2004 Cedar Park Timberwolf Football

Game-by-Game Narratives
2004

Week Eleven: Hays (Bi-district)
Friday, November 12th

At long last, almost exactly three years downstream from that cold night in Waller, Cedar Park football had come full circle. They had returned to the Texas state playoffs.

With no time to reflect on the remarkable journey from 0-2 to unbeaten district champions, the players and coaches would immediately get a chance to see just how much their team had improved. Their first-round opponent was the last team that had beaten them- the Hays Rebels. Also 8-2, the Rebels’ only losses were a surprising mid-season stumble against Austin High and another in the regular season finale at Westlake, giving the league title to the Chaps. The coin flip turned in favor of a Hays home date for this Bi-district game, and a huge crowd, estimated at over 9,000, packed into Bob Shelton Stadium.

Perhaps saddled with a sense of complacency from their earlier victory in Cedar Park, the Rebels never really clicked in this game. On the opening possession, the Gang Green stopped them at the end of a 60-yard drive, taking over on downs. An immediate Cedar Park touchdown drive resulted, culminated by Korey Washington’s 15-yard scoring run, and CP was up 7-0 halfway through the first quarter. The defense forced Hays to punt and the next possession was another easy touchdown drive, the well-oiled T’wolf offense clicking on all cylinders, as CP went up 14-0 on Rupert Edwards’ pretty 38-yard run, still in the first quarter.

The Rebel defense tries to corral Korey Washington. They didn't do it very often. Washington set a new Cedar Park record for individual rushing yards in one game, carrying 16 times for 282 yards and two touchdowns, one of them an amazing 88-yard broken field scamper. William Innes (top, 54) and Travis Ledger (bottom) work the line.

Again the stout CPD forced the Rebels to punt, but the offense this time was stymied, turning the ball over on downs after moving 18 yards to the Hays 30. Then the Rebs came to life with a crisp 70-yard drive ending in a three yard scoring run by Chris Moore to halve the T’wolf lead to 14-7.

That momentum carried over to the Hays defense, as Cedar Park was held to a three-and-out, and the Rebels were punted back to their own 41. A nine-play, 54-yard drive set Hays up to tie the game, but the amazing Cedar Park defense stopped them cold, taking over on downs for the second time in the first half, this time at their own 12. It was the twelfth time in 2004 an opponent had penetrated the red zone and come away with zero points, and it would be the last semblance of resistance put up by Hays this night. The Timberwolves reached the forty as the half ran out.

Hays QB Kyle Kimbro threw for 115 yards, but none of it seemed to matter. Here Clint Fennimore (50) applies the pressure.

Opening the second half, the Cedar Park offense picked up right where it left off, cruising 43 yards in six plays, capped off by a 39-yard Wes Wagener FG staking the T’wolves to a 17-7 lead. The Gang Green went right back to work after the kickoff, holding the Rebels to just one yard in three plays, forcing a punt. After having given up two long drives totaling 124 yards in the second quarter, the superlative Cedar Park defense would allow just 45 yards of ball movement the entire second half.

After the punt, the Timberwolves went on a long drive of their own. Well, the distance was long, anyway. Korey Washington rambled downfield on what might be the prettiest touchdown run ever at Cedar Park, starting left, cutting back towards the middle, rumbling through traffic in a broken field 88 yards for the score on the second-longest run from scrimmage in Timberwolf history. Cedar Park was solidly in command at 24-7.

The Timberwolf defense routinely stuffed Rebel RB Chris Moore, who gained only 59 yards on 14 carries. Here Cedar Park's Albert Johnson (3) puts the finishing touches on a very short run.

After the ensuing kickoff, Hays kept the ball for eight plays, but only managed 29 yards out of it before getting stuffed on fourth down for the third time in the game by the incredible Timberwolf defense. Cedar Park then went sixty yards in seven plays, with Edwards taking it over from the five to make it 31-7 with seconds left in the third quarter.

This ball game was over.

The two teams punted back and forth a few times in the anti-climactic final period, and the gun finally sounded on Cedar Park’s historic first-ever playoff win.

Washington set a new single-game rushing record with 282 yards on 16 carries, breaking Quinton Smith’s previous record of 273. Washington averaged a sizzling 17.63 yards per carry, and scored two touchdowns. Rupert Edwards had another outstanding night as well, with 17 carries for 174 yards and another two touchdowns. The tandem total for Washington and Edwards of 456 rushing yards broke the school record for two backs in a single game set by Quinton Smith (257) and Raymond Ferguson (187) when they teamed up for 444 and five touchdowns against Salado in 1999.

Rupert Edwards takes the ball from Korey Washington as he sets out on a 37 yard run. Edwards scored Cedar Park's final points on a 5-yard run three plays later.

Once again, the quiet but effective offensive line plowed holes big enough to taxi a B-52 through. There were seven runs of 24 yards or greater on the night, and the game was the most complete effort the team had produced to date.

A play rarely used during the regular season proved impossible for Hays to handle. Called 18 or 19 Stretch, depending on which side it was run to, it was a dedicated run by Washington from the shotgun out of a stacked formation that resembled a single wing. The Timberwolves tore the Rebels up with this play, Washington usually getting at least five yards around the corner before he was ever touched.

The team set a school record for single game rushing production at 479 yards, and it came in a road playoff game against a historically strong defense. The 494 yards of total offense was the newest best total in team history, the second time that mark had been set in the last four games. The team was now 9-2, bi-district champions, with a nine-game winning streak, and had forcefully avenged their most recent loss.

This football team was peaking at precisely the right time.

In the history of Cedar Park football, these young men were about to go where no team had gone before: the second round of the state playoffs. And a giant loomed ahead- yet another historic Timberwolf slayer.

Game Stats | Drive Chart

NEXT - Week Twelve: Copperas Cove (Area)
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