Cypress Woods hangs on to beat Cy Ridge 49-40

At the end of September, the Cypress Woods Wildcats were 1–3 overall and limping into district play with two early losses. Plus, starting quarterback Colton Huntsman was literally limping, sidelined with a badly sprained ankle that had him in a walking cast.

What a difference a month makes.

Behind the passing of a now fully healthy Huntsman, the Wildcats held on for a thrilling 49-40 victory over previous District 17-5A leader Cy Ridge at the Berry Center.

The Wildcats now join a log-jam atop the district standings with Cy Ridge, Cy Creek and Cy Fair. All four teams stand at 6-2 in district play heading into the final week of the season.

Cy Woods (6-3) survived a furious Cy Ridge (6-3) rally that saw its 21-point fourth-quarter lead cut to 2 with just over 2 minutes to play. Renderick Childs' 14-yard run brought the Rams to within 42-40. However, Andrew Gonzales was stopped short on the two-point conversion try.

Then, facing fourth-and-2 from the Rams 42, Cy Woods' Fredrick Anderson raced untouched for a score to secure the win.

"Coach said we needed a yard, but once I saw that hole I got a look in my eye that I wasn't going down," Anderson said. "The hole the line opened for me was so huge."

It was one of many big plays for Anderson, who twice was on the receiving end of a Huntsman touchdown toss. Huntsman, a senior who recently committed to Air Force, had another exceptional game — his third since returning from his injury. He completed 18-of-29 passes for 280 yards and five touchdowns.

Anderson added 96 receiving yards to go with his 43 rushing yards and the clinching score.

Cy Woods, flush with the success of their first two varsity seasons that saw them advance three and four rounds deep in the Class 5A Region II playoffs, have responded from their early season struggles and now find themselves one win away from a district championship.

"We knew we were going to have some struggles," Cy Woods coach David Jones said. "But we got some back-ups that have stepped up and played well and we feel we've set the foundation to expect to win and I am happy for them."

After Cy Ridge took an early 7-0 lead following Childs' 53-yard run, Huntsman went to work. He hit Cole Devillers on a 27-yard strike.

Philip Johnson then recovered a Gonzales fumble to give Cy Woods the ball deep in Ram territory. Huntsman made them pay by rushing for a score on the next play and the lead was 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Wildcats extended the lead to 14 after Huntsman hooked up with Deviller again, this time from 18 yard to give Cy Woods a 21-7 cushion.

Huntsman hit Fredrick Anderson on a 19-yard screen play to make it 28-7 midway thru the 2nd quarter.

Ridge cut the lead to 14 just before half. Gonzales led the Rams on a 10-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 19 yard pass to James Burch. Gonzales also had a 30-yard touchdown pass to Burch during the Ram's fourth quarter rally.

Cy Woods appeared to put the game away as Huntsman and Anderson connected for their second score of the night, a 5-yard score to push the lead to 21 early in the fourth.

All that ended up doing was set the stage for the exciting ending

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