The Tomball Cougars went into Planet Ford Stadium on Friday, Nov. 22 to play the Willis Wildkats in their 2nd round playoff matchup. The Cougars were near 21-point underdogs in this matchup, nobody gave them a fighting chance against Willis and some even had Willis winning the state championship.
Despite the odds stacked against them and lots of adversity during the game, the Cougars fought hard and left nothing on the field; however, it was not enough as they went home heartbroken in a 28-24 defeat that would end their season
The game opened up rough for the Cougars as they would go down 14-0 early but would quickly strike back and intercept Willis to capitalize and make the game 14-14. However, the play before the second touchdown star quarterback Jaxyn Faldyn went down after a brutal hit. The Cougar sideline went silent in anticipation as they knew in an already tough matchup this was a devastating blow, but more of their concern was for their teammate who remained down for multiple minutes.
Jaxyn was taken to a nearby hospital but sent a message to the team at halftime letting them know he would be OK. While he was receiving care the team would rally around their backup, senior Brock Taylor, along with freshman running back Ian Thomas as star running back Oswaldo Morales would go down after a low hit on a touchdown carry. There were also multiple players banged up as expected late in the year, adding another layer for this team to try and fight through to preserve their season.
Despite these two key players going down, Tomball scratched and clawed for every inch of ground they could gain. Defense made key plays and had an overall impressive game holding one of the highest powered offenses in the state to 28 points. Offensively was a good performance of moving the ball well and scored 24 points, stopping only four yards short of the game winning touchdown with no time left.
An extremely painful part of this loss was the two key missed calls by the officials late in the game. A throw from Brock Taylor over the middle would bounce off the ground into a defenders hand however it was ruled an interception and lost the Cougars a possession, and a deep pass on 3rd down was initially caught by a Willis receiver who did not maintain possession as the ball rolled on the ground but it was still ruled a catch giving Willis a first down on the drive that would eventually lead to the go-ahead touchdown.
While the game can’t be blamed on the officials, the coaches, players and fans alike were all unhappy and those two calls did play a part in the Cougars not being able to pull out a victory.
With the odds stacked against them against the No. 10 team in the state with a top offense in Texas and missing two of the best players on their team, unfortunately it just was not in the cards for the Coogs. An amazingly hard fought battle and this team took it to the wire and nearly snatched victory when nobody thought they could. The team had first and goal in the final minute but came up short.
Brock Taylor stepped up big and played a good game as the team rallied around him and did everything in their power to try and win this game.
The season did not end the way the Cougars wanted it to but regardless this was a very successful season and an amazing ride. This team had fun winning together and accomplished many historic feats for this program, certainly one of if not the best teams and seasons in recent Tomball history and a lot to be proud of.
End of season awards
Head coach of the year: Dave Handal
Special teams player of the year: K Gage Villarreal
Defensive Newcomer of the year: LB Henry Mullinger
UNANIMOUS 1st team All-District: QB Jaxyn Faldyn, RB Oswaldo Morales, FB Joey Bruhn, TE Miles Roy
1st team All-District: OL Colby St John, OL Miles Hagan, OL Ryne Laws, WR Hunter Rathke, DL Lucas Pernas, LB Braeden Schneider, DB Jorge Concepcion, DB Connor Lowe, DB Dayton Navy
2nd team All-District: OL Camden Whitworth, WR Malik Johnny, DL Beckett Moore, DB Chance Green
Honorable Mention All- District: OL Carson Brown, OL Sean Williams, WR Barrett Junod, WR Abel Quiroz, DL Nigel Harris, DL Ryan Troy, LB Hunter Hilsher, LB Kenny Nelson, DB Gehrig Heckathorn
Academic All-District(Record number): Brayden Braaksma, Carson Brown, Joey Bruhn, Dyson Burdette, Brady Burrow, Brayden Call, Brendan Collazo, Jorge Concepcion, Rocco Devita, Trent Diffendal, Jarrett Drown, Timmy Evans, Jaxyn Faldyn, Grady Gassiott, Miles Hagan, Nigel Harris, Jackson Havel, Gehrig Heckathorn, Hunter Hilsher, Mateo Ibarra, Marshall Jacob, Barrett Junod, Isaac Khan, Ryne Laws, Connor Lowe, Logan Miller, Beckett Moore, Oswaldo Morales, Henry Mulliner, Reed Murdoch, Kenny Nelson, Campbell Oldham, Abel Quiroz, Christian Rivera, Miles Roy, Sebastian Sanchez, Braeden Schneider, Angelo Serna, Braeden Simmons, Parks Spry, Colby St John, Brock Taylor, Ethan Trevino, Ryan Troy, Gage Villareal, Camden Whitworth, Sean Williams, Owen Wright
