HS Football: Cavaliers Dominate 2024 Season Opener Against Cypress Park

CYPRESS, TX -- The College Park Cavaliers (1-0) hit the road where they thrashed the Cypress Park Tigers (0-1) in a 63-10 season opener.

The sting of a season that just missed the playoffs haunted the Cavaliers during the offseason, but work inside the College Park program has been spent toward starting the season with a win.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, College Park Head Coach Kyle Coats spoke on his team’s preparation before the season opener.

“We’ve been working since day one of the offseason for this,” said Coats. “We planned to hold our guys to a very high standard from the get-go.

Toughness, determination, and effort has been the motto for the Cavs, and the players carried their motivated energy into the opening quarter.

“Nobody should be able to play as hard as us,” emphasized Coats.

Fast-flying defenders for the Cavaliers scuttled the Cy-Park opening drive for just five yards gained.

Meanwhile, College Park’s next two first-quarter drives would result in points. A field goal from Alec Hargis gave the Cavs the early lead and a connection from Camden Hughes to Clint Rachal resulted in a 57-yard passing touchdown for an immediate 11-3 lead following a successful two-point conversion.

Following another stop from the Cavalier offense, another lengthy passing play to Rachal broke into open space. The lethal senior receiver blazed past the Tiger defensive backs for his second receiving score of the game, making the College Park lead 18-3.

The relentless College Park defense continued their feast of the Cypress Park offensive unit by forcing the first turnover with a fumble. The short field aided freshly inserted Rodrigo Bravo Jr. on his path to a 17-yard scoring drive.

Coats’ decision to put in Bravo was well-timed because the mobile quarterback spun and weaved his way through the Tiger defenders for a nine-yard rushing touchdown.

With a sizeable lead in their pocket, the Cavs were free to ease off the gas. But the defense’s determination shined through on Cy-Park’s next offensive possession. The third drive of the second quarter for the Tigers saw another miscue in the offensive backfield. A miscommunication on a toss play saw the ball hit the turf for another fumble recovered by the Cavs.

Following another forced Tiger turnover, Bravo Jr. found another wide-open receiver in the endzone for a score. The off-the-line speed of Jordan Styles allowed the talented receiver to easily make his way into the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown and a 32-3 lead.

Offensive futility continued for the Tigers with another drive ending in a three-and-out and punt to the red-hot Cavalier defense.

The fostering dynamic duo between the powerful arm of Bravo Jr. and the speedy receiver Rachal continued to produce on another lengthy Cavalier drive.

Starting from their 20-yard line, the College Park offense rode an initially balanced attack of passing and rushing into Cy-Park territory. Seeing an opportunity for a strike, Bravo Jr. targeted Rachal down the field for the receiver’s third touchdown of the first half.

The 45-yard air-mail pass pushed College Park’s already impressive lead to 39-3, with the squad showing zero signs of slowing down.

Cypress-Park’s coaching staff decided to go all-in and attempt everything they could to ignite the offensive production. On their 30-yard line, the Tigers went for a fourth down conversion attempt but were corralled by the pursuing Cavaliers for a turnover on downs.

Another short field gave the Cavalier offense the green light to go for another shot to the endzone. Hughes was reinserted in the quarterback spot for College Park and he made quick work of the tired Cy-Park defense.

A pin-point throw through the lagging Tiger defensive backs found Styles for his second receiving score.

College Park’s dominance on both sides of the ball rewarded the team with a quick first half and a 46-3 lead going into the locker room.

A micro-storm plowed through the Cypress area during the halftime show, giving both teams more time to consider changes or adjustments for the impending second half.

Coats and the Cavaliers needed to make no adjustments to their hot-and-running offense. Fresh out of the break, Hughes led College Park on another charge down the field to cap off a 78-yard drive with a passing score to runningback Jayden Ogoli to make the lead 53-3 in College Park’s favor.

Despite Cypress Park’s best drive since the first quarter carrying the team into College Park territory, the Tigers were forced into another turnover on downs to concede the ball to the Cavs.

Another surgical drive for the Cavaliers, even with second and third-string players, saw the College Park offense maintain their dominance. The first action of the night for Kenzo Almeida came on a shallow pass in the flats from Bravo Jr., where the senior receiver took the pass to the house for a 60-3 Cav lead.

“It’s always cool to be able to see those guys pay off their hard work and get to celebrate when they have those cool moments,” said a pleased Coats on his team’s depth.

Both teams entered a run-heavy attack in the transition from the third to the fourth quarter. The clock, irrelevant for a long time, worked toward triple zeros much faster.

A heavy drizzle added to the drab environment on the Cypress-Park sidelines, but a lengthy offensive drive gave a light boost of energy. A rushing touchdown for Daquintan Chachere did not change the outcome of the game, but a 63-10 final score gave both teams some learning points ahead of next week’s games.

“One of the big things we can emphasize before next week is sideline awareness,” said Coats. “There are some little nitpicky things that I’m going to go back and clean up through the film.”

The dominant victory sets the Cavaliers with a 1-0 record going into the team’s Saturday night game against Klein Cain.

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