Returning home from two away game losses, the Timberwolves returned to Gupton Stadium to defeat the Hendrickson Hawks 24-7 on Oct. 14 to keep the home stadium win streak alive after beating East View on Sept. 23. 

The black rain defense met the Hawks multiple times in the end zone, but couldn’t score in the first two quarters. The Hawks would not be able to get the first downs on the three tries, but instead of punting, their coaches ultimately decided to keep ‘going for it’ on fourth down to try and get past the first down markers. The defense held strong and were able to give the ball to the offense.

“[The players] executed their job,” offensive coordinator Gilbert Pedraza said. “We ran those plays all week in practice, took out the kinks and [the players] continued to execute their job.”

Starting the momentum, junior and varsity defensive back Garrison Cockrell drove the fans wild after running a 85-yard pick six that was later called back. Through a slow first half, with a score of 0-0 entering the third quarter, the Timberwolves took the lead with junior Andrew Giguere kicking a field goal to put the Wolves up by three.

“The second [field goal] was really good, I was really excited because after I missed the first, I mean that one really sucked because it was so short, but I was really excited after I made that second one,” Giguere said. “A score lead was definitely a boost for the team and then after that we did continue to score and win the game in the end.”

Entering the fourth quarter, business started. Junior and wide receiver Gavin Chapa put more points on the board moving the Wolves up by 10. Hendrickson struck back. They secured a 64-yard touchdown against the defense, bringing the score to 10-7 with eight minutes left in the game. Junior and tide end Luca Wilson was prepared. Not letting the Hendrickson touchdown faze him, he returned the favor, putting the Wolves up 17-7. 

“It was the first one of my [varsity] career so it was pretty exciting,” Wilson said. “I didn’t play much at the game, but we planned that play all week so I was just hoping to get the play. We’ve been practicing [the play] all week in practice, but we’ve never ran it in the game because we didn’t want other teams to see it yet, but we knew that it would be a good play for us. I’m expecting a lot more wins and to make the playoffs.”

To secure the win, senior linebacker Kasen Cave needed to get redemption for the first pick six that was called back. He saw his opportunity on the other end of the field. With the help of senior linebacker Brady Elford, Cave snatched the ball and ran an 80-yard pick six, increasing the Wolves’ lead to 24-7. 

“It was crazy, everything kind of went silent and it was just me and the field,” Cave said. “I was just hoping I could run fast enough to secure the touchdown.”

Offensively, junior and varsity quarterback Ayden Arp had a total of 217 passing yards with 17 completions and zero interceptions. Junior and wide receiver Gavin Chapa caught a total of 122 yards and one touchdown. 

Up next, Cedar Park takes on Glenn at Bible Stadium on Oct. 21, at 7:00 p.m. Glenn is currently 3-1 in district.