2004 Cedar Park Timberwolf Football

Game-by-Game Narratives
2004

Week Four: at Westwood
Friday, September 24th

District 15-5A play began with the fourth game of the season, and the T’wolves would get their first visit to the Parmer Palace to face local rival Westwood, a team that had flushed Cedar Park with ease the previous two seasons. This game would be a stern test, as the Warriors had just given almighty Westlake a good run for the Chaps’ considerable money in a close 24-17 loss. ‘Wood sported what many thought could be the toughest offense in 15-5A, running a spread, no-huddle, quick-count attack directed by their fine quarterback Clint Bricker.

Two hours later, Westwood stumbled back into the locker room on the bloody end of a thoroughly dominating 26-0 Cedar Park win. The game was a complete rout. Cedar Park was never challenged at any level. The Timberwolf offense rumbled up and down the field with the ease of Russian tanks at a May Day parade. The defense completely shut down what was widely considered a very good offensive attack.

It was the first instance of back-to-back victories since the end of the 2001 regular season. The defense had pitched a nearly unimaginable shutout; the first by Cedar Park since beating Lago Vista 76-0 in 1999, before the Timberwolves even began playing a district schedule. The Gang Green held the high-powered Warriors to only 174 total yards –the fewest allowed since the previous century – and only 47 yards rushing, a new school record. Westwood’s Bricker would throw for 2,449 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2004, but against Cedar Park, he was held to 127 meaningless yards and zero points.

The Timberwolf "Gang Green" defense stopped Westwood at every corner. Here, 'Wood QB Clint Bricker is about to be slammed out of bounds well short of the first down.

It turns out Cedar Park would have won this game even if they’d only played defense the entire night. The Gang Green outscored the Westwood offense 2-0, as a pack of Timberwolves jumped Warrior running back Ryan Tew in the end zone for a safety just prior to the half, covering him like antibodies on a virus. It was a far cry from the performance just three weeks earlier in Killeen. The defense had made quantum leaps of progress in a very short time.

Quarterback Korey Washington had his best career throwing night, completing twelve of twenty passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. One scoring pass was a short dump to Rupert Edwards and the other a beautiful 52-yard bomb to Chris Wieland. Five receivers had multiple catches: a school first. Tyler Farst, Tim Emmons, Wieland, and Edwards each caught two, and sophomore Tyler Smith, in his box score debut, caught four. The turf-eating running game went for 309 yards; only the fourth 300+ rushing game in school history. The 26 first downs was a new school record, and the 474 yards of total offense were the most in a single game since 2001.

Cedar Park halfback Rupert Edwards delivers a jarring blow to a would-be Warrior tackler. Edwards ran 20 ties for 150 yards, caught one touchdown and ran for another. With a school record 26 first downs, It was Cedar Park's best offensive performance since 2001, and with the shutout, its best defensively since 1999.

Cedar Park folks spent the next week trying to figure out just how impressed they should be with this complete-package win. In hindsight, few improvements had been required to pull off that initial victory over Ellison. But the Westwood game was something else entirely; a completely different look and feel.

Perhaps our Timberwolves were actually getting really good. Or were our suppositions about Westwood erroneous? Yes, they’d given vaunted Westlake all the Chaps could handle on the road in a 24-17 loss. But after all, the Warriors left the Cedar Park game with an ugly 0-4 record. Maybe – just maybe – this wasn’t quite the quality win we might think.

Little did we know that the Warriors would win most of their games after this point, and that a close 10-0 loss to open the season – much closer than their 26-0 shellacking by Cedar Park – came against Smithson Valley, a team that would later play in the 5A Division II state championship game. The offense Cedar Park had just shut completely down would average 33 points a game the rest of the season, underscoring just how good our defense truly was.

Clearly, this football team, at a point somewhere in the two weeks between the Hays loss and the victory over Westwood, captured lightning in a bottle. To a man, they will tell you they had confidence in their quality even through the two opening losses. But that confidence clearly had not been enough to beat back defeat. Something tangible happened during the week leading up to Westwood. Prior to that game, some extra ingredient to compliment their raw talent and work ethic – be it tenacity, focus, added experience, or some other key attribute – was still shut up in a back room somewhere. Against Westwood, that door was finally opened.

At the time, none of this was known. We’d certainly enjoy the moment, we told ourselves, but perhaps it was best to be cautious, just in case.

Besides, another historic road block lay just ahead- McNeil.

Game Stats | Drive Chart

NEXT - Week Five: McNeil
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