Vipers Find Redemption in Regional Final
Fans that made it out to Monroe Stadium for the Week 1 game between the Dripping Springs Tigers (12-2) and the Vandegrift Vipers (13-1) knew what it was like for a game to come down to the final play when the Tigers SR K Walker Wright hit a 42-yard field goal as time expired for the 23-20 win. Who knew that Round 2, this time in the Region IV D2 Final, would finish in almost the same manner on a windy night at John Gupton Stadium in Cedar Park.
Back and Forth First Half
After taking the opening kickoff and heading into the stiff wind blowing down the center of the field from East to West, SR QB Brayden Buchanan and the Vipers Offense took to the air with their up-tempo passing attack. After a 1st Down pass to JR WR Miles Coleman in the left flat was stopped for no gain, Buchanan went the other direction, launching a throw downfield into the wind towards SR WR Beck Ormond near the right sideline where Tiger SR DB Gunnar Betts jumped the route, tipping the ball into the waiting hands of JR DB Landon Requard, who returned it to the Vipers 10-yard line. An Illegal Block penalty pushed the Tigers out to the Vipers 43, but they had gotten the first break in what was sure to be a close contest.
SR QB Austin Novosad and the Tigers Offense mixed in runs by JR Kyle Koch and SR RB Kade Curry, around 20 and 6-yard completions to SR WR Garon Duncan to put the first points on the board, going 43 yards in just 7 plays for a 7-0 lead not quite 3 minutes into the game.
Vandegrift, who had scored on drives of 2, 3, 4, 4, 5 and 6 plays in their Regional Semi-Final game against San Antonio Harlan the week before, wasted no time striking back. Coleman took the SR Walker Wright Kickoff at the Viper Goal Line and returned the ball up the center of the Field to the Viper 34. This time on 1st Down Buchanan handed the ball off to SR RB Alex Witt who went up the middle through the Tigers Defense all the way to the Tiger 10-yard line. Hurrying to the line, Buchanan again handed off to Witt who carried two Tiger defenders across the Goal line to tie the game at 7 with just 26 seconds having gone off the clock.
Both Defenses tightened up at this point, with both the Tigers and Vipers only running 5 plays each on their next possessions before being forced to punt the ball. On his 3rd Possession, Novosad was able to find soft spots in the Vipers Secondary, completing a 24-yard pass to Koch and then a 10-yard pass to Duncan to move the ball to the Vandegrift 24. A 5-yard run by SO RB Jack Tyndall moved the ball to the 19, but a 3rd Down sack by blitzing JR DB Alex Foster pushed the Tigers back and they settled for a 41-yard Field Goal by Wright to take the lead at 10-7 with just 21 seconds left in the 1st Quarter.
Vandegrift stuck with the run to start their 3rd possession, with Witt gaining 6 yards on two carries. Buchanan then found Witt coming out of the backfield for a 9-yard gain, followed by a pass in the right flat to Coleman where he showed his speed, gaining 16 yards after the catch, to put the Vipers on the Tigers side of the field. However, on the next play Buchanan went back to Coleman, with his throw sailing high and going off the fingertips of the jumping Coleman into the hands of Tiger SR DB Greyson Jones for the second takeaway of the game by Dripping Springs.
Now with Dripping Springs headed into the wind, they fed the ball to Tyndall on 9 straight plays, including runs of 10 and 19 yards, to push the ball to the Vipers 4-yard line. On 1st and Goal, Tyndall carried the ball the final 4 yards into the End Zone to finish off the 68-yard drive and extend the Dripping Springs lead to 17-7 with 6:58 left in the half. The Tigers now had 14 points off the two Viper Turnovers and the largest lead either team had held across both games.
SR Hudson Lillie took in the ensuing pop-up kickoff by SO Aidan Burgess to set the Vipers up at their 33-yard line. A pair of Witt runs, and a short 7-yard completion from Buchanan to Coleman that was accompanied by a 15-yard Facemask penalty against the Tigers, gave Vandegrift the ball at the Tigers 36-yard line. The Vipers then dug into their bag of tricks, lining up Lillie at QB and putting Buchanan out wide right. On the snap Lillie threw a backwards pass to Buchanan who looked to be targeting a streaking SR WR Ray’Jean Middleton directly in front of him, but instead threw the ball back across the field to Lillie who picked up downfield blocks by Offensive Lineman Ryan Jeffries and Gage Garrison to get all the way to the Tigers 11. On 1st Down Buchanan handed off to Witt, who looked to be stopped for no gain, but somehow came out of the other side of the pile and took the ball across the Goal Line for the touchdown to pull the Vipers within three at 17-14 with 4:52 left in the 2nd Quarter.
A Novosad to Koch pass for 7 yards, along with a Novosad sneak on 3rd and 2 for 7 more yards moved the ball to the Tigers 41. Then on 2nd and 7, the Viper Defensive Line got their first real pressure on Novosad, with SR DEs Daemian Wimberly and Oliver Yndo taking him down for the sack to setup 3rd and 12. On 3rd Down, Novosad was again pressured, but was able to escape downfield, sliding down 5 yards short of the 1st. For just the second time in the game the Tigers were forced to punt the ball back over to the Vipers. Wright hit a line drive punt that hit and rolled all the way to the Vipers 8-yard line with just 1:50 left to go in the Quarter.
On 1st Down Witt took the ball up through the Tigers Defense to the Vipers 21. On 2nd Down Buchanan found JR TE Jase Skoglund up the seam for a 29-yard gain to put the ball at Midfield in just two plays. After a short gain on a Buchanan pass to Witt, Vandegrift used a timeout with just under a minute left. On 2nd Down Buchanan was flushed by the Tigers rush but was able to pick up 13 yards down to the Tigers 37. Two plays later, Buchanan again dropped back, and looked to be taken down when JR DL Rio Hay got both arms wrapped around him and SR LB Derek Edgar followed with a tackle hit. Somehow Buchanan was able to escape and move back across the field, launching the ball toward Middleton in the End Zone where it just went off his fingertips for the incompletion. With just 15 seconds left, and one timeout, the Vipers lined up on 3rd Down. Rather than throw downfield, Buchanan handed the ball off to Witt who picked up 3 yards and the Vipers took their final Timeout of the half.
Out of the timeout, Vandegrift elected to send SR K Hayden Arnold on for a 50-yard Field Goal attempt on the final play of the 1st Half. With the stiff wind at his back, Arnold launched the ball towards the uprights, glancing off the right side and through to tie the game at 17-17 heading into the locker room.
Third Quarter More of the Same
Dripping Springs took the second-half kickoff and stayed with their ground game heading into the wind as they looked to break the tie. Tyndall and Curry knifed through the Viper Defense on multiple carries, teaming up on nine rushes out of the first 12 Tiger plays. On 2nd and 6 from the Vandegrift 22, Novosad stepped back in the pocket and found a wide-open Koch in the front corner of the End Zone for his first passing touchdown of the game and a 24-17 lead.
Coleman took the ensuing kickoff at the Vandegrift 5-yard line and turned on the jets, getting all the way out to the Vipers 46. A 5-yard throw from Buchanan to Middleton, followed by a pair of Buchanan QB keepers moved the ball to the Dripping Springs 27. The Vipers stayed up-tempo, and Buchanan then found Middleton behind the Tigers secondary and hit him in stride as he crossed the goal line to knot things up for the third time on the night at 24.
The Tigers, still going against the wind, kept feeding the ball to Tyndall and Curry on eight combined carries to move the ball to the Vipers 37, but a sack on 4th and 5 by Yndo of Novosad when the pocket collapsed with pressure from SR NG Austin Spieles forced the Turnover on Downs with 24 seconds left in a lightening quick 3rd Quarter.
Furious Fight to the Finish
Off the Turnover on Downs, and now heading into the wind themselves, the Vipers fed the ball to Witt at midfield, where he broke through the Tigers Defense and ran the ball to the Dripping Springs 17. Witt was only able to gain 2 yards on his next two carries, and the Tigers pass rush forced Buchanan to have to roll out and throw the ball away on 3rd down. Arnold, now facing the stiff wind, booted a 32-yard Field Goal to give Vandegrift their first lead of the game, 27-24, with 10:19 left.
Dripping Springs didn’t let the change in direction alter their play calling, staying with what had worked over the first three-Quarters of the contest. Tyndall, Curry, and Koch chewed up yards and the clock, getting close to five yards each time they touched the ball, moving it closer and closer to the Vandegrift End Zone. Just like they had done at the end of the Week 1 contest, where the Tigers took the ball with 5:08 left and never gave the Vandegrift Offense another snap, Dripping Springs drained over seven minutes off the clock utilizing their short run game, as well as letting the play clock get to almost zero between every snap once they had crossed over into Wright’s Field Goal range. With just over 3 minutes left on the clock, a 10-yard Curry run set them up with 1st and Goal from the five with victory in sight.
A False Start on 1st Down pushed the Tigers back to the 10-yard line. On 1st Down Curry took the handoff and pushed the ball down to the Viper 4-yard line. While the play clock ticked down, the Tigers looked to the sideline for the 2nd Down play call. On the snap, Curry once again took the handoff from Novosad and gained just 1 yard as Vandegrift called timeout with 2:03 left.
Tyndall took the handoff on 3rd Down and looked to get across the Goal Line, but the Head Linesman, who had a clear view of the play from his position along the Goal Line, marked him down a half-yard short of the End Zone. Vandegrift called their final Timeout to set their Defense as Dripping Springs pondered their decision between kicking the Field Goal to tie the game or go for the win on 4th Down.
As the teams headed back out from the Timeout, the Vandegrift Defense took their position at the Goal Line as Dripping Springs sent their Offense back onto the field. The Tigers lined up, and looking to catch the Vipers off guard, quickly snapped the ball. It initially looked like Novosad had pushed his way across the goal line for the touchdown and the win. However, the ball had failed to make it into Novosad’s hands during the snap exchange and Viper SR LB Diego De La Vara Vasquez dove on the ball that had fallen to the ground just outside of the End Zone for the Fumble Recovery. As Vasquez sprinted down the field holding the ball in the air with the Vipers Defense celebrating behind him, the Officials huddled near the center of the field, and after what seemed like an eternity, signaled Vandegrift ball with 1:47 left in the game.
Even with the lead and the ball, Vandegrift still had to make it out of the shadow of their own Goal Line to seal the win. On 1st Down from their own 1, Buchanan lined up under center behind his huge Offensive Line (made up of Ian Reed, Sam Perry, Gage Garrison, Ryan Jeffries, and Blake Frazier) and on the snap utilized the push provided by this unit, to move the ball out to the Viper 6 as Dripping Springs took their 2nd Timeout. On 2nd Down, Buchanan went back under center, again he kept the ball on the snap, but gained just 1 yard as Dripping Springs put seven defenders up on the line, and the Tigers took their final timeout with 1:43 remaining, hoping they could force the Vipers to punt and still have time to try to tie the game.
On 3rd Down, Buchanan went back to his normal shotgun position for the snap with Witt to his right. Coleman, lined out wide left, went into motion as he had done earlier on the Jet Sweep, forcing the Tigers linebackers to stay back off the line. On the snap, Buchanan reached forward as if he was handing the ball off to Coleman but pulled it back and followed Witt through a huge hole in the line for a 13-yard gain and a 1st Down that would allow the Vipers to kneel out the clock and the game.
After dropping the Week 1 game to the Tigers, Vandegrift had now reeled off 13 straight wins and punched their ticket to the 6A D2 Semi-Finals for the first time in school history. With the Vipers finding redemption for their Week 1 loss, can they keep rolling and make even more school history in the next round? Tune in next week to find out.
Behind the Numbers
In Week 1 Dripping Springs threw for 247 yards and ran for 89, in the Region IV Final they flipped the script, passing for 100 yards and running for 272 (season high given up by Vandegrift)*. The Tigers had a two to one margin in Time of Possession (33:13 to 14:47) and Number of Plays (77 to 38). Teams on Offense with the wind scored 27 points, Teams on Offense against the wind scored 24 points, including the game winning kick by the Vipers Hayden Arnold from 32 yards. Vandegrift QB Brayden Buchanan, who finished the regular season with 2 INT, has now thrown 3 INT in his last two playoff games. Out of 96 minutes of game time between both matchups, Vandegrift held the lead for just 15:27 (5:08 in 2nd Quarter of Week 1 and the Final 10:19 of Region Finals game).
State Semi-Final Matchup
Vandegrift (13-1) gets their second shot at a Texas High School Football Blue Blood when they meet up with the Katy Tigers (14-0) in the 6A D2 Semi-Finals at 1PM Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Katy fought off a tough Houston C.E. King Panther team 56-34 at NRG Stadium in the Region III Final. Katy found themselves down 34-28 after the Panthers struck on a 70-yard pass and run for a Touchdown on their first snap of the 2nd Half. From there the Tigers Defense clamped down and held the Panthers scoreless the reset of the way while the Tigers Offense, led by SR RB Seth Davis, ground out 148 yards and four touchdowns for the win. This will be the Tigers 3rd Straight appearance in the State Semi-Finals and their 20th appearance overall (15-4 record in this round). Vandegrift is making their 2nd appearance in the State Semi-Finals (2014, 0-1).
*all stats are unofficial from my own game film review
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