Week 3 marked the last games of non-district play for District 25-4A as many district teams took to their home fields, except for Lake Travis, Rouse and Vista Ridge – who traveled to Kerrville Tivy, Lampasas and McCallum, respectively. With matchups like Vandegrift vs. Crockett and Cedar Park vs. Austin High, Week 3 was full of wins for District 25-4A, with only two losses by a touchdown and some change.

Hosting the Crockett Cougars at Monroe Stadium, the Vandegrift Vipers celebrated Future Vipers Night, where Pop Warner’s Viper Football and Cheerleading clubs were mentioned and thanked for their support. Last year the Vipers had no trouble with the Cougars at Burger Center, winning 42-2 as a first year varsity team and without seniors.

Due to a malfunction with the game clock, the score had to be kept on the field for the 1^st half of Friday night’s game. The Cougars received first but quickly lost possession. The Vipers started strong offensively as senior Yuron Shears penetrated the defensive line early in the 1^st quarter, scoring the first points of the night and putting Vandegrift on top 7-0.

A mere 2 plays into the Cougar’s next possession, junior Travis Eldred intercepted the ball and ran it in for a short touchdown, scoring his first points of the season and pushing the Viper lead to 14-0.

Late in the 1^st quarter, senior Brandon Brown received yet another pass from senior Dakota Prukop for a 15-yard touchdown and 21-0 scoreboard.

After an excellent punt return by junior Tristan Paffe, the Viper’s long but quick drive was ended on the first play with a 12 yard run into the end zone by Shears, closing the 1^st quarter with Vandegrift leading 28-0.

Midway through the 2^nd quarter, Shears made a 70-yard run, just barely stopped by Cougar senior running back DanDi Addison on the Cougar’s own 15, followed by a 12 yard pass into the end zone completed by junior Mark Giles, bringing the score up to 35-0.

Junior James Hallonquist blocked for Paffe as he returned a punt over 50 yards, just short of the end zone, followed up with an 11-yard run by Prukop for a touchdown, widening the Viper’s lead to 42-0 going into halftime. Remember, last year was a 42-2 victory.

After a carry by junior Harrison Holmes to open the half, a Crockett defensive lineman stayed on the ground injured and minutes later was stretchered to an on-site ambulance. After a few minutes of delay, the game clock started up and the Vandegrift defense continued to prevail, holding the shutout and allowing Holmes to plow through the Cougar defense for his first touchdown of the season, raising the score to 49-0.

It was noticeably quieter on both sidelines as another ambulance arrived to transport the injured Cougar. To lighten the mood for his team, Cougar senior running back Ramon Vidaurri stripped the ball on a Viper carry by Holmes and ran it another 20 yards before being stopped short of a touchdown by junior quarterback Forrest Threadgill.

Putting the first and final points up for Crockett, junior running back Aaron Johnson charged the ball into the end zone for a last minute touchdown as time expired on the now working clock to secure the 49-7 Vandegrift win over Crockett.

Senior kickers Brett Koster and Rand Fredrickson completed 7 of 7 extra point attempts for the Vipers and Paffe had 111 punt return yards over 3 returns. The Vipers, now 4-0, will host the Cedar Park Timberwolves, now 3-1, next week, and the way both teams’ seasons have played out so far show that it should make an interesting game.

This week the Rouse Raiders hosted the Lampasas Badgers at Bible Stadium for their homecoming game. Having lost to the Badgers 17-14 by a late field goal last season, Rouse boasted a stronger and bigger defense this season to shut down the Badgers offense. The Raider defense succeeded in holding the line all 1^st half as Rouse led into the 2^nd half up 15-0 with points by junior wide receiver Logan Kinder and junior kicker Sergio Benitez.

Late in the 3^rd, the Badgers capped off a long 96 yard drive with a 2 yard run for a touchdown, putting their first points on the board. The Raiders swiftly answered with a risky but successful pass on 4^th down and long, resulting in another touchdown by Kinder.

Rouse led into the 4^th 22-7, with Lampasas closing the gap early with a short touchdown but no extra point to make the score 22-13. The Raiders answered midway through the 4^th with the last points of the game on a short touchdown run and extra point. Ending their non-district run, the Rouse Raiders improved their record to 2-1-1 with a 29-13 win over Lampasas, and they enter district play with high hopes.

Also as a homecoming game, the Cedar Park Timberwolves hosted the Austin High Maroons. With previous strong wins against the Maroons, it is not surprising that the T’Wolves came out on top with their first shut out of the season, winning 69-0. With the T’Wolves, led by senior quarterback Brian Hogan, up 41-0 at the half, the Maroons were just not able to come back as they were consistently kept in check by the massive Cedar Park defensive line. Although the 2^nd half, especially 4^th quarter, was slower for the T’Wolves offense, Cedar Park still took the easy win of 69-0.

In Kerrville, the Lake Travis Cavaliers were hosted by the Tivy Antlers, a match up with a history of close games, such as last year’s 37-33 close win for Lake Travis. Led by junior quarterback Baker Mayfield, a legend in the making, the Cavs secured the 1^st half with a 35-7 lead over the Antlers. Barely allowing Tivy one last touchdown, Lake Travis ended with yet another one-sided score of 56-14. Mayfield threw high over the Antlers with 306 yards passing, 154 of those yards to senior wide receiver Griffin Gilbert, and boasted the most rushing yards of the game with 116 yards over 12 plays. Gilbert’s five  receptions and two touchdowns earned him the Max Preps Player of the Week. On a side note, the U.S. Air Force heard of Mayfield last week when the Cavs played Aledo and announced him National Player of the Week, a major commendation for the junior who originally wasn’t even a starter and is boasting 1305 passing yards not even halfway through the season.

The Vista Ridge Rangers traveled to south Austin in hopes of a victory over the McCallum Knights. The first half tipped sides each possession, with the Knights winning the 1^st quarter 14-7 but the Rangers coming back to win the half 20-14. The Vista Ridge defense just couldn’t cut it as McCallum slowly but surely made their way up the field, scoring once in the 3^rd and 4^th quarter to win the game 28-20 over the Rangers. Vista Ridge junior running back Adrian Duncan was announced Player of the Game by MaxPreps for his two receptions totaling 48 yards and eight ball carries for 92 yards.

The Dripping Springs Tigers were met by the Lockhart Lions in Dripping Springs. The Tigers won 41-26, securing the game for the 2^nd year in a row against the Lions.

The Boerne Champion Chargers traveled all the way up from Boerne to play our own Marble Falls Mustangs, and it made for an interesting game. After a scoreless 1^st half, the Mustangs opened up the 3^rd quarter, scoring 14 straight points before a Chargers’ touchdown ended the quarter. The Chargers scored again to tie the game 14-14 as time ran out in regulation. After a 21-21 first overtime, the second overtime went without score. A third overtime granted neither team a victory, and a 4^th overtime started with a score of 29-29. Boerne Champion slipped through the Mustang’s defensive line to score the final of many game winning touchdowns, resulting in a Marble Falls loss of 29-35.