Week Four - Georgetown vs Cedar Park

This week I decided to head north to Georgetown to see the Eagles play against the Cedar Park Timberwolves.  The T’wolves had one of the highest ranked teams in the state and an unblemished 4-0 record.  Georgetown was 3-1 and playing at home.  Looks good to me.  Now where should I eat barbeque?

The Barbeque

I once again used the google to look for places serving BBQ near the game.  Like it did for Week Two, up popped Full House BBQ.  But with the difficulties I had in Week Two trying to find their food truck, I thought I’d give some place else a try.

Many of the old school  places in central Texas started out as little stores or meat markets.  When they didn’t sell all the meat they had, they would slow cook it and sell it on the side.  More people would come to buy the BBQ, so the place evolved over time into a restaurant.

Hello Sweetie!

Hello Sweetie! in Georgetown took a different route.  Located at 220 S. Austin Avenue, they are a small ice cream parlor whose owner decided to try his hand at adding BBQ and sides to the menu.  Small as in two little round tables inside and two tables on their outdoor patio.  Small as in the whole place might fit inside my minivan.  But it certainly smelled like a BBQ joint when I walked in and that is always a good sign.

The outdoor patio

The front counter had six or eight flavors of Blue Bell ice cream on display.  The young lady working the place greeted me with a big “Hello Sweetie”.  Their BBQ special that night was two pork ribs and choice of two sides.  I threw the young lady a curve when I told her I didn’t want any sides, just a half pound of moist brisket.  She had to ask the owner what to do and what to charge me.  The BBQ had been cooked earlier in the day and was kept wrapped in aluminum foil in an ice box.  The young lady put it into a microwave to heat up.  Well, that’s different.

Tasted good going down

The BBQ was actually pretty tasty. The ribs were meaty and chewy, but good nonetheless.  Not sure if I was given the lean or moist brisket, but it had a good bark on it and nice smoke ring.  The onions I got had been finely chopped.  Great for putting on a burger, but a little weird for a BBQ place.  They offered two kinds of sauce.  The regular was good and the spicy had a little extra tang to it.

Hello Sweetie! is a little mom and pop kind place of place.  They are not cooking for a hundred or a thousand people every day and you don’t have to wait hours in line.  I took it for what it is and enjoyed the experience.  If you are driving down I-35 towards Austin and want BBQ, stay on the interstate and wait thirty minutes for better BBQ.  But if you live in or are visiting Georgetown (nice downtown area around the courthouse, Southwestern University has a beautiful campus), this is a good place to try.

The Game

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.  

Georgetown quarterback Chandler Herman threw a 28 yard touchdown pass to Jeff McVean with 8:42 left.  In the fourth quarter.  Unfortunately for the Eagles, Cedar Park had already put forty-seven points on the board.

On the third play of the game, T’wolves quarterback Mak Sexton tossed a swing pass to Baxter Robertson who took the ball 64 yards for the opening score.  The game was only 43 seconds old and Cedar Park was ahead 7-0.  On the first play of their next possession, Jav Guidry swept to his right for a 71 yard touchdown run.  The extra point was missed, but the T’wolves had run a total of four plays to go up 13-0.  Sexton connected on another TD pass, from 49 yards out, later in the first quarter.  Cedar Park tacked on two more touchdowns in the second quarter (an electrifying 80 run by William Richter and a 48 yard pass to Hayden Craig) to make the score 34-0 at the half. 

Cedar Park on the move in the first quarter

Things did not get any better for Georgetown in the second half.  Quarterback Chandler Herman was constantly harassed by the T’wolves defense.  It was very difficult for him to complete passes when he was on his butt.  Cedar Park scored a TD in the third quarter on a two yard plunge by Jack Grimm and their last score in the fourth on a screen pass to Garrett Yero from 49 yards out.  The only sustained drive of the night for the Eagles came against the T’wolves reserves after the game had long been decided.

The Timberwolves have a very strong team and could end up playing for state like they did last year, but they are not perfect.  Their kicker missed two PAT kicks and a 45 yard field goal.  As good as their offense was this night, the defense also up to the challenge.  The Eagles might get a receiver open, but Chandler Herman rarely had time to make a completion.  Georgetown punted so many times I feared their punter might get a cramp.  This game was pretty much over when the Cedar Park bus came to a stop in the parking lot outside the stadium.