Preview: Week 13 Players to Watch in Central Texas

The regular season for both the 5A and 6A classes is being to wrap up this week and that only makes these few games all the more important. Check out the players to watch this week in these tough contests. 1. Vista Ridge vs Stony Point (Thursday at 2 p.m.) <ul> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="60511" first="Kyle" last="Brown"] (VR)</strong> - The senior quarterback is among the best in Central Texas and he will look to finish off the regular season against Stony Point and then push the Rangers into the postseason. Brown currently has 2,424 passing yards and 29 touchdowns with six interceptions. Last week against Round Rock, Brown threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard bomb. He has only thrown less than 200 yards in one game against Vandegrift back in October. Brown is certainly one to watch this week.</li> <li><strong>Kwade Hegtvedt (VR)</strong> - Brown’s favorite target among the Vista Ridge receiving corps. Hegtvedt, a senior wide receiver, has 954 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns and last week, he had 191 yards and two touchdowns against Round Rock. Hegtvedt is a consistent threat to defenses week in and week out and Brown will more than likely look his way to defeat Stony Point this week.</li> <li><strong>Jake Chambers (SP)</strong> - The leading tackler for the Tigers is the junior Chambers. He has 67 total tackles this season, averaging 13.4 tackles per game. Chambers is one of the more prominent defenders for Stony Point and will have a role to play against Vista Ridge as Stony Point looks to pull off an upset.</li> </ul> 2. Vandegrift vs Round Rock (Friday at 7 p.m.) <ul> <li><strong>Israel Morgan (RR)</strong> - One of the most productive running backs in Central Texas in his final season with Round Rock. He has 1,191 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the season and has consistently rushed over 100 yards in every game he has played. Despite whatever defense Morgan faces, he finds ways to score and run all over the field. No defense has been able to stop him but Vandegrift will do its best to stop him.</li> <li><strong>Ryan Back (V)</strong> - The senior quarterback is looking to continue a productive season for the Vipers against one of the toughest opponents they have faced this season. Back has 1,164 yards and 16 touchdowns with four interceptions. Back is often not a mobile quarterback in terms of gaining rushing yards and touchdowns and prefers to sling it, but he has scored three rushing touchdowns, and there is always a chance he is forced out of his comfort zone against a tough opponent. Still, Back is the leader of the Vipers and he will have to play at his best to defeat tough competition against the Dragons.</li> <li><strong>Rickey Sweeney (V)</strong> - On the defensive side of the ball is this senior defensive lineman who has five sacks this season along with 50 total tackles. The sacks for Sweeney are spread out throughout the season but he has also accounted for five hurries, meaning he gets close to getting to the quarterback and he will likely be leaned on by the Vipers defense to create some disruption against Round Rock.</li> </ul> 3. Austin vs Westlake (Friday at 7:30 p.m.) <ul> <li><strong>Grey Nakfoor (W)</strong> - Although the eyes are all on senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="60490" first="Zane" last="Minors"], the other senior running back Nakfoor is just as deadly. Nakfoor has 419 rushing yards and nine touchdowns this season and has proved to be a nightmare for defenses. Westlake is once again an elite unit that looks unstoppable and if Austin wants to avoid ending up like Bowie, the Maroons will have to find a way to stop both Nakfoor and Minors.</li> <li><strong>Nick Anderson (A)</strong> - senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="60274" first="Charles" last="Wright"]’s favorite target by a long shot is senior wide receiver Anderson, who has 834 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. Anderson has had himself a season scoring like an NFL receiver. Not mentioned was his 45 receptions, nearly double of his closest teammates receptions. Anderson is a machine against opposing secondaries, but he will face his toughest challenge yet against Westlake, a team that has yet to allow an opponent team to score more than seven points.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="60274" first="Charles" last="Wright"] (A)</strong> - The Westlake defense speaks for itself, and because of that, Wright is a player to watch this week. He has 1,898 passing yards and 29 touchdowns with four interceptions. Wright faces the toughest defense he has ever faced and thus the pressure will be on him to connect with Anderson to create a chance for Austin to break Westlake’s streak of only allowing opponents to score up to seven points so far this season.</li> </ul>