By Richard C. White
Sports Reporter
Wimberley —
Backed by a stellar defense and a three-touchdown performance by junior running back Dennis Smith, the eighth-ranked Wimberley Texans beat the Dripping Springs Tigers 33-14 in front of a packed crowd in their home opener Friday night.
“It’s good to win that first one at home, we’re going to keep the win streak going here at home,” Texans head coach Weldon Nelms said. “No one’s coming in to our house and pushing us around.”
Smith said he could tell after his 73-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that gave the Texans (2-0) the opening score of the game that the Tigers (1-1) lacked the morale and collective desire to put up any type of fight Friday night.
“As soon as I scored that touchdown Dripping Springs started to put their heads down,” Smith said.
Smith, who’s quickly becoming the Texans’ most potent weapon, rushed for 145 yards and three of Wimberley’s four touchdowns while also racking up 84 receiving yards on only four receptions.
Smith also scored three touchdowns in Wimberley’s first game of the season last week as the Texans upset fourth-ranked Cuero on the road.
“Having him play like that takes a ton off my shoulders,” said Texans junior quarterback Brady Lambert. “We wouldn’t be anything without him.”
In the ongoing rivalry between the two schools, Dripping Springs had beaten Wimberley the last two years before the Texans finally broke through Friday night for their first victory against their rivals since 2007.
“We always struggle against them, so it was good to get the victory,” Nelms said. “We put up some big plays there in the first half that helped us get the momentum going.”
After Cuero scored 42 points against the Texans last week, the Wimberley defense looked significantly stronger in their second effort of the season, shutting down the Tigers offense throughout the game.
The Texans held the Tigers to only 263 offensive yards while forcing Dripping Springs to fumble three times as Wimberley recovered two.
“The defense was great,” Nelms said. “We’re not very big, but we’re real quick, lightning quick and we let our kids get after it and they did a great job at being so aggressive.”
While the Texans rushing game excelled, their passing attack struggled throughout the night. Lambert said he holds himself to a high standard of play. Although he hasn’t thrown an interception yet this season and performed well in the season opener, he was disappointed with his performance Friday night, going 12 of 21 for 188 yards without any touchdowns.
“I came out kind of flat, but my teammates picked me up and at halftime I got sick a little bit, but I came out here with a new attitude and we turned it around,” Lambert said. “I had some nerves. They [Dripping Springs] are 4A and we’ve heard a lot about them and I just got nervous because I’ve never played any of these teams. It’s all new to me.”
Smith, who was all too happy to help out his teammates, rushed for 93 yards in the first half alone and deferred all credit to his offensive line.
“I usually don’t talk a lot about individual efforts because it’s a team sport,” Smith said. “The offensive line was doing great tonight, I couldn’t ask for anything better. The holes they were giving me to run through were huge. That’s why I did so well tonight.”
After the game Nelms told his players to be prepared to deliver a similar victory next Friday as the Texans return to action at home against Smithville.
“Next week we got a bunch of other Tigers coming to town looking for us,” he said, “so we got to be ready for them, too.”
