Texas Preps article on Hutto's win Last night

[me@smu]

ROUND ROCK – It did not take long for the Hutto Hippos to establish their dominance over the Vista Ridge Rangers on Thursday night.

In fact it was just over three and a half minutes.
The Hippos opened the 2005 football season for the Central Texas region with a whole lot of thunder by defeating the Rangers 49-0 in game one of the Great Texas Sports Shootout on Thursday night at the Round Rock I.S.D. Athletic Complex.

On their first series of the ball game Hutto (1-0) took just 3:33 off of the clock during a seven play, 71 yard drive that ended when multi-talented junior quarterback Jeremy Kerley reached the end zone on a 46-yard option keeper that helped stake Hutto to a 7-0 lead. All told the Hippos scored on their first four possessions and turned the game into a route by the midway point of the first quarter.

"This was a real good win for us tonight," said Hutto head coach Lee Penland, who has a squad that looks like it could contend for much more than just playoff spot in District 19-3A. "Vista Ridge came out and played pretty hard the first three or four series and we got some big plays on them when they turned the ball over."

Turnovers played a big part in the Hippos systematic destruction of the Rangers (0-1) as Vista Ridge turned the ball over three times in the first quarter alone, all of which led to Hutto touchdowns. "Any coach will tell you that if your turn the ball over that much its going to be tough to beat anybody and I think made it a little worse than it was," said Penland. "It seemed like it got out of control a little early."

In addition to the six turnovers committed by Vista Ridge in the game, the Hutto running game also played a big part in the victory. The Hippos churned up 350 yards on 43 with Kerley leading all ball carriers with 115 yards on just nine rushes. Jerrick Gauthier had a solid night running behind an impressive offensive line led by SMU pledge Lee Gonzales as the senior running back netted 50 yards on 11 carries while Garrett Beshears and Josh Wilson added 75 and 42 yards respectively. "We felt like we could stand up and block people and knock people around," said Penland. "We’ve got difference guys that we can get the football to; Jeremy played great, Jerrick had a good night, our fullbacks ran hard and we got some backup kids come in and do a good job."

Vista Ridge got off to a rough start to say the least one their first drive of the season when trailing 7-0 as the drive ended in a turnover via a fumbled handoff from quarterback Nate Gillespie to running back Mo Allison. The Hippos quickly capitalized and needed just seven plays to reach the end zone as the 46-yard drive culminated with an eight yard scoring strike from Kerley to tight end Kyle Knapp. An interception by Kerley ended the Rangers next drive and the Hutto quarterback finished the job on the offensive end by turning the theft into points with an 11-yard touchdown run. Ryan Dominguez made it three straight possessions with a turnover for Vista Ridge with a spectacular one-handed interception, and thanks to Shiloh Wampler’s 41-yard touchdown run and Jose Diaz’s extra point, the Hippos claimed a 29-0 lead with seven seconds left in the opening period.

The Hutto first team offense only saw the field one more time when Kerley capped a six play, 95-yard scoring drive with a 35-yard bomb to Dominguez putting the Hippos ahead 36-0 with 4:10 left in the opening half.

Bu the time both teams headed into the locker room the Hippos had done most of their damage totaling over 300 yards of total offense in the first two quarters of the game. Hutto also racked up 17 first downs while Vista Ridge’s one-back attack yielded just 44 yards of total offense by halftime.

The Hutto defense was as equally impressive as their offensive counterparts holding the Rangers to just 85 yards of total offense, including just 60 on the ground in addition to the six turnovers, four of which were interceptions.

"Our defense started out a little shaky because they threw some stuff at us that we weren’t ready for but we found our niche and settled down and played a lot better after the first series or two," said Penland. "They were driving the ball on us on their first drive and then they turned it over and that momentum helped us a lot."

The Hippos will be back in action next week with tougher test as they draw the Travis Rebels, who made the playoffs out of District 26-4A last season, in their home opener next Friday night in Hutto.