The Cooldown: Week 4
Week four is the most popular bye week in the Houston area due to district sizes, but there were still plenty of good games.
The best thing about week four is it’s typically the first week of district play for those who do have games. Ridge Point and Hightower played a good one on Thursday night that helps to start putting together the playoff picture in 20-6A. Many teams in Conroe ISD, Cypress ISD and Katy ISD were in action last week as well.
Cy Ranch out-guns Cy Woods
Speaking of Cypress ISD, Cy Woods and Cy Ranch gave us one of the highest-scoring shootouts of the season. Cy Ranch won it, 66-41 and quarterback Owen Cossette put up a line worthy of 66 points.
Cossette finished an efficient 28-of-35 passing for a whopping 479 yards, eight touchdowns and no picks. He added another 81 yards and a touchdown on the ground. That’s a final line of 560 and nine (!!) touchdowns.
The favorite target on the night was Tracy James, who caught nine passes for 232 yards and three scores. Carson Littlefield tallied eight catches for 69 yards and two TDs. Running back Tristtyn Davis caught three passes for 92 yards and a score while T.J. Njoh had the other Cossette touchdown.
That’s a lot of numbers. Ready for the craziest one?
Cy Woods running back Wayne Shanks Jr. ran 14 times for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran in another. The crazy number is (class of) 2027. That’s right, Shanks is just a freshman. Cypress ISD is going to have a fun time trying to stop him for the next 3.5 years.
District 16-6A is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing in the area. Cy Springs is 4-0 for the first time in years, Cy Ranch has been.. interesting (with a 31-0 loss to Tompkins and an ugly 17-0 win against Paetow, before impressing with back-to-back wins of 45-17 and 66-41), Bridgeland looks strong and Cy Woods brings something to the table as well. Cy Falls, Cy Lakes and Langham Creek are each 2-1 as well. I’ll be keeping a close eye on 16-6A week to week. Cy Ranch gets Cy Springs next while Cy Woods takes on Cy Lakes.
Dickinson races past Klein Oak
It might not be a district game, but I still learned plenty from Dickinson’s 37-8 win against Klein Oak.
I think Dickinson might be really good this season. The Gators are usually good, but they’re getting it done in a different way than some of those dominant late 2010s teams did. Dickinson quarterbacks completed 5 of their 20 pass attempts for 119 yards, two touchdowns and an INT. Starter John Solomon – an outstanding athlete – was 3-of-16. Not super-efficient.
But the Gators get it done on the ground and on defense. That defense limited a good Klein Oak offense, led by quarterback Lucas Scheerhorn, to just eight points. The ground attack was led by Solomon’s 15 carries for 60 yards and a score, and Leonard Browne Jr.’s 18 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown. Kalum Yoakum and Jeremiah Scoby caught the touchdown passes, one from Solomon and one from Joshua Arthur.
This is the year for the senior-laden Gators to make a run, and with a high profile win against Ridge Point, I think they can do it. To know how they match up against the best in the state, Dickinson lost to top 10 Atascocita 46-21 on opening night, but the Gators could make a serious run so long as it doesn’t run into Atascocita or North Shore.
Klein Oak suffered its first loss, but they should be fun in district 15-6A. Klein Collins is next up for Oak, which should be a good measuring stick game. In this eight team district, only Waller and Klein Forest have a losing record so far, so this could be a six-teams-for-four-spots scenario.
Wisdom continues hot start
Folks it is time to party like its 1998!
That’s the last time Wisdom started a season 4-0. I don’t know about y’all, but I had just celebrated my first birthday. It’s been a long time! It’s a special season for the Generals, who have been absolutely melting their opponents this season.
Wisdom has outscored its opponents 172-16 so far. Only the game against Sam Houston was close. Felix Tuyisaba has been electric at quarterback; he completed 14-of-21 passes for 286 yards and six touchdowns in a 58-6 win against Austin last week. He spread the ball around well with no receiver topping 90 yards; Yohana Kaniaru, Amuir Davis, Javant Hernandez and brother duo Khari and Ajani Mayeux each caught touchdown passes. Hani Ali was the leading rusher with 16 carries for 68 yards, and he accounted for the lone General rushing touchdown.
Wisdom is favored against Milby next week and the Generals could very well be playing for a district championship against Galveston Ball on the last night of the regular season.
News and Notes
In this section each week, I’ll hit on some of the scores that caught my eye, but didn’t have time to discuss in full detail like the games above.
- The Woodlands, 49 – New Caney, 42
- Clear Falls, 33 – Heights, 20
- Willis, 63 – Conroe, 14
- Cy Springs, 35 – Cy Park, 29
- Cinco Ranch, 38 – Tompkins, 28
- Barbers Hill, 49 – Crosby, 34
- Manvel, 20 – Friendswood, 17
- Bay City, 29 – Sealy, 7
Player of the Week
My player-of-the-week helped his team bounce back from two tough losses against elite opponents to start the season, to win in a big game against a great team. Ridge Point took down Hightower, 43-36, and my player-of-the-week is quarterback Austin Carlisle!
Carlisle completed 19 of his 31 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns while adding nine carries for 62 yards. Every time Hightower would answer with a score to cut into the lead, it felt like Carlisle was there to lead Ridge Point right back down the field.
What to look forward to
Here are the games I’m most looking forward to next week. Games on Thursday or Saturday are noted. Just about every game this week should be a district matchup, so let the real games begin.
- Pearland at Shadow Creek (TH)
- Stratford at Cy-Fair (TH)
- Bridgeland at Langham Creek (TH)
- Texas City at Galena Park (TH)
- Dickinson at Clear Springs
- The Woodlands at Conroe
- Oak Ridge at New Caney
- Memorial at Cy Creek
- Dobie at Deer Park
- Travis at George Ranch
- Klein Cain at Tomball Memorial
- Klein Collins at Klein Oak
- La Porte at Barbers Hill
- Fort Bend Marshall at PNG
- Randle at Lake Creek
- Sealy at Columbia