Battle of Bagdad: In-Depth Look at Offenses for Both Teams
The Battle of Bagdad is a longstanding high school rivalry in Central Texas between Cedar Park and Leander. Bagdad is the road on which A.C. Bible Junior Memorial Stadium sits where both teams have shared the stadium for a long…
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Continue ReadingThe Battle of Bagdad is a longstanding high school rivalry in Central Texas between Cedar Park and Leander. Bagdad is the road on which A.C. Bible Junior Memorial Stadium sits where both teams have shared the stadium for a long time before the construction of other stadiums in the area.
The Battle of Bagdad returns to A.C. Bible Junior Memorial Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m. as the high octane offense of Cedar Park takes on Leander. There are key players on both sides that could end up making the plays to switch who wins this battle and that is why this game is worthy of an in-depth look as both schools are shooting towards trying to make the playoffs in a season unlike any other because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To start off, the Cedar Park offense has helped the Timberwolves to stretch an undefeated 5-0 record in the district. The leader of the offense is senior quarterback Ryder Hernandez Ryder Hernandez 6'0" | 190 lbs | QB Cedar Park | 2021 TX who has been mentioned multiple times across Prep Redzone Texas and for good reason. Hernandez currently has 1,587 passing yards and 19 touchdowns with zero interceptions including 69 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Impressive stats nonetheless but what is key is the fact Hernandez has yet to throw an interception so late in the season which does not often happen. Hernandez boasts a 75.2 completion percentage (106 out of 141) and his accuracy is important in this game as the Leander defense will be looking to end that streak. Since the early October contest against Cedar Ridge, Hernandez has thrown over 300 yards in each game meaning Leander will not be able to stop Hernandez but the defense will need to try and end his no-turnover streak.
The main reason Hernandez has such impressive numbers is due to his wide receivers. Senior wide receiver Jack Hestera has also been mentioned here before because he currently leads that receiving core with 457 yards and seven touchdowns on the season. Although, his teammates senior Josh Cameron and senior Gunnar Abseck have shown they are also some of Hernandez’s favorite targets. Cameron has 371 yards and four touchdowns while Abseck has 343 yards and three touchdowns. Even though Hestera boasts the biggest numbers, Leander will have its hands full trying to also cover Cameron and Abseck.
The last key part to the Cedar Park offense is senior Cade Haught, who has 250 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the season. Although Cedar Park does most of its work through the air, Haught is one to watch when the Timberwolves reach the red zone especially as Haught only averages 50 yards per game but has those six touchdowns.
On the other side, Leander’s struggles have not been on the offense but rather the defense. Senior quarterback Garrett Landry also has impressive numbers with 1,197 yards and 12 touchdowns with just two interceptions. The only time Leander, and Landry, struggled on offense was against another powerhouse in the area, Vista Ridge. Landry threw for 131 yards with zero touchdowns. Vista Ridge was able to keep the Leander offense from doing virtually anything and the Cedar Park defense will have to do just the same. Besides that game, and the season-opener against Glenn, Landry has had some partly impressive performances especially against Anderson, Weiss and Pflugerville.
The Lions also have more of a running game than Cedar Park does led by senior running back Ray Egelsee who totals 516 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the season, averaging 103.2 yards per game. Unlike Haught, Egelsee has the yards but also the scoring as he has exceeded 100 yards in two games and gotten close to 100 yards in two other games. His best game came against Glenn for the season opener when he rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns. However, he is facing a better defense so the contest against Vista Ridge could paint a more accurate picture but even though Landry struggled against the Rangers, Egelsee still had 91 rushing yards. Cedar Park will have to do the same thing Vista Ridge did but the Timberwolves might not be as lucky to keep Egelsee out of the end zone.
Last but not least is the Lions receiving core which is more diverse than Cedar Park’s but junior Caden Wheatley leads the charge with just three reported games on MaxPreps. In those games recorded for him, Wheatley has 381 yards and five touchdowns. Another name to look out for is junior Aidan Perrott who has 254 yards and two touchdowns on the season. In the upset win over Pflugerville, Perrott recorded 131 yards and one touchdown including a 65-yard reception. Since then, Perrott has been quiet but given how big of a game Perrott had to upset the Panthers, Leander might need to see Perrott have that same kind of performance to have a chance to upset Cedar Park as well and to give Wheatley less coverage from the Cedar Park defense.