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Courtesy of www.texasfootball.com
DCTF's High School Football Insider looks back on the last weekend on the gridiron.
September 18, 2017
Matt Stepp
A night for streaks to end
Friday night saw several long streaks end in the state of Texas, most notably in Bremond where the Tigers saw their 49-game winning streak end at the hands of Milano in a 28-21 loss. It has been an incredible run for the Tigers who have won three consecutive 2A Division II state titles, so instead of dwelling on the loss, let’s congratulate head coach Jeff Kasowski and his program on the incredible run. Congrats are in order for three programs who broke long losing streaks Friday night as well. We start in the DFW area where South Garland broke a 25-game losing streak with a 46-40 win over Dallas White. The Colonels were led by running back Jaquarion Turner who ran for an incredible 408 yards and five touchdowns in the win. Out in the El Paso area, Tornillo broke a 29-game losing streak knocking off Anthony, 34-14. While in San Antonio, the Memorial Minutemen won their first district game since 2013 with a 23-17 win over San Antonio Jefferson. The win breaks a 29-game district losing streak.
Home Sweet Home
Head coacb Ken Plunk’s Amarillo Tascosa Rebels aren’t putting many miles on the road at the moment as the 3-0 Rebels played their first three games on the home field of Bivins Stadium after Thursday’s 65-21 win over Lawton (OK) MacArthur. In fact, Tascosa won’t play a game away from Bivins until Week 6 when they visit Midland Lee. The reason? Tascosa’s two “road” games are both being played at Bivins Stadium against Amarillo ISD bunkmates Palo Duro (Week 1) and Amarillo High (Week 4). Considering Tascosa is the lone 6A program in the panhandle, the lessened travel is certainly welcomed.
Photo by Gary Sanderson
6A Powers Struggling
Three of the state’s power programs at the Class 6A level are off to a combined 2-7 start after all three suffered losses on Friday night. We start out in the Big Country where Abilene High was projected to have a bit of rebuild after losing a tremendous group of seniors. But after a 49-35 loss to Abilene Cooper in the annual Crosstown Showdown, the Eagles are 0-3 with all three losses coming by at least 14 points. District 3-6A is fairly wide open and Shotwell Stadium is still a tough place for opponents from DFW to win, so the Eagles have time to right the ship. In DFW, we started to see signs of the Euless Trinity Trojans wobbling a year ago as Trinity floundered to a fourth-place finish in 5-6A and another first round playoff exit. Those signs are full blown at the moment as Trinity was knocked off by a motivated Colleyville Heritage squad, 31-14, in convincing fashion at Pennington Field. I think Trinity can get things turned around and get into the playoffs as a third or fourth place team, but the days of Trinity being a power for now appear to be over. Finally, we move down to San Antonio where Cibolo Steele is off to a slow 1-2 start under new head coach David Saenz. The Knights opened with an easy win over San Antonio Madison, but then lost a close one on the road at Lake Travis. Friday night their air of invincibility in the city of San Antonio was challenged in a 42-30 loss to San Antonio O’Connor. O’Connor played keep-away in the second half as Steele only had the ball for four minutes the entire half. A pair of recovered onside kicks kept the Steele defense on the field the entire second half. I’m not nearly as concerned about Steele as the previous two teams. The Knights are still working in an inexperienced quarterback (transitioned from wide receiver) and a few new players in the front seven, but they get the benefit of the doubt. However, they have Smithson Valley and No. 1 Converse Judson coming up on the schedule after the bye week. They need to get things in order because there’s a chance the team starts 1-4 as well. For historical reference, the last time Steele started 1-2, it won the state title in 2010.
Manvel and Westfield make statements in H-Town
The season got started after a two-week wait in Houston and two of the biggest statements made were by our top ranked 5A team Manvel and one of our 6A favorites, Spring Westfield. Manvel, who was without quarterback Kason Martin (injury) simply ran, ran and ran some more, running the ball on its first 28 plays from scrimmage and finished with 351 yards on the ground in a 45-7 rout of a good Pearland squad, spoiling new head coach James Farmer’s debut. North of town, Spring Westfield’s defense feasted on Galena Park North Shore in an impressive 37-20 season-opening victory.
Big night in RGV
It was a big night for football down in the Valley. First, we start in Harlingen where the Cardinals have flown under the radar (no pun intended) after a shocking season-opening loss to Class 5A Mission Veterans Memorial. Head coach Manny Gomez’s squads typically find their footing later in the year, but the Cardinals pulled off what many consider to be a decent sized upset as they knocked off one of the Alamo City’s top five teams in San Antonio Reagan 22-20 at Boggus Stadium. Considering Harlingen, by many, is considered to be a possible third-place team in 32-6A, that gives you an idea that it could be an up year for the Valley. Harlingen’s 32-6A rivals, San Benito, cemented its spot as the top team in the Valley with an impressive road win against the Valley’s number two team McAllen Memorial 31-7. Running back Tyrone Harper finished the night with 148 yards of offense and a rushing touchdown and he returned the game’s opening kickoff for a win.
Photo by Richard Badillo
Hutto Opens up District with a Thrilling Win
The nine-team District 19-5A is one of the state’s most interesting to watch as tiebreaker scenarios, especially for the final two playoff spots, are almost always in play. Two teams who figure to be right in the thick of the playoff race, Hutto and Georgetown, hooked up in another classic on Friday. Last year, Georgetown won an overtime thriller and this time, Hutto returned the favor with a 32-yard field goal from Isodoro Barrios in the game’s waning moments to escape with a 25-23 win. That win is huge for the Hippos as the eight-game district race often comes down to tiebreakers and having a head-to-head win against a fellow playoff contender is huge.
No Jack Dallas for West Orange-Stark? No problem, meet Chaka Watson
After a two-week wait to open defense of their back-to-back state titles, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs opened up the 2017 season with their usual defensive dominance and explosive offense in a 39-6 rout of 4A Division I opponent Bridge City. The graduation of three-year starter Jack Dallas at quarterback left WOS with inexperience at quarterback, but no shortage of talent as junior quarterback Chaka Watson was sensational in his first start rushing for 149 yards and three touchdowns. The win improves the Mustangs to 26-0 all-time against Bridge City and improves the Mustangs’ winning streak to 28 games, which is currently the longest in the state after Bremond’s loss on Friday night.
East Bernard wins the “Jerry Long Bowl”
Knowing Edna head coach Jerry Long, he’d cringe at this game being dubbed as such, but at least for once we had to use it. Long, who led East Bernard to a 3A Division II state title in 2012, departed in 2015 to take over at Corpus Christi Carroll before landing at Edna this spring. He matched up with his former school for the first time Friday and EBHS got the best of Edna in a hotly contested 29-22 game.
Photo by Darice Farris
Wortham off to a great start
How about the Wortham Bulldogs? Head coach Chris Tobola’s squad is 3-0 for the first time since 1998 after an impressive 38-21 win over Rosebud-Lott. Wortham, who was pegged as a significant underdog in the game was led by running back Stephon Ester who ran for 253 yards and three touchdowns along with tallying eleven tackles and a forced fumble. Ester was taken off the field in ambulance in the fourth quarter with a neck injury but all appears well as tests were negative and he was held overnight for observation. Through three games Ester is averaging 9.5 yards per-carry and has 670 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
Wednesday night #TXHSFB
District 22-5A hasn’t gotten started quite yet, but 5A schools in the Golden Triangle will begin their unique 2017 schedule Wednesday (Yes, Wednesday night) with four district games. Lumberton will visit Port Neches-Groves, Port Arthur Memorial visits Beaumont Central, Nederland visits Livingston and Beaumont Ozen visits Baytown Lee. It’ll be a unique experience playing games on Wednesday night, but finally normalcy will be restored in Southeast Texas, so I encourage any fans in the area not in that district to find a Wednesday night game in their area and come out and watch some great Texas High School Football!
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Matt Stepp is the Texas High School Football Inside for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Find him on Twitter: @Matt_Stepp817.
DCTF's High School Football Insider looks back on the last weekend on the gridiron.
September 18, 2017
Matt Stepp
A night for streaks to end
Friday night saw several long streaks end in the state of Texas, most notably in Bremond where the Tigers saw their 49-game winning streak end at the hands of Milano in a 28-21 loss. It has been an incredible run for the Tigers who have won three consecutive 2A Division II state titles, so instead of dwelling on the loss, let’s congratulate head coach Jeff Kasowski and his program on the incredible run. Congrats are in order for three programs who broke long losing streaks Friday night as well. We start in the DFW area where South Garland broke a 25-game losing streak with a 46-40 win over Dallas White. The Colonels were led by running back Jaquarion Turner who ran for an incredible 408 yards and five touchdowns in the win. Out in the El Paso area, Tornillo broke a 29-game losing streak knocking off Anthony, 34-14. While in San Antonio, the Memorial Minutemen won their first district game since 2013 with a 23-17 win over San Antonio Jefferson. The win breaks a 29-game district losing streak.
Home Sweet Home
Head coacb Ken Plunk’s Amarillo Tascosa Rebels aren’t putting many miles on the road at the moment as the 3-0 Rebels played their first three games on the home field of Bivins Stadium after Thursday’s 65-21 win over Lawton (OK) MacArthur. In fact, Tascosa won’t play a game away from Bivins until Week 6 when they visit Midland Lee. The reason? Tascosa’s two “road” games are both being played at Bivins Stadium against Amarillo ISD bunkmates Palo Duro (Week 1) and Amarillo High (Week 4). Considering Tascosa is the lone 6A program in the panhandle, the lessened travel is certainly welcomed.
Photo by Gary Sanderson
6A Powers Struggling
Three of the state’s power programs at the Class 6A level are off to a combined 2-7 start after all three suffered losses on Friday night. We start out in the Big Country where Abilene High was projected to have a bit of rebuild after losing a tremendous group of seniors. But after a 49-35 loss to Abilene Cooper in the annual Crosstown Showdown, the Eagles are 0-3 with all three losses coming by at least 14 points. District 3-6A is fairly wide open and Shotwell Stadium is still a tough place for opponents from DFW to win, so the Eagles have time to right the ship. In DFW, we started to see signs of the Euless Trinity Trojans wobbling a year ago as Trinity floundered to a fourth-place finish in 5-6A and another first round playoff exit. Those signs are full blown at the moment as Trinity was knocked off by a motivated Colleyville Heritage squad, 31-14, in convincing fashion at Pennington Field. I think Trinity can get things turned around and get into the playoffs as a third or fourth place team, but the days of Trinity being a power for now appear to be over. Finally, we move down to San Antonio where Cibolo Steele is off to a slow 1-2 start under new head coach David Saenz. The Knights opened with an easy win over San Antonio Madison, but then lost a close one on the road at Lake Travis. Friday night their air of invincibility in the city of San Antonio was challenged in a 42-30 loss to San Antonio O’Connor. O’Connor played keep-away in the second half as Steele only had the ball for four minutes the entire half. A pair of recovered onside kicks kept the Steele defense on the field the entire second half. I’m not nearly as concerned about Steele as the previous two teams. The Knights are still working in an inexperienced quarterback (transitioned from wide receiver) and a few new players in the front seven, but they get the benefit of the doubt. However, they have Smithson Valley and No. 1 Converse Judson coming up on the schedule after the bye week. They need to get things in order because there’s a chance the team starts 1-4 as well. For historical reference, the last time Steele started 1-2, it won the state title in 2010.
Manvel and Westfield make statements in H-Town
The season got started after a two-week wait in Houston and two of the biggest statements made were by our top ranked 5A team Manvel and one of our 6A favorites, Spring Westfield. Manvel, who was without quarterback Kason Martin (injury) simply ran, ran and ran some more, running the ball on its first 28 plays from scrimmage and finished with 351 yards on the ground in a 45-7 rout of a good Pearland squad, spoiling new head coach James Farmer’s debut. North of town, Spring Westfield’s defense feasted on Galena Park North Shore in an impressive 37-20 season-opening victory.
Big night in RGV
It was a big night for football down in the Valley. First, we start in Harlingen where the Cardinals have flown under the radar (no pun intended) after a shocking season-opening loss to Class 5A Mission Veterans Memorial. Head coach Manny Gomez’s squads typically find their footing later in the year, but the Cardinals pulled off what many consider to be a decent sized upset as they knocked off one of the Alamo City’s top five teams in San Antonio Reagan 22-20 at Boggus Stadium. Considering Harlingen, by many, is considered to be a possible third-place team in 32-6A, that gives you an idea that it could be an up year for the Valley. Harlingen’s 32-6A rivals, San Benito, cemented its spot as the top team in the Valley with an impressive road win against the Valley’s number two team McAllen Memorial 31-7. Running back Tyrone Harper finished the night with 148 yards of offense and a rushing touchdown and he returned the game’s opening kickoff for a win.
Photo by Richard Badillo
Hutto Opens up District with a Thrilling Win
The nine-team District 19-5A is one of the state’s most interesting to watch as tiebreaker scenarios, especially for the final two playoff spots, are almost always in play. Two teams who figure to be right in the thick of the playoff race, Hutto and Georgetown, hooked up in another classic on Friday. Last year, Georgetown won an overtime thriller and this time, Hutto returned the favor with a 32-yard field goal from Isodoro Barrios in the game’s waning moments to escape with a 25-23 win. That win is huge for the Hippos as the eight-game district race often comes down to tiebreakers and having a head-to-head win against a fellow playoff contender is huge.
No Jack Dallas for West Orange-Stark? No problem, meet Chaka Watson
After a two-week wait to open defense of their back-to-back state titles, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs opened up the 2017 season with their usual defensive dominance and explosive offense in a 39-6 rout of 4A Division I opponent Bridge City. The graduation of three-year starter Jack Dallas at quarterback left WOS with inexperience at quarterback, but no shortage of talent as junior quarterback Chaka Watson was sensational in his first start rushing for 149 yards and three touchdowns. The win improves the Mustangs to 26-0 all-time against Bridge City and improves the Mustangs’ winning streak to 28 games, which is currently the longest in the state after Bremond’s loss on Friday night.
East Bernard wins the “Jerry Long Bowl”
Knowing Edna head coach Jerry Long, he’d cringe at this game being dubbed as such, but at least for once we had to use it. Long, who led East Bernard to a 3A Division II state title in 2012, departed in 2015 to take over at Corpus Christi Carroll before landing at Edna this spring. He matched up with his former school for the first time Friday and EBHS got the best of Edna in a hotly contested 29-22 game.
Photo by Darice Farris
Wortham off to a great start
How about the Wortham Bulldogs? Head coach Chris Tobola’s squad is 3-0 for the first time since 1998 after an impressive 38-21 win over Rosebud-Lott. Wortham, who was pegged as a significant underdog in the game was led by running back Stephon Ester who ran for 253 yards and three touchdowns along with tallying eleven tackles and a forced fumble. Ester was taken off the field in ambulance in the fourth quarter with a neck injury but all appears well as tests were negative and he was held overnight for observation. Through three games Ester is averaging 9.5 yards per-carry and has 670 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
Wednesday night #TXHSFB
District 22-5A hasn’t gotten started quite yet, but 5A schools in the Golden Triangle will begin their unique 2017 schedule Wednesday (Yes, Wednesday night) with four district games. Lumberton will visit Port Neches-Groves, Port Arthur Memorial visits Beaumont Central, Nederland visits Livingston and Beaumont Ozen visits Baytown Lee. It’ll be a unique experience playing games on Wednesday night, but finally normalcy will be restored in Southeast Texas, so I encourage any fans in the area not in that district to find a Wednesday night game in their area and come out and watch some great Texas High School Football!
———
Matt Stepp is the Texas High School Football Inside for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Find him on Twitter: @Matt_Stepp817.