“We want Dudley! We want Dudley! We want Dudley!”

The chant rang out from the Cinco Ranch locker room after the team advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the second year in a row with head coach Chris Dudley’s at the helm of the program.

When the team went 0-10 in 2019, Dudley knew there was work to do. In 2020, he turned to a promising group of sophomores to bolster the varsity team and many of those players have turned into the leaders of the experienced 2022 unit. 

“There’s a core group of seniors that have been on varsity since they were sophomore. They trusted the process when the new staff came on board,” Dudley said. “We’re just going to ride this wave of momentum, I’m so proud of them.”

One of those seniors is kicker Santiago Taborda, who made the game winning 45-yard field goal as time expired to give Cinco Ranch the 13-10 win over Cy-Fair and send the Cougars to the next round.

Taborda said the cohesiveness he has built working with his holder, senior Jack McCall, and long snapper, senior Fischer Reed, since his freshman year gave him confidence that he could make the kick. Once he made contact with the ball, it was a bit of a different story.

“I didn’t look because I was too nervous. [Once it was in] I didn’t know what to do so I was just running everywhere,” Taborda said.

According to Dudley, it wasn’t just the players on the field that made the difference.

“Bruce Hayes, who passed away [recently], was our kicking coach. He’s looking down on us today. He’s helping us and he’s so proud. I know he is,” Dudley said.

Hayes was a long time teacher and coach at Cinco Ranch who passed away on October 29, 2022. He taught at Katy ISD for nearly 20 years and won Teacher of the Year awards at the school and district level.

With heavy hearts, the team has come together to keep playing and fighting on the field.

With the rain pouring hard onto the field, both teams struggled and ended their first drives with fumbles. Cinco Ranch’s Walker White recovered a Cy-Fair fumble at the 9-yard line to stop a potential scoring driving while senior Gavin Rutherford fumbled the ball on third down to force a Cougar punt.

The Cougars’ second drive played out similarly to the first as the offense got to the midfield before fumbling the ball. This time, Cy-Fair recovered the ball on the Cinco Ranch 33-yard line.

Cinco Ranch’s defense shut down Cy-Fair’s run game as the Bobcats lost yards on more than half of their 21 run attempts. The Bobcats were able to find success in the short and medium passing game with quick comeback routes to open up holes in the Cougar defense.

Cinco Ranch relied on the running game in the wet weather as they ran the ball 35 times and threw the ball just 19 times. The Cougars found some success in both avenues, but were unable to finish drives and score in the first half.

Cy-Fair scored the first points of the game on a 38-yard field goal by Dennis Castello to make it 3-0 before the first half ended.

After both teams went three-and-out to start the second half, Cinco Ranch’s offense found its footing as the Cougars ate up the clock in the 3rd quarter. Taborda nailed a 19-yard field goal to end an 8:10, 70-yard drive for the Cougars and tie the game.

On the next offensive drive, it was the seniors that made play after play for the Cougars. Rutherford connected with senior Seth Salverino for a 48-yard pass to get the team into the redzone. Senior Sam McKnight finished the drive with an 11-yard run and Taborda tacked on the extra point to make it 10-3 with 10 minutes to go in the game.

Cinco Ranch’s defense finally slipped up on the next drive as Cy-Fair fired off a pair of big runs with junior Jamel Nickerson running in a 7-yard touchdown for the Bobcats.

The score was tied with just three minutes left to play and Cinco Ranch marched up the field before penalties stalled the drive on Cy-Fair’s 28-yard line with five seconds left in the game. That was plenty of time for Taborda to make the 45-yard field goal, win the game and set off a frenzy on the sidelines.

“They’re such great teammates and the brotherhood is so strong between them. They love each other, fight for each other, and they’re not afraid of anybody,” Dudley said.

Cinco Ranch will face North Shore (12-0) in the regional semifinal round of the playoffs at 2 p.m. on Friday at Rhodes Stadium.

Cinco Ranch 13, Cy-Fair 10

Second quarter

CF: Castillo 38 fied goal, 0:13

Third quarter

CR: Santiago Taborda 19 field goal, 1:23

Fourth quarter

CR: Sam McKnight 11 run (Taborda kick)

CF: Jamel Nickerson 7 run (Castillo kick) 3:09

CR: Taborda 45 field goal, 0:00

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Cinco Ranch: Sam McKnight 13-59-1; Eric Eckstrom, 7-39; Seth Salverino, 1-25; Gavin Rutherford, 13-(-9); Cy-Fair: Trey Owens, 8-14; Jamel Nickerson, 1-6-1; Zaccheas Baynes, 11-5; Connor Porter, 1-(-3)

Passing – Cinco Ranch: Gavin Rutherford, 13-19-142-0-0; Cy-Fair: Trey Owens, 22-38-217-0-0;

Receiving – Cinco Ranch: Seth Salverino, 4-82; Fischer Reed, 4-45; Coleson Harry, 1-13; Kellen LeCronier, 1-4; Sam McKnight, 2-2; Noah Abboud, 1-(-4); Cy-Fair:  Owen Carter, 5-83; Kyle Chamberson, 6-76; Connor Porter, 7-36; David Jackson, 1-12; Zaccheas Baynes, 3-10;