Once again I went to the Georgetown ISD Athletic
Complex to see the Georgetown Eagles
host the Hutto Hippos to open district play.
Georgetown is coached by Jason Dean.
He has been the Eagles coach since 2009.
He led Georgetown to the playoffs last year where they were eliminated
by Brenham in the first round to close the season with an 8-3 record. Steven Van Meter is the head man at Hutto. He is in in fifth year as coach of the
Hippos. Last year they were eliminated
by Magnolia in the first round and ended the 2016 season with a 7-4 record.
The
Barbecue
I had eaten at FullHouse BBQ last year prior to the
game between Georgetown and Cedar Park.
Unfortunately for me, they were out of ribs when I got there. Ever since, I have been looking for a reason
(excuse) to go back and tonight’s game gave me just the opportunity I needed.
FullHouse is right where I found them last year – a small
food trailer park at 402 W. Morrow Street in Georgetown. Robert Garrett is still the owner, pitmaster,
cutter, and counter man. He greets
everybody with a big smile and warm welcome.
I reminded him that I had been to FullHouse last year and needed to
sample his ribs. He said I was in luck,
he still had plenty. I figured I would
order my usual brisket and pork ribs, but it took him only about two seconds to
talk me into getting a beef rib. I also
got some pork ribs and he threw in a couple of slices of brisket as well.
 |
| Beef rib served at FullHouse BBQ |
The beef rib was fantastic. Great outer bark, tender, with a deep smoky
flavor. Fred Flintstone would have been
proud. The pork ribs were also
good. I had to chew the meat from the
bone, but it was juicy and flavorful. The
brisket had a nice bark and was deeply smoked.
I prefer mine sliced from the moist instead of the lean end of the
brisket, but it was still tender and went down just fine. There was a squeeze bottle of thick, red
sauce on the table. It had a nice flavor
even without much of a spicy kick.
In between serving customers, Robert came out of his
trailer and talked with me and some of the other gentlemen eating at his
covered picnic tables. I told Robert that
he had lied to me last year when he said his ribs were good. His eyes slowly widened as I responded “They’re
not good. They’re great.” He broke into a big smile and went back to
his trailer to serve another customer.
Like I said last year, FullHouse is a no frills kind
of place. Just really good barbecue
served by a really friendly guy. A great
Texas barbecue joint.
 |
| Robert Garrett - FullHouse BBQ |
I give this barbecue my highest rating – two Hook
‘Ems!
The
Game
Hutto took the opening kick-off and began a long,
methodical drive downfield. They used
their passing game to open up their running attack. Chux Nwabuko scored from 7 yards out. The holder dropped the snap and the extra
point kick was no good leaving the score 6-0 at the 6:22 mark in the first
quarter.
 |
| Chux Nwabuko (#1) scores from 7 yards out |
The Hippo defense forced Georgetown to go three and
out. Hutto again moved the ball
downfield. Quarterback Chase Griffin hit
DJ Baptist on an out & up route for a 16 yard touchdown. This time the point after kick was good. With 2:02 left in the first quarter, the
Hippos led 13-0.
 |
| Chase Griffin (#11) throws TD pass to DJ Baptist |
Once again, the Eagles went three and out and were
forced to punt. They ran a total of just
six plays in the first quarter. The
teams exchanged punts as the game moved into the middle of the second
quarter.
The Hippos moved into Georgetown territory. On third down, Griffin was pressured and the
play was ruled an incomplete pass instead of a fumble. After a penalty gave the Hippos the ball on
the 11, a throw back pass to Aaron Castro was sniffed out by Tyler Noles for no
gain. The Hippos settled for a 29 yard field goal to push their lead to 16-0
with just 4:07 left in the second quarter.
 |
| Tyler Noles (#90) makes touchdown saving tackle |
The Eagles returned the kick-off to their 29 yard
line. Quarterback Cooper Bell threw to
Caden Legett for a gain of eight. On the
next play, Bell found Leggett behind the defense for a 63 yard touchdown. The extra point made it 16-7 to close out the
first half scoring.
 |
| Caden Leggett (#13) out runs the defense to score for Georgetown |
Hutto failed on a 35 yard field goal in the third quarter
when the holder dropped the snap. The third quarter ended with Hutto still
leading 16-7.
The Eagles were on the march to begin the fourth
quarter. Facing fourth and six from the
Hippos 25, Bell passed to Leggett for a first down on the 18. Two plays later, Bell threw off his back foot
to Nic Crombie at the goal line. He caught
the pass and fell into the end zone for the score. The extra point cut the lead to 16-14 with
9:14 remaining in the game. Now we’ve
got a ball game. . .
 |
| Cooper Bell (#14) connects with Nic Crombie for six |
This time the Eagles defense put up a stone wall and
forced Hutto to go three and out. Brock
Brujnoch shanked the punt, giving Georgetown a short field. After an incomplete pass, running back Erik
Anderson ran down the sideline for a 42 yard gain. Cooper Bell connected with his favorite
target Caden Leggett on an option pass for a 16 yard touchdown. The Eagles two point try failed as Bell’s
pass sailed wide. Georgetown took their
first lead of the night at 20-16 with 6:46 to play.
 |
| Erik Anderson (#30) runs for big 42 yard gain |
That lead was short lived as the Hippos stormed right
back. Chase Griffin connected with DJ
Baptist on a 60 yard bomb. The Hippos
missed another point after kick, so the score stood at 22-20 with 5:54 in the
fourth quarter.
 |
| DJ Baptist (#7) scores on 60 yard bomb from Chase Griffin |
Now it was the Eagles turn. Strong runs by Anderson moved the ball to the
Georgetown 42. And then the lights went
out casting the field in darkness.
Lights from people’s cell phones and the scoreboard weren’t nearly
enough. After a seventeen minute delay,
the stadium lights returned and the game resumed. Bell connected with Crombie over the middle
for a 39 yard gain to the Hippos 12.
Bell’s passes were batted away incomplete on second and third down, so
the Eagles settled for a 27 yard field goal.
This gave them a 23-22 lead with only 2:02 left in the game.
 |
| Lights out |
The Hippos used their passing attack to move the ball
into Georgetown territory. Chase Griffin
connected with Caleb Forrest for a first down on the Eagles 18. Griffin ran a quarterback draw down to the 12
with 0:24 in the game. Griffin was
tackled on the 15 and the Hippos let the clock run. They used their last timeout with two seconds
left to set up the winning field goal.
The game came down to one play. After all the problems the Hippos had with
missed extra points and field goals, could they make the game winner? The snap was good, holder Jared Herrick got
the ball down, and Isodoro Barrios 32 yard field goal sailed through the
uprights. The Hutto crowd went wild as
the Hippos won 25-23.
 |
| Isodoro Barrios (#82) kicks the game winning field goal |
Both quarterbacks had an excellent night. Chase Griffin threw for 374 yards and two
touchdowns, completing 26 of his 39 passes for Hutto. Cooper Bell completed 16 of 28 passes for 245
yards and three scores. Neither
quarterback threw an interception. Eric
Anderson picked up 127 yards on the ground with 16 carries.
Hutto needs to work on their kicking game. Brock Brujnoch averaged less than 18 yards a
punt and the Hippos missed a field goal and several extra points. But the key takeaway from this game is
redemption. The field goal team redeemed
themselves on the final play when Isodoro Barrios made the winning kick.
Again my special thanks to ScanCen Tex for suggesting
I attend this came. It was indeed a good
one. . .
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