I had a decision to make about which game to see this
week. On paper, the matchup between
Anderson and Westlake looked pretty good.
Both teams had started the season at 2-0. But the game would be played at House Park
and I had seen Anderson play there the week before. So I decided to head north to Round Rock to
see McNeil play Killeen Ellison. A
different stadium to see, a new experience to enjoy. McNeil entered the game with a 1-1 record,
Ellison at 2-0. When I heard that
Westlake was leading Anderson 38-3, I knew I had chosen well. My choice of where to eat barbeque did not
turn out nearly as well.
The
Barbeque
I googled barbeque joints located near Round Rock
Dragon stadium where the game would be played.
Up popped a list showing The Salt Lick, Rudy’s, and Pok-e-Jo’s. I’ve been to the Salt Lick in Round Rock and
think the original restaurant in Dripping Springs is better. Rudy’s and Pok-e-Jo’s are part of restaurant
chains and my intention is to only eat at “one of a kind” BBQ joints. Also listed was a place called Full House
BBQ. It too looked to be part of a
chain, but perhaps a “smaller” chain. At
least I’d never had any of their BBQ, so I thought I’d give it a try. I survived rush hour traffic on I-35 and
cruised up and down North Mays Street in Round Rock. Three times I drove past the address listed
on the web site and all that was there each time was an empty field. No building, no nothing. There might have been food trucks parked
there in the past, but zilch on this Friday night. Next time I’ll do a better job of researching
where to eat. I hear there is a new invention
called a telephone. I’ll try using that
in the future.
So now where to go?
Using the google on my phone, up popped the same list of places I’d seen
before. Also listed was Smokey
Mo’s. I’ve seen their ads on TV and it
was the closest to where I was, so I thought I’d give it a try. That was my second mistake. Smokey Mo’s can best be described as fast
food barbeque. I knew I was in trouble
when I saw someone get served a hamburger and fries. The brisket was tender, but pretty much
lifeless. The ribs were fatty. What
passed for sauce was some fluorescent orange colored concoction the consistency
of water, kind of reminiscent of the sludge that drips out of a rusty window
air conditioner on a hot August day. I
overheard some people sitting near me comment about how good the BBQ was. It was pretty obvious those people don’t get
out much. If you have a choice between
Smokey Mo’s and eating a McRibb sandwich, head to McDonald’s.
The
Football Game
Despite the BBQ, it was a great night for football. A little overcast, temperature 85 degrees, a
gentle breeze. Dragon stadium is a nice
facility opened in 1974. I sat on the
visiting Ellison Eagles side and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Turned out it was the McNeil Mavericks homecoming,
so I picked the correct side of the stadium.
It also turned out that I picked a game with a crazy ending.
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| Pre-game warm ups at Dragon Stadium |
Ellison got the kick-off to open the game. They could not move the ball and went three
and out. McNeil took possession on their
own 38. A face mask penalty against the
Eagles helped move the ball to the Ellison 36.
Facing a fourth and 7, Mav quarterback Hayden Cooper hit a big pass for a
first down. The Mavs drove to a first
and goal from the Eagle six yard line.
The McNeil line opened a huge hole for Justin Ward as he ran up the
middle for the first touchdown of the night giving McNeil a 7-0 lead.
Ellison got the ensuing kick-off on their own 28. Eagle quarterback Carl Robinson was
repeatedly pressured by the Mav defense, but was able to make plays with his
feet and his arm. The Eagles pushed the
ball to the Mav 11 where their drive stalled.
Morgan Button drilled a line drive field goal to put the Eagles on the
board. The score was 7-3 with 3:02 left
in the first quarter.
The Ellison kick-off sailed through the end zone for a
touchback. McNeil started from their own
25. Facing a third and 7, Cooper was sacked
as he tried to pass and stripped of the ball.
The Eagles recovered the fumble on the Mav 25.
Ellison ran the ball for a short 2 yards. On second down, Robinson was pressured while
trying to pass. He tried to throw the
ball away, but was called for intentional grounding. Needing 18 yards on second down, Robinson hit
Darrell Peterkine for a gain of 15.
Peterkine picked up 2 on third down.
Rather than kick another field goal, the Eagles went for it on fourth
and 1. Peterkine ran up the middle to
the 7 for a first and goal as the first quarter ended. The Eagles kept pounding the Mav defense with
runs by Peterkine. On third and 1,
Peterkine scored. The extra point gave
Ellison a 10-7 lead.
The Mavs got a good return on the kick-off. The returner fumbled, but McNeil recovered on
their own 36 to start their next drive.
The Mavs had great success with quarterback draw plays as Cooper had
runs of 15 and 20 yards. The Mavs drove
to the Ellison 9 where they had first and goal.
On second down, Cooper again ran a draw play and scored, but the
touchdown was wiped out by a holding penalty.
With the ball on the Eagle 12, Cooper passed to Jonathan Boozer in the
end zone for the go ahead score. With
5:36 left in the second quarter, the Mavs led 14-10.
Both teams traded possessions and punts. With under two minutes to play, the Eagles
got the ball on the McNeil 41. A screen
pass to Peterkine gained 12 to the Mav 29 for a first down. On third and 7, Robinson was sacked. Button came in to attempt his second field
goal of the game. Kicking into a slight
breeze, Button’s kick was good from 45 yards to cut the McNeil lead to
one.
The Mavs got the ball back with 38 seconds left and
two time outs. Copper ran for 16 to the
Mav 40, then hit a pass to the Ellison 48 with 20 seconds left. After another quarterback draw, Cooper’s pass
was incomplete as time expired in the second quarter. Half time score McNeil 14, Ellison 13.
McNeil got the kick-off to start the second half. Cooper continued to make good plays with his
feet, running for a big first down on third and 10 and later scrambling before
flipping a pass to Boozer for a big gain.
The Mavs mixed in wide receiver screens and jet sweeps to move the ball
to the Ellison 26. Facing third and 12
from the Ellison 28, Cooper hit Boozer on a post pattern for his second
touchdown of the night. The Mavs had
driven the ball 87 yards on their first possession of the third quarter to push
their lead to 21-13.
Starting from the own 21 yard line, the Eagles began
their first drive of the third quarter.
Robinson hit Peterkine on a middle screen good for 20 yards. On third and 13, a wide receiver screen was
good for 11. Peterkine picked up the
first down on fourth and 2. A personal
foul after the play put the ball on the Mav 49.
On third and 5, the Mavs were guilty of pass interference which gave the
Eagles a first down on the Mav 29. A
false start penalty on the Eagles made it first and 15. Peterkine was able to pick up 12 yards on
runs up the middle. On fourth and 3, the
Eagles brought in Button for another field goal. This time he missed from 39 yards, so the
score remained 21-13.
Neither team did much for the remainder of the third
quarter and into the fourth. They traded
possessions, penalties, and punts. With
6:11 left in the game, McNeil got the ball on their own 16. After a holding penalty made it first and 18,
Cooper ran for 13. His pass was good for
a first down as McNeil tried to milk the clock.
On third and 2, Cooper’s pass was incomplete. Cooper shanked the punt for only 16 yards.
Down by 8, the Eagles took possession on their 45 with 3:04 left
on the clock. On third and 10, Robinson
scrambled for a big gain and a first down on the McNeil 39. On second and 14, Robinson’s potential TD
pass was dropped by a wide open receiver.
Peterkine ran for 13, then picked up the first down on fourth and
1. With only 1:43 left and the clock
moving, Robinson’s pass into the end zone was broken up by a good play by the
Mav secondary. Robinson scrambled on second
and 10, flipped a pass to X’Zavier Green who is knocked out of bounds on the Mav
6 yard line. A false start by the Eagles
moves the ball back to the 11. Peterkine
blasted his way up the middle for a touchdown that made the score 21-19 with only
1:06 left to play. Needing to make a two
point conversion to tie the game, Robinson rolled to his right and passed to
Nygree Poole. He caught the pass and
dove across the goal line to tie the score at 21. The Ellison fans were going nuts.
Now the game got really interesting. . . Ellison attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered
by McNeil on the 50. Cooper ran a
quarterback draw good for 5 yards. On
the next play, Cooper passed to Isaiah White streaking down the sideline for
the go ahead TD. But the Eagle defense
stripped him of the ball and recovered the fumble on their own 9 yard
line.
Instead of taking a knee to run out the clock and go
to overtime, the Eagles throw a pass with 20 seconds left. The pass is picked off
by Isaiah Lavert giving the Mavs the ball on the Ellison 20. After a false start penalty, McNeil moves the
ball to the 13. On second and 2, the Mav
ball carrier is tackled for a loss.
McNeil calls time out with 9 seconds left and sends in their kicker to
try a 39 yard field goal to win the game.
When the Mavs line up for the kick, the Eagles call a time out to ice
the kicker. Then they do it again. It worked as the field goal sailed wide right. We’re going to overtime!
The rules for overtime for Texas high schools are
basically the same as they are for college.
Each team gets a possession from the opposing team’s 25 yard line and
one time out. The team that goes first
tries to move the ball and score, a touchdown or a field goal. When the second team gets their turn, they
need to match or beat the first team’s score.
If the score is tied after each team gets a turn, then they do it all
over again, except they change the order of their possessions (first team goes
second, second team goes first). The two
teams go back and forth like this until one of them has more points than the
other after the same number of possessions.
To start the first overtime, there is a coin flip to determine which
team goes first. Conventional wisdom is
that a team wants to play defense first.
That way they know what the other team did on their first possession. Pretty simple, right?
The Mavs get to go on offense first from the Eagle
25. A false start penalty makes it first
and 15 from the 30. Cooper gets a bad
snap and falls on the ball on the 36.
Facing second and 21, Cooper’s pass is good to the 24. On third and 9, Cooper’s pass is broken
up. The Mavs are forced to try a 41 yard
field goal, but they are called for delay of game and are pushed back another 5
yards. The kid that had missed from 39
yards out in regulation misses again from 46.
Now it is the Eagles turn. Having held McNeil scoreless, any points they
make will win the game. After a pass
interference penalty against the Mavs, the Eagles have the ball on the 16. After two runs, the Eagles have the ball on
the Mav 10. The Eagles line up for a 27
yard field goal, but the Mavs use their time out to ice the kicker. The tactic worked against them in regulation and
it worked for them in overtime as the Eagles miss. Score still tied 21-21 after the first
overtime, so let’s do it again.
This time the Eagles go first from the Mav 25. On first down, Robinson is pressured and has
to scramble. He throws a desperation
pass to the 5. Jayden Smith hauls it in,
spins away from the defender and scores.
The extra point is good to give Ellison their first lead of the night at
28-21.
Now the Mavs get their second turn. They must get a touchdown and make an extra
point to tie the game at 28 to send it to a third overtime or a two point
conversion to win. All night long, their
most successful play had been to run Cooper. He got the snap and swept to his left. Cooper was hit hard and fumbled. The Eagles land on the bouncing ball to win
the game.
With the win, Ellison improved their record to 3-0 and
McNeil fell to 1-2. Both teams committed
a lot of penalties. The Mavs losing five
yards to start their first overtime being the worst. Darrell Peterkine and Carl Robinson had big
games for Ellison. Hayden Cooper threw
for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns, but his fumble in the second overtime
was the clincher for Ellison. At least
he can take solace from the fact he was named Homecoming King.
Another great night for football. It had been raining in Austin when I left. One of those thunderstorms that rise up in central Texas and quickly pass by. The rains never made their way to Georgetown. A
little overcast, temperature 82 degrees, a gentle breeze. The Georgetown ISD Athletic Stadium opened in 2008. I sat on the visiting Cedar Park side and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. 
