ARLINGTON, Texas -- Cedar Hill and Denton Guyer quickly became rivals in 2010, facing each other twice, both hard-hitting games at Cowboys Stadium that went down to the wire.
Not much changed Monday when the two squared off in the tightly contested finale of the Kirk Herbstreit Classic, a 24-21 Cedar Hill victory.
Stepping up for Cedar Hill was the 1-2 punch of jersey Nos. 1 and 2, quarterback Andre Anderson and running back Laquvionte Gonzalez.
“It’s a rivalry that jumped off in the first game,” Anderson said. “Denton Guyer is the most physical team we play. Everyone on that team hits, from the safeties to the corners to the linemen.”
Anderson, who struggled to find any passing game last week against Allen, sealed the game with just over a minute left by completing a 5-yard pass to Jalon Gentry on fourth-and-4. He finished the game 16-of-28 passing for 235 yards and three touchdowns along with 47 yards rushing.
Gonzalez put energy into the Longhorns offense, juking and spinning his way to 119 yards and a touchdown receiving and 55 yards rushing.
The teams traded blows in the first half, beginning with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Evan Williams. The Wildcats (1-1) countered in the second on a 13-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jerrod Heard to Thomas Ferguson.
The third was the quiet before the storm, with Cedar Hill (1-1) taking a 10-7 lead on a 30-yard field goal from Ryan Sparkman late in the quarter.
Anderson proved himself a clutch passer in the fourth, hitting Damion Hobbs for a 6-yard touchdown early in the quarter and Gonzalez with a 46-yard touchdown pass with seven minutes to go.
Guyer hung in with 43-yard and 66-yard touchdown passes but came up three short in the end.
Cedar Hill notched the big predistrict win Monday, but if history proves anything, these two might not be through with each other just yet this season. The Longhorns won the Herbstreit matchup last year only to have the Wildcats knock them out in the area round of the playoffs.
“It’s a heated rivalry,” Anderson said. “The best team might have won, but it’s hard to beat a team twice in a season, so we’ll see how it goes when we play them in the playoffs.”