The fans that were able to get into Monroe Memorial Stadium in Austin on Friday Night definitely got their money’s worth. The District 25-6A matchup between the Round Rock Dragons (6-1,3-1) and the Vandegrift Vipers (6-1,4-0) went down to the wire, with the Vipers finally pulling it out 30-22. Those same fans may have also been scratching their heads watching their own teams’ offenses as they both swapped personalities and each led with their opponent’s strength to try and keep the defenses off balance all night long.
1st Quarter
Vandegrift received the opening kickoff and quickly marched 75 yards in just 7 plays, with SR RB Alex Witt carrying the ball the final four yards out of the Wildcat to put the Vipers up 7-0 just 1:54 into the ballgame. Round Rock was able to move the ball to the Viper 32-yard line on their opening possession, but a fourth down keeper by JR QB Mason Cochran was stopped for no gain giving the ball back to Vandegrift. The Dragon Defense forced a three and out, getting the ball right back after the Viper punt at their own 40-yard line. Once gain the Dragons drove to the Viper 36, and once again the Vandegrift Defense was able to hold, forcing another Turnover on Downs. The quarter ended 7-0 after another Vandegrift three and out and punting the ball back to Round Rock.
2nd Quarter
Round Rock was finally able to get their Offense moving, with a 36-yard pass from Cochran to SR WR Aiden Sterling pushing them further into Vandegrift territory, where JR K Kai Haruki made his longest Field Goal of the season from 45 yards out to get the Dragons on the board at 7-3.
Vandegrift SR WR Miles Coleman took the deep kickoff from Haruki at the Viper four and returned it out to the 42-yard line to start their next drive. Three plays later SR QB Brayden Buchanan hit Coleman on a 28-yard sideline route to set Vandegrift up at the Round Rock 19. Following a 1st and Goal Pass Interference Penalty against the Dragons, Buchanan took the ball across from the 2-yard line on a Keeper to make it 14-3 Vipers.
The Dragons once again went to the air, this time a 44-yard throw from Cochran to SR WR Elijah Reyna, followed by runs from Cochran and SR RB Ruben Ribeiro to move the ball all the way to the Vipers 9-yard line. Cochran then attempted to fool the Vipers Defense, acting like he was giving directions to the line as SR RB Vincent Mighetto took the direct snap, pitched it back to Sterling whose attempted sideline throw to Cochran went just wide. Haruki came on and put through his second Field Goal of the night from 26 yards out to make it 14-6.
SR DB Cruz Orta fielded the Haruki squib-style kickoff at the Viper 27 and got it out to the 40-yard line. After being forced to throw the ball away under pressure from Dragons Defensive Linemen SO Justin Lee and JR Asher Chang on 1st Down, Buchanan hit Coleman on a quick slant on the next play and he sprinted past the Dragon Defense untouched for a 60-yard touchdown, putting the Vipers on top 21-6.
Following a Hayden Arnold kickoff into the Round Rock end zone, the Dragons looked to use as much of the remaining 4:02 on the clock as they could while starting out from their own 25-yard line. Faced with 2nd and 24 after a Cochran recovered fumble on an attempted pass, the Dragons clawed back the lost 14 yards with a Cochran to Sterling sideline pass and on the very next play Cochran went downfield again, hitting Sterling in stride for a 34-yard completion to set the Dragon Offense up at the Viper 30-yard line. Viper SR LB MD Connor forced a throw away on 1st Down and SR DL Daemian Wimberly sacked Cochran for a loss of 6 yards on 2nd Down to again put the Dragon behind the chains. As he had done earlier in the drive, Cochran found a way to keep the drive alive, dumping a screen pass to SR WR Adam Borel that picked up the needed 16 yards for the 1st Down. Cochran continued with the short passing game and capped off the 12-play 75- yard drive with a 2-yard dump pass to Borel in the End Zone for the Dragons first touchdown of the night, pulling them to within 21-13 with just 14 seconds left in the half. A Buchanan kneel down ran out the clock, sending both teams to the locker rooms for Halftime.
3rd Quarter
The Round Rock Offense took control of the tempo, and the game clock, in the 3rd Quarter. On their opening drive of the 2nd Half, Round Rock marched 57 yards in 11 plays before Haruki kicked his third Field Goal on the night from 36 yards to make it 21-16 with 7:53 left in the frame.
Vandegrift’s Offense, having not taken a snap in over eight minutes of game time and 59 minutes of real clock time, couldn’t move the ball and they were forced to punt after their third three and out of the game, putting their Defense right back on the field.
The Dragons, looking to wear down even further the exhausted Viper Defense, embarked on their longest drive of the ballgame. Reverting to their methodical pounding run game, the Dragons patiently chewed up yardage and the clock, with multiple carries from Mighetto, Ribeiro and Cochran. On third and Goal from the 6-inch line, Cochran snuck the ball across to give the Dragons their first lead of the night 22-21 to finish the 14-play drive that took 8:07 off the clock. The two-point conversion try failed, leaving the score at 22-21 with 9:57 left in the game.
Vipers Dig Deep
Starting at their own 25-yard line, and faced with their first deficit of the night, the Viper Offense knew they had to have a long drive of their own to try and swing the momentum back their way. Buchanan began the drive with a pair of designed Keepers to pick up 15 yards. Following a 1 yard run by Witt, Buchanan once again found Coleman with a long pass to pick up 39 yards and put the ball at the Round Rock 20. Two plays later a second Pass Interference call of the game against Round Rock put the ball at the Dragon 5-yard line. Buchanan once again uncharacteristically utilized the Keeper, first getting 2 yards and then finding the End Zone for the second time of the night on the ground from 3 yards out to put the Vipers back on top 27-22. The Vipers went for two to try and push the lead to 9 points, but Buchanan’s pass fell untouched in the End Zone to leave the score at 27-22.
On the ensuing kickoff, a blind-side block penalty against Round Rock found them backed up at their own 12-yard line, needing to now go 88 yards to regain the lead. After two short runs by Mighetto, a 3rd Down pass from Cochran just missed JR WR Hayden Hnath, forcing the Dragons into their first punt of the game. A low snap caused Cochran to go down to retrieve the ball, and in doing so his knee touched down, giving the Vipers the ball at the Dragon 4-yard line.
With the momentum clearly leaning their way, the Vipers looked to put the game out of reach with the short field. Unfortunately, with Witt in the Wildcat on 1st Down, the snap went wide and pushed Vandegrift back to the Dragon 17-yard line. A Coleman run gained 5 of the yards back, but a 3rd Down pass from Buchanan to a double covered Witt in the End Zone was unsuccessful. Arnold then came on to make a 34-yard Field Goal to extend the Vipers lead to 8 points, 30-22.
With 2:37 left on the clock, and 74 yards away from the End Zone, the Dragons looked for one final score to try and send the game into Overtime. On 1st Down Cochran hit Borel for a 16-yard gain that would have been much longer if he was not tripped up by SR DB Isiah Thompson. A screen pass to Mighetto picked up 14 more yards, putting the Dragons on the Vipers side of the field.
The Vipers Defense, having already been on the field for more than sixteen minutes in the 2nd Half, knew they had to come up with a stop to guarantee the win. On 1st Down from the Viper 44-yard line, MD Connor broke through and sacked Cochran for a 10-yard loss. Cochran was able to get a pass away to Reyna on 2nd Down, but he was hit immediately by SR DB Alex Foster for only a 9-yard gain. On 3rd and 11, Cochran again dropped back to pass, with nowhere to throw he attempted to scramble, but SO Ian Witt grabbed him and slowed him down just enough for SR Oliver Yndo, Wimberly and Foster to take him down for another loss. On 4th Down, MD Connor again pressured Cochran, forcing a desperation throw while Connor was pulling him down that was completed to SR TE Clayton Charlton. However, before Charlton could turn to move with the ball Thompson, who had fallen back into coverage in expectation of a shorter throw, wrapped Charlton up for a 6-yard loss and the Vipers third and biggest Turnover on Downs on the night sealed the victory.
Buchanan kneeled the ball down on the final two plays to run out the 54 seconds remaining on the clock to set the final tally in favor of the Vipers, 30-22.
Behind the Numbers
Round Rock led in Time of Possession almost 2 to 1, 31:27 to 16:33. Neither Defense forced a Turnover after coming in with a combined 27 on the season (17INT,10FmbRec). Vandegrift averaged 7.7 yds per Offensive play, only taking 35 snaps during the game. Both QBs had Season Highs (Buchanan, Rushing for 66 yds and 2 TDs; Cochran, 258 Yds Passing) and Season Lows (Buchanan 172 Yds Passing; Cochran, 45 yards Rushing). All of Buchanan’s completions went to Coleman, who finished with 172 Yds and 1 TD receiving. The 30 points scored by Vandegrift was the most points Round Rock had give up since their Week 2 52-31 win at SA Reagan, as the 22 points put up by the Dragons was the most the Vipers had allowed since their opening week 23-20 loss to Dripping Springs.
Week 9
Round Rock returns home to Dragon Stadium on Friday Night, taking on the Round Rock McNeil Mavericks (2-5, 0-4). McNeil dropped their fourth straight District game to Round Rock Westwood 17-15 in Week 8. The Mavericks have not beaten the Dragons since 2009, when they won 35-21. Over the 12-game losing streak the average score has been in favor of Round Rock 50-21.
Vandegrift travels to Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex on Thursday Night to meet up with Round Rock Cedar Ridge (4-3, 3-1). The Raiders shutout Manor 22-0 in Week 8. Since SR QB Aidan Liston has returned from injury, Cedar Ridge is outscoring their opponents 107-34 during their current three game District winning streak. Vandegrift is 4-0 all-time against Cedar Ridge since joining them as District Opponents in 2018.
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