Timberwolves Trounce Wildcats, 48-7

By Sam Bohmfalk

Click the visualization to see how Cedar Park spread the ball around against Weslaco East

The stat sheet may show that Brian Hogan has been Cedar Park’s most important player this season, and maybe he has. But don’t let that fool you, because the Timberwolves have had more balance than any other team in the state all year long.

With Hogan nursing a knee injury on the sideline, coach Chris Ross called not on one player, but the team to step up. And step up they did.

How’s this for balance? Nine different players had at least three rush attempts for the Timberwolves, which had success on the ground all day, running for 393 yards on 49 carries.

That, combined with Cedar Park’s always-stingy defense, was more than enough as the Timberwolves romped, 48-7.

In last week’s 28-23 closer-than-it-should-be victory, Cedar Park fumbled six times; against Weslaco East, Cedar Park didn’t seem to want to relinquish the pigskin. Ryan Roberts’ 39-yard fumble return just before halftime was the figurative nail in the coffin for Weslaco East, as the Timberwolves took a 35-7 lead into half.

Cedar Park didn’t do anything fancy to get to that point. Ethan Fry scored the first of his three touchdowns early in the first quarter to put Cedar Park up. The lead was only brief though, as Weslaco East marched down the field before Aaron Munguia ran one in from 23-yards out. It was the only sustained offense for the Wildcats on the night.

While Cedar Park seemed content to change running backs every two plays, Weslaco East was a one-trick pony. Bobby Gonzalez, Weslaco East’s star running back, got his yards—138 of them—but he didn’t have enough help around him to move the chains consistently.

Sandwiched between Fry’s first two touchdowns for the Timberwolves, were scores from Efren Collier and Michael Watterfield. Watterfield was the Timberwolves’ leading rusher on the night, springing for a season-high 124 yards on just 12 carries.

The win by Cedar Park sets up a re-match with district foe Lake Travis. In a week 10 match-up, the Timberwolves handed the three-time defending state champions their first loss since 2007, 35-21.

Regional Round Preview: Cedar Park vs. Weslaco East

By Sam Bohmfalk

Saturday November 28, 4 p.m., Alamodome

Click to see how Bobby Gonzalez has faired against the competition this year

Over the last five years, the state of Texas became enamored with the spread offense passing game. These two teams, however, buck the trend, as they combined to only average 19 passes per game.

Weslaco East relies on the legs of senior Bobby Gonzalez. Whereas most running backs aim to gain 100 yards per game, Gonzalez sets a goal at averaging 200. And he accomplished that goal nine times this year, and thus has over 2,600 yards rushing this season. The Wildcats will depend heavily on Gonzalez, as quarterback John Arevalo has just 155 yards passing over the last four games combined, throwing no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Unfortunately for Weslaco East, stopping the run is Cedar Park’s specialty. In last week’s area round game against Smithson Valley, the Timberwolves held the Rangers’ running backs to 34 yards on 22 carries. Smithson Valley had limited success through the air, but was given short fields to work with due to Cedar Park’s inability to hold on to the ball.

While Gonzalez guns for 200 yards per game, the Timberwolves tend to give up less than 100 yards rushing per game. The last opponent to break 100 on Cedar Park was Dripping Springs, and they had to grind out 33 carries on the ground at 3.8 yards per carry to do that.

The Timberwolves offense is heavily dependant on the run itself, with quarterback Brian Hogan proving to be somewhat of a dual threat. Hogan left last week’s game against Smithson Valley, and his status for this week’s game is up in the air. If he cannot go, the onus will most likely fall on Matt Posey.

Cedar Park will attempt to grind this game out on the ground, using their rusher-by-committee that has seen eight different players rush for over 170 yards this season.

Series: Neither team has ever made it this far, and the two teams have never played.

Prediction: Weslaco East’s defense has proven time and time again that they are able to stop the pass, but Cedar Park’s downhill running approach will be too much. Cedar Park 40, Weslaco East 21