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THE POWER RANKINGS: Lake Travis clings to top spot in Austin area
The Lake Travis Cavaliers notched a tough road win over Rockwall in the Metroplex to remain atop this week’s Austin area rankings. Not that Westlake and Dripping Springs didn’t rack up some style points with their blowout shutouts on the road at San Benito and SA Wagner, respectively.
Vandegrift bounced back nicely with a convincing win over Cedar Park while Bastrop fought back on the road at China Spring to round out our Top 5.
Weiss earned a nice win over San Marcos to remain at #6 – and then the butter started churning. Anderson, Rouse and Vista Ridge all improved to 2-0 to move up. (The Raiders’ overtime win over then-Top 10 Liberty in out VYPE Austin Game of the Week was particularly impressive.)
Further down, district rivals Stony Pont and McNeil climbed the ladder and picked up momentum heading into this week’s start of what promises to be a wild 25-6A race. And new to this week’s charts are Hays at #18 and Hendrickson at #20.
Non-district play remains the apples-to-oranges portion of the season, although another week’s worth of data points helps bring things into focus. We’ll get increasing clarity with District 25-6A and District 12-5A-1 opening district play next week and the rest to follow later in the month.
In the meantime, here’s this week’s Power Rankings, heading into Week 3.
VYPE Austin Top 20 Combined Class 4A-6A
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (1) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) – 2-0 (W 28-20 @ Rockwall)
2. (2) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) – 1-1 (W 66-0 @ San Benito)
3. (3) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) -- 2-0 (W 55-0 @ SA Wagner)
4. (4) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) - 1-1 (W 35-14 vs. Cedar Park)
5. (5) Bastrop Bears (5A-2) – 2-0 (W 48-34 @ China Spring)
6. (6) Weiss Wolves (5A-1) -- 2-0 (W 25-15 vs San Marcos)
7. (8) Anderson Trojans (5A-1) – 2-0 (W 42-0 vs. Elgin)
8. (7) Georgetown Eagles (5A-1) – 1-1 (L 34-26 vs. Belton)
9. (14) Rouse Raiders (5A-1) – 2-0 (W-OT 49-43 vs. #10 Liberty Hill)
10. (12) Vista Ridge Rangers (6A) – 2-0 (W 28-21 @ #13 Bowie)
11. (10) Liberty Hill Panthers (5A-2) – 0-2 (L-OT 49-43 @ #14 Rouse)
VYPE Central Texas Game of the Week Preview: Liberty Hill vs. Rouse
Liberty Hill vs. Rouse may not be quite the grudge match in football as it is in baseball, but it’s still an intense affair when they meet up. The latest installment kicks off Friday night (9/5) when the Panthers meet the Raiders in the VYPE Central Texas Game of the Week from Gupton Stadium.
Liberty Hill (0-1) typically punches above its weight during non-district and last week’s opener vs. Cibolo Steele was a perfect example. The Knights – one of the more powerful 6A teams in the state every year – throttled the Panthers’ powerful running game enroute to a convincing 45-10 victory.
Liberty Hill lives or dies with that running game – the Panthers threw just one incomplete pass the entire night – but Steele held the vaunted Slot-T rushing attack to just 190 rushing yards on 56 carries. Senior running back Bryce Muchow led the way with 76 yards on 21 carries -- but he’s been known to log that many yards on the way from the bus to the locker room.
First-year Head Coach David Seaborn not only hopes his Panther offense can get untracked, but that Liberty Hill’s defense will fare better against Rouse after giving up 21 first-quarter points and 461 total yards on the night vs. Steele.
That won’t be easy, as Rouse (1-0) scored early and often, outlasting Pflugerville Connally in a 55-33 track meet. Longtime Raider Head Coach Joshua Mann – the only coach in Rouse’s history – hopes his squad can pick up where it left off at The Pfield. Senior quarterback London Morgan lit up the Cougars for 375 yards and six touchdowns, while junior Joshua Park (4-159, 39.8 YPG, 2 TD) and senior Anthony Reyes (10-105) chewed up Connally on the ground.
The Raiders needed all that offense, however, as their defense gave up 33 points and 432 yards.
Liberty Hill leads the series 5-2 and many of those games were high-scoring affairs. While their baseball and football teams always go at it, this non-district showdown between Liberty Hill and Rouse may more likely resemble a basketball game.
What: Liberty Hill @ Rouse
When: 6:45 Pregame, 7:00 Kickoff
Where: Gupton Stadium, Leander HS
Who: Trevor Hargrove, Matt Lorenz
Watch: https://www.vype.com/7pm-football-liberty-hill-vs-rouse-2673957188