Defense helps Falcons continue surprising rebound
WALLER — At the end of October, Foster had a 4-4 record and was coming off back-to-back losses and seemed on the verge of having a lost season.
What a difference a month makes.
The Falcons scored 31 secondhalf points and made just enough defensive plays to beat previously undefeated Hutto 41–31 in a back and forth Class 5A Division I Region III semifinal playoff game Friday night at Waller ISD Stadium.
The win sends Foster to the regional final and closes out a memorable November that folks down in Richmond will be forever thankful. With its fifth straight victory, Foster improves to 9-4 and will face the winner of Saturday’s Shadow Creek-Georgetown game. Hutton bows out in the region semifinals for the second straight season and finishes the year at 12-1.
It was a win few people outside the Foster fan base expected yet came as little surprise to veteran Falcons coach Shaun McDowell.
“Your record says you are who you are – but if you look at who we played, we lost to all top ten teams,” McDowell said. “We were very close to being way better with our record, and I know that with this young team, we have literally gotten better every week.”
One of the Falcons who has improved is junior quarterback Ryan Stubblefield. He connected with Cody Jackson on two touchdown passes during a 17-0 stretch midway in the third quarter to give the Falcons the lead for good. The scoring run was aided by two forced turnovers by the Foster defense — an interception by Kendall Johnson and a fumble recovery by Collin Williams on back-to-back Hutto drives in the third quarter.
The defensive stops helped turn the game for Foster after the Hippos had taken a 17-10 lead early in the third quarter. Hutto quarterback Chase Griffin found Caleb Forrest on a 12-yard touchdown pass on the Hippos’ first possession of the second half.
While Griffin, Hutto’s recordsetting quarterback who is pledged to UCLA, had a strong game with 332 yards passing, the interception he threw to Johnson after Foster tied the score at 17 seemed to swing the momentum of the game. The Falcons turned that turnover into points and took the lead for good on Bryson Harrell’s 32-yard field goal.
On Hutto’s next drive, Williams scooped up a fumble near midfield, and on the next play, Stubblefield hit Johnson on a 59yard touchdown to suddenly give Foster a 27 – 17 cushion.
Despite giving up 31 points to Hutto, McDowell was pleased with the Falcon’s overall defensive effort.
“Our whole game plan was to make Chase Griffin a little bit uncomfortable and try to lock up their receivers,” McDowell said. “We were able to play the stuff game with five and six guys straight up against theirs and dominate the line of scrimmage, and when we do that, we’re going to win every time.”
In addition to containing Griffin, Foster also slowed down Chux Nwabuko, Hutto’s 5-5 running back dynamo who’s pledged to Texas Tech. Nwabuko only gained 38 yards on seven carried and never found the end zone.
“I though the defense did play really well all night – to only give up 31 points to probably one of the best offenses we’ve seen,” McDowell said.