LEANDER — Rouse coach Josh Mann couldn’t do much more than grin and shake his head following his team’s intense, improbable and downright incredible 10-7 win over Glenn on Friday at Bible Stadium.
A rock fight of a rivalry game between the two newest programs in the Leander school district seemed destined for overtime after Glenn forced a punt and took over possession deep in its own territory with less than a minute left in the game.
But when the Grizzlies tried to take one more shot at the win, Rouse’s Nico Fisher knocked the ball out of Glenn quarterback’s Sky Mendez’s hands and defensive lineman Joseph Castaneda recovered the loose ball. After killing off almost the rest of the clock, Rouse turned the game over to kicker Zach Ramirez, who calmly killed Glenn’s hopes of remaining unbeaten with a 30-yard field goal that gave Rouse its first win of the season.
“The football gods are cruel, because we’ve had stuff like that happen to us,” said Mann, who has been the Raiders’ head coach since they began varsity competition in 2010. “I hate it for them, but I’m happy that it went our way.
“Any win you get is big. We’ve had a lot of rough years and a lot of good years, so when you get a win like this, you cherish it. And we needed one. We’ve had a rough start, there’s no secret about it.”
But that rough start is partly by design for a Rouse squad that has played in two consecutive regional quarterfinal contests and entered this season ranked No 8 in the Associated Press’ Class 5A Division II poll. The Raiders (1-2) lost to an unbeaten Lake Belton team in the opening week and Class 6A Anderson in week two. The three opponents for Rouse have a cumulative record of 7-2 after the Raiders win over previously unbeaten Glenn (2-1).
“We’re playing a tough nondistrict schedule, which I like,” Mann said. “When we get into (District 11-5A Division II) play, we’ll be ready to go. And we’re young on offense. We have a lot of sophomore and some new faces, so we’re developing that. It’s going to take some time.”
Star quarterback Mason Shorb, a UTSA pledge and a three-year starter, had trouble getting going against a rugged Glenn defense that has only allowed 23 total points this season. Shorb threw for just 122 yards on 10-of-19 passing with one interception, which came when Glenn cornerback Devin Endel jumped a route in the end zone midway through the fourth period and prevented the Raiders from taking a 14-7 lead.
But Rouse’s defense proved even more effective while holding Glenn’s slot-T attack to an unofficial 120 yards rushing and forcing two turnovers. Glenn did complete its first pass of the year when Mendez hit Lathan Coffee for a 38-yard gain in the first half, but the Grizzlies’ final attempt at a pass went awry when Fisher crashed in and forced Glenn’s late fumble.
“We were going to take one chance and go from there, but we just fumbled the ball,” Glenn coach Brandon Krauskopf said about the final play call. “You can’t win ball games when you turn over the ball that much. We played great defensively, but that turnover at the end cost us the game. You hate to lose a game that way.”
For the Rouse defenders, the drop back by Mendez came as a surprise.
“With the offense they run and the situation they were in, I 100% expected overtime,” said linebacker Jace Mann, the head coach’s son who had an unofficial 13 tackles.
And how did Jace Mann feel as Ramirez lined up for the winning field goal?
“I about threw up,” he said. “I was stressing. But that’s football; we’re a great team, and we know what we can do when we play together.”
While Glenn has a week off before opening District 11-5A DI play against Hendrickson on Sept. 23, Joshua Mann hopes his team’s showing against Glenn’s version of the slot-T can help prepare the Raiders for Liberty Hill next week.
The Panthers have ended Rouse’s playoff runs in each of the past two seasons while scoring 56 points in each contest.
“We’ve been working on that offense for a while because it’s obviously been our nemesis in the playoffs,” Mann said. “We’re going to have another hell of a test next week against the team that runs it the best in the state.”
