Thursday night was a perfect night for football in Cypress, as the Jersey Village Falcons (1-1) took on the Cypress Springs Panthers (2-0).
In his first year at the helm, Levelle Norris has his Falcons looking for a playoff berth for a fifth straight season. Coming off a loss last week to Langham Creek, Jersey Village was looking to bounce back against a familiar foe in the Cy-Springs Panthers, having a three-year winning streak snapped by the Panthers last season.
Cy-Springs surprised everyone in 2023, making the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. That success seemed to spill over to the 2024 season, as the Panthers won their first two games by a combined 84-13. Cy-Springs was looking for a 3-0 start as they head into district play next week.
Game Recap
It did not take long to see this game’s direction. The Falcons received the ball to start the game, and the Cy-Springs defensive line was quickly all over Jersey Village quarterback Brock Nichols, sacking him three times on the opening drive. On the 3rd sack of the drive, Gregory Spires knocked the ball out and recovered it, to give the Panthers great field position. On the next play, Paris Melvin Jr took the handoff left for 14 yards and jogged into the endzone to open the scoring. Three plays later, Brock Nichols’ pass was intercepted by Darrien Foreman, who returned it 34 yards to the endzone for a pick six. The PAT was no good, but Cy-Springs led 13-0 less than four minutes into the game.
After a Jersey Village punt, Cy-Springs needed only five plays to put more points on the board. Jared Hagger would find Rashod Richardson on a wide receiver screen, who would then take it 26 yards for the touchdown. The Panthers led 20-0 with 2:05 left in the opening quarter.
A couple of drives later, Cy-Springs found the endzone again. On a 3rd downplay, Jared Hagger took the ball down the right sideline for 77 yards to set the Panthers up at the Jersey Village one-yard line. After a false start penalty, Paris Melvin Jr bounced left and ran for a six-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 27-0.
The Jersey Village offense finally got something going on their next drive, crossing into Cy-Springs territory for the first time of the night. Devontae Batiste would put an end to the drive, though, as he intercepted a pass over the middle to give the Panthers the ball back, and Cy-Springs would take advantage. On 4th down, Jared Hagger found Jamon Richardson in the endzone for a 29-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left in the half. Cy-Springs went into halftime with a 34-0 lead.
The second half started with much of the same, as Cy-Springs got the ball and marched down the field. On the sixth play of the drive, Hagger found Rashod Richardson down the right side for a 34-yard touchdown. After a blocked PAT, the lead was now 40-0.
Jersey Village could not get anything going offensively the rest of the game, as they failed to touch Cy-Springs territory in the second half. After another Jared Hagger touchdown, this time a 14-yard run, the Panthers’ starting units were done. A couple more scoring drives from Cy-Springs, a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ladarius Howard to Connor Patrick, and a six-yard touchdown run from Amir Pruitt would close out the game with a final score of 60-0.
Cypress Springs Stats
QB Jared Hagger (SO): 6/13, 136 yds, 3 TDs, 3 carries, 108 yds, TD
QB Ladarius Howard (SR): 2/2, 37 yds, TD, 1 carry, 3 yds
RB Paris Melvin Jr (JR): 7 carries, 59 yds, 2 TDs
RB Yogi Martin Jr (SO): 7 carries, 63 yds
RB Amir Pruitt (SR): 4 carries, 29 yds, TD
WR Rashod Richardson (SR): 3 rec, 69 yds, TD
WR Jamon Richardson (SR): 1 rec, 29 yds, TD
WR Connor Patrick (SO): 1 rec, 14 yds, TD
DT Jarvis Spires (JR): 2 sacks
LB Gregory Spires (SR): 2 sacks, FF, FR
LB Devontae Batiste (SR): INT, TFL
LB Kristopher Ross (JR): TFL, Deflection
CB Darrien Foreman (SR): INT, TD
Jersey Village Stats
QB Brock Nichols (SR): 5/11, 49 yds, 2 INTs, 5 carries, 5 yds
RB Jaden Perkins (JR): 11 carries, 11 yds
RB Devin Pickney (SR): 9 carries, 5 yds
WR Dinh Huynh (SR): 3 rec, 26 yds
DT Taylor Williams (SR): 2 sacks
DE DeMarcus Griffin (SR): TFL, Deflection
DE Cael Thigpen (SO): 2 Deflections
Next Week
Cypress Springs will look to keep their undefeated record alive as they open district play against a Cypress Ranch team that they narrowly defeated last season, 35-31. Jersey Village will be looking to bounce back and start district play 1-0 as they take on much-improved Houston Northbrook.
