The Hutto Hippos varsity football team will face the Round Rock Westwood Warriors on Friday, Oct. 4. The Hippos are coming off a bye week, while the Warriors defeated Manor 28-16 last week.
Hutto is looking to improve defensively after getting some rest ahead of this matchup. The Hippos are currently giving up 37.6 points per game, something that will need to improve if they want to compete for a district title. Luckily for Hutto, the Warriors’ offense hasn’t been lighting up scoreboards, averaging just 22 points per game.
It will be interesting to see how these two units match up, as both have struggled this season. There is no question that the bright spot for Hutto has been its offense, led by junior quarterback Kaden Stefek, who has thrown for 949 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
Other key players on offense for the Hippos include senior wide receiver Braeton Anderson and junior running back Keilan Chavies. Anderson leads all receivers with 295 yards and six touchdowns, while Chavies is the leading rusher, accounting for 428 yards and three scores.
Round Rock Westwood has two viable options at quarterback in sophomore Cooper Waits and junior Tillman Subocz, who have combined for 952 passing yards and seven touchdowns. Their top target is junior wide receiver Drew Norell, who has 520 yards and three scores. Norell will test the struggling Hutto secondary, which will need to contain him.
Senior linebacker Cashton Laplante and junior safety Carlos Soto lead the Hippos’ defense, with Laplante recording 38 tackles and Soto with 36 this season. Junior Jack Kelly leads the Warriors’ defense with 34 tackles, including two for loss.
The game is set to kick off at 7 p.m. at Hutto Memorial Stadium.
