New Blood Flexes on Blue Blood in Area Round
Vandegrift (11-1) continues to show that they are among the top teams in 6A Region IV by dispatching one of the Blue Bloods of Texas High School Football, the Judson Rockets (5-7), 37-7 in their Area Round matchup on Friday night at Kelly Reeves Stadium in Austin. Behind a red-hot start by the Vipers Offense and relentless pressure on the Rockets by the Vandegrift Defense, this one was all but over after the first 12 minutes.
Vipers Strike Early
Following a three and out by the Rockets on the opening possession of the game, Vandegrift took the ball on the Judson side of the fifty and only needed four plays to find the End Zone when SR QB Brayden Buchanan hit JR WR Miles Coleman out wide, and Coleman jetted thirteen yards in for the score.
Vandegrift forced a second three and out but couldn’t move the ball leading to a Buchanan pooch punt that pinned Judson deep at their 7-yard line. After a false start pushed the Rockets back to their three, a Safety via a holding call in the End Zone on 2nd Down put the Vipers up 9-0.
Following the SR K Aiden Cortes Free Kick, the Vipers once again went to the air on their first play, with Buchanan launching the ball downfield towards Coleman in between a group of Rocket defenders where he hauled in the pass, cut across the field and into the End Zone for a 51-yard play and a 16-0 Viper lead just six minutes into the game.
Judson was able to get their initial First Down of the night, but not a second, and the Vipers Defense forced their third punt of the 1st Quarter. The Vandegrift Offense then shifted gears to the running game, feeding the ball on four straight plays to SR RB Alex Witt, highlighted by his 41-yard gallop that moved the ball all the way to the Rockets 3-yard line. On the next play he found a hole up the middle where he crossed over the Goal Line with the ball to make it 23-0 Vandegrift.
After yet another Judson three and out punt, the Vipers Offense took over near midfield. On 1st Down, Buchanan again went downfield to Coleman where he drew a Pass Interference call against Judson JR DB Myles Davis that nullified an interception. Buchanan again looked to Coleman on 1st and 10 at the Judson thirty-nine where he hit him with a pinpoint pass that he hauled in and took to the Rockets thirteen. After runs by Witt and Buchanan closed out the 1st Quarter, Buchanan found his other favorite target, SR WR Ray’Jean Middleton on a quick slant into the End Zone from nine yards out that was a carbon copy of a touchdown play from last week’s win over Austin Bowie. With just five seconds off the clock in the 2nd Quarter, the Vipers were now up 30-0 on the Rockets.
Judson took the Kickoff and was finally able to move the ball on their longest drive of the 1st Half, utilizing fourteen plays to push the ball to the Vandegrift twenty-four before a 4th Down pass from SO QB Elijah Favela fell short and gave the ball back to the Vipers on the Turnover on Downs.
The Judson Defense was able to force their first three and out of the ballgame, getting the ball back in Vandegrift territory at the 43-yard line following a punt by SR Hudson Lillie. However, on 2nd Down SR DL Daemian Wimberly stripped the ball from Favela and fellow SR DL Oliver Yndo recovered the fumble for Vandegrift at midfield. The Vipers couldn’t capitalize on the turnover, giving the ball back over to the Rockets when a fourth and seventeen pass from Buchanan to Middleton fell short with two minutes left in the Half.
Favela was finally able to get some traction for the Rockets Offense, completing passes to SR WR Anthony Evans, SO RB Cameron Dillard and SR WR Jeremiah Dunn, along with a 15-yard Personal Foul Penalty against the Vipers to set the Rockets up at the Vipers 24-yard line with 39 seconds left in the half.
On 2nd Down, Favela was flushed from the pocket and Yndo tracked him down from behind for a sack that pushed Judson back to their thirty-one. On 3rd Down Favela’s pass to SR WR Jonathan Johnson sailed out of bounds incomplete. Looking to get some points on the board, Cortes came out to attempt a 49-yard Field Goal that fell short, and the Vipers Buchanan kneeled out the final play of the half to take a 30-0 lead into the locker room.
Second Half
Vandegrift started off the 2nd Half with the ball, but like the Rockets in the 1st Half, were forced to punt on their opening possession. Three plays later, Favela found Evans for the Rockets longest play of the game, a 47-yard pass and run that moved the ball all the way to the Vipers twenty-seven. But just as they had in the 1st Half, the Vandegrift Defense stiffened and forced their second Turnover on Downs of the game to stop the Rockets advance at the eighteen-yard line.
The Vandegrift Offense looked to again be moving the ball as they had done in the 1st Quarter, with Witt picking up seventeen yards on a pair of runs, along with SR WR Beck Ormond pulling in an 8-yard pass from Buchanan. Then on third and one from the thirty-eight Buchanan’s pass downfield to Middleton was picked off by Davis to set the Rockets up at the Vandegrift forty-three.
This time the Rockets took advantage of the momentum, using seven plays to march the ball to the Viper nine-yard line. On 4th Down Favela threw a perfect pass to Dunn in the back of the End Zone where he was able to just get a toe down inbounds for the Rockets touchdown to make it 30-7 with 1:32 to go in the 3rd Quarter.
The Viper Offense responded to the Judson touchdown with their only scoring drive of the 2nd Half. Using a combination of runs by Witt and SR RB Reece Trevino, along with passes from Buchanan to Coleman, the Vipers methodically moved the ball to the Rockets nine-yard-line. After a False Start penalty pushed Vandegrift back to the fourteen, Buchanan again found Middleton on a slant pass where he took it across the goal line to put the Vipers back up by thirty points, 37-7, with 8 minutes left to play.
The Rockets, not looking to end their season quit yet, used their passing attack to move the ball downfield behind multiple Favela passes to set themselves up at their thirty-eight. The Vandegrift Defense, just as they had done finishing out their Bi-District game against Austin Bowie pinned their ears back to rush Favela and dropped seven back in coverage, snagging their second turnover of the game when Isiah Thompson went up and pulled down a Favela pass for the interception with 5:10 remaining.
The Vipers looked to drain the clock with runs by SR RB Zaid Oliver and Trevino but failed to pick up a 1st Down, punting the ball back to Judson where they took over at the Viper forty-nine with 3 minutes to go. Following a holding penalty and a sack by JR LB Connor Stevens that pushed the Rockets back onto their side of the field, Favela found SR TE Gavin Harris in traffic for a 27-yard gain and then threw a beautiful sideline pass that Evans pulled in at the Vandegrift six to set themselves up in position for their second score of the night.
On 1st and Goal Favela was sacked by JR DE Cruz Carrasquillo for a loss of seven yards, with a 15-yard personal foul late hit after the play against the Rockets that pushed them all the way out to the Vandegrift twenty-seven. Favela’s 2nd Down pass went just beyond the fingertips of Evans and then on 3rd Down Favela launched another pass into the End Zone that was taken in by Viper SR Brycen Carter for his first interception of the season, and the third turnover of the game forced by the Viper Defense.
Buchanan and the Offense kneeled out the final 51 seconds left on the clock to set the final score at 37-7.
Behind the Numbers
Vandegrift’s Defense forced four Judson punts, two Turnover on Downs, a Safety, a Fumble Recovery and two interceptions that halted 8 of the 10 Rocket Offensive possessions. The Rockets were the ninth team on the season that the Vipers Defense held to one touchdown or less. Judson, who came into the game averaging over 400 yards of Offense a game were held to just 212 total yards (211 Passing, 1 Rushing)*. The interception by Judson DB Myles Davis was just the second one thrown this season by Vipers QB Buchanan. The Judson offense ran just five plays in the red zone, four on their lone scoring drive, and one on their final possession of the game.
Regional Semi-Finals Matchup
Vandegrift (11-2) now moves on to the Regional Semi-Finals where they will play the San Antonio Harlan Hawks (10-2) on Friday night at 7:30PM in the Alamodome. Harlan took down the Weslaco Panthers 49-3 in their Area Round game on Saturday afternoon. For the third week in a row Vandegrift will be meeting a team on the field for the first time. This is the third straight season the Vipers have played in at least the 3rd Round of the Playoffs. Harlan is making their second 3rd Round appearance in only five seasons of Varsity football.
*all stats are unofficial from my own game film review
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