Both of the next Cougar scoring drives followed three-and-out stands by the defense. Easterling called his own number on the option and was untouched on a 13-yard run that capped a four-play drive that included a 39-yard run by Chris Monroe. Running play action out of an option set, Easterling found a wide open Marquez Perez on another slant pattern for 53 yards and a 31-6 lead on their third drive of the third quarter.

Sennette eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark and capped the scoring with a 64-yard dash up the middle for the game’s final points late in the fourth quarter.

Monroe carried the ball 20 times for 185 yards, and Easterling was 8-of-16 passing for 192 yards and two touchdowns through the air. The Cougar defense limited Tyler Herrick, who averaged 300 yards a game in total offense through the regular season, to 179 yards passing and just 47 yards rushing.

Hutto fumbled away their first snap of the ballgame. Herrick’s handoff to Deary’on Milligan found the turf, and the Cougars pounced on it at the 9-yard line.

Monroe carried the ball twice to the five, but Easterling’s pass to Quandree White went through the open receiver’s hands in the end zone. Bowersox connected on a 21-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

Herrick used his feet and arms to help the Hippos tie the game. He found Tristen Bayless crossing for an 18-yard completion to the Cougar 25. Milligan burst up the middle for 11 yards to the 14, but that is where the College Station defense stiffened. Merrick scrambled down to the 9, but when facing a stiff pass rush on third down, he threw the ball away. Oscar Draguievich converted on a 26-yard field goal.

The Cougars forced the Hippos to punt on back-to-back drives, but they were unable to move the ball. Sennette coughed up a fumble, and College Station turned the ball over on downs in between those Hutto punts.

The Hippos found their offense. Herrick converted a third-and-five with a six-yard scramble, saw a pass interference penalty give his offense a first down, and then a 17-yard completion to Derek Camero moved the ball into Cougar territory. A personal foul against the defense moved the ball to the 14. The play of the game might have been when Herrick scrambled from the 3-yard line, but he fumbled the football as he stretched for the pylon and the touchback gave the Cougars life.

Monroe was ready, and he rumbled 59 yards before going down at the Hutto 7. He wouldn’t leave the field and carried the last seven yards for the game’s first touchdown and a 10-3 lead.

The Cougar defense was all bend and no break in the first half, forcing Herrick to throw the ball away inside the College Station 20 on Hutto’s only other possession in the red zone, and Draguievich cut into the Cougar lead with a 33-yard field goal to make it 10-6.