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Two touchdowns off turnovers in the first quarter staked Magnolia West to an early lead and the Mustangs went on to rout the Waller Bulldogs, 41-17 on Nov. 9, advancing to the UIL playoffs from District 18-4A.

West (6-4, 5-3) played undefeated and state-ranked Georgetown in Brenham on Nov. 16.  Results were unavailable as of press time.  The Mustangs finished fourth behind Brenham (9-1, 8-0), Montgomery (7-3, 7-1), and Huntsville (7-3, 6-2).  Waller completed the season 4-6 and 3-5 for fifth place in 18-4A.

Junior quarterback Mark Logan ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more, while two Mustang tailbacks rushed for more than 100 yards and one touchdown each in wearing down the 'Dogs.

Waller came to West Stadium hoping to capture a playoff berth themselves, but the early blunders and a bruising Mustang ground game were just too much for the visitors.

"They're a good football team," said West coach Shawn Bell following the game. "We had a couple breaks, they had a couple turnovers that really hurt 'em, and the biggest thing is we capitalized on them."  Bell has defeated Coach Brad Wright's Bulldogs in each of the three years he's faced them, and has led West to three consecutive playoff appearances.

Sophomore Chris Nicholson ran for 135 yards on 24 carries, and junior Austin Carroll added 118 yards on 16 totes, almost all of which came in the second half.

"Chris was a little bit banged up tonight, so Austin had to carry some of the load," Bell said.  "They did a good job of taking care of the ball and running hard.  It's a real credit to the offensive line when two guys are able to do that."

Meanwhile, the Mustangs' defense, led by senior Zeke Bronson and juniors Luke Knowles and Xavier Jones, had a big night of their own, holding Waller to 243 yards of total offense, including only 116 on the ground.

"That was the challenge-to limit the penalties, no turnovers, and stop 'em in the passing game," Bell said. "For the most part, we accomplished our three goals."  West, indeed, never turned the ball over, had seven penalties for 61 yards, and held the Bulldogs to less than 130 yards passing.

On the second play of the game, Waller senior quarterback Rhett Loewe was intercepted by Bronson on a long pass down the left sideline, and West set up shop near midfield.  Eight plays later, Logan snuck across the goal line with 8:00 left in the first quarter.  The PAT snap sailed over the head of senior kicker Andrew Struthers and the score remained 6-0.

But on the Bulldogs' next possession, and again on their second play,    senior running back Joseth McDade fumbled and Jones recovered for the Mustangs at the Waller 39.  A bubble screen from Logan to Bronson on second-and-20 gained 17 yards.  Four plays later, another one-yard keeper by Logan capped the 9-play drive, and Struthers PAT made it 13-0 at the 4:05 mark.

The Bulldogs responded with a 13-play, 95-yard drive to cut the margin to 13-7 when Loewe found junior Elijah Morrow for an 8-yard touchdown and junior kicker Denny Garcia's PAT sailed through the uprights with 21 seconds left in the quarter.  A pass interference call on the Mustangs aided the drive on a third-and-8 at the 'Dogs' 44, and a long scramble by Loewe on second-and-25 set up Waller's eventual score.

Waller failed to muster much offense in the second quarter, but West made it 20-7 on a 13-play, 78-yard march and a 27-yard touchdown toss from Logan to senior Trevor Buckley with 1:58 remaining in the half.  Nicholson ran nine times for 52 yards in that drive.

The Mustangs forced the 'Dogs to punt on their next possession, and with 1 minute remaining in the half, West moved 57 yards in three plays, missing a pass in the end zone before Struthers was short on a 41-yard field goal attempt on the last play.

Waller cut the deficit to 20-10 with 7:27 left in the third quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Garcia, and the two teams traded touchdown drives to make it 27-17 at the end of the quarter.  West scored on 4-play, 51-yard drive (all on runs by Carroll) and Waller replied with a quick, 4-play drive of their own, assisted by another interference call on the Mustangs and a personal foul during a 10-yard sack of Loewe, who then used a swing pass left to Morrow on the next play for a 19-yard touchdown.

West scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the final margin of victory, one on a 22-yard pass from Logan to Bronson, and the other, after another interception off Loewe by sophomore Tyler Ray, on a 25-yard dash by Nicholson with 1:44 left in the game.

The Mustangs finished with 455 yards of total offense, including 300 yards rushing and 155 yards through the air on 10 of 18 passing by Logan.  West had 24 first downs to only 12 for Waller.  Loewe was 10 of 26 passing for 127 yards, but also had the two picks.  He ran for 101 yards on six carries.

"I'm really proud of these kids, they deserve it," Bell said.



 

After struggling to a 0-4 start, the Tomball Cougars stormed back this season to earn a playoff berth. The Cougars showed that the playoff spot was no fluke, after hammering Houston Reagan 47-14 in a bi-district showdown Nov, 15.

"Change equals discomfort," said first-year Tomball coach Danny Ramsey. "When you get discomfort it's difficult to put guys together and get them going in the same direction. These kids fought through adversity in the first four games and put a legacy together."

The Cougars opened up the scoring on the game's first possession, as they drove downfield, deep into the red zone. The drive stalled at the Reagan 4-yard line though and Tomball had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Chadd Brown.

The Tomball defense started a trend of swarming and harassing the Reagan offense on the ensuing possession, as defensive back Tyler King broke up a third down pass to force a punt.

Both teams traded turnovers in their next drives by failing on fourth down plays, giving Tomball the ball with a little more than two minutes to play in the first quarter.
Starting at its own 37-yard line, the Cougars drove down the field with a purpose, running the ball eight times for 63 yards. Quarterback Drew Reynolds capped off the drive with a 5-yard bootleg around the right side for a score, as time expired. Brown's extra-point gave Tomball a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play.

Reagan quarterback Tyron Washington saw the first snap of the second quarter sail over his head. Tomball's David Luna recovered the ball at the Reagan 32, giving the Cougars excellent field position.

Tomball methodically took the ball down field, scoring on a 5-yard run from running back Dmitri Scott to take a 17-0 lead.

Both teams were unable to get much going in their next few drives. Reagan shot themselves in the foot while attempting a big fourth-and-one from their own 25-yard line. Two false start penalties in a row forced the Bulldogs to punt from about their own 5-yard line.

The short punt allowed Tomball to take over at the Reagan 40, where they wasted little time in adding to their lead.

After a 7-yard run by running back Percy Alford, Reynolds juked and jived his way to the Reagan nine. He barreled it in from there, giving the Cougars a 24-0 halftime lead.
Reagan opened the second half with a little trickery that backfired, as they attempted a fake punt. The ball was direct snapped to the up-back, who let the ball slip from his hand as he was going back to throw. Reagan recovered the fumble in their own end zone, leading to a safety and a 26-0 Tomball lead.

The Cougars took control of the game for good on their ensuing drive as Richards found Weston Shattuck over the middle for a 22-yard touchdown pass and the rout was on.
Tomball looked well on their way towards another score later in the quarter, but Reynolds pass was intercepted by Reagan's Tavon Dodd, who returned it 78 yards for a pick six, cutting the lead to 33-7.

The Bulldogs then went on to sustain their best drive of the game, capping it off with a 5-yard touchdown by Dodd.

With their big lead now nearly cut in half, the Cougars rallied on their next possession, when Scott caught a pass from Reynolds and weaved his way to the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown. The extra-point extended the lead to 40-14 with nine minutes to play.

"You are only going to play as good as you can control your emotions," Ramsey said. "We may have had a little breakdown there, but give the kids credit because they refocused and put the game away."

With the big lead, Ramsey decided to give his backups some playoff experience and they responded. Quarterback Austin Sturtzman broke initial containment at the line and raced downfield 50 yards to the Reagan 11-yard line.

Three plays later running back Max Baranoske plowed his way for a one-yard touchdown, for the final 47-14 score.

The Cougars bested Reagan 604-127 in total yards, with 463 of those on the ground. Xavier Powell was the workhorse, running 25 times for 168 yards. Reynolds added 99 yards on 15 carries, with two touchdowns, while Scott had 62 yards on nine rushes and a touchdown. Sturtzman had 63 yards on three carries, while Alford had 28 yards on eight rushes. Baranoske rounded it all out with 22 yards on three carries and a score.

Reynolds was 5-12 passing with two touchdowns and 141 yards through the air.

The Cougars will play Angleton, who defeated Friendswood 48-41 in the first round, at Humble's Turner Stadium, Friday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Memorial High School junior Josh Williams (left) and Head Football Coach Finis Vanover (second from left) represented the Wildcats as they received a second place trophy and plaque from the Touchdown Club of Houston for good sportsmanship on the playing field in the Class 4A division. A total of fifteen 4A football teams were announced as finalists, including the Tomball High School Cougars. The finalists were selected by area referees. They considered the actions of the players, coaches and extracurricular groups participating at the football game, as well as personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.  Pam Lovett (second from right), vice president of Comerica Bank and Eric Anderson (right), Fellowship of Christian Athletes, presented the award to Williams and Vanover.