Game-by-Game Narratives
2005

Week Nine: Georgetown
Friday, October 28th

Timberwolves 31, Eagles 27

Although the two teams met for a football game, a track meet broke out early in the evening of week nine. The Cedar Park Timberwolves won both, beating the Georgetown Eagles 31-27 at Birklebach Stadium and knocking them from the playoff picture, as T’wolf halfback Tyler Smith etched his name into Cedar Park football history.

The Eagles and T’wolves went to 4-5 overall, while Georgetown fell to 3-3 in 15-5A play and Cedar Park improved to 2-4.

Not sure if a mouse just ran under the cheerleaders or if they're merely practicing their moves prior to the Georgetown game...

Cedar Park never trailed, but the T’wolves were tied several times in a wild game that saw 350 yards of combined offense and 28 total points scored in just the first quarter.

The Eagles matched Cedar Park touchdown for touchdown, only blinking once- a missed PAT that left Georgetown behind 28-27 midway through the third period, leaving the door open for the Timberwolves to grind away the time and add a late field goal to the final tally. The Gang Green defense defused the last Georgetown surge and clinched the victory.

The Eagles have never beaten Cedar Park. The Timberwolves are now 4-0 all time against Georgetown.

On the way to this win, CP halfback Tyler Smith exploded onto the regional scene as perhaps the best returning rusher in the Austin area for 2006. Smith broke four rushing records, three of them wrenched from the grasp of his brother Quinton, the all-time Cedar Park rushing leader. “The T” carried a single-game record 34 times for an incredible 292 yards, the most ground yardage ever in one game by a Timberwolf. The previous mark (282) was only thirteen games old, set by Korey Washington in last year’s opening round payoff win over Hays. At the half, Tyler had already run for an even 200 yards; a school record for the most ever in one half. Prior to that, he ran for 183 yards in the first quarter alone; a high mark for rushing yardage in a single quarter. Both these two records had been held by Quinton.

Brandon Haug slips outside running out of the fullback position for an important gain.

Oh, and there’s also the small item of Smith’s four touchdown runs on the night- not a CP record but certainly very impressive by any measure.

The game started out with a series of huge plays from both teams before settling down to a more pedestrian pace over the last three quarters.

After holding the Eagles to seventeen yards on five plays and forcing a first-possession punt, CP took over at their own fifteen. Two carries by fullback Brandon Haug gave Cedar Park a first down at the 33. On the next play, Smith ran left and torched the field for a 67-yard touchdown. Wes Wagener’s kick made it 7-0 Timberwolves.

Tyler Smith breaking free on one of many big runs for "The T" against Georgetown. Smith broke many huge individual Cedar Park rushing records set by his brother Quinton on this night.

The Gang Green then held Georgetown to three plays, three yards, and a 46-yard punt. The offense started to march again, this time taking over at the twenty and moving 26 yards in four plays. But at the 46, a fumble killed the promising drive and the Eagles were suddenly in good position to erase the margin.

Six plays later, the Eagles’ offense – otherwise known as Runy Davis – tied the game on a nine-yard scoring run. Up to that point, Davis, who gets the ball on almost every play for Georgetown, had been limited to just 17 yards on five previous carries. Only nine times on the evening did any Georgetown player other than Davis move the ball. The big play of this drive was a pass, but even that went to Davis, as he scooted 26 yards on a screen to the far side.

That first Eagle touchdown run with 2:30 left in the first quarter started a veritable firestorm of points.

The Gang Green D came up big when it had to against the Eagles. Here they stuff a run for no gain. An unidentified T'wolf is on ball-carrier Runy Davis in this shot, with Tyler Prevatte (11) likely in on the first hit. Andrew Cretini (42) is at left, with T.J. Johnson (46) and Anthony Peneschi (23) rushing in for support.

On the ensuing kickoff, Cedar Park’s Daniel Dilworth made a nice return of 31 yards out to the 34. On the very first play, Smith took off again, this time 66 yards untouched for his second touchdown of the quarter. At this moment, Tyler had 140 yards on four carries with two long touchdowns! Wagener’s kick made it 14-7 Timberwolves with 2:10 left in the first.

But the Eagles – specifically Davis – had an answer. After netting just one yard on the first two plays of the ensuing possession, the Eagles struck. Quarterback Tyler Moore hit Davis on another nicely-designed screen to the right side that Davis turned into an impressive 72-yard touchdown play, and the game was tied again with 1:05 left in the quarter.

The counter-response didn’t take long. Another brilliant kickoff return by Dilworth – this one 52 yards – set Cedar Park in business at the Georgetown 48. Just four plays later, highlighted by a 39-yard run by Smith, the Timberwolves recaptured the lead on his 1-yard TD run just 39 seconds into the second quarter. Wagener’s kick made it 21-14.

Georgetown's Runy Davis ran well early. Here he leaps over Cedar Park's Justin Allen (31) on his way to a decent gain. Anthony Peneschi (23) and Brandon Lopez (4, at far left) would eventually stop him on this play.

An incredible four touchdowns had been scored by the two teams in the span of just three minutes and nine seconds.

On the next possession, the Gang Green defense put the stop on the Eagles, holding them to five yards on a three and out, forcing a punt from their own 28.

But Cedar Park immediately gave the ball back, throwing an interception that deflected off the intended receiver’s hands.

Georgetown thought they had something going when two plays netted fourteen yards, but then Dilworth made his own entry in the Cedar Park record book with a nifty grab of an errant Tyler Moore pass at the three. The pick gave Dilworth sole possession of the Cedar Park career interceptions record with seven, passing Jared Bunn.

Daniel Dilworth races upfield with the ball during a kick return. Dilworth's talents would be required at several positions this night. His interception in the second quarter gave him sole possession of the all-time career Cedar Park interception record.

Three straight dives into the line barely produced enough room to punt, and Haug’s rushed kick only went fourteen yards. An untimely penalty moved the ball even closer, and the Eagles almost couldn’t help but score after starting with a first and goal from the nine, this time on a Tyler Moore touchdown pass to Paul Duclos. The kick tied the game 21-21.

With 3:36 left in the half, Cedar Park tried to chew some time off the clock and perhaps even get into Wagener’s field goal range. In fact, the T’wolves did manage one first down, but some losses and penalties resulted in a Haug punt after six plays had totaled just nine yards of ball movement.

Georgetown padded their stats with a 28-yard pass completion on the last play of the half and at intermission the two teams were dead even.

The prodigious first half totals may have tired these teams out. The second half wasn’t nearly as yardage-intensive as the first. The two teams had combined for 430 yards of net ball movement in the first, but they'd only go for 226 in the second. There were fifteen possessions and 52 plays in the first half; only six possessions and 37 plays in the second. And for all the trouble Runy Davis had seemed to be in the ground game, he’d actually only gotten 39 yards rushing by the end of the half, but he did amass 98 receiving yards on two big screen passes. Two other long-gaining screens had been called back by penalties.

Tyler Smith is knocked out-of-bounds at the one at the end of a 39-yard run. This was almost his third TD run of 40 yards or more on the night, and we were just seconds into the second quarter! "The T"scored on a one-yard run on the very next play.

Another great kickoff return by Dilworth set the Timberwolves up to open the second half with a first snap at the Georgetown 47. Cedar Park went on a methodical six-play march to the end zone, Smith taking it over from the one for his fourth and final touchdown of the night. Wagener’s 62nd consecutive extra point made it 28-21 Timberwolves with 8:14 left in the third.

But a short kickoff set the Eagles up in good field position at their 37. Six plays later they’d covered the entire 63 yards, with Moore and Duclos hooking up for their second TD pass of the game, this one from ten yards out to tie the game with 6:02 left in the third.

But wait just a minute! It wasn’t tied! Holcomb’s kick was no good! That critical miss left the Timberwolves still in the lead and greatly appreciative of the “given” we’ve enjoyed with Wagener’s incredible extra-point streak.

Now that Georgetown had blinked in the touchdown escalation, a crack was exposed. If Cedar Park could hold serve, another Wagener extra point would force the Eagles to move the ball over the goal line twice just to avoid losing.

But penalties and the Eagle D wouldn’t have it, at least not right away. After initially gaining a first down on their next possession, the Timberwolves stumbled backward and netted only two yards in five plays, forcing a punt that netted only 25 yards. Suddenly, Georgetown was in business with decent field position at their 37, with some offensive momentum.

Cedar Park QB Travis Watson tries to hit his intended receiver on this short pass over the middle, but it was deflected off his hands and intercepted by Georgetown.

At this point, two of the previous three Eagle possessions had ended in touchdowns and the third was stopped only by the end of the first half. Things were not looking good for the Timberwolves. But a ferocious defensive stand by the Gang Green resulted in a three and out right when Cedar Park needed it the most.

They launched a tremendous punt of 48 yards, pinning the Timberwolves back on their own eight yard line. From that point started one of the most impressive drives in school history, spanning most of the third and fourth quarters. It wasn’t the longest. It wouldn’t end in a touchdown. But the Timberwolves needed primarily two things at this point: they had to run some clock off, and they had to get at least some points. Even a field goal would help, forcing Georgetown to respond with a touchdown since the Eagles had missed their previous extra point.

The Drive began under the leadership of Travis Watson at quarterback. The T’wolves ground out some important yardage and first downs, running the clock out on the third quarter and moving into the fourth. At about their own 30, they faced a critical third down play. Fail, and they had to punt the ball to the Eagles with plenty of time left. Watson ran a perfect quarterback draw right up the middle – a new play this year – and was hit hard at the end, eleven yards downfield, the critical third down conversion completed.

But Watson didn’t get up. He was escorted to the sideline under heavy assistance, unable to put any weight on his right knee. There was 9:05 left in the game, and the Timberwolves had lost their quarterback.

Early in the fourth quarter, a disaster. After an 11-yard run that successfully converted a critical third down, Timberwolf QB Travis Watson leaves the game with a serious injury. That important run would be his final play of the season...

...and so on came Daniel Dilworth, pressed into duty under center.

Into the cockpit slid Daniel Dilworth, a senior, a leader, a proven results man in all phases of the game. Despite being hit for a five yard loss on his first and only carry, Dilworth kept the Cedar Park offense on course. He promptly hit two critical passes of ten and fourteen yards to Haug and Matt Raesz, the latter while taking a tremendous slobberknocker of a hit as he threw. Raesz’ important catch converted a critical third down.

And down the field the Timberwolves drove. Once inside the twenty, they faced an Eagle defense that had stiffened at the right time. Georgetown denied Smith by holding him to zero yards on three successive carries at one point, then held him to seven on a key third down from the fifteen.

Onto the field came Wes Wagener, who hadn’t kicked a field goal since late in the McNeil game, almost a month previously. Fittingly, the ever-present Dilworth is Wagener’s holder. The kick was true from twenty-four yards out and the Timberwolves had a slight margin for breathing at 31-27. Now, the Eagles would have to go the distance: a Holcomb field goal could do Cedar Park no harm. There was but 2:02 left in the game.

At the end of a clutch drive, Wes Wagener chips in the field goal that would ultimately seal this game.

After the kickoff the Eagles started from their 31. A deft mix of runs and passes gained a first down, but then the Cedar Park defense came alive, forcing a fourth down play from inside Timberwolf territory at the 47. With a minute remaining in the game, Moore threw deep to the left sideline. Cedar Park’s Anthony Peneschi leapt and came down with the ball, ending the threat and, effectively, the ball game. The offense took two knees and it was a Cedar Park victory in one of the most exciting games the program has ever played.

The Timberwolf offense put up its third-most productive night of the season yardage-wise, with a total of 379, and the second-most points-wise. The offense posted five drives of 47 yards or longer, and produced two scoring drives of 85 yards.

The defense held a highly-respected Runy Davis to just 77 yards rushing on 20 carries, and limited the entire Eagle ground game to just 93 yards, the third time on the season an opponent had been held to less than 100 team rushing yards.

Tyler Smith ran his rushing yardage total to 971 yards on 137 carries with 11 touchdowns with a very respectable 7.09 yards-per-carry average.

It was an unforgettable night at Georgetown's tiny Birklebach Field. A record performance by our star running back, a clutch kick by our record-setting kicker, and a classic late-game drive conducted by an omnipresent senior, who now knew he'd be called upon in our final game, against our arch rival, to start at quarterback for the first time in his career.

Cedar Park now faced a chance to avoid a losing season; a win over arch rival Leander the next week could give the Timberwolves a 5-5 record for the year. Somewhat interestingly, Cedar Park has never won 4, 5, 6, or 7 games in a regular season before. They’ve had three 3-7 seasons, twice gone 8-2, and once 9-1: nothing in between.

But they knew the Bagdad Bowl would be tough. After ending 2004 with four losses in their last five games, Leander waited at the end of the schedule with a sparkling 9-0 record. The Lions carried perhaps the best defense in 15-5A and a tremendous passing game, directed by their fine QB Drew Dunn. They’ve never won an unbeaten, untied football district championship in the 68-year history of the school: something Cedar Park had done twice in the last four years. All of Leander’s three straight district crowns prior to 2004 were titles shared with one or even two teams, due to Lion losses during those campaigns. Since young Cedar Park High School, in such a short time span, has registered most of the football superlatives in the long history of LISD, Leander considered it almost a necessity to win this game and become the first 10-0 team in the history of our school district.

And it would be the daunting job of our young Timberwolves to see that they didn’t.