Dripping in sweat with smudged eye black across his face, Braden Baker looked like he had been through a battle.
Facing off against the No. 3-ranked team in the state for a few hours will naturally have that effect.
But, alas, as the Cypress Ranch quarterback stood underneath the lights of Cy-Fair FCU Stadium on Friday, he did so victoriously. The senior signal-caller had just willed the Mustangs to a win that would show the entire state they mean business this year.
Baker, a three-star University of Houston commit, completed 16-of-21 passes for 254 yards and four touchdowns, and senior kicker Nate Carrier booted a 40-yard field goal as time expired as Cy Ranch earned a dramatic 31-28 victory against C.E. King.
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Baker has been a four-year starter, and his leadership and exceptional play on the field have seemingly aligned perfectly with the vision head coach William Blaylock had for the Mustangs when he took the reins of the program in 2024.
After passing for just 36 yards in the team's season opener against Hightower, Baker responded admirably against C.E. King, a 2025 state runner-up, and made the biggest play of the game with a 20-yard scramble to set up the winning field goal.
"(Baker) is my quarterback," Blaylock said with a big smile, still clearly riding the euphoria elicited by the Mustangs' late-game heroics. "I'm like Terrell Owens - that's my quarterback. But he's a great kid. Had a rough one last week, even though we got a victory. Hightower did a great job. He came in here, not necessarily with a point to prove, but to show that he is who he is."
Baker, who's been a starter since his freshman season, enjoyed a breakout campaign with Cy Ranch last year, passing for nearly 3,000 yards and 32 touchdowns with just one interception. His contributions helped the Mustangs reach the third round of the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Coming back this year, his expectations for the team - and for himself - are even higher.
After waiting out a lightning delay for nearly two hours, Baker and his teammates found a way to persevere against the supremely talented team on the other sideline and notched a win that could very well vault them into the top 10 of the state rankings.
"I think that just shows our team and how we work," Baker said. "Last year in the playoffs, we had the same thing happen, and it was the same outcome. I think we're just built for that. Anytime we play, we're going to put on a show."
Cypress Ranch wide receiver John Fox, right, celebrates his touchdown against King during the first half of a high school football game, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Cypress. (Eric Christian Smith/Contributor)
Baker certainly put on a show in the early stages of the game as the Cy Ranch offense came out firing on all cylinders. He finished the first half 8-for-10, hardly letting the ball touch the ground. The Mustangs jumped out to a 14-0 lead as he fired a 5-yard touchdown pass to Derrick McCullar II and later found the senior receiver wide open in the middle of the field for a 69-yard score.
C.E. King, which finished 13-3 last season and lost to DeSoto in the Class 6A Division I state championship game , wasn't going to back down from the fight, however. The Panthers finally pulled even on the final play of the third quarter and took their first lead of the night with 8:46 remaining in the fourth. Baker, who also had a 3-yard touchdown pass to John Fox in the second quarter, responded by finding Joshua Richard Jr. on a 10-yarder with 2:59 to play before ultimately engineering the game-winning drive.
On the decisive play, the middle of the field opened up, and Baker hit full stride through the turf to put his team in position.
"I told my O-line, 'We're going to have to go get this thing,'" he said. "I knew we were going to have to show our toughness, and when I took off with my legs and got that first down, I knew we were going to make that field goal at the end."
Cy Ranch gained plenty of valuable experience during last year's playoff run, which ultimately ended in the regional semifinals with a tough loss against Waxahachie. Coming back this season, though, Blaylock wanted to see what his players were made of. He found a truly elite non-district opponent in C.E. King, which made a remarkable turnaround under head coach Cory Laxen in 2025 .
So what did Friday's win mean? Sure, it's only Week 2. But the Mustangs wanted to make a statement.
"They showed us that they've got heart," Blaylock said. "They showed us that they can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the state of Texas. I scheduled this game because we needed to see somebody that's been to Arlington. We needed to see somebody who knows what it's like to go 16 weeks, so we can measure ourselves and see where we're at. These kids fought for 48 minutes, and it took all 48 of them."
In order to compete with some of the best teams in the state into December, Cy Ranch will need Baker to be at the top of his game. But regardless of how this season ends, he's already made an indelible mark on the Mustangs' program. He's followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Blake, who's now at Louisiana Tech, and understands what it takes to be a special player and a special teammate.
"He's the most even-keel guy you'll ever meet," Blaylock said. "Nothing really fazes him, high or low, and he's a leader. When he walks on the field, the offense knows, No. 10 is out here - it's time to go to work. He's the heartbeat, and he's a captain for a reason."
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This article originally published at Braden Baker's late-game heroics help lift Cypress Ranch over No. 3 C.E. King in thriller .
