High school football season kicks off with several area games.
Caden Miller intercepts a pass intended for Langham Creek’s Jaquaize Pettaway during The Woodlands’ 48-42 win Thursday night.
SHENANDOAH — The Woodlands and Langham Creek waited an hour to start after a lightning delay began the football season at Woodforest Bank Stadium on Thursday night.
The only flashes afterward were the numbers changing frequently on the newly-arranged scoreboard at the facility.
The Woodlands held on to win 48-42 in a non-district slugfest that ended after 11 p.m.
Highlanders senior running back JoBarre Reed sprinted for the game-winning score, hurdling defenders en route to a 41-yard touchdown with 2:01 left to play. Evan Dubin then stopped Langham Creek with an interception with just 11 seconds left to secure the win.
It was big for senior wide receiver Ben Ferguson, who mishandled a punt earlier in the quarter to set up Langham Creek in Highlanders territory for a game-tying drive.
“He saved me,” Ferguson said. “I muffed that punt and they tied it up. He saved me and I love my teammates for that. When I was down on the sideline, they had my back. They really did and I’m just grateful for them”
The win snapped a fouryear losing streak in Week 1 for the Highlanders.
“It was awesome coming back with a new team and get that first win,” Ferguson said. “We hadn’t done that in four years in the home opener. It was good. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a nice win to build off of.”
It was the first meeting between the schools in 22 years.
“They took some bad situations and made them good,” said The Woodlands assistant coach Mike Fredrickson, who spoke on behalf of head coach Jim Rapp, who missed the game due to virus protocols. “We were able to turn that around. I give all my credit to Langham Creek. They played extremely well. They brought it to us and more power to them. I hope they have a fantastic season.”
The Woodlands (1-0) led 7-0 after the first quarter before the teams exchanged six touchdowns in the second for a 28-21 Highlanders lead at halftime.
“First game of the year and I think everybody is just trying to find their way,” Fredrickson said. “All the sudden, we kind of clicked into our game situation and both teams played hard.”
The Woodlands sophomore quarterback Mabrey Mettauer started and had three touchdown passes in the first half, including two to Ferguson. Ferguson had scoring receptions of 11 yards in the first quarter and one for 21 right before halftime.
In between, Mettauer hit fellow sophomore Patrick Rabel for a wide-open 30yard score in the second quarter.
The Woodlands also played senior Justin Sheldon at QB in the first half and he scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter.
Langham Creek (0-1) got a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Tanner Murray at the 11:15 mark of the second quarter.
The Lobos then went ahead just less than a minute later on a turnover by The Woodlands. Shelton passed backward to his right and Langham Creek senior defensive back Xavier Gonzales scooped it up and ran straight to the end zone.
With the game tied at 14, Murray then hooked up with junior five-star recruit Jaquaize Pettaway on a 74yard strike to briefly put the Lobos up 21-14.
Caden Miller had a key interception for The Woodlands on a fourth-and-long by Langham Creek with less than two minutes left in the first half. The pick set up the Ferguson TD before the break.
“They’re a good fast team and we expected it to be a dog fight,” Ferguson said.
Right out of halftime, Langham Creek running back Jayden Landry capped a drive with a 2-yard score.
Off a fumble recovery on the ensuing drive by Cade Hanks, Landry finished another drive with an 8-yard reception on a screen pass from Murray.
With 2:58 left in the third, the game was tied again as The Woodlands’ Reed ran for a 5-yard touchdown.
Mettauer put the Highlanders back ahead with 10:43 left in the fourth with a
5-yard scoring run to cap a 12-play drive.
The Woodlands had a chance to pad the advantage but lost a fumble. However, the Lobos punted and that’s when Ferguson misplayed it for a turnover. Landry scored from 2 yards out to tie it at 42 with 3:09 left to play.
Reed finished with 109 yards rushing. Mettauer was 20 for 27 for 207 yards passing and rushed for 36 yards. Ferguson produced a teambest 78 yards receiving while Camden Cash had 67 yards.
John Podowski had 1½ sacks while Bradley Warren posted one sack and David Ifeanyi added an assist on a sack.
“I think we still have a lot of work to do offensively and defensively,” Fredrickson said. “But I’m pleased with what they did this evening. Offensively, performing like they did and scoring when they needed to was fantastic. Credit to the players.”