Ciers connected on his first six passes, including a 32-yarder to 6-foot-5 tight end Drake Dabney for the first touchdown. McDougald, who was slated to be the starter at the beginning of the season but missed time with a knee injury, completed all six of his passes, three for touchdowns.
Cy-Ranch (7-2, 6-1) will play Tomball Memorial next week for the district title, just as the defending champion Mustangs did last season.
McDougald found Ben Postma on a 9-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to put Cy-Ranch up 28-0. He started the second half and checked off at the line of scrimmage to pass to Dabney for a 5-yard TD then later found Kobe Banks in stride on a skinny post for a 19-yard TD pass — the Mustangs’ sixth and seventh touchdowns of the game.
Banks had seven receptions for 145 yards, and Dabney, who has committed to sign with Arizona, had four catches for 68 yards.
“They are who we thought they were,” Bryan coach Ross Rogers said. “They have two good quarterbacks, a great running back. The offensive line has good players, and their wideouts are all good players. Defensively, they’ve got some pretty good guys.”
The Mustangs, who beat first-place Cypress Woods 55-7 last week, had 589 total yards of offense Friday. Wide receiver Elias Pino had four carries for 142 yards, including a 77-yarder around left end in the second quarter for a touchdown.
The Vikings (2-7, 1-6) knew they had to limit the Mustangs’ possessions, and although they had some good gains early by quarterback Nico Bulhof and Christian Richardson, they couldn’t convert third-and-short situations. In the first half, the Vikings had four third downs of 2 or less yards to gain and lost a combined 5 yards on the plays.
“We just couldn’t make any third-and-1s,” Rogers said. “That’s when they shut us down, and that would have taken some of the pressure off our defense if we would have converted a few of those. It was disappointing we couldn’t do that offensively, because we moved it well enough to make first downs. Give them credit. They whipped us in third-and-short.”
The Vikings did convert on a second-and-short with Bulhof darting up the middle, slipping a couple of tackles and taking the ball toward his own sideline for a 61-yard touchdown run. He was tripped up near the Cy-Ranch 5-yard line but kept his balance to cut Bryan’s deficit to 28-7 midway through the second quarter.
In the third quarter, the Vikings put together a five-play, 79-yard drive. Tailback Ja’liyah Tyler made a catch while on his back for 26 yards on the possession, and Jalen Davis broke outside for a 19-yard run. Bulhof found sophomore Carnellius Lawrence down the left sideline at the pylon for a 29-yard TD pass to cap the drive.
“It was one of his better games,” Rogers said of Bulhof, who completed 11 of 15 passes for 152 yards. “He did some things tonight I think that we all expected him to do.”
Bulhof also led the Vikings in rushing with 70 yards. The Vikings had 89 yards rushing in the first half against the No. 1 team in the district against the run, but Bryan only had three carries for zero yards in the second half when it had only three possessions.
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NOTES — The Mustangs scored three touchdowns on the ground, including two short first-half runs by Willie Eldridge, who is committed to UTEP. Backup Joshua Henry had the third TD run and the only points in the fourth quarter. ... Just before Eldridge’s second TD, Bryan cornerback Kenny Collins intercepted a pass in the corner of the end zone... Click here to read full article
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