Game-by-Game Narratives
2004

Week Thirteen: Mesquite (Region II Semifinals)
Friday, November 25th - at Texas Stadium, Irving

Cedar Park had been playing almost indescribably good football for too long not to have a game sooner or later that would try to bite them in the glutes. The Region II Semifinal against perennial state powerhouse Mesquite in Texas Stadium had all the indications of being that game. An opponent with a storied program, Mesquite won the 5A-DI state title in 2001. The ‘Skeeters had beaten undefeated and highly-ranked Dallas Carter in the Area game, and fielded two great runners of their own, yet carried an unrespectable 6-6 record and a rumored weak run defense.

Many things contributed to a lining up of the stars and planets for a CP complacency attack leading to a Mesquite upset win. The bright lights of the big city (and The Big Stadium), the relatively weak-appearing team whose program’s best accomplishment seemed behind them, with a defensive weakness for the ground game that matched up right against our offensive strength. Cedar Park had already faced two teams, possibly three, with much more impressive credentials than Mesquite and had dispatched them with comparative ease. Over-confidence was a real possibility. A Mesquite win would have required some unlikely occurrences, but circumstances on the whole seemed ripe for a possible Timberwolf stumble.

After all, it was Week Thirteen.

Late that morning, the Timberwolves and their supporting cast of thousands flooded Interstate 35 headed north for the scheduled 4pm kick. On arrival, the team was given one of their most memorable rewards of the season. They’d get to use the locker room of the Dallas Cowboys.

Coach Weaver and his staff realized one of their most important tasks before the game started was to walk the fine line between letting his charges enjoy this possible once-in-a-lifetime experience of playing in a hallowed NFL stadium, and making sure that such a personal high didn’t interfere with the mental focus required for beating the Mesquite ‘Skeeters.

“We saw them walking into the place like kids at Disney World,” said Coach Weaver. “Everybody had cameras out, taking pictures of the locker room, the tunnel, the field. I realized it was something we needed to let them do, so I gave them about ten minutes to just get it out of their system, then we had to pull everybody back to reality and get them concentrating on the job we were there to do.”

When the game kicked off, Cedar Park fans’ worries about team jitters were proven unjustified. This game began like every tough game against the best teams CP had faced this season: a lightning-quick Timberwolf one-two punch to the jaw.

On the game’s second play from scrimmage, Kyle Williams knifed in and picked off a Mesquite pass on an out route at the 33 and sprinted down the near sideline, diving into the end-zone head first in celebratory glee. It was Williams’ third pick of the year, and the second time in two weeks the T’wolves had scored on the second play of the game. Fifty seconds gone on the clock and it was already 7-0 Cedar Park.

Moments later the Skeeters were forced into the ol’ country dance (one-two-three-kick) when linebackers Brandon Haug and Albert Johnson came up with big stops and the Timberwolves rumbled 66 yards in six plays, Korey Washington scoring from five yards out to go up 14-0 just 4:43 into the game.

A couple of hours and several yards and points later on both sides, CP ended the game by going 68 yards in a grinding 14-play drive, all on the ground, ending up inside the 15 to carve away the last 5:25 from the clock.

But the final was just 31-28: far, far closer than comfort had called for. Here’s how that happened.

Skeeter quarterback Dray Johnson was very elusive, adroitly avoiding a very pressing T’wolf pass rush on many occasions. This caused the CP secondary to have to track receivers much longer than usual, and Johnson often found open targets. He completed two-thirds of his passes after Williams’ early pick for the quick score (14 of 21) and the ‘Skeeters threw for 193 yards- the second-most passing yards surrendered by Cedar Park this season (G’town had 235).

One indispensable aspect of that Mesquite passing game was wideout Antonio Brown, who made two spectacular catches of poorly thrown passes. Both were almost back-breakers, incredible grabs of long passes over the middle. Those catches were the biggest reason this game’s score was so close. The first was a deflection off CP’s Zac Landry, who’d leapt to get a solid hand on the ball and send it bounding high. It came right down into a surprised Brown’s hands (“Look what I found!”). This unlikely play took the Skeeters 29 yards down to the five yard line, and they scored a few plays later on a Steven Harper run. The other was a lunging dive and grab of an overthrown ball that took them 34 yards to the ten, and they again scored a few plays later. Both these catches occurred in the first half, and the second set up the score that tied the game at 14.

At that point, there were worries that our team may have begun the game playing on adrenaline and had run the tank dry. Since the moment Cedar Park took that quick 14-0 lead, Mesquite had outgained the Timberwolves 137-14 (on three possessions to two) and had certainly grabbed Uncle Mo, if not the lead. Cedar Park’s two possessions in that time had been a pair of three-and-outs, only the seventh and eighth three-and-outs of the entire season, and it was only the second time the T’wolves had punted on consecutive possessions in the last seven games.

But that would turn out to be the high-water mark for the Skeeters. From that point (2:36 into the second quarter) until the end of the game, Cedar Park would only punt once in its seven remaining possessions. Mesquite would have only one more possession that would move the ball more than 22 yards, and three that would go for far less. They would move only 140 more total yards the rest of the evening – 92 of that on one long impressive TD drive in the fourth quarter – while CP would cruise for 383 more. As far as strategic field position goes in the ball movement game, Cedar Park would end their possessions at the Mesquite 34 or closer seven out of ten possessions on the night, while Mesquite only crossed midfield four out of ten possessions, and one of those stalled at the CP 42.

The Timberwolves took command of the game on their first possession after losing the lead, scoring on a beautiful 54-yard touchdown pass from Washington to Tim Emmons to cap a four-play 73-yard drive. Cedar Park led 21-14 at intermission. But the key to the whole first half had been Antonio Brown. Those two lunging catches don’t get made, and Cedar Park’s halftime lead would have been 21-0 instead of 21-14.

After an exchange of punts to open the third quarter, the Timberwolves went on another quick-strike touchdown drive, streaking 71 yards in four plays to go up 28-14 on Washington’s 39 yard run and Wes Wagener’s 37th consecutive PAT.

After holding the Skeeters on fourth down at the CP 42 (opponents had a less than 20% success rate on fourth down conversions against Cedar Park this year) the T’wolves went on the march again, methodically moving the ball fifty yards down to the Mesquite eight on nine plays. Here, on fourth down, the field goal team came off and the offense went back in.

This was a huge gamble, with the highest of stakes.

The math said that a chip shot field goal from here would put Cedar Park up 31-14 with about thirteen minutes left in the game, forcing a Mesquite offense that had gone just 47 yards in its previous four possessions (fifteen plays) to be unable to win the game even with two TDs and two two-point conversions. But the lure of a possible 35-14 lead proved too great to ignore, and the Timberwolves went for it on fourth and two. Edwards was stopped cold, and Mesquite and its fan base exploded at the sudden momentum-shifter.

The Skeeters ran two plays and gained fourteen for a first down at the 22. Two snaps later, on third and ten, Johnson finally succumbed to the T’wolf pass rush, as blitzing linebackers ran him down inside the five for a massive 20-yard loss, bringing up fourth and twenty-five and a punt from the back of the end zone. But wait….

There was a flag on the play. Facemasking on the defense. Fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage.

Instead of a harried punt from a squished formation and the back of their end zone, Mesquite suddenly had a first down at the 37. Mesquite had escaped the dreaded end zone punt and with a third of the field now behind them, grabbed the momentum once again. Predictably, that momentum laid the path for what turned into a 92-yard TD drive spanning the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarters. Dray Johnson ran it over with 9:05 left in the game and Cedar Park’s lead was trimmed to 28-21.

Fortunately, that TD run was the last yardage the Skeeter offense would get the remainder of the night. CP would outgain Mesquite 131-0 from that 9:05 mark of the 4th to the end of the ball game. And yet that margin of victory would somehow shrink still further.

Mesquite kicked off and the T’wolf offense rumbled 63 yards on eight plays. The drive stalled and Wes Wagner came on to kick a 40-yard field goal that skimmed inside the right post and Cedar Park was up 31-21 with 5:38 left in the game. The T’wolves were somewhat aided by a roughing the kicker penalty on Wagener’s missed 45-yard attempt that was erroneously called “running into” the kicker- only allowing for five yards. Wagener was waylaid just as he kicked the ball, allowing no follow-through, and the ball fell short. The shortchanged penalty of just five yards was not enough for a first, so Wagner boomed the subsequent 40-yarder through instead.

Finally, a little breathing room. Yes, the ‘Skeeters had put together a touchdown drive on the previous possession. But the Cedar Park defensive coaches had been busy with the whiteboards on the sidelines during the T’wolf offense’s own scoring drive, and their timely defensive adjustments throughout the season had resulted in no opponent ever scoring touchdowns on back-to-back possessions since the winning streak began. Fans felt pretty good that there wasn’t enough time for Mesquite’s offense to score twice in the last five-and-a-half…

Uh, wait a sec.

What was that roar from the Mesquite throng? Who was that young man streaking down the far sideline with the ball!? And what the heck is he doing in the end zone with the ‘Skeeter fans having a mass fulmination across the way? A touchdown kickoff return?!? You’ve got to be kidding!

All night long, the T’wolves had launched squib kicks to avoid Steven Harper, who’d returned a few kickoffs for scores during the season. But after the field goal, the kickoff rolled right at him, and Cedar Park paid the price. A whole thirteen seconds had ticked off the clock during his 92-yard return. After the PAT, the Timberwolves now held precariously to a three-point lead. There were still over five minutes left, and with Mesquite’s sudden momentum – outscoring us 14-3 in the previous three-and-a-half minutes on the clock, we were in deep… stuff.

But then sanity ensued.

Cedar Park went back to the tried-and-true formula with which the Timberwolves began the game. Every clash this year against a tough team has followed one simple pattern at the beginning and the end. To start off, two quick Cedar Park touchdowns before the other team even gets their mouthpieces broken in. And at the end, a long, methodical, ground-based drive that churns out sixty, seventy, eighty yards and four or five first downs to end the game taking a knee or three inside the opponent’s fifteen.

And this game would follow that formula. The Timberwolves went 68 yards in twelve plays, driving to the Mesquite 14 and gnawing off that last 5:25 like a particularly chewy chunk of beef jerky. Pflugerville, Hays, and Copperas Cove games all ended the same way, where an extra minute on the clock would have meant another seven points on the margin of each of those games. Mesquite did not run an offensive play after the Johnson touchdown run that made it 28-21 early in the fourth quarter. There would be 21 more plays following that one in the last 9:05 of the game- twenty of them Cedar Park’s and one the touchdown kickoff return for Mesquite.

But there would still be a scary spot – or two – in that last clock-crunching drive. With 3:25 left and facing a fourth and inches at our own 32, Cedar Park again decided to go for it. Failure to convert this play would give Mesquite the ball only 32 yards away – almost within field goal range already – with plenty of time left (they had timeouts remaining) to win the game with a short TD drive, or at least put it into overtime with a short field goal. Fans bit nails off and hid each other’s eyes, hoping instead to trust the defense and punt that ball, thus forcing Mesquite to go 65 or 70 yards instead of 32.

“Our thinking at the time was that they’d had some recent momentum and that they’d score whether we punted to them or not,” said Weaver after the season. “Our defense had played great, but we just had a gut feeling that they’d figured something out. We thought the only way to win was to keep the ball.”

Fans went verklempt when the ball was snapped, as the murmur had instantly spread that perhaps we were just trying to draw the ‘Skeeters offside with a long count to get a cheap first down. Hearts stopped when Korey Washington’s quarterback sneak looked grim. But he surged late and appeared to gain a full yard. Hold the phone! What kind of spot was that? The ref put the ball down a good two feet behind the location Korey actually achieved! This was the kind of miniscule mistake pessimists knew would eventually kill us. A bad referee ball spot on a season-critical play! Great Scott!

They stretched the chains, and no one could see the ball or the poles from the stands. All heads on the field looked down at the ball. We were consigned to watching for the reactions of the two teams. The first discernable movement was three or four ‘Skeeters falling to their knees and grabbing their heads in anguish. First down! Jump-start our hearts!

From there, that final drive took off and Mesquite never showed signs of stopping the Timberwolf offense the rest of the way.

But wait! At the very end, yet another moment of cardiac infarction for Cedar Park fans. It came on the last play of the game on a third and four, the Timberwolves inside the Mesquite twenty. At that moment, with just seconds remaining, the only possible way for the ‘Skeeters to win the football game would be to grab a fumble and run the length of the field with it. And it wasn’t like seasoned fans hadn’t seen that before (Round Rock, 2002). At the snap, the Timberwolves ran the risk of facilitating such a Mesquite miracle by running an outside option to the right with Washington actually pitching the ball to Edwards on a read. Many people just closed their eyes.

Fortunately, Korey’s pitch was perfect, Rupert grabbed it fine, gained six or seven yards, and the clock ran out on yet another Timberwolf win for the ages. The team’s exciting journey to the home of the Dallas Cowboys had been a grand adventure, but it had been a business trip, as well. After taking in the awesome sights of the Cowboy’s locker room and spilling blood and sweat on the hallowed field of the house that Tom and Tex and Clint and Roger built, the Cedar Park Timberwolves took care of that business.

Washington’s 191 yards put him at 1,812 for the season- passing Quinton Smith’s previous season record of 1,760.

Another outstanding performance came from halfback Edwards who ran nineteen times for 110 yards. That put him at 1,661 for the season, just 99 behind The Q’s old mark. Washington and Edwards together had run for 3,473 yards and 27 touchdowns to this point in the season. Cedar Park still had never trailed in any of their three playoff games.

The cell phones were active at the end of the game. Already the news was in that Lufkin would be next. A win in that game would likely pit our Timberwolves against the number one ranked high school football team in America, Southlake Carroll. As folks wound through the Texas Stadium parking lot to find their cars, the first analyses were conducted. The one direct comparison between Lufkin and Cedar Park were their games with Pflugerville, and the Timberwolves actually came off looking better overall. Lufkin went back-and-forth with P’ville, who actually led 17-13 in the fourth quarter before Lufkin scored a couple of late TDs to pull away. By comparison, Cedar Park was up 17-0 on Pflugerville by the first minute of the second quarter, and held a 27-7 lead over the Panthers at the same point in the game where Lufkin trailed them 17-13. However, in an indirect comparison, Lufkin beat Longview, who beat Mesquite by four TDs. One last caveat, though, was that the ‘Skeeter defeat to Longview came during Mesquite’s 0-5 start, and was likely as meaningless as our early loss to Hays.

So it was now down to the final eight. None of those teams were lucky to be there. Luck can’t take you four games deep in the Texas state high school football playoffs; they were all tremendous teams. Every Timberwolf fan would certainly still be happy as a lark about this surprising Cedar Park team even if the T’wolves fell to Lufkin. But the analysis said there was a fighting chance that wouldn’t happen. It didn’t really matter to Cedar Park that Lufkin was the ninth-ranked high school team in America and the Timberwolves were on no such national radar. According to any empirical analysis, Cedar Park could certainly play with this formidable team. A closer look at fourth-ranked Judson was an appropriate example. The Rockets’ accomplishments certainly merited their lofty ranking. But they struggled to beat two teams (Copperas Cove and Pflugerville) that CP handled very, very easily. Where the T’wolves belonged in the state rankings after the Mesquite win was clearly, definitely, and obviously somewhere north of four.

This Region II Finals game with Lufkin would be decided on some key play made or not made, an odd bounce of the ball, or a key injury or difference in preparation. The Panthers were certainly a great team, but Cedar Park had already beaten a few of those, so “The Pack” certainly didn’t scare us.

And the Timberwolves weren’t just lucky to here, either.