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China Spring's Kyle Barton plows ahead for yardage in last year's meeting with Connally. It'll be a Top 10 Class 4A matchup when the Cougars and Cadets meet on Friday.
D.J. Ramirez, Chad Conine and Brice Cherry get together every week to chat about high school football:
• A tweet from Greg Tepper at Texas Football this week says there are 31 matchups between undefeated teams (just 11-man, probably) in Texas this week: No. 10 Connally vs. No. 2 China Spring, Bartlett at Itasca and Blooming Grove at Wortham. Out of the four Centex teams in that mix, how many will still be undefeated going into next week?
• Let's talk about the University Trojans after a heartbreaking loss to Arlington Heights last week. Despite their 1-2 record, it seems like the Trojans are trending in the right direction. Do you think that's the case, and can they make a run at a playoff spot?
• One of the best stories of 2021 was Marlin, with an 11-4 record and run to the state semifinals. Now the Bulldogs are 0-3. Every year there are teams that start slowly and turn it around to make deep playoff runs. Does Marlin have that capability?
• We've already referenced "Friday Night Lights" a few times this season, so let's keep the streak going. Odessa Permian is the Panthers and everyone knows they have an alternate nickname, Mojo. Central Texas has a few of these as well in the U-Dawgs, Modoc and The Comma. Which of those is your favorite, and are we leaving any good ones out around the area?
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Read our complete coverage at wacotrib.com/sports/high-school and follow #TribFridayNight on Twitter every Friday night.
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Breakdown: Connally’s victory over Cameron Yoe last week helped earn the Cadets a place in the 4A Division II top 10 of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football high school rankings. That created a matchup of ranked opponents this week at Mac Peoples Stadium.
China Spring, last season’s 4A D-II state champion, moved up to 4A D-I in realignment and has lived up to its high ranking in that division so far in this campaign. The Cougars’ offensive triplets — QB Cash McCollum, RB Kyle Barton and WR Tre Hafford — flexed last week in a 63-7 win over Mexia. McCollum passed for 336 yards and five touchdowns, Hafford caught nine balls for 224 yards and three scores and Barton turned the wheels of the offense early. RB Miles Reed ended up being the Cougars’ leading rusher versus the Blackcats with 83 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries.
In the aftermath, Mexia coach Aaron Nowell compared McCollum’s arm velocity to highly ranked QBs Nowell saw during his time coaching at Midway in recent seasons.
Connally coach Terry Gerik can see on film that China Spring has changed its offensive complexion without missing a beat. McCollum is more of a passer than Major Bowden, who led the Cougars to a 48-7 win over Connally last season.
The Cadets will counter with a talented offense of their own. Gerik said QB Jelani McDonald, who left last week’s win at Cameron Yoe in the second half with an apparent lower leg injury, is doing well in practice this week and is expected to play. Gerik said taking the QB out was a precaution and a chance for backup Jarrett Shepherd to get some live reps.
Connally put together a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter against the Yoemen. The Cadets did it behind big gains from RB Kiefer Sibley, including the 17-yard go-ahead touchdown. Sibley leads Central Texas with 515 rushing yards.
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Breakdown: It would be difficult to find a team in the state of Texas that has had a tougher schedule through the first three weeks than the Mexia Blackcats. Mexia started with a road game at Connally and it got increasingly tougher from there. The Blackcats hosted Franklin (ranked No. 1 in 3A Division I) in Week 2 and traveled to China Spring (No. 2 in 4A D-I) last Friday.
The scoreboard wasn’t kind to the Blackcats as they lost all three games by at least 45 points.
“When you schedule those teams, you don’t ever envision the outcomes that we’ve had,” Mexia coach Aaron Nowell said. “But are we progressing? We have every week.”
The tone changes a little bit as unranked Gatesville comes to Mexia. It might be a chance for Blackcats dual-threat QB Jacques Cooper to break out as an offensive star.
Even though the Hornets don’t have the credentials of Mexia’s previous three opponents, Gatesville brings some positive momentum into this one. QB Jacob Newkirk passed for 147 yards and a touchdown to lead the Hornets to a 27-20 victory in McGregor last Friday. On the season, Newkirk has thrown for 536 yards and six touchdowns.
This is the first meeting in football between the Blackcats and Hornets since 2011 when Gatesville defeated the Blackcats, 31-0, in Mexia.
Breakdown: Shane Anderson didn’t shy away from challenging his Midway team with an ominous nondistrict schedule. The Panthers probably will be more competitive in District 12-6A play as a result, but they’ve certainly taken their lumps in the opening weeks.
“I do think it will pay off in the end,” Anderson said. “The four teams we’ve played in nondistrict have combined to go 8-1, with the only loss being Vandegrift losing to Dripping Springs and the Baylor commit at quarterback (Austin Novosad). … That’s quality competition, and it’s going to help us when we get to district play.”
Offensively, to give itself a better chance to win, Midway needs to ramp up its production in a big way. It was shut out last week by 19th-ranked Leander Vandegrift, and has produced just 34 points on the season. In hopes of shaking things up, Midway plans to use Junior Thornton as its starting quarterback this week. Last week the receiver lined up as a Wildcat quarterback, and his arm is certainly strong enough to wing it for downfield shots.
“We wanted to give Junior a week of preparation, give him a real shot at it,” Anderson said, “then we’ll make a decision from there.”
Midway’s offensive line is a bit of a work in progress, but senior Garrett Morphis gave the group some good news this week when he accepted a preferred walk-on offer to play at Texas Tech next year.
Defensively, senior safety Adrian Melvin, who leads Midway with 30 tackles, has been dealing with some nagging injuries, but Anderson expects he’ll be on the field. That’s good for the Panthers, who will try to slow down an explosive Heath team that put up 68 points two games ago against Euless Trinity.
Midway will also celebrate Senior Night prior to the Heath game, which is always a special ceremony, Anderson said.
“These guys have really bought in to our vision for the program,” Anderson said. “Hopefully we can play better and start putting some wins together, give them a chance to be a playoff football team.”
Breakdown: The fact that La Vega comes into this game with a sub.-500 record and having fallen out of the state rankings doesn’t deceive Lorena coach Ray Biles at all.
He knows how tough these Pirates are. “They’re typical La Vega, a very good, very physical team,” Biles said.
Sure, Midlothian Heritage powered past La Vega, 41-14. But after watching the film, Biles recognized just how good Heritage is, to the point where the Lorena coach jokingly wondered why Lee Wiginton left Heritage to go coach Allen.
La Vega will try to lean on its physical prowess up front against the No. 3-ranked, defending state champion Leopards, who are no slouches in that area themselves. The Pirate line is led by senior bruiser Lorenzo Gonzalez, while sophomore Bryson Roland is a “heck of a running back,” Biles said. La Vega will even line up Roland at Wildcat QB to try to get him the ball in different ways.
Lorena has rebounded from its Week 1 loss to fellow state champ China Spring with solid wins over West and Cedar Hill Trinity. Kasen Taylor (344 yards, 6 TDs) is keeping the chains moving on the ground, while junior receiver Jadon Porter, a Baylor commit, averages just under 100 yards receiving a night. LB Lucas Ragsdale (36 stops) ranks among the area’s top tacklers.
It’s the last nondistrict tuneup before the Leopards start District 11-3A action against Cameron Yoe, so these pop quizzes are all preparation for the tests that count.
“I think we’re improving, and that’s the whole goal,” Biles said. “If you play good folks, you get tested in a hurry. It forces your kids to grow up in a hurry.”
Breakdown: Rockets head coach Mike Ludlow considered this week’s practices the best the team has stacked together all year. That’s important, considering the Rockets let some things slip out of their control in a 41-19 loss to Taylor last week.
“We had 500 yards of offense in that game, but we didn’t finish off drives, we made some stupid mistakes,” Ludlow said. “So this week was a chance to reset and get recharged.”
John Bachtel’s Fairfield team is still looking to carve out an identity after suffering some lopsided early-season losses. The Eagles have surrendered an average of 44 points per game, and yet after watching film Ludlow came away impressed with Fairfield’s defensive line, led by junior DT Brady Williams. Fairfield also has a veteran ball carrier in senior Eli Martin, who is averaging 136 rushing yards per game.
The Rockets’ nice start has been aided by some young playmakers, like RB Christian Lujan (480 rushing yards) and WR Grayson Martin (314 yards, 3 TDs). Ludlow has also been impressed with the poise shown by his son, freshman QB Jaxsen Ludlow, who has passed for 547 yards and five TDs. The coach cited a play in last week’s game where Jaxsen “got skinny” to avoid the oncoming rush of a Taylor defender before stepping up in the pocket to drop a dime downfield.
“I think he’s starting to find his voice,” Mike said.
Breakdown: One of these Central Texas 3A teams is going to feel a little more hopeful after this week.
Though McGregor has dropped its first three games, Bulldogs coach Mike Shields saw signs of major progress in last week’s 27-20 loss to 4A Gatesville.
“The kids played tough. We had a chance for an onside kick at the end, maybe get the ball back with a chance to go ahead,” Shields said. “We’re proud of the way the guys are still playing until the final whistle, and we believe we can get over the hump.”
McGregor’s offensive line carved out some nice holes against the Hornets, leading to a season-best 139 rushing yards from sophomore RB Sebastian Torres.
The Cubs are under new leadership this year in first-year head coach Brent Finney. They’ve dropped their last two after snagging a season-opening win over Merkel. They operate out of a wing-T look offensively, and RBs Parker Tunnell and Riley Finney have combined for 515 rushing yards in a nearly equal split. That’ll put the onus on McGregor defenders like LB Caden Byford (30 tackles) to mind their assignments.
“We can’t leave a gap open, because they’ll find it,” Shields said.
Breakdown: There’s not much question Chilton features one of the most explosive offenses in Central Texas as the Pirates have averaged 44.7 points in their 3-0 start, including last week’s 64-6 rout of Normangee.
Isaiah Redd has thrown for 521 yards and seven touchdowns while the ground game has shown a lot of balance with Marvion Huitt rushing for 183 yards on just 13 carries and Daylon Ford rushing for 170 yards on 22 carries.
The Pirates also have a top-flight receiver in Markeydrick Taylor with 13 catches for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Hearne will counter with a strong defense that has been a key to its 2-1 start. The Eagles have allowed just 38 points, and played well in their only loss, a 6-0 shutout against Burton two weeks ago.
• A tweet from Greg Tepper at Texas Football this week says there are 31 matchups between undefeated teams (just 11-man, probably) in Texas this week: No. 10 Connally vs. No. 2 China Spring, Bartlett at Itasca and Blooming Grove at Wortham. Out of the four Centex teams in that mix, how many will still be undefeated going into next week? DJ Ramirez, Chad Conine and Brice Cherry get together every week to chat about high school football. ----- Read our complete coverage at wacotrib.com/sports/high-school and follow #TribFridayNight on Twitter every Friday night. ----- SUBSCRIBE to the Super Centex podcast on: Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/super-centex-high-school-football-podcast/id1530443045 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0MGCLCaU3WUMy7KcpJauKn Google - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvMDJlM2JiYjAtOWU4Ny00ODMyLWIyOTctYWFiOTAxMTY4ZjkzL2YzNGQ2ZTcxLWFmNmUtNGI5NS04OGI4LWFjMmIwMTJiYTNjYS80ODNiYjRiZS0yNWJiLTQxZWYtYjJiMC1hYzJiMDEyYzU1YzMvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M%3d
Breakdown: Neither the Lions nor the Bulldogs are ranked in the top 10, but the winner of this game between undefeated teams should knock on the door.
Blooming Grove has displayed an explosive offense led by quarterback Rhett Southard, who has passed for 367 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Timmy Hamilton has rushed for 251 yards while Landon Heaslet has chipped in 149 yards and Kelton Bell has added 149 yards.
The Lions’ defense is allowing just nine points per game, but will face its biggest test against a dynamic Wortham offense that’s averaging 44.7 points.
Tanner Bean is the catalyst as he’s rushed for 462 yards and nine touchdowns but Kymani Johnson is another dangerous back who has rushed for 228 yards and three scores.
Quarterback Ryken Lewis hasn’t been called upon to pass much, but he has been effective as he’s hit 15 of 25 for 223 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He’s also a running threat as he’s picked up 110 yards. Middle linebacker Preston Sterling has been a monster as he’s amassed 10 tackles for loss.
Breakdown: District play is underway in District 7-3A Div. I as Whitney picked a comfortable victory over Dallas Inspired Vision 65-6 last Friday. The Wildcats will hit the road to West, Comma, Texas, to face the Trojans, who took a bye week after a 21-15 non-district loss to Lorena.
“They’ve got an extra game under their belts so it’s just a big game for us,” said West head coach David Woodard. “Hopefully we took care of some things during the week. We got a good week of work and looking forward to it.”
West will take on an offensively fast Whitney team that knows how to spread it around the field with a physical defense led by a strong core of linebackers that don’t give up big plays.
“Defensively, we’ve got to make sure we get lined up, give ourselves a chance each and every play,” Woodard said. “Offensively, we’ve got to match their physicality and we’ve got to be able to do the things that we do in our offense to be successful.”
The Trojans bring their own physicality to the game and for Whitney head coach David Haynes Jr., the Wildcats will have to match up and answer to the Trojans, especially in the running game.
“We’ve got to tackle. We know they want to run the ball so we have to tackle, lineup correctly on defense,” Haynes said. “Offensively, we’ve got to protect the ball. We can’t have the ball on the turf or throw interceptions. We’ve got to execute.”
• Let's talk about the University Trojans after a heartbreaking 29-28 loss to Arlington Heights last week. Despite their 1-2 record, it seems like the Trojans are trending in the right direction. Do you think that's the case, and can they make a run at a playoff spot? DJ Ramirez, Chad Conine and Brice Cherry get together every week to chat about high school football.
Breakdown: The University Trojans were on their way to a second straight win having shut down Arlington Heights in the first half, but things turned sour when the Yellowjackets blocked a field goal before going into halftime. Heights proceeded to mount a comeback in the second half to hand University a 29-28 defeat.
Both of University’s losses have been down-to-the-wire affairs and according to head coach Kent Laster, the Trojans will look to use that as motivation going forward.
“It makes us battle-tested going into game four and district,” Laster said. “I know there’s no such thing as a moral victory but we’re going to find a way to use this as momentum. We’re three points from being undefeated so we have nothing to hold our heads down about. We’ve just got to make those key plays that allow us to come out on top.”
Offensively, the Trojans have totaled 110 points in three games, seeing improvement each week. Laster noted that special teams was a main concern after the season opener but the team has made strides in that area thus far. Defensively, the Trojans are just looking for consistency.
• Let's talk about the University Trojans after a heartbreaking 29-28 loss to Arlington Heights last week. Despite their 1-2 record, it seems like the Trojans are trending in the right direction. Do you think that's the case, and can they make a run at a playoff spot? DJ Ramirez, Chad Conine and Brice Cherry get together every week to chat about high school football.
They’ll be up against an athletic Class 6A Copperas Cove team that’s coming off a 42-15 loss to Manor. The Bulldawgs rely on a pair of solid receivers and size in the O-line as well as tough defense which knows how to tackle. But for Laster, as long as the Trojans play a clean game and focus on themselves, success will follow.
“We’ve got to focus on us and cleaning up our mistakes and making sure we play a clean football game,” Laster said. “Protect the ball and not do the things that allow people to take advantage and don’t give them easy stuff.”
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Breakdown: Mart continues to roll through opponents with ease, bouncing Italy, 68-7, last week after romping over Marlin, 41-6, and shutting out Paris Chisum, 54-0, the previous two weekends.
Panthers quarterback Jonah Ross has amassed 437 passing yards and eight touchdowns aided by a wall of staunch offensive linemen, several of whom also play brutal defense. Among them are Abram Ross and Monte Swaner, who have combined for 45 tackles so far.
Mart will be on the road against the Centerville Tigers this week, who are coming off a 44-29 victory over Teague. According to Mart head coach Kevin Hoffman, Centerville will be a big, tough, well-coached team.
“They’re probably going to be the biggest team that we’re going to play this year,” Hoffman said. “They’ll be the most physical team that we’ve played up to this point and probably from here on out. Coach (Kyle) Hardee’s group has always been known as big, strong, physical.
“They want to punch you in the mouth and they want to see how you’re going to react to it. If you don’t stand up to it they’re just going to keep punching you in the mouth and keep moving the ball down the field, eat up the clock, and there’s not a lot you can do about it.”
• One of the best stories of 2021 was Marlin, with an 11-4 record and run to the state semifinals. Now the Bulldogs are 0-3. Every year there are teams that start slowly and turn it around to make deep playoff runs. Does Marlin have that capability? DJ Ramirez, Chad Conine and Brice Cherry get together every week to chat about high school football. ----- Read our complete coverage at wacotrib.com/sports/high-school and follow #TribFridayNight on Twitter every Friday night. ----- SUBSCRIBE to the Super Centex podcast on: Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/super-centex-high-school-football-podcast/id1530443045 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0MGCLCaU3WUMy7KcpJauKn Google - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvMDJlM2JiYjAtOWU4Ny00ODMyLWIyOTctYWFiOTAxMTY4ZjkzL2YzNGQ2ZTcxLWFmNmUtNGI5NS04OGI4LWFjMmIwMTJiYTNjYS80ODNiYjRiZS0yNWJiLTQxZWYtYjJiMC1hYzJiMDEyYzU1YzMvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M%3d
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High school football predictions: See what the Trib sports staff thinks about every game this week.
MART — Mart, Texas might as well be known as Football, Texas. With eight state championships dating back to 1957, the expectation is for the P…
China Spring's Kyle Barton plows ahead for yardage in last year's meeting with Connally. It'll be a Top 10 Class 4A matchup when the Cougars and Cadets meet on Friday.
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