Strange But True Football: What I Saw at Cypress Falls vs. Cypress Creek

Friday night’s Cypress Falls–Cypress Creek game gave me one of the strangest first halves of football I’ve ever seen in person. It was a night that reminded me of those old Strange But True Football Stories books I devoured as a kid — tales of lopsided scores, oddball plays, and unforgettable moments that became football folklore.

And now I’ve got my own entry to add.

Back-to-Back Kickoff Returns

The game opened in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: Cypress Creek ran back the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. On the very next kickoff, Cypress Falls answered with a 94-yard return of their own. It was 7–7 before either offense had snapped the ball.

And the strangeness didn’t stop there.

A First Quarter Unlike Any Other

Cypress Falls scored again on a 70-yard interception return.
Their offense didn’t even take the field until 1:44 left in the first quarter. When they did, it was a three-and-out.
By quarter’s end, Falls led 21–17 despite having the ball on offense for just 1 minute and 29 seconds.

I’ve seen special teams change games before. I’ve seen pick-sixes turn momentum. But this was something else entirely — a scoreboard lighting up without an offense ever really being part of the show.

The Second Quarter Explosion

If the first quarter was bizarre, the second quarter was relentless. Falls had five possessions:

Four ended in touchdowns.
The fifth ended with the halftime clock.
They used just 5 minutes and 31 seconds of possession in the entire quarter.

At halftime, the score was 49–17. And here’s the kicker: Cypress Falls had only 149 yards of offense and one first down. Yet they had seven touchdowns on the board.

Series History: A Milestone Meeting

Friday’s game was the 30th meeting between Cypress Falls and Cypress Creek, two of the oldest programs in Cy-Fair ISD. Creek first fielded a varsity team in 1979. Falls joined the scene in 1994.

Maybe it was fitting that the 30th meeting between two longtime neighbors turned into one of the wildest yet. After all, milestones sometimes call for a little chaos.

With the 63–31 win, Cypress Falls now leads the all-time series 21–9.

Rich Football Traditions

Both schools have a proud football history, even if this isn’t what you’d call their “golden era.”

Cypress Falls reached the state championship game in 2006, falling to Cedar Hill.
Cypress Creek has seen remarkable coaching stability. In 47 varsity seasons, they’ve only had four head coaches. Two of them — Les Koenning (117 wins, 8 playoff runs in 21 years) and Greg McCaig (119 wins, 8 playoff runs in 22 years) — are Houston-area legends who together led the program for an astounding 43 of those 47 seasons.

That kind of continuity is rare at any level, and in its own way, it’s as much a football oddity as anything that happened on the field Friday night.

Oddities Across Football History

What I saw Friday night reminded me of the game’s long tradition of weirdness:

In 1916, Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222–0, scoring an almost unimaginable 32 touchdowns in one game. It’s hard to fathom how there was even time for that many scores — and a reminder of how different the game (and scheduling contracts) looked more than a century ago.
In 1929, “Wrong Way” Roy Riegels picked up a fumble in the Rose Bowl and ran it the wrong direction, costing his team dearly.
In 1964, Jim Marshall of the Minnesota Vikings repeated the mistake in the NFL, returning a fumble 66 yards the wrong way for a safety.
In 2012, Jets QB Mark Sanchez gave us the infamous “Butt Fumble.”
And every season in the NFL now brings us new “scorigami” moments — unique final scores never seen before.

Football is a sport where the strange isn’t just possible — it’s inevitable.

The Lesson

If you watch football long enough, you’ll see just about everything. Friday night, I watched a team score 21 points in a quarter without its offense, then turn a game around with a half-dozen touchdowns on barely any offensive production.

Final: Cypress Falls 63, Cypress Creek 31.

But for me, it was less about the final tally and more about how it happened.

It was another reminder that football isn’t just about X’s and O’s. It’s about the unpredictable — the kind of oddities you can’t script, but you’ll never forget.