Cinco Ranch had everything in the book thrown at it in its season opener.

From self-inflicted wounds, to bad luck, to a strong team taking advantage of a slow start , the Cougars had to face tons of adversity, but in the end, the Cougars found a way to battle through it all and come away with a 49-42 win over College Park in the team’s season opener.

“The way they handled those things and didn’t let it overwhelm them really shows how they’re bought into the culture of the program that we’ve built the past few years,” said Cinco Ranch head coach Chris Dudley. “They know that we’re a team and the philosophy is ‘I am because of us.’ It’s not about individual stuff, it’s about team. They banded together, trusted the coaches, trusted themselves and that’s what it comes down to.”

It was a crazy game that included eight fumbles, seven turnovers and a 16 point second half comeback by the Cougars, and it started with a wild first quarter. College Park took the lead off a long first drive that ate up clock, and then got the ball right back when Cinco fumbled deep in their own territory and gave College Park the ball back inside the Cinco Ranch 10-yard line.

College Park went on to make things 14-0 before Cinco gave the ball back on another fumble, this time on the ensuing kickoff, but the Cougars defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs.

Cinco got back into the game from there, with Charlie Adamoli throwing a 66-yard touchdown to Gavin Beavers to make the score 14-7. College Park though had the answer and went back up by two scores heading into halftime.

Things changed for Cinco Ranch after half though. The Cougars again made it a one score game when Adamoli linked up with Kellen LeCronier for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 21-13.

College Park scored another touchdown, but Adamoli responded again with another long touchdown pass, this time a 74-yard strike to Scott Eckel, but Cinco were unable to come up with the two point conversion and another College Park touchdown put Cinco Ranch down 16 points, 35-19, with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A flip switched for the Cougars after that though. Adamoli through his fourth touchdown pass of the day, a 33-yard pass to Preston Kubecka and Cinco converted on the two point conversion to make it a one score game. Cinco tied the game early in the fourth quarter when Marcus Gadlin ran in a 27-yard score and Cinco converted the two-point conversion . College Park went back up by a touchdown but Tessiah Young tied with a 32-yard touchdown run of his own and after Cinco Ranch forced a turnover on downs, the Cougars drove back down the field and Young put them ahead for the first time in the game, and for good, with a nine yard run with just four seconds left in the game.

“It was amazing,” Young said. “I don’t even remember anything, I just knew I had to get to the endzone, it was the only thing on my mind. I had to get there no matter what.”

Young ended the night with 106 yards on 16 carries, while Gadlin added 56 yards on the ground as well. Amandoli had a huge performance in his first varsity start, completing 21 of 31 passes for 378 yards and four touchdowns.

“Charlie was great tonight,” Dudley said. “He had a short memory and he made all the plays. He put the previous play behind him every single time and he continued to make plays all night. It says a lot about his character and his fight. Four touchdowns and over 360 yards in his first start, you can’t ask for more than that.”

The Cougars will play Klein Oak next week, as they look to continue a strong start to the year.

“It’s just grit,” Adamoli said. “We’ve been working all summer for this and this game just cemented everything for us. This was our first time going through the fire as a team. We just came together and we’re going to keep doing that.”

Cinco Ranch 49, College Park 42

First quarter

CP: Kam Montgomery 10 pass to Connor Dunphy (Chuck Forte kick) 5:01

CP: Dunphy 6 run (Forte kick) 3:59

CR: Charlie Adamoli 66 pass to Gavin Beavers (Noah Machart kick) 1:27

Second quarter

CP: Montgomery 16 pass to Carter Deering (Forte kick) 9:31

Third quarter

CR: Adamoli 40 pass to Kellen LeCronier, 10:19

CP: Cole Snodgrass 80 kickoff return (Forte kick) 10:06

CR: Adamoli 74 pass to Scott Eckel, 6:31

CP: Montgomery 44 pass to Carter Deering (Machart kick) 4:00

CR: Adamoli 33 pass to Preston Kubecka (Adamoli pass to Drew Tureau) 0:53

Fourth quarter

CR: Marcus Gadlin 27 run (Adamoli pass to LeCronier) 10:35

CP: Montgomery 82 pass to Dunphy (Forte kick) 8:41

CR: Tessiah Young 32 run (Machart kick) 5:43

CR: Tessiah Young 9 run (Machart kick) 0:04

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Cinco Ranch: Tessiah Young, 16-106-2; Marcus Gadlin, 7-56-1; Charlie Adamoli, 8-23; College Park: Kam Montgomery, 6-10; Connor Dunphy, 2-8-1; Brayden Lee-Denton, 2-7; Eugene Burnett, 11-7; 

Passing – Cinco Ranch: Charlie Adamoli, 21-31-378-4-0; College Park: Kam Montgomery, 17-33-320-4-0; Connor Dunphy, 0-1-0-0-0

Receiving – Cinco Ranch: Gavin Beavers, 4-94-1; Scott Eckel, 3-78-1; Drew Tureau, 3-54; Kellen LeCronier, 4-53; Preston Kubecka, 1-33; Tessiah Young, 3-30; Matthew Courtois, 2-20; College Park: Connor Dunphy, 7-180-2; Carter Deering, 3-66-2; Cole Snodgrass, 5-59; Jordan Styles, 1-9;