Prior to the Thursday tilt between the #17 Vandegrift Vipers (7-1,5-0) and the Round Rock Cedar Ridge Raiders (4-4,3-2), Coach Drew Sanders was asked during his weekly Coaches Show about keys to the game. His response of “Can’t have the typical Thursday slow start that can happen” seemed prophetic during a 1st Half that saw both teams stumble out of the gate and multiple penalties stall out one teams chances to get on the scoreboard.
1st Quarter Slow Start
Vandegrift looked to jump out to a typical fast start when SR QB Brayden Buchanan hit SR WR Miles Coleman for a 28-yard gain that almost went for a touchdown if it hadn’t been for a shoestring tackle by Cedar Ridge SR LB Julian Meza. Vandegrift was unable to get another first down, and Buchanan pooch punted the ball to the Raiders eleven, then was pushed back to the six-yard line after a dead ball Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty against a Raiders defender. Unable to move the ball, and after two more penalties moved Cedar Ridge back to their own five-yard line, the punt snap went over the head of SR P/K Cole Thompson out of the End Zone for a Viper Safety to make it 2-0.
Starting from the Cedar Ridge forty-two, Vandegrift once again moved the ball deep into Raiders territory but stalled out at the Cedar Ridge eleven and settled for a 28-yard Field Goal from SR K Hayden Arnold to make it 5-0 Vipers. Vandegrift, forcing a Raiders punt after a three and out, then marched eighty-five yard in 10 plays, finally crossing the goal line on SR RB Alex Witts 1-yard Wildcat run to push the lead to 12-0 with 1:07 left in the 1st Quarter.
2nd Quarter Vipers Flex
The Raiders had their first sustained drive of the game, behind multiple solid runs by SR RB Karlos Jackson and a screen pass from SR QB Aidan Liston to SO WR Reese Brooks that went for 26-yards, moving the ball all the way to the Vandegrift thirty-four. Faced with fourth and three, the Raiders elected to go for it, but a False Start penalty, followed by a sack of Liston by the Vipers JR LB Ben Booher forced a Turnover on Downs with 9:24 left in the 2nd Quarter.
Buchanan spread the ball around, hitting multiple Wide Receivers (SR WR Beck Ormond – 4Yds, SR WR Grant Lindley – 10Yds, and SR WR Ray’Jean Middleton – 11Yds) and mixing in an option pitch to Coleman for eleven yards and a Witt run for another five yards to get to the Raiders thirteen-yard line. Buchanan then called his own number, bullying his way through the Raiders Defense and getting a scrum push to finally put him over the Goal Line to make it 19-0 Vipers.
The combination of Liston passes and Jackson runs again had the Raiders driving in Vandegrift territory, moving all the way to the Viper thirty-seven-yard line after a fourteen-yard Jackson run on second and eight. However, the ninth flag on Cedar Ridge in the first half, a fifteen-yard Personal Foul Blindside Block penalty was called on the play. Instead of having second and two, the penalty pushed them back across the fifty onto the Raiders side of the field. Unable to get the first down yardage, Cedar Ridge attempted to punt, but a low snap wouldn’t allow Thompson to get the punt off and SR Cruz Orta covered him up to give the Vipers a short field at the Raiders thirty-three-yard line.
With 3:33 to play in the half and a short field to work with, Vandegrift looked to use as much of the clock as they could to give their Defense a rest and keep Cedar Ridge’s Offense on the sideline. Using eight plays, including a fourth down and eight pass from Buchanan to Ormond that picked up fourteen yards, Vandegrift moved the ball to the Raiders seventeen-yard line with 52 second left before Halftime. Faced with fourth and 10, Arnold came out for a 34-yard Field Goal attempt, but Vandegrift pulled one from their bag of tricks as placeholder SR Hudson Lillie hit a streaking JR TE Jase Skoglund on the cusp of the End Zone for the touchdown, setting the score where it would stand at Halftime, 26-0.
2nd Half Methodical Drives
Cedar Ridge put together their best drive of the ballgame to begin the 3rd quarter going seventy-one yards in thirteen plays. Starting at their own 29-yard line, they went to the air, with Liston hitting JR WR John Gentry for a twenty-two-yard gain, and JR WR Jordon Ramsey hauling in catches for fifteen from Liston and eleven and three yards from JR QB Jacari Killingsworth, to move the ball all the way to the Viper fourteen. After a Vandegrift Offsides call on first down moved the ball to the Viper nine, Jackson reeled off three straight runs, the last one from five yards out to finally put the Raiders on the scoreboard, making it 26-7.
Vandegrift then responded with their longest drive of the night. Two Buchanan to Coleman passes picked up a combined thirty-seven yards to help get the drive moving into Cedar Ridge territory. Facing fourth and thirteen at the Cedar Ridge thirty-four-yard line, Buchanan hit Witt three yards short of the first down marker, but Witt was able to spin out of the initial tackle and take the ball down to the Raiders 10. Three SR RB Reece Trevino short runs ran out the time in the 3rd Quarter. On the first play of the Fourth Quarter, Arnold put through his second Field Goal of the night from 21 yards out to make it 29-7.
The Raiders came right back, determined to keep the positive momentum from their first score, going downfield with a long Liston to SR WR Zane Wofford pass for twenty-eight yards and a pair of Jackson runs to place the ball at the Viper thirty-one. However, a sack of Killingsworth on first down by SR DE Daemian Wimberly pushed them back seven yards. On third down Wimberly then knocked down the Killingsworth pass, forcing the Raiders to go for it on fourth down to keep their hopes alive. On Fourth Down, Liston sent a pass to the sideline trying to hit Brooks, but SR DB Andrew Scott knocked it away for the third Turnover on Downs of the game for the Vipers.
The Vipers looked to duplicate how they ended the first half, going into their four-minute slowdown Offense with 8:32 to play in the game. Mixing in runs with JR RB Zaid Oliver and Trevino, Buchanan picked up a first down on a keeper on third and two, followed by a twenty-six-yard pass to Coleman on third and eight. Another Buchanan keeper picked up twenty-four yards on fourth and 3 to make it first and goal from the Cedar Ridge nine-yard line. Trevino added a final run for five yards, and with just over a minute left Buchanan took a knee on two plays to close out the game with the final score of 29-7.
Behind the Numbers
With the win, Vandegrift clinches a playoff spot for the 10th consecutive season. Karlos Jackson had all the Raiders carries from the running back position, finishing with 99 yards on 25 rushes. This is the fifth straight win over Cedar Ridge by Vandegrift, with the Vipers holding them to seven points or less in the last four. (Final Stats will be posted in my Twitter Game Recap thread after Vandegrift stats have been posted to MaxPreps. Stats used in article are from my own film review and are unofficial).
Week 10
Vandegrift heads home and will enjoy Homecoming Week festivities ahead of a Friday Night contest with Round Rock Vista Ridge (5-3,4-1). Vista Ridge dropped their first District game of the season 21-7 to Manor on Friday Night. This will be the 14th meeting between Vista Ridge and Vandegrift in 13 Seasons of play (met in regular season and playoffs in 2015). Vipers lead the series 9-4, with Vandegrift winning the past four.
Cedar Ridge will need to regroup ahead of their visit to Dragon Stadium to take on Round Rock (7-1,4-1) in a matchup that could decide the D1 playoff seeding. Round Rock bounced back from their loss last week to Vandegrift, downing McNeil 42-7. After losing their first four matchups with Round Rock starting in 2012, the Raiders have won six straight over their Round Rock ISD rivals. The average score in the rivalry is 36-34, just slightly favoring the Dragons.
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