High school football playoffs
Manvel, The Woodlands, Cinco Ranch and Cypress Ridge advance to regional finals.
COLLEGESTATION— Even Manvel junior receiver Jalen Preston doesn’t know how many Cedar Park defenders he made miss on his second-quarter touchdown catch-and-run on Saturday. Five? Six? Even seven? “A lot,” Preston said. With two seconds remaining until halftime and Manvel at its 47, junior quarterback Kason Martin rolled out and dumped the ball to his last option in Preston, who turned what was supposed to be a failed play into the play that defined Manvel’s 47-35 win over Cedar Park in the Class 5A Division I Region III semifinal at Kyle Field.
Preston evaded seemingly everybody, backtracked and outran everyone to the opposite side of the field, where there was nothing but green grass for his 53-yard score.
Preston’s score gave the Mavs (13-0) a 40-21 halftime lead, and even though Cedar Park scratched, clawed and made this a game in the second half, it felt like the clincher.
Maverick football
If that’s not Manvel, what is? Athletes turning a playoff game into backyard football.
“It’s a big advantage,” Preston said of the Mavs’ explosiveness. “If you focus on one player, we’ve got three other receivers, we have a running back, great line. It’s hard to stop.”
Manvel was hard to stop on the way to its sixth state quarterfinals appearance since 2010. The win knocks off last year’s Class 5A Division II state champions while handing the Timberwolves (12-1) their first loss in two seasons. The win also allows the thought to creep into play once again when it comes to the Mavs: Maybe this really is the year?
Manvel’s reputation has been built on plays like Preston’s, cool uniforms, an even cooler slogan (Hoka Hey) and top-notch Division I recruits.
There have been a bunch of wins, too. But the oh-so-close moments toward the program’s first state title stand out.
There was the Class 4A state title game in 2011, but Johnathan Gray’s Aledo was in the way. Keith Ford’s Cypress Ranch stopped a Manvel run short in 2012. Then there was never any getting past Katy from 2013-2015.
After a drop in classification to Class 5A, Manvel has drilled through a 2016 season that includes wins over North Shore and Pearland.
But Saturday’s win over defending state champion Cedar Park solidifies that it might be different this time for Manvel. Aa loss in a 7-on-7 game to Dickinson last summer sparked this team, among other things.
“From then on, we said we are not going to lose another game,” said Martin, who turned in 394 yards, four touchdowns and an interception on 25-of-39 passing. “We are going to win the state championship because this team is great. If we play as a brotherhood and really fight hard, then there’s no way that anyone can beat us.”
Off to a fast start
Cedar Park outscored Manvel 14-7 in the second half. But it wasn’t enough to undo Manvel scoring on three of its first four drives, with 14 points off turnovers — Brian Johnson’s interception and a Derrick Tucker fumble recovery.
Free safety Tucker also had an interception. J.J. Joseph’s interception gave the Mavs’ defense a fourth turnover. Both of those stunted Cedar Park’s attempts to comeback.
The Mavs can’t marvel too much at the film from this one, considering a tough Temple team looms next week. But if they did, who would blame them?