On Oct. 19, 2018, the Cedar Park Timberwolves were fighting back from an 0-2 start, looking to win their sixth game in a row against who was eventually named the District Champion: the Hutto Hippos. The game on that night was cold, wet and rainy, and the Wolves ended up taking their third loss of the season, 65-21 against the Hippos. 

Last Friday, when the two top teams in the district met in FOX Sports’ Game of the Week, Hutto with a 6-0 record, and Cedar Park sitting at 6-1, the weather was better, with fall temperatures finally coming to central Texas, but the intensity was the same. This time though, a turnover on downs in the last minute of the game gave the Wolves a 20-16 win over unbeaten Hutto.

“Playing a really big game in front of a lot of fans and media made it exciting for the whole team,” junior WR Preston Scott said.

Hutto has been rolling over teams this year, and although the Hippo offense has a strong running and receiving core, the black rain was able to hold the Hippos to 16 points, 10 in the first half and six in the second. Hutto has a breakout player that plays on both sides of the ball named Dajon Harrison. Harrison was the biggest test for the black rain to shut down so far this season, and sure enough, the secondary held him to only three catches, despite his average of 35.7 yards per reception, according to MaxPreps.

“There was a lot of hype about him,” junior LB Javion Mays said. “We had a game plan and our job was to execute it. We took it like any other team, and we came out and held [Hutto] to the least amount of points this year.”

The game started off slow, as both defenses showed that they had what it took to put up a fight. The score after the first quarter was 7-3 with Hutto in the lead, and the Timberwolves were held on offense without scoring until the very end of the first half, as junior QB Ryder Hernandez connected with Scott after he got around the corner and put up a 62-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10-10 going into halftime.

One of the biggest stories from the game was the fact that Hernandez was sick during the game. He was hooked up on IV’s all night on Thursday, as he was throwing up a ton, according to head coach Carl Abseck’s interview with KVUE. Hernandez continued to push through and he played hard all game, as he converted on a 16-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

“I just made sure that I had a lot of fluids,” Hernandez said. “Also, just seeing my teammates out there fighting with me gave me that extra energy that I needed to be able to make it through the game.”

After conquering their biggest test of the season so far, CPFB looks to win out in the regular season and earn a spot in the UIL 5A State Playoffs, beginning with a matchup against Pflugerville on Nov. 1. 

“To the outside, [beating Hutto] may say something,” Hernandez said. “But as a team, we’ve known what we have since spring ball. We know the kind of team that we have and nothing that anybody says can change that.”