Marble Falls drops district game to Leander, 42-28
Marble Falls senior receiver Eric Cauble hauls in one of his seven catches. He finished with 127 yards and a touchdown. Photo by Diana Cox
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
LEANDER — Despite losing to Leander High 42-28 in District 25-5A play Oct. 16, Marble Falls High School head football coach Matt Green was encouraged by his team’s play.
“Our quarterbacks played their tails off,” he said. “We scored 28 points. We moved the ball up and down the field. I thought we mixed it up well.”
There were four turnovers in the first half, and the Mustangs (2-5 overall, 0-3 district) committed three of them.
The first one, a fumble, was especially costly as the Lions picked it up on a fourth-and-1 and ran 60 yards in the opposite direction for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with seven minutes seven seconds left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Marble Falls fumbled and turned the ball back over to Leander. But the Mustangs defense then forced a turnover on downs.
That was the needed spark as senior quarterback Robert Atkinson led the Mustangs on a four-play, 70-yard drive that ended when he found senior receiver Eric Cauble on a 40-yard touchdown pass. The drive, which tied the game at 7-7, took less than a minute to complete.
Leander immediately answered with a 65-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Dalton Flowers from junior quarterback Parker McNeil for a 14-7 advantage. The two-play drive covered 66 yards in 43 seconds.
“We blew a coverage,” Green said.
Atkinson wouldn’t be denied on the next drive. He led the Mustangs on a nine-play, 74-yard drive and scored from two yards out to tie the game at 14-14 with 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
A Marble Falls interception resulted in a third touchdown for the Lions. Senior running back Matthew Long scored on a one-yard run to end a 70-yard drive that took five plays to complete for a 21-14 lead with 9:33 left in the second quarter.
The final touchdown of the half came off a bobbled ball that fell into the hands of Leander senior running back Ty Worthy for a 28-14 halftime lead. The six-yard touchdown pass completed a 13-play, 59-yard drive.
The Mustangs forced the Lions to punt on their opening possession of the second half. Then the Mustangs missed a 30-yard field goal when the ball went wide right on their first possession of the third quarter.
On Leander’s next possession, the Lions picked up the pace, resulting in an 11-yard touchdown pass to Flowers from McNeil for a 35-14 lead. The nine-play drive covered 87 yards.
But Marble Falls answered when junior quarterback Cade Cool ended the drive with a two-yard run to the end zone to trim the deficit to 35-21. The 13-play drive covered 59 yards with 12 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Lions missed a 43-yard field goal, but sophomore linebacker Alex Williams ran an interception back 24 yards for a touchdown and a 42-21 advantage with 5:26 left in the contest.
But the Mustangs wouldn’t quit. Cool hit Metcalf on a 26-yard touchdown pass to finish a seven-play, 67-yard drive and trim the deficit to 42-28 with 3:22 remaining in the game.
And though the Lions recovered an onside kick, they fumbled on their first offensive play.
But Leander intercepted a pass to end the Mustangs’ drive and secure the win.
Green said he was pleased by his team’s resiliency in continuing to respond positively even after some tough breaks.
“I thought we kept fighting,” he said.
Cauble ended the game with seven catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Atkinson completed eight passes for 137 yards and a touchdown pass. Cool completed 10 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown.
The coach noted junior running back Dalton Mayberry made the most of his 11 carries for 70 yards.
“Credit our offensive line in opening holes,” he said. “Mayberry had some tough runs. He got ahead of the chains.”
Marble Falls is at home against Cedar Park on Oct. 23 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 6:30 p.m. pregame show.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
SCORING AND STATS
FIRST QUARTER
L – Matthew Long 60-yard fumble return (Kyle Murdock kick), 7:07
MF – Eric Cauble 40-yard pass from Robert Atkinson (Gavino Tinajera kick), 4:34
L – Dalton Flowers 65-yard pass from Parker McNeil (Murdock kick), 3:49
MF – Atkinson two-yard run (Tinajera kick), :50
SECOND QUARTER
L – Long one-yard run (Murdock kick), 9:33
L – Ty Worthy six-yard catch from McNeil (Murdock kick), :15
THIRD QUARTER
L – Flowers 11-yard pass from McNeil (Murdock kick), 5:13
MF – Cade Cool two-yard run (Tinajera kick), :12
FOURTH QUARTER
L – Alex Williams 24-yard interception (Murdock kick), 5:26
MF – Jacob Metcalf 26-yard pass from Cool (Tinajera kick), 3:22
TEAM STATS
Marble Falls — First downs, 18; total yards, 395; rushes-yards, 24-111; passing, 284; interceptions, 3; comp-att-int, 18-37-3; fumbles-lost, 2-2; penalties-yards, 9-60
Leander — First downs, 13; total yards, 364; rushes-yards, 27-42; passing, 322; interceptions, 1; comp-att-int, 10-34-1; fumbles-lost, 1-1; penalties-yards, 7-42
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING – (Marble Falls), Dalton Mayberry 11-70, Robert Atkinson 7-20-1 TD, Austin Pegues 4-16, Cade Cool 1-(-1), Seth Cozby 1-6. (Leander), Matthew Long 19-48-1 TD, Parker McNeil 3-(-11), Levi Boeck 2-(-1), Brandon Plummer 3-6
PASSING – (Marble Falls), Atkinson 8-16-137-1 TD-1 INT, Cool 10-21-147-1 TD-2 INTs. (Leander), McNeil 20-34-322-3 TDs-1 INT
RECEIVING – (Marble Falls), Sam Harkins 1-11, Eric Cauble 7-127-1 TD, Jacob Metcalf 6-116, Cool 2-9, Burden 1-11, Mayberry 1-10. (Leander), Dalton Flowers 4-123-2 TDs, Ty Worthy 4-34-1 TD, Gabriel Sanchez 11-123, Michael Berry 1-22