Last Friday, I left my house at 4:15 pm and got home at 1:00 am. Radio air time was 7:00 pm and I arrived just a hair before that. I didn’t get the chance to hang any of the banners or sit in the press-box and take in the ambiance of Lake Travis Cavalier stadium.
So, last night it was really nice to have a HOME game at D W Rutledge stadium as the Judson Rockets hosted the Steele Knights. These teams have combined to win 7 state championships!!!
All day at work, I was waiting for the clock to say 4:30 pm. I had my Beatles playlist playing (that always makes me happy) and I was shaking my legs (that also means I am happy, just ask my wife)!!
Man, I had time to pick up food from Dickey’s BBQ on FM 78…they will be feeding us at the Judson home games and that is just awesome! The dude from Dickey’s, Marc Cohen, probably would’ve delivered it to us, but he had to cater the San Antonio Missions baseball game last night.
Hey, I was just glad to have some food cause normally we get the leftovers from the VIP booth. Yeah, BBQ is always better than leftovers!! And, even though I am trying to eat healthier, I still ate a little bit of everything that Dickey’s provided and it was delicious. I really wanted to substitute my dry erase markers for BBQ sauce but that would’ve gotten messy and unreadable and I don’t think anybody wants to watch me lick my board!!
I had plenty of time to hang the TSRN banners and the radio banner. I even had time to eat, relax, and schmooze with the press-box folks.
I have had enough of me ranting about time management…let me talk about HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL, baby!!!
Steele and Judson have played 3 times with the Steele Knights getting wins in each meeting.
In 2010, Judson should’ve won that game. Tommy Armstrong never crossed the goal line in the 2nd OT on a 2-point conversion! In 2012, had Judson not committed 5 turnovers, they would’ve beat Steele. Yep, woulda and shoulda!!!
Last week, Steele gave up 46 points in a last minute loss to Madison. The Steele running game of Justin Stockton and LG Williams had 398 yards rushing on just 23 carries. Obviously, when your defense gives up 46 points, that is not good.
Judson’s offense struggled last week and only scored 25 points but they did win thanks in large part to a stellar defense (Malik Pryor, Justin Johnson, Kevion Ramsey, Shawn Calvin, D’Mauria Martin, and Brandon Clemens).
I kinda had a feeling last night’s game would be very very close and hopefully a Judson redemption victory. I also wanted to see a Judson running back rush for over 100 yards and quarterback, Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey to be a more effective passer and runner!
I know Steele running back, Justin Stockton will be over 100 yards!!! I saw Justin make his debut as a freshmen in 2010 on a Thursday Nights Live football game…4 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown. In the press-box, we were all asking who the heck is this kid? Now, everybody knows!!! I have said this before and I will say it again and probably again in a future Steele BLOG, Justin will be a better collegiate running back than UT Longhorn Malcolm Brown.
In Week 0, I saw Arrion Springs from Roosevelt and Trey Lealaimatafao from Warren…these are 2 of the top players in the San Antonio area. I actually got a Tweet from Trey’s mom…she liked my article on the Warren/MacArthur game; that was pretty freaking cool when I saw that notification! Steele running back, Justin Stockton as well as several Judson players are on that highly classified list.
D W Rutledge stadium was a full house of fans and that was just awesome!!! Our booth in the press-box was also full…besides me, Bobby Stautzenberger, and Tony Franklin, we also had Tony’s wife Sally and son Shawn, we had a friend of Bobby’s, and a newbie to TSRN, Ralph Judkins.
OMG, this game had some monster numbers…
145 total plays
1,075 total yards (5 players over 100 yards)
54 first downs
The Steele Knights defeated the Judson Rockets by a score of 51 to 34. Now, the Rockets could’ve won the game had they not had 7 turnovers…yes, folks, 7 turnovers!! When you have that many turnovers, it is really hard to beat any team especially a team like the Steele Knights.
Scott Lehnoff, the first year head coach at Steele, got his first WIN as a head coach and I just want to say CONGRATS; I know Scott will get many many more and I will be glad to say years down the road, that I was at his first WIN!! Wow…I got goosebumps as I was writing that!!
Now, had Judson won the game, I was gonna ask what is more shocking? Judson starting the season with 2 wins and 0 losses or Steele with 0 wins and 2 losses. I don’t know folks. These are non district games for both teams and I know they will both sail fairly easily in district play and make the playoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if one of these teams made it to a state championship game. Even though we won’t have to debate this, I am leaving this in as it gives us something to ponder!!
The Steele Knights ran 53 plays for 484 yards. On the first play of the game, Justin Stockton, the Steele running back, scored a touchdown on a 75 yard run!!! He finished the game with 21 carries for 210 yards and 5 touchdowns. Once he sees open field, you can’t stop him!!! The quarterback, LG Williams, had 16 carries for 164 yards and 1 touchdown but that touchdown was a 78 yard run!!! This is by far the most dangerous running duo I have seen in along time.
The Steele defense still needs to improve dramatically. One defensive player did stand out for the Knights and that was linebacker, Chris Boring. He had 2 fumble recoveries and an interception.
The Judson offense looked much much better last night than they did in Week 0. They ran 92 plays for 591 yards, but had 7 turnovers. If they had ZERO turnovers, Judson easily would’ve gotten more yardage and won the game.
Of those 591 yards, 414 were passing. Yes, passing not running!! I have been doing stats for Judson games for several years and I have never seeing them pass for that many yards.
Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey, the Judson quarterback, was 27 for 45 for 377 yards and 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions (one was returned 60 yards for a Steele touchdown). Andre Wilson, a wide receiver and just like last week, was 1 for 1 and that was a 37 yard touchdown. Andre also had a huge night with 12 receptions for 173 yards and 1 touchdown. Another wide receiver, Cedric Williams, had 6 receptions for 97 yards. I was really impressed with Michael Akai, yet another wide receiver. Akai had 7 receptions for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns.
I am still waiting on a Rocket running back to go over 100 yards…Brandon Sanders and Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey came close last night. Brandon had 14 carries for 82 yards and Rayjohn had 27 carries for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Hopefully next Friday, Judson will put together a complete game with no turnovers. Dude, if and when that happens and I know it will, Judson will have a long playoff run.
Tonight, I will be at Heroes stadium for Warren VS Churchill (TSRNsports.com).