A small-town team gets big-time support
Dripping Springs ready to battle unbeaten Richmond Foster.
In the Hill Country, about 25 miles west of Austin on U.S. 290, a new force is emerging in Central Texas high school football on Mighty Tiger Trail.
Dripping Springs has emphatically announced its arrival with a 12-1 season, the school’s best ever, and on Saturday, the Tigers will face Richmond Foster (130) in a Class 5A, Division I state quarterfinal at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
“It’s the first December football game we’ve ever had,” Tigers coach Galen Zimmerman said.
“There’s such a high excitement level about the program out here, I can’t tell you how great it feels.”
The Dripping Springs school district has experienced staggering growth recently as have the district’s athletic facilities. A $93.4 million bond package helped trigger a building frenzy at the shiny, sprawling complex that includes a new football stadium, which will open in 2017, a baseball-softball complex, a soccer field, tennis courts and an expanded basketball gymnasium.
“This place is hopping for sure,” said senior quarterback Reese Johnson, a foursport standout who has committed to Sam Houston State as a middle infielder. “The best part of it is everything is getting bigger, but we still kind of have that small-town feel where everybody knows who you are.
“This community is behind us, and our stands are packed on Friday nights.”
There was ample evidence of that support Thursday, when hundreds of fans lined the sidelines and end zone for an open practice.
“Yeah, this is impressive, isn’t it?” remarked McKenly O’Neal, a 6-foot4, 232-pound senior defensive end. “I never thought this community would get this crazy about football. You’ve got all these people rooting for you. Don’t want to let them down.”
Zimmerman, who closely oversees the program from the seventh grade on up, invited middle school students to Wednesday’s practice and encouraged elementary school students and youth league players to visit the next day for a meet-andgreet.
“It’s a chance to give back to the community,” he said. “The kids had their pictures taken with the players, got autographs and just mingled. We’d never done anything like this, but I want to get those kids excited about this team and the program. We’re building something here that we want to last.”
The Tigers have seen a steady uptick in participation, with about 200 students from the seventh through 12th grades playing football, including 56 on the high school varsity.
Zimmerman, 41, is a 20-year coaching veteran who’s in his third season at Dripping Springs, the second as head coach. He came to Dripping Springs in 2014 as part of Joe McBride’s new staff and took charge of the Tigers when McBride departed for Coppell after one sub-.500 season.
After guiding Frisco Liberty to a 30-27 record from 2009 to 2013, Zimmerman knew how he wanted to approach his second stint as a head coach.
“Mental toughness is our trademark,” he said. “I know everybody says that, but we mean it. We build it up in the offseason. We work these guys hard. We told the parents, ‘We’re going to put them through the wringer, but we’ll love them up, too.’ ”
Dripping Springs barely missed the playoffs last year while competing in a district with Cedar Park and other suburban powers. Before this season, UIL realignment drew the Tigers into a district with a number of San Antonio-area schools.
“We’re still in a tough district, but the one thing you didn’t have was the defending state champion in your district,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve got Alamo Heights, Kerrville Tivy and Boerne Champion, and Tivy lost like four years in a row to Cedar Park in the playoffs.”
O’Neal, who has 103 tackles and eight sacks, said the seminal moment arrived when the Tigers outscored Alamo Heights 64-54 on Oct. 21.
“That secured our first dis- trict championship in about 20 years,” he said. “We’ve seen it coming, but that was absolute proof.”
Johnson, who has accounted for 39 touchdowns, passed for more than 2,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,300, said he and his teammates will never forget their 12-11 second-round playoff victory over Angleton. On the last play of the game, Keith Mitchhart soared over defenders in the end zone to grab a 15-yard touchdown toss from Johnson.
“That’s our magic moment,” Johnson said.
With a strong offensive line and a balanced offense that includes 1,000-yard receiver Johnny Hoyle and a running back combo of Jake Cox and Teo Brinckmann, the Tigers have averaged 45 points per game and scored 63 and 69 in two of their three playoff games.
Dripping Springs will need to be on top of its game, though, to keep up with unbeaten Richmond Foster.
“We’re small-town, for sure,” Zimmerman said, “but our kids are confident because of how they prepare, their trust in each other. We’re playing a great team, and that’s how it should be in the fourth round of the playoffs.”
‘This place is hopping for sure. The best part of it is everything is getting bigger, but we still kind of have that small-town feel where everybody knows who you are. This community is behind us, and our stands are packed on Friday nights.’ — Reese Johnson, Dripping Springs senior quarterback