Cedar Park Wins Defensive Struggle
-
Updated: December 19, 2015
Cedar Park (16-0) vs. Frisco Lone Star (14-2)
Texas High School Football Class 5A DII State Championship
12:00 p.m. Saturday, NRG Stadium, Houston
NRG Stadium - The Cedar Park Timberwolves won their 2nd state championship with a 22-6 win over the Frisco Lone Star Rangers in the Class 5A Division II Championship game. Cedar Park fell short in last years championship when they lost in the last minute to Ennis. The Timberwolves also won a state championship in 2012. This was Frisco Lone Star’s first state championship game appearance.
Many were expecting this to be a shootout with the loser scoring over 50 points. What we got however, was something completely different - a defensive struggle with flashes of offensive brilliance.
To start off, the teams traded punts to feel each other out and quickly discovered the defenses were controlling the game. On Cedar Park’s 2nd possession they drove down and set up for a field goal. The T-Wolves went for the fake but the pass was over the head of a wide open receiver. Lone Star took over and drove deep into the Timberwolves territory before settling for a field goal. Kicker Jacob Click hit a 42 yard field goal to give the Rangers a 3-0 with 2:33 left in the first. The first quarter ended with Cedar Park driving.
The Timberwolves finished a 67 yard drive when quarterback Mak Sexton hit receiver Jack Grimm from 9 yards out. Cedar Park led 7-3 with 9:04 remaining until half. When the Timberwolves got the ball back, they made it to midfield before having to punt. They did a fake though but the trick play was sniffed out by the Rangers. Cedar Park forced a 3 and out and took over on their own 14. They went on a long drive with time running low in the quarter but turned the ball over on downs at the Frisco 29. Three plays later, the Lone Star quarterback fumbled on a sack. The ball was scooped up by Defensive MVP, linebacker Mac McCaskill who ran it in for the touchdown. The Timberwolves led 14-3 with 1:14 to go in the half. That is how the first half ended.
For the first half, the thing that stood out was the quarterback comparison. Lone Star’s Jason Shelley was 6 of 15 for 83 yards but had been sacked by Cedar Park’s “Black Rain” defense 5 times. Cedar Park quarterback Mak Sexton was 17 of 22 for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Cedar Park Head Coach Carl Abseck said this about the defense, "Our defense has been unbelievable all year long. Until you play them, you really don't know what they're capable of."
To start the second half, Cedar Park fumbled opening kickoff which was recovered by Lone Star at Cedar Park 22. The Rangers were able to get a short field goal to bring the score to 14-6 with 10:29 left in the 3rd. After the Timberwolves went 3 and out, Frisco drove to the Cedar Park 37 before turning the ball over on downs.
On Frisco’s next possession, they drove inside the Cedar Park 20 and tried a 27 yard field goal but it was missed. After a few punts, the 3rd quarter came to an end with Cedar Park driving. Cedar Park Receiver Tommy Lavine caught a short pass for the score to make it 22-6 after the 2 point conversion. Lone Star’s last big chance was a drive deep into Cedar Park’s territory but the Cedar Park defense stopped them on downs. Cedar Park took over and ran the clock out.
Lone Star held the Timberwolves who had been scoring 47.4 ppg to just 22. Frisco Lone Star Head Coach Jeff Rayburn was extremely proud of his defense, "Our defense played a great game. We played great defense all year - we just couldn't get enough offense. "
When asked what he thought of the Cedar Park defense, Coach Rayburn answered, "Fantastic, the best defense we faced all year - the Black Rain Defense."
Lone Star Gridiron
Game notes:
- Lone Star High School (280 miles) vs. Cedar Park High School (194 miles)
- Cedar Park Timberwolves First-year head coach Carl Abseck Previous head coach Joe Willis, who left to take a job at Colleyville Heritage.
- Cedar Park Defense has held opponents under 14 pts 9 times
- Cedar Park Running backs averaged 8.5 yards per play
- Frisco had never had a state representative
- Lone Star defense has allowed only 19 ppg
- Lone Star offense averaged 477.4 ypg
- 2015 record: 14-1 (7-1 district)
- Game Stats: Total Yards: CP 328 FLS 288
- Game Stats: Turnovers 1 each
- Game Stats: 3rd & 4th Down Conversions: CP 11 of 24 FLS 6 of 21
- Game Stats: FLS QB Jason Shelley 14 of 37 for 227 yards passing 82 yards rushing
- Game Stats: FLS WR Jaylen Dixon 9 catches 115 yards
- Game Stats: FLS DB Chris Miller 13 tackles
- Game Stats: FLS LB Dwayne Gilmore 13 tackles
- Game Stats: CP QB Mak Sexton 20 of 30 passing for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns
- Game Stats: CP RB/WR Tommy Lavine 9 catches for 85 yards receiving 62 yards rushing
- Game Stats: CP WR Jack Grimm 8 catches for 66 yards
- Game Stats: CP LB Mac McCaskill 16 tackles 1.5 sacks 2 TFL Fumble returned TD
Attendance: 13,479
Players of the game:
Offense- #1 Mak Sexton
Defense- #35 Mac McCaskill
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |||
| Frisco Lone Star | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | 6 | ||
| Cedar Park | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | - | 22 |
Call the voicemail line and leave a shoutout for the show! 713-269-4620
You found Premium Content!
To see more
SIGN IN or JOIN NOW!
Related Posts
