Sports

T'wolves take down Chaparrals in season opener

Print this story | Email this story

Cedar Park seemed to get ignored during preseason discussions regarding Central Texas football teams. That all ended Friday night.

The Timberwolves looked crisp, strong and fast in a 31-21 whooping of Westlake that wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Cedar Park (1-0) gave up a touchdown on Westlake's opening drive, but the Timberwolves answered back with timely defensive stops, clock-eating drives and an offense that simply wore down the Westlake defense.

Dedrick McKnight rushed for 154 yards and scored four touchdowns for the Timberwolves, which won their first-ever meeting against perennial powerhouse Westlake.

“Coming into this game everybody had us underrated,” said McKnight. “We knew Westlake was a good team and we knew we had a chance to beat them.

McKnight tied the game at 7-7 when he hauled in a 12-yard pass from Drew Russo. McKnight had rushing scores of 2, 17 and 40 yards in the second half to stretch Cedar Park's lead to 31-7.

In the second quarter, Cedar Park took a 10-7 lead on Devon Purslow's 41-yard field goal. Westlake had a chance to score with first-and-goal on the 2, but Chaparrals star running back Ryan Swope fumbled and Cedar Park's Evan Hisler recovered it. Cedar Park marched back into Westlake territory before the Chaparrals intercepted a pass.

Westlake drove the field and got the ball inside the 10-yard line, but missed a field goal as time expired in the first half, giving Cedar Park its 10-7 lead at the break.

“Our defense did an outstanding job there before the half ended,” Cedar Park head coach Chris Ross said. “That gave us the momentum and confidence for the second half.”

Cedar Park started the second half with an 18-play, 92-yard drive that chewed up more than seven and a half minutes to take a 17-7 lead. Hisler intercepted a pass two plays later and Cedar Park marched 58 yards in five plays to take a 24-7 lead.

After a three-and-out by Westlake, Cedar Park went 52 yards in five plays to take a 24-point lead.

On the opening drive of the second half, Cedar Park converted a third-and-14 for a first down on a Russo pass to McKnight, in which he dodged two defenders and rolled out of a tackle for the first down. The Timberwolves also converted two fourth downs on the drive, which took its toll on the Westlake defense.

Russo finished the night 6-for-10 with 109 yards and a touchdown and added 52 yards rushing. Running back Landon Dockery grinded out 51 tough yards and Darren Thornhill rushed for 28 yards on seven carries.

The Cedar Park defense, led by Tanner Estes and Evan Hisler, held Westlake to just 175 yards through the first three and a half quarters.

Cedar Park's home opener will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Temple.

Reader Comments