HFB Playoff Picture
Ridge Point remains perfect in 6A district play
Roger Smith
Nov 15, 2018, 5:00 am
Another one bit the dust Thursday night. Vype
Originally appeared on Vype
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SUGAR LAND – Another one bit the dust Thursday night. The Ridge Point Panthers turned back the Dulles Vikings’ bid to be the first team to knock them off in a Class 6A district game with a 35-21 win.
The good news for the Vikes (8-2 overall, 5-2 in district play), though, is that they’re in the state playoffs, just as Ridge Point (9-1, 7-0) is.
So is Travis (7-1, 5-1), which faces Bush Friday night (live on VYPE, 6:45 p.m.) in a game which has no playoff implications. If you’re familiar with Texas History, the Tigers have drawn the black bean again and must face the Tigers who reside a few miles north of Richmond, in Katy. Nothing that happens when Travis plays Bush will allow Travis to avoid playing Katy.
The only thing that hasn’t been decided is who among the teams in District 20-6A will get the fourth and last available playoff berth. The Elkins Knights and Austin Bulldogs will do battle Saturday (live on VYPE, 11:45 a.m.), and the winner earns a postseason bid.
Ridge Point, 21-0 in District 20-6A football since joining their Fort Bend ISD brethren in 2016, wore down Dulles with its depth, but the Vikings threw a couple of haymakers that enabled them to enjoy a lead twice in the first half. While driving 75 yards in 3:14 to start the game, finishing the possession with a 34-yard run by Myles Heard for a 7-0 lead, Panthers’ linebacker Chike Onigbogu left the field with an illness and did not return.
The absence of Onigbogu, who was second on the team in solo tackles, total tackles and tackles for loss, weakened Ridge Point’s defense and gave the Vikings a chance to duplicate the early offensive success.
The teams traded turnovers in the first quarter before Ridge Point got on the board. The Vikings’ D stoned the Panthers on a 4th-and-two as Darius Phillips shut down John Paul Richardson running out the “wildcat” formation. However, Cameron Peters’ pass on the ensuing Dulles possession was intercepted by Carter Aycock, who returned the ball to the Vikings’ 36-yard line.
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The Houston Texans missed an opportunity to move into first place in the AFC South with Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Despite the 24-21 defeat, star rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud is confident the Texans will bounce back and continue to exceed expectations this season.
“It’s about the mindset, though. What are we going to do? Not play anymore? (Are) we just going to tuck our tail and not play hard? No, I don’t really believe in that type of mindset,” he said. “I’m going out there every play, every game trying to win. So, I don’t really think that our season is over at all. It’s a long year … you can see the trajectory we’re on.”
Houston (6-5) fell into a tie with the Indianapolis Colts for second place in the division behind the first-place Jaguars (8-3) with the loss.
The Texans had a chance to force overtime with 34 seconds left Sunday, but Matt Ammendola’s 58-yard field-goal attempt bounced off the crossbar.
Before that, Stroud had another strong game. The second overall pick in the draft threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns to give him 3,266 yards passing to overtake Justin Herbert (3,224) for most yards passing in NFL history through a player’s first 11 games.
Stroud also became the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 300 yards or more in four straight games.
He moved effectively to avoid the rush Sunday, averaging 3.8 seconds to throw each pass, which is the longest time by anyone in a single game this season according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Both his touchdown passes against Jacksonville came on extended drop-backs of four or more seconds.
“C.J did a really good job of being able to move around and extend plays,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Made a couple of big plays for us … I thought he moved around well when he had to, took what the defense gave him.”
WHAT’S WORKING
Stroud’s stellar play continues to make Houston’s passing game the strength of the team. His yards passing rank second in the NFL and Houston’s 276.2 yards passing a game also come in at No. 2 in the league.
He’s done a great job of spreading the ball around, and the Texans had four receivers with at least 40 yards Sunday.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
Houston was down to just one timeout for the last drive Sunday after Ryans had to burn two earlier in the second half to avoid penalties.
“It’s tough for us not having those timeouts, having to waste them on procedural things that we need to clean up,” Ryans said. “All those timeouts were just self-inflicted things that we have to be better at. Whether it’s making sure we got the right amount of people on the field, getting the calls in quicker, getting to the line of scrimmage quicker, we just have to be better.”
STOCK UP
WR Nico Collins led the team with seven receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown Sunday. It was his third 100-yard game of the season, which is a career high for the third-year player. It’s the first time he’s had more than 100 yards receiving since finishing with a career-best 168 yards receiving in a win over Pittsburgh Oct. 1.
STOCK DOWN
CB Tavierre Thomas was called for pass interference on two plays on the same drive that helped the Jaguars to a touchdown in the third quarter.
INJURIES
LG Tytus Howard injured his knee against Jacksonville and is questionable for Sunday’s game. … WR Noah Brown missed a second straight game against the Jaguars with a knee injury. … RB Dameon Pierce returned against Jacksonville after missing three games with an ankle injury.
KEY NUMBER
0. The Texans didn’t have a sack Sunday for the first time all season.
NEXT STEPS
The Texans look to get back on track when they wrap up a three-game homestand with a visit from Denver Sunday. The Broncos (6-5) have won five in a row after dropping five of their first six games.