Preview: Players to Watch in Central Texas (8/25/21)

Jack Densmore

August 26, 2021 @ 08:00 AM

Two schools are the talk of the town this week, those being Rouse and Cedar Park. Rouse will square off against Burnet tonight at 7 p.m. at A.C. Bible Junior Memorial Stadium in Leander, TX and Cedar Park will face off against Vandegrift at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 27 at Ed W. Monroe Memorial Stadium in Austin. Take a look at a few players to watch from both teams! 1. [player_tooltip player_id="121947" first="Mason" last="Shorb"] (JR-QB) - Rouse High School (Leander, TX) The starting quarterback for Rouse, Shorb has already showcased his talent last season when he threw for 3,100 passing yards and 39 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. What makes Shorb a player to watch is also the fact that he was just a sophomore last season, and now as a more experienced junior, Shorb has the potential to be even more of an elite talent than he was last season. Also, considering Rouse retained much of its offense since last season, Shorb is surrounded by familiar faces and his favorite target, senior wide receiver Troy Oliver Jr. 2. EJ Moore (SR-RB) - Rouse High School (Leander, TX) In the same boat as Shorb, Moore showcased himself as a rushing machine last season. In total, he rushed for 1,190 yards and 12 touchdowns, putting him amongst the best in Central Texas. Considering this will be Moore’s last season with Rouse, and this will be the first game to kick that off, Moore will be looking to explode from the starting line to lead off into another impressive season. 3. Troy Oliver Jr. (SR-WR) - Rouse High School (Leander, TX) It is hard to just put one receiver for Rouse in this preview because in reality, both Oliver and senior wide receiver Jalen Becerra are a deadly duo to say the least, combining for almost 2,000 receiving yards last season and 25 touchdowns. As stated before, since Shorb is still their quarterback, both Oliver and Becerra will likely be putting up impressive performances in this game coming up, as well as the rest of the season. 4. Kevin Adams II (SR-RB) - Cedar Park High School (Cedar Park, TX) Vandegrift poses a worthy challenge for the always elite Timberwolves and considering the Vandegrift defense is always tough to face, Adams will be one to watch on the Timberwolves offense. What will be especially interesting is to see how the offense shifts with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="60485" first="Ryder" last="Hernandez"] no longer there after graduating. Adams is among the returners from that offense and with the more experience he has gained, will need to be a prominent leader in games like this one against the Vipers. 5. Ian Ferguson (SR-DL) - Cedar Park High School (Cedar Park, TX) In the same kind of position is Ferguson on the defensive side of things. Ferguson was very impressive last season with seven sacks. In the matchup against Vandegrift, it is shaping to be a game of defenses where players like Ferguson will be called upon to make big plays to give the Timberwolves a chance to score for the win. If that is the case, Ferguson is definitely worthy of a look this week as he has proven already that he can cause disruption.