedar Park had out-gained The Rock 195 to 42, but yet led only 14-7; a
dangerous situation.
What
followed was Round Rock’s only sustained drive of the night, and the only
possession in which they moved more than 34 yards the whole game. Remember,
this is a team that scored over thirty points in five of their previous eight
games. But our defense manned up and stopped the Dragons from crossing the goal
line after Round Rock marched 78 yards in ten plays. On fourth down from the
two, Patterson knocked through a nineteen-yard field goal and Cedar Park, still
dominating this game, saw its lead closed to just 14-10.
Another
short kickoff return started the Timberwolves with their worst field position
of the night, at their own fifteen. On second down, form their own five, The T
made a bid for the history books with a tremendous 88-yard run, Kirkendoll
catching him at the Dragon seven. That run tied Korey Washington’s 88-yard
touchdown run against Hays in the 2004 bi-district playoff game as the
second-longest in school history. The longest is by another Smith family back-
Quinton, with an 89-yard touchdown against Stony Point in 1999.
But the
T’wolves stalled and could not score after achieving that first and goal,
getting stopped by an inspired Dragon defense on fourth down at the one.
Five
plays and 34 yards later, at the end of Round Rock’s second-longest drive of
the night, Peneschi picked off his second pass of the evening, and the T’wolves
were in business again with just seconds left at the Dragon 38. But a holding
penalty and a no-gainer ended the half with CP up still 14-10 at the half.
The
second half opened with Cedar Park’s only three-and-out of the night. Well, at
least their only three-and-punt. Blake Silguero kicked the Dragons 35 yards to
their own 44. Round Rock moved 33 yards in seven plays, but the Gang Green rose
up and stopped them at the 23. Patterson knocked through a forty-yard field
goal and the Dragons, still outplayed in nearly every regard most of the night,
were now down by just one point, 14-13.
But wait.
It got worse.
The
kickoff was fumbled away at the eleven yard line and Round Rock came right back
on, ready to take the lead. But the Gang Green once again was equal to the
task, holding the Dragons to just seven yards on three plays, down to the four.
Patterson came on to chip-shot the go-ahead field goal from just 21 yards out,
but the kick was ugly and wide right, and may have been tipped by a Cedar Park
defender (someone get me that name, too!).
The T’wolves had a reprieve.
It would
turn out to be brief.
Just
three plays into the next possession Cedar Park fumbled the ball again and the
Dragons covered it at the Timberwolf 27. On third down from the 13 three plays
later, The Dragons ran a reverse, starting the offense moving first to the
right, with Hotard flipping to wideout Kirkendoll coming around to the left.
But the Gang Green had it sniffed out, and Kirkendoll had nowhere to go as
several Timberwolves closed in on him far behind the line, near the left sideline.
Suddenly, Kirkendoll changed directions, out-maneuvered two more defenders,
then broke into the clear back around the far right side. He cruised into the end zone having covered about a
hundred and twenty yards from the place where he’d originally lined up, and
carried the ball about a hundred of that. It was probably the most spectacular
play we’ve seen by an opponent all season.
The bad
news was that Kirkendoll’s run and the subsequent Patterson kick gave Round
Rock the unlikely lead at 20-14 with 3:10 left in the third quarter.
The good
news was that this was the last time Round Rock did much the rest of the night.
Their brief lead would last only two minute and six seconds.
Cedar
Park re-established firm control the rest of the way, putting the offense back
on track by out-gaining the Dragons 150-57. More importantly, they got the game-saving,
and perhaps season-saving, touchdown they needed.
That
happened almost immediately. The very next possession by was an 81-yard drive
on six plays, the key being a forty-yard completion from Watson to Knight.
Justin Allen ran it in from three yards out with 1:04 left in the third, and
Jordan Greer coolly nailed the all-important extra point that ended up being
the final margin.
There
would be no scoring in the fourth quarter, but there was quite a bit of ball
movement. The Dragons returned the kick to their thirty and ran seven plays to
the Cedar Park 37, where they fumbled it away. Unfortunately, the T’wolves
fumbled it right back four plays later, and the Dragons set off again. The Gang
Green eventually stopped a huge fourth down play just outside of Patterson’s
field goal range at the 24.
Round
Rock would never touch the ball again.
Watson
drove the offense 61 yards in ten plays, burning away the clock and taking knees
at the fifteen as the T’wolves came away with a win that seemed far closer than
their performance might have indicated.
A number
of explosive offensive plays were produced by the Timberwolves: seven plays of
25 yards or more. Watson had runs of 28
and 53 yards; Kirkendoll caught him on the 58-yarder. Tyler Smith’s near-record
88-yard run was also complimented by a 35-yard scamper in the first quarter and
a 14-yard burst on his first carry of the night. Dixon had an 18-yard run to go
with his 29-yard touchdown. Jamie Knight had two big catches, one covering 25
yards and the other 40. Big plays were the recipe this night.
Ironically,
the Timberwolves were ranked number one in Central Texas by the
American-Statesman last week when they struggled mightily against Westwood
without Smith, at a time when realistically, they were not the best team in the
poll. After the loss, they dropped to tenth in those rankings, and the irony
continued. Because with a healthy
Smith, the Timberwolves really are the best team in central Texas.
While
Cedar Park’s reservation on the playoff train is confirmed, a very good Round
Rock team still has some work to do. Their final game is against another team
still contending for that same slot- Pflugerville. Win that one, and the
Dragons are in. But Georgetown is also still eligible, and if Pflugerville beats
Round Rock and the Eagles beat McNeil, there’s a three-way tie (at 3-4) between
the Dragons, Panthers, and Eagles and UIL tiebreakers will go into effect that
can’t be calculated until the scores and results of next week’s games are
known.
But for
Cedar Park, with their playoff eligibility question settled, another goal is
now in reach. And for that one, it all comes down to our biggest game of the
year- the sibling shootout with Leander. Win it and the T’wolves gain at least
a share of their third district championship in the last six years. Lose it and
Leander wins the title outright. A Cedar Park win accompanied by a Westwood
loss to Stony Point, and the T’wolves theoretically “share” the title with
Leander, but they will have just defeated the Lions to claim the tie-breaker
and the number-one seed and could logically call themselves the outright
champions.
Whoever
wins the Battle of Bagdad takes a 3-2 lead in the all-time series. But no
current player for Leander knows what it’s like to beat Cedar Park. The last
Leander win in the series came when the current seniors were all on the
freshman team. Conversely, no Timberwolf has ever had to endure a loss to the
Lions. Our young men’s mission – should they decide to accept it – is to take
care of their end of business Friday night and keep that LHS senior class
winless for their careers against the Gang Green.
As a
prelude to the Bagdad Bowl, this week I’ll post three articles covering the
history of this rivalry. Here are the pieces you can look forward to…
Tuesday-
The Rivalry Begins. The pre-CPHS years and the first two games (2002, 2003)
Wednesday
– The Breakthrough. The amazing 2004 game won by CP in double overtime
Thursday
– The Shootout Shutout. 4-5 Cedar Park throttles undefeated and ninth-ranked
LHS
The last
two will be slight revisions of the post-game articles covering those two
games. Every Timberwolf fan should read these to help set in the proper frame
of mind for Friday night.
See you
in the stands!
|
|
Cedar Park |
|
Round Rock |
|
|
|
|
|
|
First Downs |
18 |
|
15 |
|
Rushes |
43 |
|
38 |
|
Rush Yards |
346 |
|
210 |
|
Yards/Rush |
8.05 |
|
5.53 |
|
Pass Att. |
6 |
|
17 |
|
Pass Comp. |
4 |
|
6 |
|
Pass Int. |
1 |
|
2 |
|
Pass Pct. Comp. |
67% |
|
35% |
|
Pass Yards |
85 |
|
83 |
|
Avg Yds/Att. |
14.17 |
|
4.88 |
|
Total Yards |
431 |
|
293 |
|
Penalties |
8 |
|
4 |
|
Pen Yards |
60 |
|
30 |
|
Fumbles |
4 |
|
2 |
|
Fumbles Lost |
3 |
|
1 |
|
Punts |
1 |
|
1 |
|
Return
Yards |
87 |
|
94 |
|
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
|
4th |
|
|
|
Final |
|
Cedar Park |
14 |
0 |
0 |
|
7 |
|
|
|
21 |
|
Round Rock |
0 |
10 |
10 |
|
0 |
|
|
|
20 |
|
Scoring
Summary |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Q |
T |
CP |
Pv |
How |
|
|||
|
1 |
7:05 |
7 |
|
Dixon 29
run (Greer kick) |
|
|
||
|
1 |
2:12 |
14 |
|
Ty. Smith
1 run (Greer kick) |
|
|
||
|
2 |
11:53 |
|
7 |
Jackson 1
run (Patterson kick) |
|
|
||
|
2 |
6:05 |
|
10 |
Patterson
19 FG |
|
|
||
|
3 |
7:27 |
|
13 |
Patterson
40 FG |
|
|
||
|
3 |
3:10 |
|
20 |
Kirkendoll
13 run (Patterson kick) |
|
|
||
|
3 |
1:04 |
21 |
|
Allen 3
run (Greer kick) |
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Individual Stats
Rushing
Cedar Park- Smith 17-170 1 TD (1); Dixon 9-82
1 TD (29); Watson 10-72; Allen 5-18 1 TD
(3); Itz 1-3; McKnight 1-1
Round Rock- Jackson 22-98 1 TD (1); Hotard
14-85; Heale 1-14; Kirkendoll 1-13 1 TD (13)
Passing
Cedar Park- Watson 4-6-1 85, 2 TDs (45, 65)
Round Rock- Hotard 6-17-2 83
Receiving
Cedar Park- Knight 2-65; Itz 2-20
Round Rock- Kirkendoll 3-45; Anderson 2-27;
Jackson 1-11
Kickoff Returns
Cedar Park- McKnight 2-28; Ty. Smith 2-26;
McKnight 1-15; Allen 1-11
Round Rock- Kirkendoll 1-65; Cavazos 1-12;
Anderson 1-12
Interception Returns
Cedar Park- Peneschi 2-7
Round Rock- Anderson 1-5
Punt Returns
No returns