The Hutto Hippos varsity football team will face its first road test of the season versus the Judson Rockets on Friday, Sept. 6. The Hippos will be looking to build on an impressive performance all-around in its 63-8 victory over the San Marcos Rattlers. The Rockets are coming off a 27-21 loss over Johnson.
Hutto will be looking for a different outcome versus Judson as the last time these two teams played the Rockets came out with the 29-19 victory in one of the Hippo’s worse offensive performances accounting for just 320 total yards.
Luckily for Hutto, it feels like they have its signal caller. Junior quarterback Kaden Stefek was phenomenal throwing for 225 yards and five total touchdowns. It will be interesting to see if Stefek can continue this success versus tougher competition.
The Hippos receiving core is led by a pair of talented players senior Braeton Anderson and sophomore Jaiden Fields. Anderson had 151 yards and three touchdowns versus the Rattlers, while Fields accounted for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Getting the ball in the hands of these two will be a huge key in this game. Junior running back Keilan Chavies can also be a factor in this one rushing for 52 yards with a touchdown catch last week.
Judson is led by senior quarterback Elijah Favela who threw for 144 yards with two total touchdowns versus Johnson. The lead running back for the Rockets is sophomore Kayden Graham who had 89 yards and a rushing touchdown last week. The Hutto defense will have to contain these two playmakers to keep Judson off the scoreboard.
The Hippo’s defense will go into this matchup with some confidence not allowing a point to the Rattlers after the first quarter. The Hutto defense is led by junior middle linebacker Brayden Daniel who accounted for 16 total tackles with three being for loss.
Other key players to watch are junior safety Carlos Soto and junior outside linebacker Briggs Bujnoch. Soto had 9 total tackles, while Bujnoch accounted for two tackles for loss.
Senior linebacker Jordan Dukes and junior linebacker Marcel Smith lead the Rockets defensively. Dukes had 12 total tackles last week, while Smith accounted for nine.
The game will be played at D.W.
Rutledge Stadium in Converse at 7:30 p.m.
