By Dave Fanucchi - Texan Live Play-By-Play Announcer
Cypress Creek Head Coach Greg McCaig wasn't sure what he was going to get from a young and inexperienced roster Saturday night, when his varsity football team opened this Covid-protocol season at Pridgeon Stadium. But after his squad's 48-35 loss to Klein, he did get a clear cut answer.
The Cougars returned just two starters on offense, and two more on defense after a highly successful core group of players that led the Cougars to back-to-back regional semifinal playoff appearances, all graduated. That included quarterback Julian Uwadia.
So, since camp opened this year, everyone around the Cougar program has been wondering who might become the next signal caller for the Cougars. Candidates listed as QB's on the team roster include seniors Travis Alonge and Austin Diaz, Junior Carson Purdes, and Freshman Brad Jackson. All four saw action in the team's informal scrimmage against Foster last week.
It's not often here in Texas that you see a freshman even listed on a 6A high school football varsity roster. Just the fact that Jackson made the Varsity team is impressive, because obviously the Cougar coaching staff saw some things that they liked from Jackson over the summer.
When all four got a shot Saturday night, it was Jackson that emerged from the discussion as the clear cut top option for McCaig. The youngest of the four lead the Cougars on 4 of their 5 scoring drives vs Klein.
Alonge started on the Cougars' first possession and went three and out. Jackson was then inserted after Cy Creek quickly trailed 14-0, and showed no signs of nervousness. He moved the Cougars down the field and calmly found slot receiver Brazos Gadler on a 3rd & goal from the 6, for his first career varsity TD pass.
Then on the Cougs next possession, Jackson wasted no time finding WR Ryan Nguyen down the right sideline, and Nguyen took it to the house for a 69-yard touchdown.
Purdes and Diaz were each given opportunities to start a series, but Cy Creek failed to put any points on the board. Purdes was able to move the ball into Klein territory, and that drive resulted in an 11-yard TD run by Khalil Watts (my call of the play on Texan Live) to make it 24-21 Klein at the break.
In the third quarter, Diaz went three and out. Alonge also got a second series, but it went nowhere.
So Jackson started the fourth quarter and finished a drive by finding receiver Cole Hess in the end zone for a score, to pull within six at 34-28. After Klein padded the lead again, Jackson followed up on their next possession by hitting Gadler on a crossing route, and the speedster broke free down the sideline for a long TD catch and run that made it 41-35.
With five minutes to play, the Cougar defense forced a fumble deep in their own territory, and got the football back with a chance to win the game with a touchdown. But Jackson made his only mistake of the night, throwing a ball over the middle into coverage that was intercepted. It was a big ask for a freshman QB, to lead his team down the length of the field to win a game.
Jackson - who is ranked 13th among Class of 24 quarterback prospects in the State of Texas by QB Hit List - simply outplayed his older competition at the position. Despite being young, Jackson clearly emerged Saturday and should see most of the snaps for Cypress Creek, as they continue to rebuild and develop their young core group of players.
After the game, Jackson tweeted: "It was fun tonight to go out there and play. We came up short, but we see potential to get better. We will get right back to work on Monday."
The kid just understands the position at a higher level than the other three QB's on Cy Creek's roster, and he has the leadership qualities that you look for in a quarterback. And there's no comparison when it comes to his passing accuracy and his ability to read progressions and defenses. The future is indeed bright at the QB position at Cy Creek, for what looks to be the next four years.
Cy Creek (0-1) next takes on Klein Cain (0-1) on Friday, October 2 at 7 pm at Klein Memorial Stadium.
