Defending champs fall Week 1

DRIPPING SPRINGS — One down. Fifteen to go.

Instead of basking in the glow of a 41-14 victory  Friday night  over defending Class 6A Division II state champion Vandegrift at Tiger Stadium, Dripping Springs took a business-as-usual approach to the one-sided romp. Yes, it was a big victory, no doubt, but there has never been a state football champion crowned before September.

The surprising score certainly sent shock waves throughout the state. Vandegrift hardly looked like the team that finished 2024 on a 14-game winning streak.

Tigers coach Galen Zimmerman might have known something special might happen when he said this summer that his Tigers were “better than most people think.”

Better? For at least a night, the Tigers, No. 9 in the American-Statesman’s preseason Central Texas poll, resembled a team that might be competing in December. All told, they finished with a 489-249 edge in total yards.

But anyone crowning the Tigers now should tap the brakes, the coach said.

“This was a big game, no doubt, but this was step one,” Zimmerman said. “If this is the pinnacle of the season we’re not doing something right.”

Here are some takeaways from the season-opening game for both teams:

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No one had a bigger impact than Dripping Springs quarterback Chase Ames, who was making his varsity debut. The junior didn’t disappoint anyone, completing 19 of 27 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns. Zimmerman was thrilled his team finished the game without a turnover.

“Chase made good decisions,” the coach said. “That’s a quality in a quarterback you need to have.”

Perhaps the public should have been more familiar with the 6-foot, 170-pound quarterback who recently received an offer to play at Midwestern State. No slouch in the classroom, he has a 4.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) and dazzled during 7-on-7 competitions earlier in the summer.

Yet, his only game experience in high school was as the JV quarterback last year.

“My coaches did a great job in preparing me,” Ames said. “I got the ball to my playmakers and let them do the work. All the preparation we did leading up to the game was huge for morale. We expected to win. That was just our opinion. A lot of others had other opinions. We expect to play 16 weeks (through the playoffs). That’s our standard here. And we’ve got to meet those expectations.”

Among his chief playmakers was 6-foot-4 senior receiver Cooper Reid. He made the most of his five receptions, contributing 80 yards and a touchdown.

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Among the major pieces Dripping Springs lost to graduation was Jack Tyndall, a bullish running back who gained 1,117 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Tigers apparently have found his successor, Jaceton Gotta, who rushed for 84 yards and caught seven passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Gotta also was involved in one of the biggest plays of the game.

Vandegrift, which trailed 20-0 in the second half, roared back and cut the lead to 20-14. A Vipers takeover seemed possible. But just when it seemed Dripping Springs might lose its lead, Ames connected on a 65-yard strike to Gotta, a play that led to Gotta’s 11-yard touchdown pass a few plays later.

“The reason I was able to do that is because of our offensive line,” Gotta said. “They’ve been training so hard. They put in the extra work after we had lost a lot of interior linemen. We locked in, buckled down and started performing. Our goal is to play 16 weeks and go to the state ‘ship. This was a great way to start.”

While Vandegrift, No. 2 in the Statesman’s preseason poll, must regroup from a lackluster performance, history suggests losing early can make a team better. Just last year the Vipers lost a 49-46 shootout to Cedar Park in the second week and never lost another game. They can get a measure of revenge when they play their home opener next week against Cedar Park.

Quarterback Miles Teodecki seemed like a one-man team on offense, passing for 148 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 39 yards. The Vipers are going to miss running back Brendan Fournier, who rushed for 1,314 yards and 20 touchdowns and was a vital cog in the their championship run. Perhaps they will give the ball more to Justin Moore, who rushed for 49 yards and one score in Friday’s loss.