As spring football arrives, Vandegrift revamps with new faces on offense, strong defense

As we look ahead to spring football, it might be easy to dismiss Vandegrift as yesterday's news with the departures of six players who will compete in college this fall.

But that's not how it works at Vandegrift, a program with 105 victories and six district championships over the last 10 years. Head coach Drew Sanders has created a blue-blood atmosphere that will have nearly 300 players in uniform when the season begins in late August.

Sanders will unwrap another banner team when spring football opens April 15. The first order of business is to replace six players who signed with colleges: Louisville quarterback Deuce Adams, North Texas receiver Miles Coleman, Michigan left tackle Blake Frazier, Air Force safety Alex Foster, Austin Peay tight end Jase Skoglund and guard Jacob Henry, who'll wrestle at Oklahoma.

Most of the attention this spring will be on the offense. After 11 seasons at Vandegrift, offensive coordinator Blake Mouser has left to become head coach/athletic director at Tolar High School outside of Granbury in Hood County. And former passing game coordinator Keri Timmerman was recently named head coach/athletic director at Marble Falls.

The Vipers' new offensive coordinator is AJ Woolley, a former Westlake linemen who has been an assistant coach at Pittsburg High and Texas-Permian Basin. And a fresh supply a new talent is about to take over. Vandegrift's JV squad has gone 30-0 over the last three years. Sanders' freshman team has won district five of the last six years.

The strength of the team will be a defense led by Daeshon Morgan, an edge rusher who'll be a senior this fall and already has received offers from Texas Tech, Houston, Arizona State and California. One intriguing newcomer is offensive lineman Carter Mannon, who transferred in from Lake Travis.

Sanders said his team should be motivated after losing to Lake Travis 13-10 in the first round of the playoffs last season, which he described as "slobber knocker" of a game.

Hyde Park plays at a different level

When they're not on the softball field, you might find the Hyde Park Panthers teaching kids how to play the sport in Peru.

For the second straight year, Hyde Park's softball team went on a mission trip to the South American country that borders the Pacific Ocean to teach boys and girls how to play the game. It was a nice respite for a team that has been winning games and breaking records in the Austin area.

Hyde Park is 63-7 over the past two seasons, with 30 shutouts. Coming off a TAPPS state championship appearance in 2023, the Panthers aspire to do it again. And they have the pieces to make such a run. Skye Perez and Taylor Haywood, both seniors, might be the best high school duo in the Austin area.

Perez, a Bucknell-bound middle infielder, slugged her ninth home run of the season in Monday's 16-1 victory over San Antonio St. Mary's Hall. She owns Hyde Park career records for home runs (38), hits (202), runs (201) and RBIs (203). Haywood, an Abilene Christian-bound pitcher, is the defensive stabilizer. She earned her 17th victory of the season in Monday's game. She has 170 strikeouts and 422 in two seasons at Hyde Park. She also leads the team with a .556 batting average.

Hyde Park, which has just 310 high school students, is 23-4. Its four losses have been to Class 6A Westlake (enrollment: 2,823), and Class 5A teams Leander (2,184), Georgetown (1,984) and McKinney North (2,220).

"You know that I love my kids and school," head coach John Carpenter said. "It took 21 years to get to the point, but it's been fun."

State or bust for Austin-area teams

Michael Rome has inherited a Westlake golf team that has won the Class 6A state team championship six years running. But just who is the Chaparrals' new coach?

For starters, Rome, 25, is a former Westlake golfer. He helped the Chaps win state in 2017, which was the first of the program's six straight championships. A four-time all-district player, he was the No. 9-ranked player in the state and No. 60 in the nation by Golfweek.

Former Chaps coach Callan Nokes, whose teams won 13 state titles, did not leave the cupboard bare when he left the golf team to become athletic director for the school district. Among the returning players are defending state champion Adam Villanueva (committed to Texas), senior Blake Burt (signed with TCU) and senior Grant Yerger (signed with Troy).

More: Stony Point's Josiah Moseley earns state honors

After reaching the UIL state boys basketball tournament for the first time in Stony Point history, head coach Antoine Thompson says he has a "job's not done" mindset as he reshapes his team for another year.

Thompson will need to find more offense with the departures of the state's best player, forward Josiah Moseley, who is bound for Villanova, and Junior Goodlet, who'll play at Dallas Baptist. They will find leadership with guard Uzziah Buntyn (New Mexico State pledge) and forward Davaughn Hueitt (Cal-Riverside).

"Next year's team will be better," Thompson said. "We will be poised, we will be experienced. That group of young men will make a run at a state championship."

Thompson's teams are a combined 70-4 over the past two seasons.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Westlake golf, Stony Point basketball have state titles in mind again