GAMES
RANKINGS
VYPE Austin Central Texas Game of the Week Recap: Revived Round Rock dispatches McNeil
Round Rock has life after all; McNeil still has work to do to challenge the district powers. Those were the main takeaways after Round Rock cruised past McNeil 31-17 in an important District 25-6A matchup Friday night (9/19) in our VYPE Austin Central Texas Game of the Week.
The Dragons jumped on top early and never looked back. Senior quarterback Jack Appl found senior wide receiver Daniel Barry behind the Mavericks defense for a 48-yard strike to open the scoring midway through the first quarter. The Dragons were on the move again before McNeil’s sophomore defensive back Kaden Kerney wrestled the ball away from a Round Rock receiver for an interception in Mavs territory.
A 30-yard Jadon Sultz to Zach Christie pass followed by a 40-yard run by Jarell Gary set up McNeil at the Dragon 5-yard line. However, the drive stalled after a personal foul penalty and the Mavs settled for a Bryce Wilson 37-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.
Round Rock responded with a nice mix of Appl passes and runs by Ryan Sirwaitis, Brady Cochran and Appl. Sirwaitis punched it in from 5-yards out and Cade Zamora tacked on the PAT to nudge the Dragons lead to 14-3.
Coach Cody Moore rolled the dice, and his Dragons fell on the ensuing onside kick ricochet at midfield. Round Rock quickly moved the ball deep into the red zone before McNeil’s defense stiffened. Zamora knocked a 22-yarder through the uprights to increase Round Rock’s lead to 17-3.
McNeil recovered the next onside kick attempt, but the Dragon defense recorded a couple of sacks to force a punt and prevent the Mavs from capitalizing. With Appl spreading the ball around to a variety of receivers, Sirwaitis capped off a 78-yard drive with an 8-yard run around the left side to send the Dragons into the locker room with a 24-3 lead.
After the teams traded possessions, Alexander Cochran’s short run put the game away for Round Rock late in the third quarter.
A Sultz quarterback keeper and Sultze-to-Christie touchdown pass made the final score more respectable.
Round Rock (1-1, 1-3) squares off against Cedar Ridge Friday (9/26) from the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex; McNeil (1-1, 2-2) faces Stony Point Friday from Dragon Stadium. VYPE will broadcast both games.
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)