Cinco Ranch’s football season came to an end Friday after a 49-21 loss to North Shore at Rhodes Stadium.

It was a tough ending to the Cougars’ season after the team made it to the third round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

“As coaches, when you start that process over again in January, you just wonder, What is it going to look like this year? How are we going to come together as a team? Are we going to recapture some of that same magic?” Dudley said. “These guys did that and more.”

The Cougars finished second in Katy ISD for the first time since 2017 and averaged 44 points a game with their potent offense coming into Friday’s game. However, the Cougar offense was stifled and the Mustang defense allowed just 172 yards.

The game started off strong for the Mustangs as senior Rashaad Johnson earned the first touchdown of the game with a 73-yard run on just the third play of the game.

Cinco Ranch answered back quickly with a 46-yard touchdown pass from senior Gavin Rutherford to senior Seth Salverino. The duo combined for another pair of passes before Salverino exited the game with an ankle injury. He did not return to the game. Rutherford rushed for a 2-yard touchdown to take the lead to end the drive.

After the score, North Shore found their footing and slowly ground down Cinco Ranch on both sides of the ball. 

With wet and windy conditions, North Shore was comfortable keeping the ball on the ground and the team ran for 434 yards and five touchdowns. Cinco Ranch struggled in the trenches on both sides of the ball against the talented North shore linemen.

“[North Shore] has got athleticism, speed, power, so it puts a lot of stress up front and that showed today throughout today,” Dudley said.

With the struggles running the ball, the Cougars stuck to the air attack despite the weather. The Mustangs earned 12 sacks against Rutherford and kept his passing accuracy to just 14-of-32 for 169 yards and one touchdown.

Utilizing a pistol formation with two running backs and a fullback, North Shore steadily moved up the field until senior David Amador fooled the defense with a play action pass and threw to junior Terrence Guillory for a 21-yard touchdown.

The Mustangs pulled away in the second quarter with touchdown runs by Johnson and a sophomore D’Andre Hardeman.

Cinco Ranch’s final touchdown came as the third quarter expired as Eric Eckstrom ran in a 2-yard touchdown after an 80-yard kickoff return by junior Taytum Johnson put the Cougars in the red zone.

Amador found Guillory on a similar play action pass for a touchdown in the third quarter. Hardeman and Amador each ran in a touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the game for North Shore.

The Cougars were unable to put any more points on the board, but the team battled until the final whistle.

Cinco Ranch will look fairly different next season as three-year starters will be graduating across the line-up, but the senior class has left their mark on the team culture and history.

“I’m proud of our kids for clawing, scratching and fighting until the bitter end,” Dudley said. “This senior class did so much and I’m just really proud of what they’ve done for our community and our school. We’re going to miss this senior class for sure.”

North Shore 49, Cinco Ranch 21

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

11:17 NS 73-yard touchdown run by Rashaad Johnson (XP good by Carlos Dominguez)

9:00 CR 46-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Rutherford to Seth Salverino (XP good by Santiago Taborda)

5:12 CR 2-yard touchdown run by Rutherford( XP good by Taborda)

1:56 NS 21-yard touchdown pass from David Amador to Terrence Guillory (XP good by Dominguez)

2nd Quarter

4:30 4-yard touchdown run by Johnson (XP good by Dominguez)

3:12 26-yard touchdown run by D’Andre Hardeman (XP good by Dominguez)

3rd Quarter

0:50 5-yard touchdown pass from Amador to Guillory (XP good by Dominguez)

0:00 2-yard touchdown run by Eric Eckstrom (XP good by Taborda)

4th Quarter

6:29 33-yard touchdown run by Hardeman (XP good by Dominguez)

1:51 36-yard touchdown run by Amador (XP good by Dominguez)

Team stats

Player stats

Passing -

Cinco Ranch: Gavin Rutherford 14-32-169-1-0

North Shore: Evan Jackson 5-12-76-0-0 , David Amador 3-3-25-2-0

Rushing -

Cinco Ranch: Sam McKnight 7-(-7)-0, Eric Ecktrom 5-22-1, Gavin Rutherford 17-(-4)-1

North Shore: Rashaad Johnson 21-213-2, D’Andre Hardeman 9-114-2, Evan Jackson 5-9-0, David Amador 6-87-1, Terrence Guillory 3-11-0

Receiving

Cinco Ranch: Seth Salverino 3-73-1, Fischer Reed 6-51-0, Gavin Beavers 2-28-0, Eric Eckstrom 1-10-0, Aadi Patel 1-5-0, Jack McCall 1-2-0

North Shore: Christopher Barnes 3-27-0, Terrence Guillory 2-26-2, David Amador 1-19-0, Kaleb Thomas 2-29-0