By Jim Irish
Photos by Dustyn Werner
Both Cedar Creek and Akins entered Thursday’s non-district football contest at Memorial Stadium with 26 consecutive losses.
One team was destined to end the skid.
It was Akins.
"It's overdue. I'm excited for (the players), more than anything."
-- Akins' head coach Joseph Saxe about ending 26-game losing skid
Trailing 15-14 at halftime, Akins scored 21 consecutive points in the third quarter (28 points in a row if the fourth quarter is included) to secure a 42-29 victory.
“It’s overdue,” said Akins head coach Joseph Saxe, in his fourth season as head coach and 14th overall. “I’m excited for (the players), more than anything. Let them capture some of these memories that they’ll carry with them.
“Trust the process. The hard work will pay off, but you can keep saying that. If they’re not seeing those wins, it’s hard for them to truly believe in that.”
Saxe remembered after his arrival as an assistant coach when Akins ended a 38-game losing skid. Akins edged Bastrop 17-16 at Memorial Stadium in 2012. It was Akins’ only win of the season, but it was memorable.
"... I've been in this moment. It happened here before. I had a feeling it was going to happen again."
-- Saxe about ending 38-game losing skid against Bastrop in 2012
”That was kind of one of the messages I talked to our kids about,” Saxe said about the upset 12 years ago. “I’ve been in this moment. It happened here before. I had a feeling it was going to happen again.”
Saxe was excited about the future after enduring so many losses and the disruption from Covid for two years.
”I know it’s going to create some momentum going forward,” he said. “They want to see the scoreboard in their favor. So for that to finally happen, it was truly special.”
Akins broke it open behind the dogged effort of running back Dylan Cagle. A 5-foot-7, 183-pound junior, Cagle displayed an ability to wait patiently behind his blockers and then dart through open space.
He carried 25 times for 264 yards and scored on runs of 9, 27, 37, 8, and 2 yards. He limped off the field late in the second quarter and missed the first offensive series in the third, but he returned from calf cramps to wreak havoc.
”You gotta put the ball in the playmaker’s hands,” Saxe said. “There’s no drop off (in his game). He’s all muscle, all hustle, and all heart.”
Saxe said his offense, resembling Liberty Hill’s Wing-T, exploited Cedar Creek’s defensive line on the side with a freshman and a sophomore.
”We’re going where your weakest point is,” he said.
Akins’ Pablo Espinoza, a junior, was a quicker version of Cagle, dashing for 113 yards on 10 attempts and scoring on a 31-yard run.
As it did last week against Del Valle, Cedar Creek (0-2) burst to a lead 15-8 after the first quarter. Running back Anthony Scott scored from the one, and Dakota Baker hauled in a 19-yard scoring strike from Blaze Orr. But Cedar Creek struggled to stop Akins’ run in the second and third quarter.
A Cedar Creek fumble and an incomplete pass on a fake punt resulted in two Akins’ touchdowns in the third quarter.
Leading 42-15 in the fourth quarter, Saxe inserted his reserves. Cedar Creek took advantage with Eduardo Macedo catching passes of 29 and 14 for touchdowns from Orr.
Orr completed 12 of 32 passes for 139 yards. Macedo had six receptions for 86 yards.
Scott led Cedar Creek in rushing with 74 yards on 21 attempts.
Akins won despite 18 penalties for 150 yards. One Cedar Creek athlete was ejected after three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Cedar Creek has a bye this week and opens District 12-5A Division I at home against Hays on Sept. 20.
Akins starts District 26-6A at Manor New Tech on Friday.
Jim Irish is a freelance writer in Bastrop, Texas
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