Apaches host College Station

There are times where looks can be deceiving.

Gonzales football coach Ricky Lock believes this is the case with his team’s opponent tonight – College Station. College Station (1-3) just opened its doors in August as it dipped into A&M Consolidated’s talent pool, but Lock believes Gonzales (2-1) will have to play its best to get its third win of the season over a talented Cougars’ team.

“Don’t let the record fool you, College Station is talented and well-coached,” Lock said. “They have a lot of talent, but they’re young.”

Tonight’s game is scheduled for a 7:30 kickoff at Apache Field. Following tonight’s game, the Apaches will have just one more nondistrict test as they visit Sam Houston on Thursday.

As it just opened, College Station houses freshmen and sophomores only this year. The school will add a junior class next fall and have its first senior class in the 2014-15 school year.

College Station is a member of District 20-3A in all sports except football. The Cougars play an independent schedule against various varsity and junior varsity programs, and they will likely move up to 4A in the next UIL realignment.

“They’ll get better as they add classes,” Lock said.

College Station operates out of the pistol offense. The Cougars are led by quarterback Cole Whittlesey, who has thrown for 205 yards.

Whittlesey’s top targets are Drake Carnes (5 catches, 90 yards), Jeremiah Booker (6 catches, 81 yards) and Raja Preciado (3 catches, 69 yards). College Station’s leading rusher is Travis Tate (51 carries, 304 yards).

Defensively, the Cougars operate out of a 4-3 cover-2 look. Lock said they have size on the left side of the defensive line as the tackle on that size stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 270, and that side’s end is 6-4, 240.

College Station’s only win was 21-13 over The Woodlands JV on Sept. 13. The Cougars are coming off of a 42-0 loss to St. Michael’s Friday, and they also lost to Schulenburg (35-8) and Waco Reicher (26-23).

Gonzales is coming off of a 48-7 rout of Austin Lanier last week. While there are plenty of things Lock wants to see his team improve on, he was pleased with the offensive performance.

“We executed well on offense and played a better game,” Lock said. “The key for us is to worry about ourselves and improve ourselves. We can’t worry about anyone else. The focus and attitude also have to be there.”

Cecil Johnson broke the 200-yard mark for the third time in as many games last Friday as he ran for 211 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. Johnson has 656 yards and eight scores this season, and needs 344 yards to break the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

Matt Hillman completed all three of his passes for 75 yards and three touchdowns as he now has thrown for 221 yards and four scores on the year. All of Hillman’s completions against Lanier were to Darrance James, who now has 10 receptions for 161 yards this season.

“I look forward to a good game and great fan support,” Lock said.