It was a beautiful setting Thursday night in Cypress, TX, as week 8 of the Texas High School Football season got kicked off between the Cypress Ranch Mustangs (4-2, 2-1) and the Cypress Lakes Spartans (3-3, 2-1). This game could have been viewed as a playoff eliminator in District 16-6A, as the top three spots look pretty locked in, leaving room for one more team. Both the Mustangs and Spartans still have 2 of the top 3 teams in the district on their remaining schedule, so the winner of this game Thursday night would set themselves up in a great position for that fourth and final playoff spot, while the loser would need a lot to go right down the stretch to hop back in the picture.
Game Recap
Special teams play was the story of the first half. After the Cy-Lakes’ opening drive ended on a blocked punt, Cy-Ranch got on the board with a 33-yard field goal from Diego Alfaro with 7:37 left in the first quarter. On the next Spartan drive, Cy-Ranch’s Gabriel Ikechukwu fumbled and recovered a handoff, setting up Cy-Ranch inside the Cy-Lakes 20-yard line. The Mustangs would set up for a field goal attempt, but the hold was botched, leading to an eventual interception by Deshaun Butler. Following a Cy-Lakes punt, Cy-Ranch drove down the field and set up Alfaro for a 40-yard field goal, but this one would go wide right, keeping the score at 3-0.
After another Cy-Lakes punt was blocked, the Mustangs got the ball at the Spartan 8-yard line, and it took them just one play to find the endzone. Manny Leyja took the end around and powered through a couple of tackles, getting the first touchdown of the game. On the next Cy-Ranch drive, Peyton Thomas stormed through the line for a 15-yard touchdown run. With 3:34 left in the half, Cy-Ranch led 17-0.
Cy-Lakes would finally get on the board at the end of the half, which seemed to wake up the offense. With 1:37 left, the Spartans received the ball at their own 20. Three plays later, Theo Fields found some room and exploded for a 72-yard touchdown run. The Spartans went into halftime with some momentum, with Cy-Ranch leading 17-7.
The second half opened with three consecutive punts, giving Cy-Lakes the ball with 7:54 left in the third quarter. On the second play of the drive, Jimmy Alarcon hit Courtney Lewis on a screen, who made a couple of defenders miss and took it 57 yards for the touchdown. That would cut the deficit to 17-14 and was also the first of eight consecutive touchdown-scoring drives in the second half.
It took just two plays for the Mustangs to respond, as Owen Cossette found Joelle Arnett short, who would take it 56 yards for the touchdown. On the ensuing Cy-Lakes drive, Alarcon scrambled around and eventually found a hole to run it into the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown, to cut the deficit to 24-20.
Cy-Lakes got a much-needed stop on the next Cy-Ranch drive, forcing a punt after 10 plays. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the punt would be muffed and recovered in the endzone by Carson Loeb, to give the Mustangs another touchdown and extend the lead back to two scores, but Cy-Lakes continued to respond. On the next Spartan drive, Alarcon hit Lewis deep down the left sideline for a 51-yard touchdown for their second touchdown connection of the game, and heading into the fourth quarter, Cy-Ranch led 31-27.
Cy-Ranch opened the quarter with another score, as Peyton Thomas found the endzone again, this time from eight yards out, to get it back to a two-score game. The Spartans would respond again, using a 12-play drive, capped off with a five-yard touchdown pass from Alarcon to Landon Bridges. The two-point conversion would be no good, so the score stayed at 38-33.
Cy-Ranch received the ball with 5:05 remaining in the game, looking to salt away this game. On the drive’s third play, Manny Leyja took the jet pass from Cossette and stormed away from the defense for a 30-yard touchdown to make it 45-35 Mustangs. The last chance drive for Cy-Lakes would come to an end on an interception in the endzone by Cy-Ranch’s Tromane Harris.
The Mustangs get a big win for their playoff hopes, 45-35.
Cypress Ranch Stats
QB Owen Cossette (SR): 10/16, 136 yds, 2 TDs, INT, 9 carries, 84 yds
RB Peyton Thomas (JR): 19 carries, 112 yds, 2 TDs, 2 recs, 25 yds
WR Joelle Arnett (JR): 3 recs, 65 yds, TD
WR Manny Leyja (SO): 6 recs, 49 yds, TD, 1 carry, 8 yds, TD
TE Carson Loeb (SR): 1 rec, 8 yds, FR, TD
DL Gabriel Ikechukwu (SR): FR
DL Niklas Fisher (SR) (Air Force Commit): Sack, TFL
DL Ryan Seymour (SR): Sack
LB Calvin Thomas (JR): 2 Sacks
DB Matthew Ciers (SR): 2 PBUs
DB Denim Mathis (JR): 2 PBUs
DB Tromane Harris (JR): INT
Cypress Lakes Stats
QB Jimmy Alacron (JR): 17/29, 246 yds, 3 TDs, INT, 8 carries, 11 yds, TD, Fum
QB/WR Joaquin Escobar (JR): 2/5, 19 yds, 1 carry, -1 yd, 4 recs, 33 yds
RB Theo Fields (JR): 7 carries, 133 yds, TD
RB Landon Bridges (SR): 6 carries, 18 yds, 4 recs, 36 yds, TD
WR Courtney Lewis (JR): 8 recs, 179 yds, 2 TDs
WR/DB Amiri Barnes (JR): 1 rec, 7 yds, 2 carries, 11 yds, PBU
LB Deshaun Butler (JR): 2 TFLs, INT
DB Nate Davis (JR): TFL, PBU
LB Kahlil Costello (JR): TFL
Next Week
Cy-Ranch will take on Cy-Woods (6-0, 3-0) in a game that should have enormous impact on playoff seeding, while Cy-Lakes will face off with district-favorite Bridgeland (5-1, 3-0), as they try to get a huge win that could shake-up the district.
