GEORGETOWN, Texas — Last year, it was a missed kick at the end of regulation that lost Hutto its District 19-5A opener against Georgetown. This year, it was a made kick that won it.
Hutto senior Isodoro Barrios connected on a 32-yard field goal as time expired to give the Hippos (3-0, 1-0 in district) their first win against Georgetown (2-1, 0-1) in school history, 25-23 Friday night at Birkelbach Field.
“Since it was on the left side, my confidence was like 99 percent. I’m really accurate from the left side,” Barrios said. “It feels amazing, man. After what happened last year with the missed kick which caused us to lose the game. We had to bounce back.”
The go-to receivers stole the show as Hutto junior D.J. Baptist and Georgetown senior Caden Leggett traded big plays all night.
Baptist had 11 catches for 229 yards and two touchdowns, including a 68-yarder with 5:54 to play that put Hutto up 22-20. Leggett finished with nine grabs for 172 yards and two scores, including a 63-yard reception in the second quarter that shifted the momentum after Georgetown fell into an early hole.
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- Photo via Brian Ullestad, TexasHSFootball.com
Georgetown senior quarterback Cooper Bell was 16-of-27 for 245 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers or sacks taken. Hutto junior Chase Griffin wore out his arm out with 26 completions on 40 passes for 368 yards, two touchdowns and 43 yards on the ground.
“It was a great game on both sides. I thought both teams played really hard. One of the best football games I’ve been in in a long time,” said Hutto coach Steve Van Meter. “(Baptist) is one of the best receivers in the state and he showed it tonight, and Griffin is one of the best quarterbacks in the state and he showed it tonight. So I’m proud of both those guys.”
Hutto entered the final period leading 16-7 after a scoreless third quarter. But the lack of action in the third was more than made up for in the fourth. Georgetown capped a 10-play, 68-yard touchdown drive when Bell found senior Nic Crombie open over the middle of the field for a 17-yard score to make it 16-14.
The Eagles forced their first three-and-out on Hutto’s ensuing drive and took their first lead when a 42-yard run by senior Erik Anderson was followed by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Bell to Leggett on a nifty run-pass option where Bell flipped it to the outside as he was crossing the line of scrimmage and Leggett followed a block to the sideline and dove over the pylon for the score.
Barely a minute later, Baptist got behind the defense for the aforementioned 68-yard touchdown to put Hutto back on top. Georgetown retook the lead with 2:02 remaining on a 27-yard field goal by senior David Northcutt. That was too much time, however, for Griffin and the Hippo offense. Hutto gained 54 yards on nine plays before putting the game on the leg of Barrios, who calmly sent the game-winner through the uprights to send Hutto’s sideline into a frenzy.
Hutto stormed out to a 13-0 lead on a pair of 71-yard touchdown drives to start the game. The first lasted 11 plays and ended with a seven-yard scoring scamper by junior running back Chux Nwabuko (13 carries, 43 yards). The second was seven plays and concluded with Griffin hitting Baptist for a 16-yard score.
Hutto extended the lead to 16-0 on a 29-yard field goal by Barrios with 4:07 left in the half. Up to that point Georgetown’s offense had shown no semblance of life with just one first down, but everything changed on the second play of the next drive when Leggett broke free for a 63-yard touchdown reception.
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