By Terry Carter
Cinco Ranch has a long history of athletic excellence that includes brilliance. This fall may include more surprise and achievement.
In football Cougar teams have surged to regional finals and even the state semifinals. But the Cougars have never tried skipping spring football to start fall football practices on Aug. 1 — until now.
Today only Cinco Ranch, Paetow and Tompkins will begin fall practices among Katy ISD schools, Cinco Ranch head football coach Chris Dudley confirmed. By Friday those three teams, which traded spring football drills for an early fall start, will be in full pads.
“This is the first year we didn’t do spring football. It’s a different approach we studied,” Dudley said. “We elongated our weight program because we felt we got outmuscled in most of our losses last year.”
After another run to the Region III-6A semifinals, the Cougars posted an 8-5 record last fall after finishing fourth in the District 19-6A race. With six offensive and two defensive starters returning, the 2022 Cinco Ranch football team will be an offensive powerhouse.
“Last year in our last three playoff games, we scored 40 points or more, and the offense hit its stride with the (55-16) Morton Ranch win,” Dudley explained.
The team returns 90 percent of its offensive yardage producers, including Offensive MVP QB Gavin Rutherford, who combined for 40 touchdowns, RB Eric Eckstrom and a host of receivers.
After an 0-10 initial season with only seven returning players after taking the head coaching reins from Don Clayton in 2019, Dudley has implemented his brand of Cougar culture and play. And results have improved each season.
“We have gone slightly up the last few years, and our kids are proud of that. They have taken ownership of where we are going. It’s a struggle in this district, but I think we will do well,” he said. “We are cultivating a toughness aspect. It’s more consistent throughout now. It’s not just o-line or d-line, but all positions. I want to see our receivers as the toughest out there.”
Led by 6-4 JV and sophomore teams, the varsity roster is being updated with young, hungry athletes. And the freshman A-team finished 6-2-2 while the freshman B-team was 4-5, the coach said.
Katy ISD football teams kick off their seasons on the weekend of Aug. 25-27. Cinco Ranch opens at Woodforest Stadium against College Park on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. On Sept. 3, the traveling Cougars play Klein Oak at Klein Memorial Stadium in a 6 p.m. final, non-district game. Then eight rugged district battles take center stage.
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- Cougar RB Eric Eckstrom (17) has his sights set on powering the ground offense in 2022. Eckstrom will primarily line up as a single back warrior in the offensive packs where he can run, catch a pass and block for his quarterback. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)
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- Cinco Ranch senior LB Braden Williams (39) recorded 60 tackles and five sacks last fall. He plans on disrupting offensive backfields all season this year. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)
