Wimberley’s goal is to go back to State

Last year’s sophomore quarterback Cody Stoever helped lead the Wimberley Texans to AT&T Stadium for the State Championship, but it was a short and somber celebration after a 42-0 loss to Carthage (16-0) as Wimberley (15-1) held up the UIL State Football Championship Runner-up trophy in Class 4A Division II in Arlington. Carthage claimed its ninth State Football Championship with the win.

I caught the standout quarterback in a rare moment standing around during the first day of pads at practice. “You have a minute,” I asked?

“I’m not doing anything,” Stoever said, “I’m going to be honest.”

“How come you’re not doing anything?” I questioned.

“It’s defense and they won’t let me play defense, they make me sit out,” he replied.

When asked, “Are you ready to go back to State and meet Carthage," Stoever said he was focused on the Texans' home opener against Canyon Lake on Aug. 25.

“Obviously Carthage is in the back of my mind,” he said. “It was disappointing and frustrating the way the season ended. Our goal now is to take it one game at a time, and of course getting back to State is our goal, but there are building blocks to get there.”

Head coach Doug Warren echoed the quarterback’s sentiments. “That’s always the goal, to get back there, but the first thing you have to do is to believe you can do that and this team believes they can do that, so let’s go for another ride.”

After hosting Canyon Lake in the first game of the season, the Texans have three road games and will return home to host Lampasas at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 22.