Week 9 of the 2020 Texas high school football season was full of exciting plays. Watch the play of the weeknominee highlights below and vote for your favorite until Thursday October 29th at 2:30 p.m.
<a href="https://poll.fm/10639093">VYPE Week 9 Play of the Week Poll (Closes 10/29 at 2:30 p.m.)</a>
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Benjamin Davis senior safety Keithas "Pop" Johnson
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
There’s a certain irony behind Keithas “Pop” Johnson’s nickname.
It has nothing to do with being the biggest player on the field. In fact, Johnson has spent much of his life hearing the opposite. But at Benjamin Davis, the senior safety has built a reputation around doing exactly what his size might suggest he shouldn’t: delivering the kind of hits that make an immediate impact.
“They call me ‘Pop’ because I’m smaller in size, but I can hit really hard,” Johnson said. “I throw my whole body into a tackle or when I’m making a hit, and it makes that ‘POP!’ sound. That’s where the name comes from.”
The nickname is fitting in more ways than one. Johnson has become one of the Falcons’ most disruptive defenders, leading the team last season with 52 tackles, seven passes defended, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and two interceptions. Suffice it to say, Pop is a legitimate game-changer on defense — a reputation that has carried into 2026.
His production, however, stems from a mindset Johnson has cultivated long before he became a bruising presence in the Davis secondary.
“My whole life, I’ve been small, so people keep telling me, ‘Pop, you gotta have that dog mentality,’” Johnson said. “I learned quickly that if I don’t have that dog mentality, I’m not going to be very good at this sport. So even with my size, I don’t care — I’m still going to prove I’m better because I push myself to my fullest potential.”
That mentality has become part of what separates Johnson. Rather than viewing his frame as a limitation, he has turned it into motivation, embracing the physicality and aggression required to make his presence felt from the back end of the defense.
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
Interestingly enough, football wasn’t always the plan.
“I didn’t really care for it at first, but after sticking with it for a few years, I started to appreciate the toughness that comes with it,” he said. “I love the physicality of the sport. It makes you feel alive.”
That toughness has since become a defining part of Johnson’s identity — and something he hopes can help elevate the Falcons beyond what they accomplished a year ago.
Davis went 7-4 last fall, sharing the district title before falling to The Woodlands in the opening round of the playoffs. Now, Johnson believes the next step won’t necessarily come from adding more talent, but from maximizing the talent already in the room.
The featured standouts of the 2026-27 Benjamin Davis Falcons football team.Dana Strange (VYPE)
“With this group, I think it’s going to come down to how well we’ve bonded together,” Johnson said. “We definitely have the talent, so if we can come together as a unit, the first or even the second round won’t be where we max out. This is a great squad, so it’s time for us to go further.”
To Johnson, going further means more than simply advancing another round. It means proving that size doesn’t define a defensive back, that toughness can’t always be measured by a frame, and that sometimes the loudest impact comes from the player who refuses to play small.
Undefeated Cedar Ridge has two massively important games coming up at Westlake and against arch-rival Round Rock. With a win over Lake Travis already in the bank, those two remaining games will likely decide who wins District 25-6A.
But first…
Yes, but first the Raiders have to get past a stubborn Stony Point squad that sits just a half-game out of a playoff spot and could give itself a post-season shot with an upset win.
That makes Friday night’s (10/23) VYPE Austin Central Texas Game of the Week between longtime RRISD rivals Cedar Ridge and Stony Point at Dragons Stadium an intriguing and critically important clash.
Cedar Ridge (3-0, 7-0) has been heavily relying on the arm of senior quarterback Dylan Snoga (90-135, 1,389 Yds., 17 TD, INT) and a fleet of wide receivers, five of whom have double digit catches on the season. When second-year head coach Bryan Vardeman’s club needs to run, the bulk of the workload falls on senior Devin Patterson (90-481, 5.3 YPC, 10 TD). Taken together, the Raiders have averaged 46 points and a collegiate-like 475.9 yards per game.
Seniors Ayden Obrien-Brown (87 tackles, 8 TFL, 5.5 Sacks), Jeremiah Passmore (44 Tackles, 13 TFL, 9.0 Sacks) and Powers Wallis (60 Tackles, 5.0 TFL) have been a force for the Cedar Ridge defense.
While not as powerful on paper as the four teams they’re chasing, Stony Point (2-2, 3-5) has enough weapons to give the Raiders a game with a superb team effort. First-year Head Coach Dustin Pleasant’s Tigers have been pass-heavy on offense behind senior quarterback Brady Davis (76-128, 1,288 Yds., 11 TD, 3 INT). Senior Olamide Aroworade (48-727, 15.1 YPC, 6 TD) has been Davis’s favorite target.
Junior Aiden Loyden (121-574, 4.7 YPC, 9 TDs) runs just enough to keep the defense honest.
The Tigers’ defensive stats are incomplete at press time but seniors Dashun Jones and Aaden Pemberton, along with sophomore Finn Morris are amongst the team leaders.
Cedar Ridge wants a big win to generate momentum heading into two games they hope will prove the win over Lake Travis wasn’t a one-off. Stony Point needs a win to stay alive in the playoff chase. The stakes are high in this Game of the Week.
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
The featured standouts of the 2026-27 Benjamin Davis Falcons football team.Dana Strange (VYPE)
