While the Code Red defense might get the praise this season, the offensive side of the ball has been a story of success and adaptability.
In many ways, schools with enrollment numbers similar or smaller than Wimberley must be on their toes on how to adjust their offense due to the lack of numbers.
That was the case this offseason when the Texans had to evaluate their roster after junior quarterback Cash McCollum moved just before twodays to China Spring.
While the move was shocking, for the Texans the motto is always “next man up.”
After earning the starting position, sophomore quarterback Cody Stoever took over the offense and has helped the Texans to a 5-0 record as Wimberley approaches district play.
While the Texans over the past three years have tended to lean more towards a passing attack, this year’s team has shifted towards the running game with Stoever and running backs Johnny Ball and Jack Boyle.
By not staying loyal to a particular brand of offense, such as the Slot-T or the Air Raid, Head Football Coach Doug Warren and his coaching staff look at how to adjust their game to their players.
“Anytime you go into a season, you have to evaluate players from their strengths and play towards them,” Warren said. “Going into this season, we were unsure who was going to be the quarterback. We thought whoever was going to be the starting quarterback knew they were very capable of leading the team.”
Though the passing game has been utilized more often in the past few years, using the quarterback in the running attack is not a new element for the Texans.
“We have used the quarterback run game in the past, but not in the past few years,” Warren said. “Just because it wasn’t a strong suit of the past few quarterbacks from Cash McCollum, to Mattew Tippie, and so on forth. Now the quarterback run game and the play action pass game is more suited to Cody’s strengths.”
In an ironic twist, both McCollum and Stoever took over the Wimberley offense as sophomore quarterbacks.
Though both players have different strengths and weaknesses, both lead their respective teams to success during non-district play including both going on the road to start the season at Canyon Lake and taking home victories.
McCollum led the team to a 3-2 start in 2021 during a tough non-district schedule featuring Cuero and Alamo Heights while Stoever currently has the team at 5-0. Both quarterbacks helped Wimberley to wins over Canyon Lake, Fredericksburg and Lampasas.
“Both of them (Mc-Collum and Stoever) are really good quarterbacks as sophomores,” Warren said. “They just play different styles. So we try to play to Cody’s strengths.”
Due to Wimberley’s enrollment numbers, the Texans will always see a variety of players that cater to different strengths no matter the position.
“Each year in high school football that can fluctuate in such a big way,” Warren said. “If that is throwing the football, then that is what we will do, which we have been blessed with for the past few years to have some quarterbacks who can throw the ball really well. Not that we can’t throw it this year, but our strength is lining up and being able to run the ball and use our play action pass game off of that.”
It is for that reason the Texans are put in the best position to bring home victories.
“In my opinion, you have to adjust to give your kids the best opportunity to win games,” Warren said. “We don’t get to recruit like colleges do, but rather you have your kids that you have every year, which changes the makeup of your team every year.”
