I went to Vandegrift High School to see the Vipers in action against their district rival, the Cedar Ridge Raiders. It was pouring down rain before game time, but no matter. Still a great time for football and barbecue. . .
The
Barbecue
I have eaten at Stiles Switch BBQ a few times before and
was never very much impressed. But it’s
been a couple of years and they were named to the Texas Monthly Top 50 list in
2017. And they added Braun Hughes,
formerly with Franklin’s Barbecue, to their pit master crew a few months ago, so
I figured what they hey, let’s try ‘em again.
And I’m glad that I did. . .
Stiles Switch BBQ is located at 6610 N. Lamar
Boulevard, part of the Violet Crown shopping center. This shopping center has a great little
history of its own: built in 1951, Violet Crown was the fist shopping center built
in Austin and it served as the production hub for the movie “Dazed and
Confused”. There’s lots of nostalgic
pictures and memorabilia all around the restaurant. Pretty neat.
I ordered my usual moist brisket and pork ribs. My wife was with me and she ordered a three
meat plate with brisket, pulled pork, and turkey. We got tea from a side table, then found a
cozy spot to eat. My brisket was
phenomenal: great outer bark, super moist and tender, with a deep smoky
taste. Almost buttery and a little hint
of sweetness to it. The pork ribs were
good, but a little small. They had a
peppery rub and were a little chewey, but tasted real good. My wife enjoyed their lean brisket. I am not much on pulled pork, but I got a
bite of my wife’s and it had a nice little kick to it. I stole a bit of her turkey and it too was
tasty.
A word about their sauces. . . Our meals came with a side of sauce that was
pretty much just red water. There were
two types of sauce on the table. One was
a mustard based sauce that was basically just mustard. The other was an mango habanero sauce that
was pretty much all vinegar. Thankfully
none of the meats needed any sauce to be enjoyed.
As I said before, Stiles Switch has a lot of history
and charm. You can’t help but feel good
when you walk inside and look around.
Now they have upped their game to where the barbecue is on par with the
history and charm. You feel real good
when you walk out because you just ate some excellent barbecue.
I rate this barbecue two Hook ‘Ems!
The
Game
The key word for this game is “opportunities” –
opportunities lost and opportunities taken advantage of. . .
The rain stopped as the game began. Cedar Ridge took the opening kickoff and
marched downfield. Quarterback Jalen
Brown threw 41 yards to a wide open Jaylen Ellis for a touchdown. The extra point gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead.
On their first possession, Vendegrift quarterback Dru
Dawson fumbled. The Raiders recovered,
but were unable to take advantage to pad their lead. The first half ended with Cedar Ridge holding
a 7-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Chris Vaughn picked up huge yardage on a screen pass. His long run on the next play gave
the Raiders first and goal from the Vipers’ five yard line. But a fumble by Jacoryn Isaac ended the
threat. Later in the third quarter, the
Raiders picked up a first down on the Vipers’ 13 yard line. Brown’s pass on fourth down was short of the
yardage needed and the Raiders turned the ball over on downs.
Dru Dawson’s pass was intercepted by Devin
Taylor. As the third quarter ended,
Brown avoided the rush and threw downfield to Ellis. Brown scored on a quarterback keeper to push
the Raiders’ lead to 14-0 with 11:56 left to play.
Dawson made big plays with his legs and his arm to
pick up first downs and move the Vipers downfield. Isaiah Smallwood took a direct snap from
center to score from two yards out. The
extra point made it 14-7 with 7:43 to play.
The Raiders could not move the ball and were forced to
punt. The Vipers took possession on
their 40 yard line and moved downfield.
On fourth and eight, Dawson threw to Smallwood to set up first and goal
from the eight. Smallwood ran it in from
there and the extra point tied the game at 14 with only 1:15 remaining in
regulation.
The Raiders took a knee to kill the clock and set up
overtime. They got the ball for the
first possession, but could not move.
Jalen Brown was sacked on third and fourth downs. Cedar Ridge failed to score.
Now it was Vandegrift’s turn. Runs by Smallwood moved the ball closer to
the goal. Tim Barney’s 33 yard field
goal was good and the Vipers claimed the 17-14 overtime win.
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