Raiders won just 2 games in their first 2 seasons
Rouse
in San Antonio.
Rouse’s successful season comes after the team compiled only two wins over its first two years.
“You go out (with) two wins in the first two seasons, not too many people are going to pick you to win. We knew that going into the season,” said Hawkins, a senior. “But you get four wins, five wins and people start actually believing.”
In 2010, Rouse lost all 10 games it played in its inaugural season. Last season, the Raiders were 2-7-1.
The Raiders opened the 2012 season, though, with a 50-23 victory over a Hendrickson team that went on to win the District 16-5A championship.
On Sept. 28, the Raiders picked up their first district victory with a 15-7 conquest of Dripping Springs. A 35-10 victory over Vista Ridge in the regular-season finale assured Rouse of its first playoff berth.
In the postseason, Rouse has beaten McCallum and San Antonio Brackenridge by the combined score of 94-41.
“We’ve been doing all the little things right,” senior defensive lineman Josh Petro said. “We’re not going to accept defeat.”
If you ask five different Raiders about what’s been the basis of the team’s turnaround, you may get five different responses.
Quarterback Justin Pelt credited the team’s chemistry and the confidence gained during off-season activities. Senior linebacker Tim LaPaglia pointed to the experience derived from Rouse’s 15 returning starters. Petro and sophomore Billy Ray McCrary Westwood (9-3) vs. Allen (11-1), 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Waco ISD Stadium) Westlake (8-4) vs. Longview (93), 4 p.m. Saturday (Midlothian ISD Stadium) Cedar Park (10-2) vs. Alice (93), 7:30 p.m. Friday (Heroes Stadium, San Antonio) Georgetown (12-0) vs. Angleton (10-2), 2 p.m. Saturday (Gupton Stadium, Cedar Park) Rouse (8-4) vs. GregoryPortland (10-2), 2 p.m. Saturday (Heroes Stadium, San Antonio) Leander (11-1) vs. CC Flour Bluff (12-0), 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Heroes Stadium, San Antonio) said the Raiders bought into the notion that there wasn’t a team that was better than theirs.
For Hawkins, that turnaround began when attitudes began to change at practices. Manor (9-3) vs. Rosenberg Terry (9-3), 7 p.m. Saturday (Kyle Field, College Station) Elgin (8-4) vs. Fort Bend Marshall (12-0), 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Berry Center, Houston) Lago Vista (9-3) vs. Cameron Yoe (11-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday (Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex) Thorndale (10-2) vs. Mason (110)), 7:30 p.m. Friday (Marble Falls HS) St. Michael’s (12-0) vs. FW Nolan Catholic (10-2), 3 p.m. Saturday (Wildcat Stadium, Temple)
“It’s different after you get your teeth kicked in for three years, you finally want to give some of the kicking back,” Hawkins said. “It’s a complete difference in practice when you have everyone just muddling through practice to everyone actually wanting to get out there and hit, even the back-ups.”
With 1,412 yards this season, McCrary already has become the school’s all-time leading rusher while Pelt has thrown for 12 touchdowns. Senior Jordan Vise has eight interceptions to lead a defense that is allowing 17.9 points per game.
With players like McCrary, Pelt and Vise leading the way, Rouse had joined Leander ISD rivals Leander and Cedar Park in the third round of the playoffs. And while the Raiders are happy about their trip to the regional round, they are not content.
“Unfortunately, there’s only one really good way to end your last football season and that’s to win the championship,” Pelt said. “Unless we get to that championship and win it all, (there is) going to be that sour taste that there is if you went out before the playoffs.”