Complete domination was the theme of Cedar Park’s 53-0 destruction of Cedar Creek on Friday night, Oct. 7, at Gupton Stadium. From start to finish, the Timberwolves overwhelmed the Eagles to pick up another victory. Strong winds throughout the night prevented the visitors from pinning Cedar Park deep in their own territory, giving the Wolves’ offense short fields to work with. The Wolves clearly took advantage of their bye week to prepare for the match-up, defeating the struggling Eagles with ease.

Cedar Park kicked off with a bang after holding the Eagles on their first drive. After a punt that was essentially blocked by the wind, senior running back Tyler Lavine scampered for 34 yards on two carries to open the scoring only two minutes into the game. After another stout defensive drive, junior receiver Dalton Hayek caught a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of Cedar Park’s second drive to extend the lead. Senior back Omar Alzer added onto the advantage with a two yard touchdown run, punctuated by a fake field goal two-point conversion, to set the score at 22-0.

The second quarter began with quiet back and forth play with both teams punting on their first drives of the quarter. After two sacks by senior linebacker Jordan Diver, the T-Wolf offense finally broke through. Driving down the field quickly thanks to big runs by seniors Lavine and Hayden Craig, Cedar Park finally punched it in through Craig from four yards out. The Black Rain defense quickly got the ball back for the offense, which scored on its opening play on the drive, a 42-yard touchdown reception by sophomore receiver Carson Neel.

After the half, the Wolves rested most of their starters, playing back-ups for much of the rest of the game. The general conception is that the team would inevitably get weaker, but this simply didn’t happen.

“It is very important to get as many guys as we can playing time,” Cedar Park head coach Carl Abseck said. “All of them work so hard and it is a nice reward for that work that they do. Also, it helps us build for the future, as many of them are younger players who will have to step into new roles next year or even potentially this year.”

Cedar Park scored quickly at the beginning of the second half via a 63-yard run by senior back Raivone Harris. After another stand by the Black Rain, a long punt return by junior Peyden Sawicki set up a Storm Jensen 31-yd field goal to put the lead at 46. On the ensuing possession, Cedar Creek quarterback Tristan Hendrix began to take some risks, driving the ball down the field. The Black Rain still resisted the comeback attempt, as Hunter Henry intercepted  a Hendrix pass and returned it for a touchdown, closing the scoring and clinching a shutout victory for the Timberwolves.

“[Not allowing good offenses to score] shows all the hard work we’ve put in to shut out these teams,” senior safety Hunter Valk said.

According to KMAC Sports, Cedar Park outgained Cedar Creek offensively, 293 yards to negative seven. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time the Black Rain defense flooded its opponent into negative yardage for an entire game. Not needing superb passing play, junior quarterbacks Mak Sexton and Brady Welch only completed six passes on ten attempts. Hayek and Neel caught one receiving touchdown each. On the ground, the team was surprisingly lead by Harris, whose 63-yard touchdown run helped him lead the team with 77 yards on five carries. Lavine, Craig, and Alzer also added short rushing touchdowns. Jensen’s field goal and Henry’s pick-six completed the dominating Cedar Park effort.

Up next for Cedar Park comes tough district opponent Georgetown. The Eagles started the season perfectly, going 6-0 with quality wins over opponents like Fort Worth Brewer and Hays. The Eagles’ run came to a close last weekend at the hands of Rouse, in a surprising 60-27 loss that shook-up the 19-5A picture. Georgetown will surely look to make a statement after the upset loss, going up against the number one team in the state in Cedar Park.

“We just have to go out and play a complete game on both sides of the ball,” Sexton said. “If we trust in the coaching and in the preparation that we’ve done I think we’ll be fine.”

The game will be played Friday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 PM, at Georgetown ISD’s athletic complex.