Marble Falls opens district play against 2014 co-champion Vista Ridge

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls High School football team will begin the most important part of its season Sept. 18.

That’s when the Mustangs (2-1) open District 25-5A play against Cedar Park Vista Ridge (3-0) at Mustang Stadium, 2101 Mustang Drive. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Listen to the contest on KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune or at KBEYFM.com under “Marble Falls football” starting with a pregame show at 6:30 p.m.

The Rangers, who won a share of the district crown last season, have wins against Elgin (35-14) on Sept. 11, Austin LBJ (48-20) on Sept. 4 and Seguin (42-8) on Aug. 28.

Marble Falls head coach Matt Green didn’t mince words as he talked about Vista Ridge.

“They are good,” he said. “I think they return eight or nine starters from last year’s team that was excellent. And it all spearheads off the quarterback.”

That quarterback is senior Matthew Snow, who has 51 carries for 412 yards and seven touchdowns and has completed 20 passes for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“He is a very big, physical runner,” Green said. “They like to run zone read. They do all kinds of misdirection and let him keep the ball. … I think he’s their best runner. And that’s saying a lot because they have (senior running back Isaiah) Vilaire, and he is fast. Snow throws the ball even better than this time last year, so you can’t just say he’s a quarterback who runs; he can throw.”

Vilaire has has 32 rushes for 316 yards and six touchdowns and four catches for 73 yards and six touchdowns.

“He can score at any point from anywhere on the field,” Green said.

Senior receiver Tyler Harris has five catches for 104 yards for the Rangers. The offensive line is led by all-district senior center Harper Geracci. Senior offensive guards Trey Weidner and Brennan Eggers also return.

The Rangers’ run game sets up their passing attack.

The Marble Falls defense has given up a total of 13 points in 156 minutes, but Green said the Mustangs will have their biggest test of the season.

“They’re aggressive, they’re flying to the ball, tackling well in space,” he said. “The thing I really like is whenever we give up the big play, we recover. And we haven’t given up a bunch of big plays. If a team begins to drive or gets in the red zone, I’m telling you, we’re tough to get in the end zone on. We’re forcing many teams into field goals down in the red zone.”

The Vista Ridge defense is equally accomplished. The Rangers have been on the field for 163 total plays and given up an average of 137 rushing yards and 113 passing yards.

The Rangers defense is led by all-state senior linebacker R.J. Phillips, all-district senior cornerback Tyler Harris, all-district senior defensive end Jay Mobley and senior outside linebacker Jeremiah Chambers, last season’s district newcomer of the year.

Green said the first trait he noticed about this defense is speed.

“They can fly to the ball, he said. “They have speed in the back end. Their secondary can fly. Their linebackers can run. And so they’re a defense that really wants to jam the middle up, force things to the outside and run to it because that’s their strength.”

Meanwhile, the Mustangs will look to stop taking steps backward by cutting down on penalties and turnovers. They are averaging 12 for 108 yards and two turnovers per contest.

“We do have to eliminate penalties and turnovers,” Green said. “At times, we threw the ball effectively, and at times, we were ineffective.”

Junior quarterback Cade Cool has completed 31 passes for 426 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions and has 13 rushes for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Junior running back Sam Harkins has 26 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown, while junior running back Dalton Mayberry has 12 rushes for 62 yards and 11 catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

jfierro@thepicayune.com