2004 Cedar Park Timberwolf Football

Game-by-Game Narratives
2004

Week Eight: at Pflugerville
Friday, October 22nd

The Timberwolves would get their first true test against a quality opponent the next week, against perennial league power Pflugerville. It was Put Up or Shut Up, with the winner holding their destiny in their own hands.

And once again, a look to the brief history of the rivalry wasn’t comforting: two harsh defeats at the hands of the Panthers the previous two seasons. We’d scored our share of points in 2003 at home, losing 45-27, but we were pasted on the road 42-10 in 2002. Historically, Cedar Park defenses hemorrhaged points against the Panthers. This year’s defense planned to put a halt to that trend.

Pflugerville had turned their season around and were cruising after an unlikely 1-2 start in non-district play. The Panthers were the AP poll’s and Dave Campbell’s pick to win 15-5A, and had been ranked 8th in Texas at the start of the season. A “quality” defeat – though certainly still disappointing to Panther fans – to fourth-ranked Converse Judson by just a field goal, along with a more difficult loss to 4A Kerrville Tivy started the Panthers in a hole. But they’d played very well since, and with two losses by both Westlake and Leander, Pflugerville had regained the number one spot in the American-Statesman’s combined poll of Central Texas 4A/5A teams. Cedar Park had just that week surfaced at ninth in the same poll, their first appearance in three years. The local sports pundit consensus fell firmly on the side of a Panther win.

Respected Panther quarterback Todd Walker was held to just 18 yards passing on 2-for-6 with one big interception, although he did turn a QB draw into the first TD scored on CP in over nineten quarters midway through the third.

So it was with some trepidation that the fans took their seats in tiny Keumple Stadium- the Pflugerbowl. This was the night. This would be it. One way or another, we’d all find out if the slipper fit or if the team’s yellow dog bus would turn into a pumpkin. It would certainly be nothing like the relatively easy wins (except Round Rock) Cedar Park had logged recently where they started out hot and just ran away with the lead and hid.

Silly us. Our team was a whole lot better than we had even hoped.

To most fans’ minds, the first half in Pflugerville was when the connection was finally made. With this big-time performance, the team became not only one of the best in our district, but legitimized their ranking on the list of the very best in all of central Texas.

The Timberwolves opened up a fifty-five gallon drum of industrial strength whupkeister on Pflugerville, storming out to a 17-0 lead on their first three possessions. The high-powered Panther offense was stopped like a skier hitting a tree. Just before the half, Korey Washington hit Trevor Myogeto on a pretty 33-yard pass to set up a last-second Wes Wagener field goal to stretch the lead to 20-0 at the break.

Shock and awe ran through both sides of the stadium. For our part, it was joyous surprise. “Holy chinstraps! These guys really are for real!” From the other side, well, Pflugerville fans certainly hadn’t thought CP’s credentials coming into this game compared in any way to their own. They were more surprised at the way that first half went than even Cedar Park fans were.

P'ville's feared running back Antwan Cobb went nowhere on the night, here being absorbed by several hungry Timberwolves. Cobb went for 39 yards on eight carries. At right, Shawn Graham (67) and Brandon Haug (40) combine to put the stop to this carry.

Important plays by the defense in that astounding first half included Nick Davis and Zac Landry combining to stop the feared Antwan Cobb for a one-yard loss on fourth and one in Cedar Park territory. Kyle Williams came up with an interception that led to the first Wagener field goal. After the 17-0 lead was posted, the Panthers pretended to get something going, but a massive hit by Albert Johnson on Evan Robertson forced a fumble that was recovered by Brandon Haug to halt that drive in its tracks.

In the end, the Timberwolves played the textbook definition of a game that "wasn't nearly that close", absolutely trouncing Pflugerville, 27-21. One might ask how a team can "absolutely trounce" another by just 27-21. You’d know how if you were there that night. Some evidence…

Here's how the first several possessions went:

P- 7 plays, 20 yds, over on downs
CP- 5 plays, 66 yds, TD
P- 3 plays, -3 yds, INT
CP- 5 plays, 36 yds, FG
P- 10 plays, 81 yds, over on downs
CP- 6 plays, 98 yds, TD

At that point, early in the second quarter, this game was basically all but decided. It was just a matter of figuring out the final score and stats. Oddly, this was the same pattern Cedar Park had established even against the lesser teams they'd faced. After those first three possession exchanges, the game was looking little different than, say, the routine mauling of outgunned Stony Point.

The big difference was that P'ville had spent some time in the Texas 5A Top Ten, and wasn't going to go completely quietly.

Despite one of the most oddly-constituted comebacks ever seen, the Panthers never were really close to breaking the Cedar Park chokehold on the lead. But they did loosen the grip a little.

After an exchange of punts to open the second half, on second and eight from their own 39, P'ville had by far their biggest offensive play of the night. QB Todd Walker took the snap, stepped back, then surged forward in a quarterback draw. He saw nothing but turf between him and the end zone, going untouched for a 62-yard run right up the middle. Pflugerville may have thought they had something going at this point, down only 20-7. But it seemed to Cedar Park fans the Panthers were kidding themselves. Prior to that play, P’ville had only one possession that had lasted more than 20 yards. That run would amount to one quarter of their total offensive production for the whole night.

So the historic Cedar Park touchdown-less streak had finally ended. It spanned nineteen quarters over six games- a time period of a month and a half. In the stands, fans began to exchange concerns about how their team would react. The T’wolves hadn't had to respond to an enemy touchdown in what amounted to an entire grading period. This next possession could be crucial.

What were we thinking? The offense calmly reeled off a twelve-play, six-minute, 80-yard touchdown drive to re-establish the death-grip at 27-7 with just fourteen minutes to play in the game. Perhaps the key play in the drive was Chris Wieland hauling in a 26-yard tipped pass that gave Cedar Park a first down at the Pflugerville twenty.

Then, to put a cap on the evening, Wagener's line-drive kickoff (we'd been avoiding kicking deep to Antwan Cobb all night) slammed off a P'ville up man and careened back ten yards behind the charging T'wolves. A headlong stop and reversal and a fight for the loose pigskin ended up in ball hawk Daniel Dilworth's recovery for Cedar Park. At this point, total ball movement was 392 yards for CP to 181 for P'ville. Here's how the Panther possessions had ended to that point: downs, interception, downs, fumble, punt, halftime, punt, 62-yard TD run, fumble. Here's how CP's possessions had gone to this same point: TD, FG, TD, punt, FG, punt, TD. This ball game was all but wrapped up.

Ah, what a big “but” that was…

On the very first offensive play after the odd ricochet kickoff fumble recovery, Korey Washington gained four yards on a keeper around left tackle, but fumbled the ball. The Panthers’ Matt Salyers picked it up on one hop, headed full speed the other way. A few seconds and 46 yards later, he was in the end zone, and the oddball play suddenly drew the game tighter than it ever should have been, at 27-14!

The T'wolves answered yet again with another long drive, this one 54 yards in eight plays, lining up Wagener for a school-record third field goal of the night that would give the T'wolves a nearly backbreaking 31-14 lead with just nine minutes to play. But the Panthers would refuse to die, and an end whipped around the left side to block that kick! A modest return of the block set P'ville up at their 32, and they marched 40 yards in eight plays against what seemed to be a rapidly depleting Timberwolf D.

A number of CP defensive players - the young men who'd really made this season possible to this point - left the game with injuries. In the first quarter it was middle linebacker Albert Johnson. Then safety Zac Landry and defensive end Sean Graham. These three men were the defensive leaders, all certain All-district players! Graham’s injury would end his high school career. Landry missed the rest of the regular season, but returned for the playoffs. Johnson missed some action, and returned to the game visibly hobbled. The heart and soul of the Timberwolf D, the most impressive unit in Austin area football, had spent much of the night on the sideline, and yet Cedar Park's remaining defenders had still held an explosive P'ville offense to nearly nothing all night long.

Indescribably impressive.

Back to that drive, now in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. After moving forty yards in eight plays, P'ville threw to the end zone, but Dilworth picked off the pass at the goal line, taking it out to the six and snuffing out the Panther threat.

For about the only time all night, the P'ville defense produced, stopping the Timberwolves on three plays and forcing a punt from their own end zone. Brandon Haug responded by launching a 53-yarder, his best punt of the season, right at the moment his team needed it most.

Or did they? The booming kick beat the coverage downfield, and P'ville's Todd Walker gathered it in with plenty of open space to roam. He returned it all the way to the CP 26, and like the great team they are, the stubborn Panthers still refused to recognize their own death. Five plays later Tyler Beatty, spelling Walker at QB, threw a twelve-yard TD pass to Walker himself, confusingly lined up as a wideout. It was only the second defensive TD allowed by CP since early September. Suddenly the Panthers, with 6:28 left in the game, were in striking distance at 27-21!

Again the cold crowd in the stands worried about the pressure on their offense of responding to an opposition touchdown. Again that concern was totally unjustified. That TD pass turned out to be the last offensive play Pflugerville would run all night. The Timberwolves calmly reeled off a twelve-play 64-yard drive that ended with three knees inside the Panther fifteen to burn the last two-thirds of the final quarter away. Obviously, if there'd been another minute left, they'd have ended that drive in the end zone for a respectably padded 34-21 final.

That second quarter 98-yard TD drive was the second-longest in Timberwolf history, and the third 90-yard-plus TD drive of the season. Edwards had 37 carries for 239 yards and three TDs, all personal bests. He passed a thousand rushing yards on the year during the second quarter, becoming only the second player in school history to achieve back-to-back thousand yard seasons. In the process Edwards blew past the Panthers' Evan Robertson, who'd entered the game as the district's leading rusher, but finished with just 33 yards on ten carries. Cedar Park's incredible 26 first downs tied the school record that had been set against Westwood just weeks earlier. For the second consecutive game, Washington and Edwards both rushed for over 100 yards. Tyler Farst again led all receivers with three catches for sixty yards. The 490 total yards was the new high mark in school history, the first of three times the team would break this record in 2004.

Despite the close final score, the defense held Pflugerville’s powerful offense in check. The Panthers had zero sustained scoring drives on the night. Their scores came on a two-play possession that began with a two yard gain and ended with a 62 yard QB sneak, a defensive fumble return for 46 yards, and a short 25-yard burst with time running out. The Panthers had only three possessions all night that lasted more than twenty yards. Cedar Park had only three that didn’t last for at least 54 yards!

This was the night the steady Timberwolf offensive line turned into a tremendous one, an historic one. The Panther defensive front was churned up and made to look about as solid as a pound of warm butter. On their six best possessions, the Timberwolf offense cranked out fantastic yardage totals of 54, 64, 66, 80, 80, and 98 yards right through the heart of the traditionally strong Panther defense.

“In grading out the offensive line, a ‘61’ is considered a winning grade,” explained Coach Weaver. “Our line was usually in the 70s all year long. They were consistently outstanding.”

The passing game, an on-again/off-again endeavor most of the year, was definitely on against the Panthers. Washington completed seven of eleven for 140 yards and had five completions of ten yards or more. Leading receiver Tyler Farst had three catches for 60 yards, Trevor Myogeto caught one for 31, Chris Wieland caught one for 27, and Tyler Smith hauled in two for 22.

Pflugerville had the second-ranked offense in central Texas and got virtually nothing of importance out of it against what was turning out to be clearly one of the best defenses in the state, even on a night when that D was crippled by missing some of its best players much of the evening. The Panther defense had been no slouch itself, giving up only 243 yards per game coming in. Yet the Timberwolves controlled the ball for thirty of the game’s forty-eight minutes, and were just one decent carry away from amassing 500 yards of total offense. Underlining how oddly-constructed thier late comeback was, Pflugerville's normally powerful offense produced just 65 yards in the entire second half.

And that’s how you absolutely trounce a team 27-21. Any questions?

Timberwolves Korey Washington (10), Tyler Smith (5), trevor Myogeto (24), and Daniel Dilworth (21, at far right) celebrate with their fans in the stands the biggest Cedar Park win since becoming a 5A school. At least, it was at the time....

Coach Weaver thus logged his 100th career win. In the press the next morning Weaver called the game, perhaps rightly, "the greatest football victory in Cedar Park history". Maybe the 44-6 shellacking of ninth-ranked and unbeaten San Marcos in 2001 when the Rattlers had been averaging 48 points a game and had beaten the defending state champion and number two ranked team the week before might give this victory some competition on that list of “best ever”, but the Pflugerville win was clearly and without doubt Cedar Park’s best to date as a 5A team.

Little did we know at the time that there would be three more even greater before this astonishing season would come to a close.

Game Stats | Drive Chart

NEXT - Week Nine: Georgetown
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