When it came to Cinco Ranch’s first half struggles against the Cypress Ranch Mustangs in each team’s season-opener on Aug. 31 at Legacy Stadium, three numbers were enough to tell the story—one, five and 12.

The numbers correlated to one first down, five punts and 12 yards, the Cougars’ totals in each category, en route to a three-touchdown deficit at the half. The story could have been worse, as Cy Ranch missed two field goals and squandered good field positioning.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, and for Chris Dudley making his head coaching debut, the second half was arguably worse, and the 44-3 final score reflected how the team failed “in all three phases of the game,” Dudley said.

“Overall, it was everything, really,” he said. “Like I told the kids in there, this can’t become ordinary or normal. This is not what Cinco Ranch football is and it’s not acceptable, but we’re all accountable — coaches, players, everybody.”

The problems in the second half were numerous and wide on all sides of the ball.

On the second play from scrimmage, a trick play by Cinco Ranch resulted in a wide receiver throwing an interception. After a good first half by punter Charles Ginn, he had to eat a 21-yard loss on a bad snap, and the Cougars also turned a kickoff return into a safety.

Cinco Ranch managed to move the ball slightly better in the final two quarters, but it came with caveats. The longest play of the night was a 19-yard scramble by junior quarterback Evan Dunn, but it was deep in the fourth quarter against the Mustangs’ second-string defense.

Even the Cinco Ranch field goal by senior Roger Sanguinetti came as time expired because a drive stalled out at the 19-yard line.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat anything on that,” Dudley said, when asked if anything positive could be taken from the game. “Obviously our performance wasn’t up to our standard. The effort is there. It would be a lot more worrisome if it was a lack of effort out there, but I didn’t see that from the kids out there. It was a lack of execution, a lack of urgency.”

Whether it was because of fatigue from being on the field frequently as Cypress Ranch went no-huddle for most of the night, or because of a lack of execution, Cinco Ranch’s defense struggled to contain Mustangs quarterback D.J. Ciers. The junior finished 16-for-20 passing with three touchdowns and 226 yards. More importantly, he continually evaded the Cougars’ rush all night, rolling out of the pocket several times to shed tacklers.

Ciers’ performance stood in stark contrast from Dunn, who was repeatedly hit and forced out of the pocket. Cypress Ranch finished with seven sacks and forced Dunn into an ugly line of 7-for-19 passing for 62 yards.

“We have to become better tacklers on defense, that led to a few big plays, and the offensive and defensive lines, we need to get better upfront,” Dudley said. “(Cy-Ranch) controlled the line of scrimmage.”

Dudley stressed that his team would have to move on quickly from the defeat, because the Cougars have a tough Jersey Village squad next on the schedule.

“You’ve got to learn from it, you’ve got to watch the video, and we’ll do that and make our corrections and our adjustments that we need to,” he said. “You have to put it behind you. If you don’t, then Jersey Village is going to beat you because you’re wallowing in your misery.

“You’ve got to learn from it and put it behind you. Otherwise, it’s going to get you again.”