AUSTIN, Texas — Not this time, College Station.
After the Cougars blew out Austin Anderson to open District 12-5A Division I play last season, the Trojans returned the favor with a 37-14 victory over College Station at House Park on Friday night.
Anderson senior running back Caleb Crenshaw, a transfer from Austin LBJ, torched the College Station defense to the tune of 214 yards and three touchdowns on 32 attempts.
Crenshaw is 1,406 yards away from breaking the Austin Independent School District record of 5,268 career rushing yards.
“When I came here, I came with the intention of beating College Station,” Crenshaw said. “Coach Hatch [Anderson head coach Donald Hatcher] sat me down and told me how big this is to them.
“We came in with the mindset this week that we needed to beat College Station. We have been working since I came here in January. All week we’ve been locked into one goal: beat College Station and make our statement win for this year.”
The game was tied at 14 late in the second quarter when the Trojans looked like they might need to punt from the shadow of their own goal line. Instead, Crenshaw broke off a highlight-reel 98-yard touchdown run to help give Anderson a 21-14 lead at the half.
The Trojans, who lost to College Station, 56-28, in last season’s district opener, slammed the door shut on any hopes of a rally by the Cougars.
“We’ve got some things to clean up, but I was pleased overall,” Hatcher said. “The defense got out there and shut it out in the second half. Offensively, we put it away when we needed to.”
Anderson (3-0, 1-0) kept the offense rolling while the defense kept College Station in check. Starting safety Yaheim Riley, a Texas commit who also transferred from Austin LBJ, got in on the act on offense, too, when he made a circus catch in the end zone with 4:37 left in the third quarter to help increase the lead to 31-14.
“That was nice,” Riley said. “I got it in my hands and thought I had it. Once the adversity came and he [the defender] hit it out, I had to come back and get it.
“It feels good to come out here and compete against some different competition. To feel the energy that they had from last year when they lost — I had to come in and show what I have and what I can do for the team.”
Following Riley’s touchdown, Crenshaw put the icing on the cake of his big night when he broke off a 61-yard touchdown run with 1:15 remaining in the contest.
“This is huge from a confidence standpoint,” Crenshaw said. “It shows us where we are at. I feel like we didn’t even do our best. We still have a lot to improve on. Once we take care of those small things, I feel like we can be one of the best in the state.”
Anderson, which finished 7-4 last season, has a bye next week before hitting the road to take on another team that handed them a district loss in 2024. The Trojans will try to carry the momentum of Friday’s big win over into that match-up.
“It was a tone-setter,” Hatcher said. “They [College Station] beat us at their place last year, and A&M Consolidated beat us. Now, we have a week off to rest up, then we go down there and see what we can do.”
College Station (0-3, 0-1) will take on cross-town rival A&M Consolidated, last year’s District 12-5A Division I champion, next Friday night. The Cougars went 11-2 in 2024.
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