Week Three - Stony Point vs Round Rock

Where to go, which game to see?  I decided to see the game between Stony Point and Round Rock as they opened district play.  Stony Point’s season record was perfect, having given up a total of only 27 points in their first three games.  Round Rock’s record was 2-1, but they had won their last nine district games.  Looked like a good game.  But first, the barbeque. . .

The Barbeque

I cheated this week.  My wife and I had been invited to a social event on Thursday night.  It was held at Franklin’s Barbecue.  Yes, that Franklin’s.  If I was going to eat there on Thursday, there was no point in going anywhere on Friday for BBQ before the game.

A lot has been said and written about Franklin’s. Things like “delicious”, “great”, “fantastic”, etc.  Don’t believe all the hype because it is not true.  Franklin’s is way better than that.  The English language does not have enough superlatives to describe how unbelievably good this barbecue truly is.  A trip to Franklin's is roughly equivalent to a pilgrimage to Mecca

Waiting in line

The restaurant had been "rented" for the evening, so we did not have to wait three hours in line like most people.  As usual, I passed on any side dishes.  I’m just there for the BBQ.  My dearly departed mother made real good potato salad.  I can cook a pot of beans.  But not everybody can consistently crank out the smoky goodness like a great pit master.  Any joint that says what sets them apart is their sides is a place with questionable BBQ.  Besides, side dishes would just take up room in my tummy.

Everyone was served a sample of all the different kinds of meats Franklin’s serves: pulled pork, turkey, sausage, pork ribs, and brisket – both lean and moist.  I’m not much of a fan of pulled pork (that would get me in trouble in the South), so I can’t comment on that, but was told it was excellent.  This was the first time I had any of their turkey and found it tender and tasty.  The sausage was spicy without being over powering.  The meat on the ribs just melted in my mouth.  Lean brisket can be dry and kinda boring at some places, but Franklin’s was juicy and full of goodness.  And the moist brisket.  Deep smoke ring, juicy, and tender.  I was fortunate to get an end piece, so I also got to enjoy the spicy bark.  Great oogly-moogly was it good.  When I die, heaven for me would be to stand first line every day at Franklin’s.

Heaven on a plate

The Football Game

Oh yeah, I went to a football game on Friday.  The game was played at Kelley Reeves Athletic Complex in Round Rock.  The stadium was opened in 2003 and is often referred to as the Palace on Parmer.  It was 92 degrees at kick-off, so I sat on the Stony Point side (in the shade) to start the game.  It turns out this was the Stony Point Tigers homecoming.  I need to watch for that in the future.  I walked over to the visitors’ side for the second half.  Being the Texas Longhorn fan I am, I feared all the maroon and white worn by the Round Rock fans might give me a brain rash, but I toughed it out.

Tigers and Dragons getting ready for the first half

The Round Rock Dragons dominated the first half.  Day’Shus White ripped off a 47 yard run for his first touchdown of the night.  Dragon quarterback Liam Beard tossed a screen to wide receiver Andrew Stefani good for a touchdown to put Round Rock up 14-0 in the first quarter. 

Stony Point had trouble moving the ball on the Dragon defense.  The Tigers committed multiple penalties and often moved backwards faster than they moved forward.  They moved the ball to the Dragon 11 yard line on their only sustained drive of the first half.  But that drive bogged down and the Tigers settled for a 23 yard field goal to make it 14-3.

The Dragons answered late in the second quarter with another long drive.  Good runs by White, in particular a draw play for 21 yards on second and 18, and passes by Beard set the Dragons up deep in Tiger territory.  The Dragon line opened another huge hole for White as he scored his second touchdown from 7 yards out.  Round Rock had several other opportunities to score in the first half.  Twice Beard completed passes into the Tiger red zone only to see the receiver stripped of the ball and Stony Point recovering to end the threat.  The half time score was 21-3 Dragons.

After their homecoming festivities, Stony Point returned the opening kick-off of the third quarter to their 22 yard line.  They started moving backwards from there due to a false start penalty and when quarterback Tanner Aenchbacher was tackled for a loss.  His next pass was intercepted on the Tiger 45 and returned to the 5 yard line.  On first and goal, White walked into the end zone for a touchdown to make the score 28-3.

Stony Point returned the kick-off to their 30, but were again called for a penalty.  The Tiger offense finally started showing some teeth.  On second and 13 from the 19, Shapiro King made a good run out to the Round Rock 40 yard line for a gain of 41.  After making another first down, Aenchbacher scampered to the Dragon 10.  Runs by King moved the ball to the Dragon 4 for first and goal.  Aenchbacher scored from two yards out to make it 28-10 with 7:13 left in the third.

Round Rock ran the kick-off back to the 25, but Stony Point was called for being offsides.  The Tigers were forced to kick-off again and this time the Dragons returned it to their 46.  The five yard penalty ended up costing the Tigers 21 yards.  Beard ran for 12, then scrambled for 21 to move the ball to the Tigers 20.  With the ball on the Tigers 16, the Dragon line opened a huge hole and White walked into the end zone from 16 yards out to make the score 35-10.

The Dragons kick-off sailed out of bounds, giving the Tigers possession on their own 30.  Another false start penalty pushed them back five.  Aenchbacher hit a big pass good for 52 yards, down to the Dragon 23.  A run by King for 12 yards moved the ball to the Dragon 11.  After yet another false start penalty, Aenchbacher connected with Dashon Horne for a touchdown.  With 3:55 left in the third quarter, the Tigers trailed 35-17.

Round Rock took possession on their own 26.  It took them all of one play to score as White scampered untouched 74 yards for a touchdown.  That extended their lead to 42-17. 

Second half action 

Stony Point got the ball back on their own 25 and started moving backwards again.  A bad punt by the Tigers gave Round Rock the ball on the Stony Point 40.  On the Dragon’s first play, Beard threw a backwards pass to White who dropped the ball.  He didn’t realize the pass was in effect a lateral and gave up on the play.  Not so the Tigers defense.  A Tiger defensive back scooped up the ball and zipped down the sideline for a 55 yard touchdown.  Stony Point made the two point conversion to cut the lead to 42-25 with 1:56 left in the third quarter.

Round Rock took possession on their 35.  They made a couple of first downs, then the Tiger defense stiffened forcing the Dragons to punt.

The Tigers took over from their own 39.  After a gain of one on first down, Aenchbacher lofted a pass to a wide open receiver.  The blown coverage by Round Rock led to a 60 yard touchdown for the Tigers.  It was now 42-32 with 9:27 left in the game.  This could get interesting.

Stony Point tried an onside kick which went out of bounds.  Round Rock got the ball on their 26, but were unable to make a first down.  Their punt gave the Tigers the ball on their 44 yard line.  Two runs by King moved the ball to the Dragon 40.  Facing fourth and 9, Aenchbacher completed a pass down to the Dragon 28 for a first down.  On third and 2, Aenchbacher ran to the Dragon 12, but fumbled when he was hit.  Round Rock recovered to end the Stony Point threat.

The Dragon offense got conservative, running the ball to eat up the clock.  On third and 11, White was stopped short of the first down.  The Tigers used their first time out to stop the clock with 3:13 left to play.  A good punt by Round Rock put the ball on the Stony Point 28.

Needing to score twice and the clock running, the Tigers were able to pick up a couple of first downs.  Brian Bolger intercepted a pass from Aenchbacher with 1:04 left to seal the win for the Dragons.  They ran out the clock for the 42-32 victory.

Day’shus White ran for 204 yards and scored five touchdowns for the winning Dragons.  He scored more points in one game than Stony Point had given up in their first three combined.  The Dragons could have won by more points if they had not committed three turnovers deep in Tiger territory. Shapiro King ran for 129 yards for Stony Point.  Tanner Aenchbacher ran for a touchdown and threw for two more.  The Tigers repeatedly dug themselves into a hole with penalties, but had a chance to climb their way back out.  Their two fourth quarter turnovers proved fatal.  This was the second week in a row where I saw the team celebrating their homecoming lose.  Maybe I can get schools to pay me to avoid their homecomings.