Tiger Football beats Travis Rebels and thunderstorm

Dripping Springs was able to beat two opponents Friday night as they opened District 12-5A action with a 49-0 whitewashing of the Travis Rebels. The one that loomed the largest was the impending thunderstorms coming in on Burger Center as the game progressed. With the help of a running clock for the second half any type of weather delay was avoided.

Although the outcome was expected, the Tigers got off to an unexpectedly inauspicious start. Travis kicked off to the Tigers and executed a perfect kick to no man's land. While the Tigers were acting dazed and confused, a Rebel raced down to the spot and caught the ball on the run. However, a kick can not be advanced by the kicking team and they took over on the 35. Travis would quickly find out how long a night on offense they were going to have as they were forced to punt from the 42.

On the return, the Tigers blocked in the back and had to start from the 11. They quickly jumped offside on the first play and had to restart from the six. Did not make any difference as Tanner Prewit hit Parker Alford as he broke by his defender at the 26 and Parker took care of the remaining 94 yards for a quick score, which would be the first of seven as they scored on all possessions in the first half.

Adam Ahlman snagged an interception on the Rebel 25. Five plays later Jacob Cox took it end from the eight. Coleman Chapman toed the second of his five EP's to make it 14-0. Three and out put DS 44 away which they gobbled up in six when Prewit went in from the one, 21-0. Travis managed a first down before punting next time. Looking at 70 yards, the Tigers air-mailed it in three plays. The first two, Prewit to Alford covered 34 and the last was a nice catch and run by Cameron O'Banan for the remaining 36. 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was no kinder to the Rebels. Another three and out gave the Tigers the ball at the DS 46. Cox broke off tackle and made several moves to break free and won the race to the goal. 35-0. That would be the end of the starters for the rest of the night. A four and out gave the Tigers the ball at the 34. Not much change as the reserves took it in with Curtis Cox scoring from the 14. Desi de la Cruz got his chance to split the uprights. 42-0. Garrett Betts pounced on a fumble at the Rebel 28. Scotty Crosby put the final points on the board with a 15 jaunt. De la Cruz was once again true.

Lightning in the distance did not bode well for getting the game completed without a delay. The problem was solved when the coaches agreed to play with a running clock, which means it runs when ordinarily it should be stopped. The outcome was not in doubt. Afterall, if this was a six-man game, it would have been called after the first play of the second half. The Tigers nursed the clock very well and the game was over ahead of the storms. They ran off the final 9.38 without scoring.

These types of games do not help the good teams like Dripping Springs with the exception of the reserves getting a lot of the playing time. However, it is the starters that will need to carry the load in the playoffs and lack of quality playing time can put them at a disadvantage. This Friday night the Tigers will enjoy a bye week, then will travel to House Park in Austin to play McCallum.

Game stats (DS first): First downs: 20-4; Rushing: 31-213, 28-31; Passing: 230-33; Passes: 9-14-0, 5-10-1; Punts: 1-17, 6-30.8; Penalties: 6-45, 0-0; Fumbles lost: 2-2, 2-5.

DS stats: Rushing: Scotty Crosby 11-68 TD; J. Cox 2-62 2TD; C. Cox 4-45 TD; Prewit 3-25 TD; Austin Hulon 1-10; Zach Tjelmeland 1-8; Lucas Weeden 1-3; Gage Duncan 1-2; Brock Bolinger 1-2; Jake Gomez 1-(-) 5; King 1- (-) 4. O'Banan 3-(-) 3; Passing: Prewit 8-12-210, 2TD; Tjelmeland 1-1-20; O'Banan 0-1-0. Receiving: Alford 3-128 TD; Enzo Arnold 2-29; Ty Kaatz 2-17; O'Banan 1-36 TD; Duncan 1-20. KOR: Lane Dominey 2-17.