That must have been some halftime speech by Cedar Park first-year coach Carl Abseck.

For the second week in a row, the Timberwolves proved they are a second half team. After trailing 17-15 at halftime, Cedar Park scored four touchdowns and shut out the Raiders in the second half to roar to a 42-17 win.

The game didn’t start so lopsided. Cedar Park started shaky, fumbling on their first possession and throwing an interception on the second. Rouse’s Cauy Moore picked off quarterback Mac Sexton’s pass at the 21, ending the T-wolves’ drive. Despite the two opportunities, the Raiders couldn’t capitalize on the mistakes and didn’t get points out of either turnover.

Cedar Park got on the board first at the end of the first quarter, tacking on a 2-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead. The Raiders answered back on their next possession with quarterback Michael Forster scoring on a three-yard run early in the second quarter.

The defense forced the Timberwolves to go three and out on the next possession and a poor punt gave the Raiders the ball in Cedar Park territory. But again the Raiders struggled moving the ball,  and had to settle for a field goal by kicker Dylan Dunfee to retake the lead 10-8.

Cedar Park jumped back ahead to a 15-10 lead on the next drive, thanks in large part to a 4th down conversion that moved the ball to the 3.

Cedar Park looked like they were going to add another score before halftime, as they powered down field into the red zone. But Sexton’s pass was picked off by linebacker Clayton Wachsmann at the 15 and the senior ran it back 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 17-15 lead going into halftime.

“I felt really good about it, time like slowed down when I caught it and I saw the open lane so I took it,” Wachsmann said. “I didn’t expect to make it all the way but Matt Bisch got a good block on a guy and it allowed me to take it to the house.”

After halftime, the Raiders watch the momentum shift to Cedar Park as the slim lead disappeared and the T-wolves responded with an end zone onslaught.

The T-wolves powered over the Raiders in the second half, scoring four touchdowns, 27 unanswered points. Cedar Park had 24 first downs to the Raiders’ 7. The T-wolves shut out the Raiders in the second half and limited them to less than 200 total yards of offense, 75 passing yards and 121 on the ground.

The T-wolves, who are one of the top 10 teams in 5A and a state title contender, move to 2-0 on the year. The Raiders, who lost the season opener to another top 10 team, Brennan, are now 0-2. Coach Josh Mann spoke to his players after the game, saying the tough scheduling was intentional.

“Two weeks in a row, we’ve seen the best two teams in the state,” Mann said, noting later that the players didn’t even realize yet how physical Cedar Park was and would see it when they watched game film.

Next up for the Raiders is another LISD rival, Leander at Bible Stadium, Sept. 11.

“We took a step, a small one. We need to take a bigger one.”