Defense paves the way as Bastrop takes down rival Cedar Creek in Crosstown Showdown win

BASTROP — Bastrop wide receiver Keyshon Moore never questioned whether he would come down with a big gain on a pass from Weston Nielsen. The only unknown was whether the two Eagles in his vicinity would catch him before he crossed the goal line.

“When I turned around and saw the dude on the ground, I knew I had it, no one else was going to catch me,” Moore said.

The result of the game was not in question for very long as Moore led the way with five catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns to help Bastrop beat Cedar Creek 34-7 at Bastrop ISD Memorial Stadium on Friday.

Nielsen completed 9-of-14 passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns in a half of work while Ledanian Merino had 131 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. The stingy Bastrop (5-2, 2-1 District 13-5A Div. II) defense held Cedar Creek (0-7, 0-3) to just 123 yards of offense and Jayden Riley had two interceptions.

“Coach (Jake) Griedl told us to keep our composure, keep our calm and do us,” Riley said about the Bastrop ISD rivalry. “He told us to do us and the score will take care of itself. Instead of fighting and talking mess, let the score talk and we did.”

Cedar Creek quarterback Blaze Orr completed 11-of-25 passes for 113 yards.

It didn’t take the Bears long to find the end zone as Merino took a handoff on the Bears' first offensive play of the game 46 yards to the house for a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the Crosstown Showdown. Bastrop’s defense came up with a turnover on downs to open the game and give the Bears a short field.

The first Bears defensive stop proved to be a preview of the first half as Bastrop held Cedar Creek to just 35 yards of offense and three first downs going into the break. The Eagles' only snap in Bears territory came when Cedar Creek punted in the first quarter.

Moore’s first touchdown came on a 79-yard reception from Nielsen late in the first quarter. The junior galloped into the end zone outrunning a pair of Eagles defenders to make it 14-0 with 3:44 remaining in the opening frame.

“I told him to just throw it up, I’ll come down with it,” Moore said. “After that, I landed and I was gone.”

Riley’s first interception of the night helped lead to another Bastrop touchdown when he picked off an Eagles pass and returned it 30 yards, giving the Bears the ball on their own 45-yard line after a personal foul.

“He threw it short and straight to me, I tried to return it for a touchdown, but I didn’t get to do that,” Riley said. “All of my teammates were telling me to cut back and I should have listened. I saw the hole.”

Moore hauled in a 40-yard pass from Nielsen on the first play of the ensuing drive to set up the Bears with a first-and-goal. He scored three plays later with a 6-yard touchdown catch up the middle of the Eagles defense to make it 21-0 five seconds into the second quarter.

Nielsen threw his third touchdown of the half, this one to tight end Wyatt Marshall from three yards out, to extend the Bastrop advantage to 28 points midway through the second quarter. Nielsen led the Bears on a methodical seven-play, 68-yard scoring drive to extend the lead to four touchdowns.

Bastrop took a 34-point lead into the half after Jaelyn Gratten’s 26-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter. The score came after Nielsen rolled right on a third-and-23 play and found Gratten in the back of the end zone.

The Bears defense helped put those points on the board by snuffing some Eagles trickery as Cedar Creek opted for a direct snap fake punt at midfield and came up with only one yard. Bastrop took over at the 50 and scored eight plays later.

“Our defense has given us hope this season,” Moore said. “We had some great stops and that gave us confidence.”

Despite being behind by five touchdowns, the Eagles defense showed fight in the second half. Cedar Creek defensive back Ivan Lopez had an interception in the end zone that took a scoring chance away from Bastrop. Eagles defensive lineman Grant Davis returned a fumble 51 yards to the Bastrop 23 midway through the fourth quarter and denied the Bears another shot at points.

That fumble recovery led to the only Eagles points of the game as Devon James ran it in from three yards out to make the score 34-7 Bastrop in the final minute.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bastrop football beats district rival Cedar Creek 34-7 with defense