Football: Mayde Creek 18, Fort Bend Travis 14
Rams open Arogbonlo era with dominant defensive effort, win season opener for fifth time in six years
From left to right, Mayde Creek senior defensive end Tobi Haastrup, junior linebacker Kosi Okpala, sophomore athlete Chad Nelson and junior linebacker Damarre Duncan all starred in the Rams’ 18-14 season-opening win over Fort Bend Travis on Friday night in Katy. (Photo by Dennis Silva II | On The Grid)
The ol’ adage that defense tends to be ahead of offense early in the season proved true for Mayde Creek on Friday night.
Mayde Creek’s defense accounted for the team’s first 10 points and the Rams did not generate an offensive touchdown in rallying to down Fort Bend Travis, 18-14, in each team’s season opener at Rhodes Stadium.
“The thing is this … early on, offenses struggle,” said Mike Arogbonlo, the former state-champion quarterbacks coach at Duncanville who is in his first year at the helm of the Rams. “Just have to click. Once we click, it’s going to be a fun show to watch. Defense and special teams stepped up for us today. Whatever it takes to win, we’ll take it.”
Senior edge rusher Tobi Haastrup, playing in his first game since the seventh grade after focusing his efforts on track and field the last four years, had four of the Rams’ six sacks.
“Film study was real key,” Haastrup said. “I watched the way they set. You could tell their tendencies, if they were leaning back. They typically threw the ball, so I was just counting it in my head and knew they were most likely passing on which plays. Just going for it.”
Haastrup’s play on the field confirmed impressive measurables. He stands 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, and runs a 10.7-second 100-yard dash.
“He’s still learning the football, as we like to joke,” Arogbonlo said. “We call him ‘He-Man.’ We don’t call him Tobi. You see his physique and his size. He works extremely hard, has worked extremely hard this summer to learn the game. Our coaches have done a great job with him, and he’s gotten better every week. I’m excited to see what the future looks like for him.”
Junior linebacker and four-star recruit Kosi Okpala got things going for the Rams when he tackled a Travis ballcarrier in the end zone for a safety almost halfway through the first quarter.
After Travis countered with a five-yard scoring run, Rams junior linebacker Damarre Duncan picked off senior Nathan Conway at the Travis 30-yard line and returned it for a touchdown to put Mayde Creek back up.
“I knew (one receiver) was going to go, and then (the other) was going to come up top,” Duncan said. “The QB just threw the ball and I picked it. Ran.”
Mayde Creek, which returns seven defensive starters from last year’s 3-7 team, held Travis to 213 total yards, and 3.4 yards per play. Travis managed just 68 yards on 27 carries.
“One thing we have is athleticism and speed,” Arogbonlo said. “I expect us to play that way. Team speed, the effort to the ball. Seeing them communicate. Our coaching staff did a great job with the game plan, and watching them play fast … the effort was phenomenal tonight.”
“We just knew, off the top, where they were going. All 11 hats to the ball.”
Mayde Creek junior linebacker Damarre Duncan
It was almost for naught.
Travis went up 14-11 with a pick-6 of its own, a 79-yard run-back by junior defensive back Davis Kinney, with 9:10 left.
But the Rams regained momentum 15 seconds later as sophomore Chad Nelson, a dynamo in the return game all evening who added 50 yards on six catches, took the ensuing kick return 89 yards for a touchdown and an 18-14 lead Mayde Creek never relinquished.
“He kicked it straight down the middle,” Nelson said. “As I’m returning, I see my other return man Speedy, No. 4 (junior Jamaal Jones), and I follow him. He had a perfect crease. I followed up the seam, he made one block and I just took it from there.
“My teammates block great for me. Every time I try and go score because I’m trying to reward them for blocking like that.”
Travis marched down the field in the final minutes to set up 4th-and-5 from the Rams’ 20-yard line with 24 seconds left. But Mayde Creek’s defense again stole the show when it harassed backup quarterback Eian Baker into an incompletion on a fade to the back of the end zone.
Senior defensive back Anthony Aileru authored an admirable stop in coverage.
“We made mistakes; it wasn’t a perfect game,” Arogbonlo said. “But to build off a first game like that, that was pretty good.”
TOUGH GO ON ‘O’
While the Rams’ defense looked in midseason form, the offense showed much to be desired.
Mayde Creek managed 207 total yards, good for 3.8 yards per play. Travis had a lot to do with that. The Tigers return seven defensive starters from a 7-4 team last year.
Senior starting quarterback Cole Jensen completed 9 of 18 passes for 70 yards and an interception. He was relieved by sophomore backup Ethan Lopez early in the third quarter after throwing the pick.
Lopez did not fare better in the passing game, completing 2 of 9 passes for 45 yards and two interceptions. But the offense got some traction with his running ability.
Lopez ran eight times for 40 yards.
In all, Mayde Creek turned it over on downs on its first three possessions. It threw interceptions on three of its last four possessions, not including the kneel-down to end the game.
“For some reason, we just didn’t punch it in tonight and finish. We drove the ball up and down, but those things can be fixed,” Arogbonlo said. “That defense is pretty tough with how they fly around. Those outside ’backers and safeties were huge.”
Arogbonlo, who arrived in Katy in June and introduced new terminology as part of a new offensive system, desires a fast tempo. Mayde Creek was ground-and-pound last year. Arogbonlo wants to spread out and take advantage of his roster’s speed and athleticism.
The offense showed it at times.
Jensen connected beautifully with senior receiver David Matthews Jr. on a 25-yard bomb down the visiting sideline in the first quarter. He also delivered a tough 11-yard strike to senior Trey Williams through traffic.
Nelson proved explosive in open space; it just wasn’t there often.
Williams is a capable playmaker, one of the Rams’ more formidable threats last season.
The three-headed running attack of senior Ansel Carter Jr., junior Christian Bradford and sophomore Michael Shifatu has potential to be effective.
“We’ve just got to stack more days as a team,” Nelson said. “Everybody can be better at different things. Once we all come together as a team and do what we’ve got to do, that’s when we’re really going to be great.”
WHAT IT MEANS
Mayde Creek has won five of its last six season openers.
Arogbonlo, previously the head coach at Fort Bend Austin from 2019-2022, earned his eighth head coaching win.
Travis is coached by Trey Sissom, a former Mayde Creek standout. Sissom’s story is an inspiring one. He has beaten cancer twice.
UP NEXT
Mayde Creek will entertain another Fort Bend foe when Austin comes to Rhodes Stadium next Saturday, pitting Arogbonlo against his former school.
Austin is coached by Trey Herrmann, another former Mayde Creek great who is in his second year at the helm of the Bulldogs.
Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.