On a cold and windy night at Monroe Stadium in Austin, the Vandegrift Vipers (10-1) held off a late charge by the Austin Bowie Bulldogs (7-3) to secure their 10th straight Bi-District playoff round win 28-14. With Both teams utilizing their trademark aggressive Defenses, it was up to the Offensive Play Callers to dig into their playbooks to find a way to move the ball and put-up points in one of the most closely matched Bi-District Round games across the state.
Defensive Stands Early
Bowie received the opening kickoff and moved the ball down the field behind multiple carries by their featured running back, SR Max Barnes, mixed in around a 22-yard SR QB Connor Kenyon pass to SR WR Jacob Kastl that moved the ball deep into Vandegrift territory. The Bulldogs were able to push the ball to the Viper 25-yard line before a 3rd down run by SR WR Carmine Elisarraraz was taken down by SR DB Alex Foster for a 6-yard loss and then a 4th down Kenyon pass fell incomplete giving the Vipers the ball back on the Turnover on Downs at their 31.
Vandegrift looked like they would strike early on their first drive, when on 3rd down SR QB Brayden Buchanan found SR WR Grant Lindley all alone down the sideline, but Lindley was ‘too wide open’, and the ball fell to the turf incomplete. On 4th Down, with the wind at his back, SR Hudson Lillie hit a 47-yard punt to pin the Bulldogs at their own 18-yard line.
Bowie kept feeding the ball to Barnes on their second possession, getting the ball to near midfield at their own 47, before a Personal Foul late hit out of bounds penalty pushed the Bulldogs back to their 34. Kenyon found Barnes on a 3rd Down screen pass to pick up 5 yards, followed by a Kenyon QB keeper that was stopped short of the first down yardage by JR LB Ben Booher. Forced to punt into the wind, SR Alex Luck’s punt was held up and downed at the Vandegrift 46-yard line to set the Vipers up with their best field position of the half.
Unable to gain yards on either of their first two plays, and faced with 3rd and 10, Buchanan looked to throw the ball downfield, but was flushed from the pocked, picking up 9 yards on a sideline scramble before being stopped just short of the 1st Down by a big hit collision with Luck. After a Viper timeout, the Big Man short yardage unit went into the game, with Buchanan going under center. After Buchanan went out wide, it looked like the Vipers were going with the SR RB Alex Witt Wildcat formation, but then Buchanan shifted back under center, appearing to try and draw the Bulldogs offsides before finally snapping the ball and taking it forward for 3 yards to pick up the 1st Down.
After a short pass from Buchanan to SR WR Miles Coleman that picked up 3 yards, Buchanan then found SR WR Beck Ormond deep downfield, with Ormond pulling in the catch as he tiptoed along the sideline to set the Vipers up at the Bulldog two. Vandegrift went with Witt Wildcat runs on 1st and 2nd downs but were stopped short by the Bowie Defense. On 3rd Down, the Vipers again lined Buchanan up under center and utilized the size of their Offensive Line to sneak the ball across the Goal Line for the first score of the game, putting the Vipers up 7-0 with just 14 seconds left in the 1st Quarter.
2nd Quarter Scoring
Bowie responded with their longest drive of the half, with passes by Kenyon to SR WR Nehemiah Smith-Livingston and Kastl moving the ball down the field to set the Bulldogs up at the Vandegrift 39-yard line. A pair of Barnes runs, and another Kenyon QB keeper pushed the ball to the Vandegrift 24. Three plays later Kenyon found Smith-Livingston all alone behind the Vipers Defense and hit him with a quick strike pass that he pulled in and sprinted the final 15 yards into the End Zone for the Bowie TD to tie the score at 7-7.
The Defense on both sides stiffened after that, forcing punts by both the Vipers and the Bulldogs, with the Bulldog punt by Luck handing Vandegrift their worst starting field position of the half at their own 24 with 4:06 left.
Buchanan started out the drive with a 9-yard QB keeper, followed by two Witt runs to set the Vipers up at their 41. On the next play Buchanan went with a long pass into the wind that SR WR Ray’Jean Middleton recognized was going to be short, coming back to the ball for the catch to get the Vipers to the Bulldog 23-yard line. A Witt run to the 14 was followed by a Holding Call against the Vipers to move them back to the 23. On the next play Buchanan tried to hit Coleman on a post pattern, with a Pass Interference call against the Bulldog defender giving the Vipers 1st and Goal at the Bowie 6-yard line. On the next snap Buchanan sent Coleman in motion to the right for what looked like a Jet Sweep, and on the snap the Bowie Defense shifted with Coleman towards the right as Buchanan held onto the ball and went left on the delayed Keeper and hopped over the Goal Line untouched to make it 14-7 Vandegrift.
Bowie started their final possession of the 1st Half at their 30-yard line after the Vandegrift kickoff into the wind was pushed out of bounds. A 4-yard Barnes run, followed by a 13-yard completion from Kenyon to Barnes quickly moved the Bulldogs near midfield. On the next play Kenyon was able to find SR WR Carmine Elisarraraz on a skinny post in the center of the Viper Defense to get down to the Vandegrift 34 with 1:11 left in the half. On 2nd Down Kenyon found Kastl across the middle, but as he turned to run with the ball Foster hit Kastl hard enough to dislodge the ball that was then fallen on by Viper SR LB Cruz Orta at the Viper 21 to stop the Bowie scoring chance.
With 47 seconds left before Halftime, Buchanan was able to hit Ormond for a 16-yard gain, but a Bulldog sack of Buchanan by SR LB Ty Chips forced the Vipers to use their final timeout of the half. On the next play, SR DL Frankie Jankowski took down Coleman for a 7-yard loss on a Jet Sweep that caused the Vipers to just let the clock drain, sending both teams to the locker room with the score still 14-7 Vandegrift.
Vipers Extend The Lead
After a Luck kickoff into the End Zone for a Touchback, the Vipers started out the 2nd Half heading into the wind from their own 25. On their first play, Buchanan found Middleton on another comeback route to pick up an initial 15 yards. Buchanan then was able to draw the Bulldogs offsides on third and short near midfield to pick up another Viper 1st Down. A Roughing the Passer penalty on the next play against Bowie moved the ball to the 34-yard line, then two plays later a Pass Interference penalty on a Buchanan to Coleman pass near the Goal Line put the Vipers at the Bowie 13. On 3rd and 8 Buchanan hit Middleton on a quick slant right at the Goal Line for the third Viper touchdown of the night, extending the lead to 21-7.
Bowie started their first drive of the half from their 25, utilizing three straight Barnes runs to get an initial 1st Down at the 35-yard line. Then on 1st Down Vipers LB Orta pulled Kenyon down from behind on a Keeper for a sack, followed up on the next play with another stop on a screen pass from Kenyon to Barnes where Orta arrived right as the ball was caught for minimal gain. On 4th down, Luck punted under pressure and the ball went out of bounds at the Vipers 47, setting them up with the ball near midfield. However, the Vipers were not able to capitalize on the field position when on 4th and 1, Buchanan was stopped short of the 1st Down by the Bulldog Defense, giving the ball right back over to Bowie at their own 44.
Bowie looked to lose some momentum at that point after Barnes was taken down on 1st Down behind the line by SO DL Ian Witt for a 2-yard loss, followed by a holding call on 2nd Down that pushed the Bulldogs back 10 more yards. On the next play Kenyon found Barnes with a screen pass, but Foster wrapped up Barnes right as he caught the ball, resulting in another loss of 7 yards. Faced with 3rd and 28, the Vipers came after Kenyon with pressure that forced an errant throw when SR DT Daemian Wimberly arrived and took him down right as the ball got away. Unfortunately for the Vipers, the officials flagged Wimberly on the play, with the result giving the Bulldogs new life and a 1st Down at their 38-yard line. A 3rd Down Kenyon pass sailed high over WR Kastl, forcing a Luck punt that pinned the Vipers deep at their 13-yard line with 58 seconds to go in the 3rd Quarter.
The Bulldog Defense stiffened up and held the Vipers to another quick 3 and out, forcing Lillie to punt into the wind on the final play of the Quarter, setting the Bulldogs up at midfield still trailing 21-7.
4th Quarter Nail Biter
The Bulldogs once again gave the ball to Barnes to start the next series, utilizing three hard runs by their top rusher to get an initial 1st Down at the Viper 39. On 2nd Down Kenyon launched his longest pass of the night downfield to Smith-Livingston, who had found a hole between multiple Viper defenders along the sideline, but the ball fell through his hands for an incompletion instead of setting the Bulldogs up with 1st and Goal. The Bulldogs used a timeout with 9:16 left to play knowing they had to keep the ball moving to give themselves a chance at a comeback. They dialed up the right call, with Kenyon hitting Barnes on another screen pass, but this time he had perfect blocking downfield by the Bulldog receivers and he raced untouched 37 yards into the End Zone to pull within a touchdown, 21-14, with 9:06 to play in the game.
Feeding off the momentum from the Barnes touchdown, the Bulldog Defense forced the third straight 3 and out series for the Viper Offense, getting the ball back at their own 26 after the Lillie punt. A 1st Down run by Barnes picked up 8 yards. Then on 2nd Down Kenyon went with the Keeper and was taken down for a loss by Viper SR DL Oliver Yndo and Wimberly. A 3rd Down pass from Kenyon to Elisarraraz missed its target, forcing Luck to punt into the wind, where he got a good roll after it hit near midfield and the ball finally came to rest at the Vipers 42-yard line with 6:33 left on the clock.
At this point in the game Vandegrift knew they needed to do two things, run the clock to keep the Bowie Offense on the sideline, and find a way to put more points on the scoreboard. Coming off three consecutive three and outs, the Vipers turned to their SR Running Back to try and jumpstart the Offense. On 1st Down Witt took the handoff from Buchanan, hit the left edge, picked up a pair of downfield blocks by WR Middleton and JR TE Jase Skoglund to open a hole that he jetted through for a 27-yard gain and a 1st Down at the Bowie 31-yard line. Witt again took the ball on 2nd Down, broke a tackle in the backfield and moved the ball down to the 24. On the next play the Viper Offensive Line opened a hole in the middle of the Bulldog Defense that Witt found and gained another 9 yards to setup 1st and 10 from the Bowie 15. Two short Witt runs moved the ball down closer to the End Zone to setup 3rd and 3 with 3:58 remaining. Sticking with what had been working, Buchanan again handed the ball off to Witt, who went around the left end, with Skoglund sealing the edge, and breaking a pair of Bulldog tackles at the Goal Line to get the Touchdown and put the Vipers up 28-14 with 3:16 left to go in the ballgame.
SR K Hayden Arnold once again put his kickoff deep into the End Zone, setting Bowie up 1st and 10 at their 25 with their backs against the wall. Knowing that the Bulldogs had to pass the ball, the Vipers pinned their ears back on the line and dropped everyone else into coverage to try and lock down the Bowie passing attack. On 1st Down Kenyon was flushed from the pocket by Wimberly and Booher, forced a throw downfield to Elisarraraz while rolling out to his left that got held up by the wind allowing SR DB Connor Freeman to get a hand on it and almost tip to Orta for an interception that would have ended the game. A holding penalty against Bowie on the same play backed them up 10 yards to their 15. On the next play, Kenyon was able to find JR WR Matthew Martinez for 6 yards. He then got the ball to Smith-Livingston for another 8-yard pass play to setup 3rd and 6. Wimberly was able to break through the line on the next snap and forced Kenyon to scramble towards his own sideline, getting the ball away for an incompletion right before he was tackled. Down to their final play, Kenyon found SR WR Rio Pittman, who broke a tackle and moved the ball out to the Bowie 44 to keep the drive alive.
On 1st Down Kenyon was flushed from the pocked and was taken down by Wimberly, Booher and Yndo for no gain allowing the clock to continue to run. After a 2nd Down pass from Kenyon to Barnes fell incomplete, Kenyon was tackled for a sack by SR DL Cruz Carrasquillo to force a Bowie timeout. On 4th down, with the season on the line, Kenyon again rolled out to his left and threw the ball towards Kastl along the sideline, and just like the 1st Down pass, the stiff wind held the ball up, but this time Freeman came down with the interception to seal the Viper victory.
With 1:05 remaining on the Game Clock, Buchanan and the Viper Offense took a pair of kneel downs to end the game.
Behind the Numbers
Both Offenses ended the game over 100 yards under their season average (Bowie with 290 total yards were averaging 407.6 Yds/Game, Vandegrift with 259 total yards were averaging 369.8 Yds/Game). With a Fumble Recovery and an Interception in the game, Vandegrift now has 20 Turnovers on the Season (11INT/9FmbRec) and is +17 in turnover margin. The top two Wide Receivers coming into the game (Miles Coleman for Vandegrift, Nehemiah Smith-Livingston for Bowie) who had combined for over 1600 yds and 18 TD, finished the game with only 8 receptions for 46 yds and 1 TD between them. Bowie was only the 3rd team on the season to score multiple touchdowns against the Viper Defense (Dripping Springs, Round Rock were the others).
Area Round Matchup
With the win Vandegrift (10-1) will now look to take on one of the Blue Bloods of Texas High School Football in the Judson Rockets (5-6) on Friday, November 18th at Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex in Austin, TX. This will be the first all-time meeting between these two schools. Judson moved on from the Bi-District round with a convincing 42-5 win over San Antonio Churchill on Thursday night. Judson, who lost in the Bi-District round in 2020 and didn’t qualify for the playoffs in 2021, will be looking to move on from the Area Round for the third time since 2018. Vandegrift is looking to duplicate their playoff runs from the past two years that have seen them reach the Region IV Finals.
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