2022 Texas High School Football

[Beau Vine 54857]

23 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

First team moving on to the second round ... the Gunter Tigers in 3A!

Something ironically called "Trinity Leadership" forfeited the game.  In week 2 of the season, Gunter beat Trinity Leadership 67-6.

Another one -- Tornillo forfeits to Wall.  Check out Tornillo's resume:

https://www.maxpreps.com/tx/tornillo/tornillo-coyotes/football/schedule/

[956 Worldwide 34923]

7 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Another one -- Tornillo forfeits to Wall.  Check out Tornillo's resume:

https://www.maxpreps.com/tx/tornillo/tornillo-coyotes/football/schedule/

Sorry, this is just more evidence that the current playoff format in the lower levels, where they split the divisions before the season and still advance four teams, is a massive fail. I’ve hated since they’ve done it.  The fourth place team is always going to be seriously mediocre and sometimes flat bad. It’s unfair to whoever gets Wall next that they are coming off of a bye because their first round opponent was 0-10 and ready to quit. . And even if they played, it would have been almost functionally the same. 
 

If they keep these smaller divisions and small districts, only two teams should advance. 

[MonkeyDoughnut 10441]

2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Sorry, this is just more evidence that the current playoff format in the lower levels, where they split the divisions before the season and still advance four teams, is a massive fail. I’ve hated since they’ve done it.  The fourth place team is always going to be seriously mediocre and sometimes flat bad. It’s unfair to whoever gets Wall next that they are coming off of a bye because their first round opponent was 0-10 and ready to quit. . And even if they played, it would have been almost functionally the same. 
 

If they keep these smaller divisions and small districts, only two teams should advance. 

Agreed, but even in the bigger districts the talent accumulation of the haves and have nots has only gotten greater. For division 6 it's really a question of like 2-3 teams as to who wins each level.

[Nueces River Rat 5597]

3 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Sorry, this is just more evidence that the current playoff format in the lower levels, where they split the divisions before the season and still advance four teams, is a massive fail. I’ve hated since they’ve done it.  The fourth place team is always going to be seriously mediocre and sometimes flat bad. It’s unfair to whoever gets Wall next that they are coming off of a bye because their first round opponent was 0-10 and ready to quit. . And even if they played, it would have been almost functionally the same. 
 

If they keep these smaller divisions and small districts, only two teams should advance. 

I agree 100%.  RGC Grulla in the RGV is such team.   1-9 and 0-4 in district and they get to meet Sinton on Thursday where they will get 60 plus dumped on them.      All four teams go to playoffs and print up playoff T-shirts.   And then we complain about the participation ribbon mentality and kids being spoiled by it.    We created it with nonsense like this.   

[956 Worldwide 34923]

50 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

I agree 100%.  RGC Grulla in the RGV is such team.   1-9 and 0-4 in district and they get to meet Sinton on Thursday where they will get 60 plus dumped on them.      All four teams go to playoffs and print up playoff T-shirts.   And then we complain about the participation ribbon mentality and kids being spoiled by it.    We created it with nonsense like this.   

The participation trophy element doesn’t bother me that much, in fact I would wager that most of the kids involved don’t feel even a little bit good about taking another L on the chin. For me it’s more about the meaninglessness of these games— especially in a sport like football. 
 

The only thing relevant thing that can happen in these games is for these teams to spoil another good season. Not by winning but by some key piece at a small school getting hurt in a bi-district game against a 1-9 team.

[956 Worldwide 34923]

2 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Agreed, but even in the bigger districts the talent accumulation of the haves and have nots has only gotten greater. For division 6 it's really a question of like 2-3 teams as to who wins each level.

Sure, that’s true and it’s true at the college level as well but we want a bigger playoff. Teams from EP or the RGV aren’t going to challenge for a title, but they can be competitive for a few games.  There’s always gonna be the Katy’s or North Shores. What I want to see in bi-district games are teams that are theoretically capable of putting up a decent showing in that first game. 

[Guest]

It all started downhill when they let the runners-up qualify for the playoffs in the early 80's.[/sarcasm]

Used to be some badass teams left at home because only Dist Champ advanced.

I have long felt the 2 divisions for each classification were dumb and just dilute things down.  people whine and bitch about alleged disparity among 6A schools because of enrollment.  Those folks would lose their minds if they only had 18 boys out for varsity football like some of the smaller schools.  They have no fucking idea what it's like to truly struggle to get every participant you can just to field a program, much less be competitive.

I don't think there is one right answer any more.  I just enjoy it for what it is.

Edited November 7, 2022 by slorch

[956 Worldwide 34923]

4 minutes ago, slorch said:

It all started downhill when they let the runners-up qualify for the playoffs in the early 80's.[/sarcasm]

Used to be some badass teams left at home because only Dist Champ advanced.

I have long felt the 2 divisions for each classification were dumb and just dilute things down.  people whine and bitch about alleged disparity among 6A schools because of enrollment.  Those folks would lose their minds if they only had 18 boys out for varsity football like some of the smaller schools.  They have no fucking idea what it's like to truly struggle to get every participant you can just to field a program, much less be competitive.

I don't think there is one right answer any more.  I just enjoy it for what it is.

We have twice the population in 2022 than we had in 1980, so adding divisions makes some sense to me.  I actually don’t mind splitting them before the season so it really is like a conference championship— just rebalance the number of teams making it in each division. 

[Nueces River Rat 5597]

41 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

The participation trophy element doesn’t bother me that much, in fact I would wager that most of the kids involved don’t feel even a little bit good about taking another L on the chin. For me it’s more about the meaninglessness of these games— especially in a sport like football. 
 

The only thing relevant thing that can happen in these games is for these teams to spoil another good season. Not by winning but by some key piece at a small school getting hurt in a bi-district game against a 1-9 team.

I agree.  Frankly most of them probably wish they didn't have to experience it.   Especially those who have to take a long road trip and will have almost an empty grandstand behind them because of lack of fan support.   

 

The getting hurt angle certainly sucks for the  better team  .   In order to not have those key players not get hurt in some freak chain of events, coaches will pull them as soon as they get that big point spread usually be the half and put the second team in to later replace them in the 4th qtr with JV move ups.  Heck we've been doing that during the regular season with some of our games like last week against Hidalgo where we ended the game with kids with no decals on their helmets getting some snaps    We've had three games in ten where the first team ended the game (GP, Cuero, and Alice).    That can become a problem later down the road in the playoffs when you need your first teamers to put in a full four.     It does give those second teamers and  lower classmen plenty of playing time in case you have to utilize them later, but it's not preferable for most coaching staffs to do this the majority of your season.  

[Nueces River Rat 5597]

1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

We have twice the population in 2022 than we had in 1980, so adding divisions makes some sense to me.  I actually don’t mind splitting them before the season so it really is like a conference championship— just rebalance the number of teams making it in each division. 

7A needs to happen soon with all the cutoffs redone.  One of the biggest obstacles you hear is the travel thing and it being an issue with non football sports and other UIL activities.   Perhaps they need to reimagine the whole classification system and do one for football only and then another for all the other stuff where enrollments are not a huge factor and it keeps school closer to each other.  

[Helobious 9503]

2 hours ago, Nueces River Rat said:

  And then we complain about the participation ribbon mentality and kids being spoiled by it.    We created it with nonsense like this.   

That’s ridiculous. No one feels good about losing by 70 in round one. I don’t mind the 4 qualifiers, it is what it is. High school football is unique. They could let 6 teams a district in the playoffs, and North Shore Westlake Duncanville highland park etc. would all still be playing at the end. The best teams virtually always go the furthest, moreso than other sports. If some 1-9 4AD2 school gets to play in one extra game I don’t think that’s the end of the world.

 

2 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

do one for football only and then another for all the other stuff where enrollments are not a huge factor and it keeps school closer to each other.  

NCAA needs this badly. We don’t need to send the volleyball team to West Virginia to play against a usually terrible opponent when there’s a better team 30 minutes away in San Marcos. That’s for another thread I guess.

[Beau Vine 54857]

I think this is actually going to force action on the UIL's part.  

I think the easiest thing to do would be to only allow 3 teams/district in the playoffs at the 5A level and below. That would give the district champ a deserved bye.  

You could still keep 4 per district in 6A, because the districts tend to have more teams in 6A and this kind of thing isn't a problem there.

[Nueces River Rat 5597]

30 minutes ago, Helobious said:

That’s ridiculous. No one feels good about losing by 70 in round one. I don’t mind the 4 qualifiers, it is what it is. High school football is unique. They could let 6 teams a district in the playoffs, and North Shore Westlake Duncanville highland park etc. would all still be playing at the end. The best teams virtually always go the furthest, moreso than other sports. If some 1-9 4AD2 school gets to play in one extra game I don’t think that’s the end of the world.

 

NCAA needs this badly. We don’t need to send the volleyball team to West Virginia to play against a usually terrible opponent when there’s a better team 30 minutes away in San Marcos. That’s for another thread I guess.

If I have time later tonight, I'm going to look at most of the districts to see where we have 1-9. 2-8, 3-7 teams that have qualified.     I'm curious.    

[956 Worldwide 34923]

46 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

7A needs to happen soon with all the cutoffs redone.  One of the biggest obstacles you hear is the travel thing and it being an issue with non football sports and other UIL activities.   Perhaps they need to reimagine the whole classification system and do one for football only and then another for all the other stuff where enrollments are not a huge factor and it keeps school closer to each other.  

Don’t love 7A. If you look at attendance, the ones that are super outliers are not that many (and…tend to be sports superpowers).

Would never happen, but I think the UIL should just say…if you can split your 5a school down the middle and what’s left are two 5a D1 or two 6a schools (cough…Allen, North Shore)…you have a competitive advantage that can’t be overcome. You can split in two, or play a full regular season but not be eligible for playoffs. Your choice, ISD.  A lot of these schools have two campuses already, you’re not even imposing a real logistical burden. 

[Surly Bevo 25519]

8 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Don’t love 7A. If you look at attendance, the ones that are super outliers are not that many (and…tend to be sports superpowers).

Would never happen, but I think the UIL should just say…if you can split your 5a school down the middle and what’s left are two 5a D1 or two 6a schools (cough…Allen, North Shore)…you have a competitive advantage that can’t be overcome. You can split in two, or play a full regular season but not be eligible for playoffs. Your choice, ISD.  A lot of these schools have two campuses already, you’re not even imposing a real logistical burden. 

Yea, just put a top end cap on 6A like every other classification and tell ISDs to come in under it or fuck off.  Instead of spending 60M on a football stadium, maybe spend it on another HS jackasses.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10441]

2 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Yea, just put a top end cap on 6A like every other classification and tell ISDs to come in under it or fuck off.  Instead of spending 60M on a football stadium, maybe spend it on another HS jackasses.

Exactly. The issue I have is not with playoffs but regular season. So many lopsided games in district. As a fan of either the best school or the worst schools, no one is enjoying the regular season there.

[Beau Vine 54857]

56 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

If I have time later tonight, I'm going to look at most of the districts to see where we have 1-9. 2-8, 3-7 teams that have qualified.     I'm curious.    

I've looked before -- It's basically 4A and down, usually in West Texas and RGV.  (It's what happens when you only have 4-5 teams in a district.)

[Nueces River Rat 5597]

1 hour ago, Surly Bevo said:

Yea, just put a top end cap on 6A like every other classification and tell ISDs to come in under it or fuck off.  Instead of spending 60M on a football stadium, maybe spend it on another HS jackasses.

Yep....   But you try telling someone from Allen this and they tell you to fuck off.    Even though eventually the super schools do fold.  It took Judson several attempts and turnovers in their school boards and Superintendents, but it happened.  Plano kind of followed a similar path

[Helobious 9503]

Cool note about Eagle Pass, their starting QB and several other players play in the spring league for the Venados, collegiate/high school club football team in Piedras Negras. I believe they play at a level below the Borregos & UANL type teams but still year-round competitive football probably helped them go 9-1 somewhat. 

[Nueces River Rat 5597]

16 hours ago, Helobious said:

Cool note about Eagle Pass, their starting QB and several other players play in the spring league for the Venados, collegiate/high school club football team in Piedras Negras. I believe they play at a level below the Borregos & UANL type teams but still year-round competitive football probably helped them go 9-1 somewhat. 

Not disrespecting the kids, but the only thing dumber than competitive year around baseball is year around football.    As a high school coach, I'd ban my players from doing it.  Springs are for putting in the work in the weight room and working on agility.   If you have spring ball, that gives you a few weeks to work on game situation stuff and in pads.  Injuries can happen doing all that stuff, but are more likely to happen in game situations going full speed.  No bueno! 

[Helobious 9503]

Yeah I’m not sure if EP does spring ball, they probably don’t. Just thought it was interesting. I’ve always known of baseball & soccer kids on the border playing in Mexico in the offseason, never heard of it in football.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Helobious

[Nueces River Rat 5597]

7 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Yeah I’m not sure if EP does spring ball, they probably don’t. Just thought it was interesting. I’ve always known of baseball & soccer kids on the border playing in Mexico in the offseason, never heard of it in football.

Football is unusual for sure.  The only time I've heard of high school  (or former) footballers going south is to play college ball at colleges like Monterrey Tech.  

[msucolt45 4143]

Playoffs - we’re talking Playoffs! Starts tomorrow night! Best of luck to all involved and may your team’s final destination take them to Jerry World!
For those participants in the TAPPS league, you’re hoping to reach the finale at Waco ISD’s stadium.

This week my crew was selected to officiate a game of two TAPPS teams, one from North Houston and the other from North SA. These are exciting times as the Victor keeps going, but the latter’s Seniors just might’ve played their last down of organized football.

I’m looking forward to the experience, even though there is a good chance of rain, along with cooler temperatures this Friday evening. Nothing like going from “sweating” all year to the next week, possibly wearing long johns and gloves within a weeks time!

Best of luck to all involved! It’s been a fast but great year. Keep everything in perspective as you don’t know what lies ahead next week!

Hook’em!

[WBT 20744]

I was just looking over the matchups...gotta love the out of state Texas High School playoff games:

Seminole (9-1) vs. Clint Mountain View (6-4), 7 p.m. Thursday in Artesia, NM’s Bulldog Bowl

[Beau Vine 54857]

I honestly think this is my least favorite week of the HS football season -- the D1/D2 preseason split from 5A down just ruins the first round with all the shitty 1 vs 4 matchups.  There are some good matchups, but for every Allen-Lewisville or Ryan-Red Oak game, there are three games on the caliber of Wimberley-SA YMLA or Waltrip-Manvel.  So instead of looking at the games in this round, I'm going to look at the entire brackets this week and try to pick regional champs.

I'm ordering these by level of confidence, from high to low, in each bracket.

6AD1
R4: Westlake  I guess Steele would be the biggest challenger, but I'd take the Chaps by 20 in that game.  
R2: Duncanville  Just waaaaay too much talent for anyone else in the region.  Probably should even bump this up a notch, because there's no challenger as good as Steele in this region.
R3: North Shore  Region final should be a rematch with Atascocita, won 17-13 by NS just two weeks ago.
R1:  Prosper  This would be the Eagles' 3rd straight trip to the region finals, and this time, Guyer won't be waiting to knock them out.  Undefeated North Crowley is also in the bracket, but perennial playoff underachiever Arlington Martin looks like the biggest threat.

6AD2
R1: Guyer  The Wildcats just simply look like a team without a weakness, and they have tons of star power.  Peyton Bowen is the best player I've seen this season, and he should help control SLC in a potential region final matchup
R3: Katy  The Tigers survived close games against Atascocita and Tompkins, but I think those will help out.  Their biggest challenge looks to be undefeated Shadow Creek in round 3.
R2: Desoto  The Eagles lost to a private school from Baltimore that's basically an all-star team and Duncanville (also an all-star team).  There's just a shocking lack of depth in this region.
R4: Vandegrift  Real coin flip here between the Vipers and a Dripping team that handed them their only loss on a walk-off FG in the opener, but I'm not comfortable picking a new-to-6A team to beat Vandy twice.

5AD1
R2: Longview The Lobos have hung 469-77 on the scoreboard cumulative, and look like a team with zero weaknesses.
R1: Aledo The Bearcats have rebounded from 0-2 start in a big way, outscoring 8 opponents by 443-102.  But there is good competion in this bracket with Midlothian, Tascosa, and Ryan.
R3: Smithson Valley Larry Hill's program has pulled out of the doldrums they had been stuck in in a big way -- their only loss was to 6A Harker Heights.  This region covers a lot of physical territory, though, and they'll face challenges from Fulshear, Manvel and the two BCS schools.
R4: This one will excite Helo and Nueces RR as with no good SA teams in the region, it will come down to RGV vs Corpus, PSJAN and Miller on one side of the bracket and Vela and CC Vets on the other.  Vets beat Miller by 4 earlier and PSJAN beat Vela by 7.  I'll take Miller to eventually survive, because they have the best player in the bracket in WR Lonnie Adkism.  

5AD2
R1: Argyle  You'll never go broke betting on the Eagles, as their program is just a machine that always produces extremely well-rounded teams that don't beat themselves.  A fairly weak region will make it easier.
R4: Liberty Hill  This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Panthers, but they went 9-1 losing only a 56-49 barnburner to Hutto in week 2.  They've made the region finals 4 years in a row, and the competition is light this season, with LBJ in R3.
R3: FB Marshall  The Buffs are used to winning this region, and they have another outstanding team, led by a defense that has pitched 6 shutouts and allowed only 69 points.  Their only loss was in OT to 2-time defending region champ Crosby in September.  Their biggest challenge looks to be an undefeated Lake Creek team that is averaging 57 ppg in round 3.
R2: South Oak Cliff  That 7-3 record is deceiving, as the defending champs played just about the toughest non-district schedule ever with losses to 6A powers Duncanville, Desoto, and Lancaster.  They'll need that experience, as this region is a bear; their path might be Mansfield Summit, Lovejoy, Midlothian Heritage, and Melissa.  Wow.

4AD1
R1: Brownwood  The Lions aren't the best 4AD1 team in the state, but they're the best in a weak R1.  They've lost to Ab Wylie and Stephenville, but those teams are way better than R1 challengers like Decatur and the Canyon schools.
R2: China Spring  I think the defending state champs are better than they were last season, but the competion in R2 is stiff.  The good news is that it's mostly on the other half of the bracket -- Stephenville looms, but they'll have to get by undefeated Anna in round 2, and likely Celina in round 3 to even get to China Spring.
R3: Chapel Hill  The Bulldogs are riding an 8-game winning streak, highlighted by a big win at Kilgore last week.  Their extremely young 2021 team lost a heartbreaker in the state semis, and most of those kids are back.    They'll be challenged by a 9-1 Lumberton team in round 3 and a resurgent El Campo squad in the finals.
R4: This will almost assuredly come down to Boerne and Calallen, which is a great matchup.  The Greyhounds have beaten Coastal Bend 5A powers G-P and Flour Bluff already this season, but so has Calallen.  If star RB Epi Hinojosa hadn't torn up his knee, I'd take Calallen, but without him, I don't see them scoring enough points to handle Boerne.  But man, this is a coin flip.

4AD2:  
R4: Wimberley  The Texans are far from the best team in 4AD2, but this region is absolute garbage with Sinton rebuilding and Cuero moved to R3.  
R2: Carthage  The Bulldogs are pretty much the best 4AD2 team in the state every year, and their closest game this year so far was 41-15.  They do have undefeated Gilmer looming in round 3, but pedigree matters in this sport and Carthage has that.
R1: Glen Rose  This would be an upset, but I've been talking up the Tigers all year, so... money, meet mouth.  GR's only loss was to Brownwood, though their biggest loss was choosing Tigers as a mascot instead of Dinosaurs -- COME ON!!!  /gob.  They'll have to get through a very good Hirschi team to prove me right.  
R3:  Cuero  With Carthage moved to R2 and WOS way down, this one is interesting.  Undefeated Silsbee and Bellville are on the other side of the bracket, which means that the Gobblers will only have to beat one of them, and I think they play with enough discipline and offensive versatility to do that.

3AD1  NOTE: I think 3AD1 is my favorite bracket of any division.
R3: Franklin  Hitchcock should challenge in round 3 and Columbus would be a very tough matchup in the finals, but Franklin just looks unstoppable to me.
R4: Llano  The Yellowjackets are undefeated; they won R4 in 2020 and were favored to do so again last season, but were upset by San Diego. This is pretty much a 2-team bracket with Edna the other challenger; the Cowboys' lone loss was to Refugio.
R1: Bushland  The Falcons were putting together one of the best resumes in the state before losing to Shallowater 3 weeks ago.  1-loss Shallowater and Whitesboro will challenge, as will Brock, the best 6-4 team in the state.
R2: Pottsboro  The Cards' only loss was to a very good Whitesboro team.  The other half of the bracket is just brutal, with 1-loss teams in Winnsboro, Malakoff, and West.  I would not be surprised to see Winnsboro avenge a 1-point district loss to Pottsboro.

3AD2
R2: Gunter  The Tigers are just ridiculous -- scoreboard shows cumulative 458-62 so far, and they have a 100-6 record since the start of 2016.  Yes, 100 wins in 106 games.  There are two other undefeated teams in this region (Palmer and an outstanding Holliday squad), but I'm not dumb enough to pick against 100-6.
R3: Newton  The Eagles are always good, and their only loss this season was by 1 point to 8-2 D1 Woodville.  West Rusk and Daingerfield will challenge.
R1: Canadian  Didn't look like your usual Canadian team early  -- they got pants by Bushland, then lost in OT to an Oklahoma school, but have ended the year 8-2 averaging 52 ppg, so that looks pretty Canadian, eh?  A 1-loss Wall squad that has allowed only 70 points all season and a tough Abernathy team look like the main threats.
R4: Poth  This will very likely come down to an undefeated Lexington bunch and 9-1 Poth.  The Pirates lost 22-21 to Shiner and have still outscored opponents 471-56.  Lexington played in a tougher district, but come on, 34 points allowed in 9 wins?  POTH POTH POTH!!!

2AD1
R1: Hawley  The Bearcats look like what the Bum Phillips Oilers were supposed to be: "Last year we knocked on the door, this year we banged on the door, next year we kick the SOB down."  They made it to Jerryworld last season, then scheduled anyone who would play them this season and dominated to the tune of 403-86.  They'll have to beat Cisco a second time (or undefeated Stratford), but I'm a believer.
R3: Timpson  See Bum Phillips quote above.  In 2020, a soph-dominated Timpson team got destroyed by Shiner in the semis; they lost a heartbreaker to Shiner last year.  Now those kids are seniors and are on a mission.  
R4: Refugio  Looks to simply be the Bobcats' turn to take it over from Shiner.  They've already beaten district foe Shiner once.  No offense to Dalton, but I think we've learned that big Doug was the Brooks brother who made Shiner great.
R2: Crawford  Two amazing undefeated teams in this region.  The Pirates are undefeated and have allowed only 39 points all season.  Tolar is outscoring opponents 479-70.  But pedigree matters in this sport, so that favors Crawford.

2AD2
R3: Mart  Cumulative score of 556-55 and I don't see a challenger in the region.
R1: Wellington  The Skyrockets struggled a bit early and lost to a private school, but have been a rolling ball of knives since October started.  A New Home team that's on a 9-game winning streak might challenge, but I doubt it.
R4: Chilton  The undefeated Pirates cruised through probably the best 2A district in the state.  
R2:  Albany  The Lions lost back-to-back games to Hawley and 9-1 3A Comanche in September, but there is no shame in that.  This bracket also hosts undefeated Wink and two outstanding 9-1 district mates in Santo and Collinsville, but Albany has the pedigree and coaching in Denney Faith to survive.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Beau Vine

[Helobious 9503]

Our secondary will have its hands full on Friday, as PSJA has one of the best QBs in the valley. @956 Worldwide not sure he can do it alone though, I’m still picking the cards to win.
 

Sidenote: do you or maybe @Nueces River Rat or anyone else know why their helmets look like this? Their mascot is Bears, is the “T” for tri-cities? Always thought it was the ugliest/stupidest helmet design of all time. 

[Hook1997 5434]

The change years back with 2A and 3A districts having 5-7 teams and 4 going to the playoffs is dumb.  Never understood it, I guess they wanted that playoff game money?  

[Beau Vine 54857]

How much money do you think the UIL takes in from 2A & 3A playoff games?

[Hook1997 5434]

15 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

How much money do you think the UIL takes in from 2A & 3A playoff games?

For the schools to get money I guess?  Idk, that’s why I said it never made sense to me. It just seems a bit much to be having teams with losing records going to the playoffs sometimes.  

[956 Worldwide 34923]

1 hour ago, Helobious said:

Our secondary will have its hands full on Friday, as PSJA has one of the best QBs in the valley. @956 Worldwide not sure he can do it alone though, I’m still picking the cards to win.
 

Sidenote: do you or maybe @Nueces River Rat or anyone else know why their helmets look like this? Their mascot is Bears, is the “T” for tri-cities? Always thought it was the ugliest/stupidest helmet design of all time. 

I always thought it was Pharr-San Juan-Alamo TEXAS but it could be Tri-Cities I guess. Lots of schools try to ape college and NFL templates and I can see why back when this was designed (been that way at least since I was in junior high and likely longer), those were farming communities and the colors maroon and white and so it makes sense. 
 

Execution is a bit clunky but it’s legible, far from the worst high school hats out there.  Too many of them get too busy with the logos. I know it’s long-standing tradition but I don’t like SLC, the cloud of smoke, the lightning bolts, the scales, the red tongue, and the outline of Texas combine to be way too busy. 
 

 

[956 Worldwide 34923]

Thanks @Beau Vine for the always great write up.  I gave my thoughts on how bad bi-district is now, so I won’t go into it. 
 

In 6A DII R4 give me Dripping Springs in a breakthrough season for them behind the best player in the region with Austin Novosad.

 

In 5A DI R4 give me Edinburg Vela to advance. This is the year, I don’t see them losing twice to PSJAN and I think they’ll slide part Miller if that’s the matchup— barely. 
 

Also, give me North Crowley over Prosper. I’d like to see Calallen advance and will pull hard for them. Would be a hell of a thing to win it all now without Danaher but I do think no Epi means Boerne will be tough. 

[F250 28944]

On 11/7/2022 at 5:18 AM, 956 Worldwide said:

The fourth place team is always going to be seriously mediocre and sometimes flat bad.

A few years ago the 4 teams from 27-6A that went to the playoffs all made it to the state quarter-finals where two were eliminated by the other two. Depending on the district the 4th team can be pretty good.

[Beau Vine 54857]

3 minutes ago, F250 said:

A few years ago the 4 teams from 27-6A that went to the playoffs all made it to the state quarter-finals where two were eliminated by the other two. Depending on the district the 4th team can be pretty good.

That happened in the last year or two in 3A.

[WBT 20744]

7 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

though their biggest loss was choosing Tigers as a mascot instead of Dinosaurs

Also could have gone with isotopes

[TreatyOak 16772]

8 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

I honestly think this is my least favorite week of the HS football season -- the D1/D2 preseason split from 5A down just ruins the first round with all the shitty 1 vs 4 matchups.  There are some good matchups, but for every Allen-Lewisville or Ryan-Red Oak game, there are three games on the caliber of Wimberley-SA YMLA or Waltrip-Manvel.  So instead of looking at the games in this round, I'm going to look at the entire brackets this week and try to pick regional champs.

I'm ordering these by level of confidence, from high to low, in each bracket.

6AD1
R4: Westlake  I guess Steele would be the biggest challenger, but I'd take the Chaps by 20 in that game.  
R2: Duncanville  Just waaaaay too much talent for anyone else in the region.  Probably should even bump this up a notch, because there's no challenger as good as Steele in this region.
R3: North Shore  Region final should be a rematch with Atascocita, won 17-13 by NS just two weeks ago.
R1:  Prosper  This would be the Eagles' 3rd straight trip to the region finals, and this time, Guyer won't be waiting to knock them out.  Undefeated North Crowley is also in the bracket, but perennial playoff underachiever Arlington Martin looks like the biggest threat.

6AD2
R1: Guyer  The Wildcats just simply look like a team without a weakness, and they have tons of star power.  Peyton Bowen is the best player I've seen this season, and he should help control SLC in a potential region final matchup
R3: Katy  The Tigers survived close games against Atascocita and Tompkins, but I think those will help out.  Their biggest challenge looks to be undefeated Shadow Creek in round 3.
R2: Desoto  The Eagles lost to a private school from Baltimore that's basically an all-star team and Duncanville (also an all-star team).  There's just a shocking lack of depth in this region.
R4: Vandegrift  Real coin flip here between the Vipers and a Dripping team that handed them their only loss on a walk-off FG in the opener, but I'm not comfortable picking a new-to-6A team to beat Vandy twice.

5AD1
R2: Longview The Lobos have hung 469-77 on the scoreboard cumulative, and look like a team with zero weaknesses.
R1: Aledo The Bearcats have rebounded from 0-2 start in a big way, outscoring 8 opponents by 443-102.  But there is good competion in this bracket with Midlothian, Tascosa, and Ryan.
R3: Smithson Valley Larry Hill's program has pulled out of the doldrums they had been stuck in in a big way -- their only loss was to 6A Harker Heights.  This region covers a lot of physical territory, though, and they'll face challenges from Fulshear, Manvel and the two BCS schools.
R4: This one will excite Helo and Nueces RR as with no good SA teams in the region, it will come down to RGV vs Corpus, PSJAN and Miller on one side of the bracket and Vela and CC Vets on the other.  Vets beat Miller by 4 earlier and PSJAN beat Vela by 7.  I'll take Miller to eventually survive, because they have the best player in the bracket in WR Lonnie Adkism.  

5AD2
R1: Argyle  You'll never go broke betting on the Eagles, as their program is just a machine that always produces extremely well-rounded teams that don't beat themselves.  A fairly weak region will make it easier.
R4: Liberty Hill  This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Panthers, but they went 9-1 losing only a 56-49 barnburner to Hutto in week 2.  They've made the region finals 4 years in a row, and the competition is light this season, with LBJ in R3.
R3: FB Marshall  The Buffs are used to winning this region, and they have another outstanding team, led by a defense that has pitched 6 shutouts and allowed only 69 points.  Their only loss was in OT to 2-time defending region champ Crosby in September.  Their biggest challenge looks to be an undefeated Lake Creek team that is averaging 57 ppg in round 3.
R2: South Oak Cliff  That 7-3 record is deceiving, as the defending champs played just about the toughest non-district schedule ever with losses to 6A powers Duncanville, Desoto, and Lancaster.  They'll need that experience, as this region is a bear; their path might be Mansfield Summit, Lovejoy, Midlothian Heritage, and Melissa.  Wow.

4AD1
R1: Brownwood  The Lions aren't the best 4AD1 team in the state, but they're the best in a weak R1.  They've lost to Ab Wylie and Stephenville, but those teams are way better than R1 challengers like Decatur and the Canyon schools.
R2: China Spring  I think the defending state champs are better than they were last season, but the competion in R2 is stiff.  The good news is that it's mostly on the other half of the bracket -- Stephenville looms, but they'll have to get by undefeated Anna in round 2, and likely Celina in round 3 to even get to China Spring.
R3: Chapel Hill  The Bulldogs are riding an 8-game winning streak, highlighted by a big win at Kilgore last week.  Their extremely young 2021 team lost a heartbreaker in the state semis, and most of those kids are back.    They'll be challenged by a 9-1 Lumberton team in round 3 and a resurgent El Campo squad in the finals.
R4: This will almost assuredly come down to Boerne and Calallen, which is a great matchup.  The Greyhounds have beaten Coastal Bend 5A powers G-P and Flour Bluff already this season, but so has Calallen.  If star RB Epi Hinojosa hadn't torn up his knee, I'd take Calallen, but without him, I don't see them scoring enough points to handle Boerne.  But man, this is a coin flip.

4AD2:  
R4: Wimberley  The Texans are far from the best team in 4AD2, but this region is absolute garbage with Sinton rebuilding and Cuero moved to R3.  
R2: Carthage  The Bulldogs are pretty much the best 4AD2 team in the state every year, and their closest game this year so far was 41-15.  They do have undefeated Gilmer looming in round 3, but pedigree matters in this sport and Carthage has that.
R1: Glen Rose  This would be an upset, but I've been talking up the Tigers all year, so... money, meet mouth.  GR's only loss was to Brownwood, though their biggest loss was choosing Tigers as a mascot instead of Dinosaurs -- COME ON!!!  /gob.  They'll have to get through a very good Hirschi team to prove me right.  
R3:  Cuero  With Carthage moved to R2 and WOS way down, this one is interesting.  Undefeated Silsbee and Bellville are on the other side of the bracket, which means that the Gobblers will only have to beat one of them, and I think they play with enough discipline and offensive versatility to do that.

3AD1  NOTE: I think 3AD1 is my favorite bracket of any division.
R3: Franklin  Hitchcock should challenge in round 3 and Columbus would be a very tough matchup in the finals, but Franklin just looks unstoppable to me.
R4: Llano  The Yellowjackets are undefeated; they won R4 in 2020 and were favored to do so again last season, but were upset by San Diego. This is pretty much a 2-team bracket with Edna the other challenger; the Cowboys' lone loss was to Refugio.
R1: Bushland  The Falcons were putting together one of the best resumes in the state before losing to Shallowater 3 weeks ago.  1-loss Shallowater and Whitesboro will challenge, as will Brock, the best 6-4 team in the state.
R2: Pottsboro  The Cards' only loss was to a very good Whitesboro team.  The other half of the bracket is just brutal, with 1-loss teams in Winnsboro, Malakoff, and West.  I would not be surprised to see Winnsboro avenge a 1-point district loss to Pottsboro.

3AD2
R2: Gunter  The Tigers are just ridiculous -- scoreboard shows cumulative 458-62 so far, and they have a 100-6 record since the start of 2016.  Yes, 100 wins in 106 games.  There are two other undefeated teams in this region (Palmer and an outstanding Holliday squad), but I'm not dumb enough to pick against 100-6.
R3: Newton  The Eagles are always good, and their only loss this season was by 1 point to 8-2 D1 Woodville.  West Rusk and Daingerfield will challenge.
R1: Canadian  Didn't look like your usual Canadian team early  -- they got pants by Bushland, then lost in OT to an Oklahoma school, but have ended the year 8-2 averaging 52 ppg, so that looks pretty Canadian, eh?  A 1-loss Wall squad that has allowed only 70 points all season and a tough Abernathy team look like the main threats.
R4: Poth  This will very likely come down to an undefeated Lexington bunch and 9-1 Poth.  The Pirates lost 22-21 to Shiner and have still outscored opponents 471-56.  Lexington played in a tougher district, but come on, 34 points allowed in 9 wins?  POTH POTH POTH!!!

2AD1
R1: Hawley  The Bearcats look like what the Bum Phillips Oilers were supposed to be: "Last year we knocked on the door, this year we banged on the door, next year we kick the SOB down."  They made it to Jerryworld last season, then scheduled anyone who would play them this season and dominated to the tune of 403-86.  They'll have to beat Cisco a second time (or undefeated Stratford), but I'm a believer.
R3: Timpson  See Bum Phillips quote above.  In 2020, a soph-dominated Timpson team got destroyed by Shiner in the semis; they lost a heartbreaker to Shiner last year.  Now those kids are seniors and are on a mission.  
R4: Refugio  Looks to simply be the Bobcats' turn to take it over from Shiner.  They've already beaten district foe Shiner once.  No offense to Dalton, but I think we've learned that big Doug was the Brooks brother who made Shiner great.
R2: Crawford  Two amazing undefeated teams in this region.  The Pirates are undefeated and have allowed only 39 points all season.  Tolar is outscoring opponents 479-70.  But pedigree matters in this sport, so that favors Crawford.

2AD2
R3: Mart  Cumulative score of 556-55 and I don't see a challenger in the region.
R1: Wellington  The Skyrockets struggled a bit early and lost to a private school, but have been a rolling ball of knives since October started.  A New Home team that's on a 9-game winning streak might challenge, but I doubt it.
R4: Chilton  The undefeated Pirates cruised through probably the best 2A district in the state.  
R2:  Albany  The Lions lost back-to-back games to Hawley and 9-1 3A Comanche in September, but there is no shame in that.  This bracket also hosts undefeated Wink and two outstanding 9-1 district mates in Santo and Collinsville, but Albany has the pedigree and coaching in Denney Faith to survive.

Just amazing work. Well done, my talented friend. I would love to see a Katy/Denton Guyer matchup and I'd take Guyer. I might pick Guyer over Texas at this point.  

[cmontexas 3306]

I think Decatur will roll through 4AD1. Huff had a lot of success at Collie Station and after a rough start against tough nondistrict opponents, they've come together and won their last 7

[cmontexas 3306]

Also, Permian has as clear a path as they'll ever have in 6AD1. Mojo-Duncanville in the semis would have a certain poetry to it. Bonus if Dville has some eligibility questions like the bball team

[Helobious 9503]

13 minutes ago, cmontexas said:

Also, Permian has as clear a path as they'll ever have in 6AD1. Mojo-Duncanville in the semis would have a certain poetry to it. Bonus if Dville has some eligibility questions like the bball team

Prosper will demolish them before that point. 

[956 Worldwide 34923]

3 hours ago, cmontexas said:

Also, Permian has as clear a path as they'll ever have in 6AD1. Mojo-Duncanville in the semis would have a certain poetry to it. Bonus if Dville has some eligibility questions like the bball team

They have to get past North Crowley first, and that’s gonna be hard.  
 

Its too bad, the last two big school champs that were not Houston-DFW-Austin-San Antonio suburban schools were Longview (2018) and Abilene (2009). I don’t know when we will see it again. Permian never had better players, they just cared more.

Permian basically invented the idea of a high school football “program” and everyone since has their legacy in the DNA, but I don’t think we’ll see the return of West Texas powers outside of the small school ranks. 

[blacklab 11994]

Round Rock cedar ridge uses the same song for the school song as Westlake. Not sure if our plucky little guys will be able to over come this. 
hopefully we can get some breaks and the refs can help us out. 

[BurntOrange&White 40441]

3 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Round Rock cedar ridge uses the same song for the school song as Westlake. Not sure if our plucky little guys will be able to over come this. 
hopefully we can get some breaks and the refs can help us out. 

Big 12 crew?

[Fudbelty 2793]

Aledo up 7-0 after 1. TD came off 72 yard run. Shoemaker playing decent overall

[Scholz 12040]

2 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Permian never had better players, they just cared more.

Permian basically invented the idea of a high school football “program” and everyone since has their legacy in the DNA, but I don’t think we’ll see the return of West Texas powers outside of the small school ranks. 

Permian players ran that GD counter from grade school. They also gerrymandered every good player in Odessa every year.

[blacklab 11994]

CR takes the opening kickoff and goes right down the field and scores in 4 plays. 
 

Westlake playing terrible, can’t get anything going  

21-7 Westlake at end of 1q

[Fudbelty 2793]

Aledo up 7-0 after 1. TD came off 72 yard run. Shoemaker playing decent overall

28-0 at half.

[Herbie Hancock 7392]

I think Decatur will roll through 4AD1. Huff had a lot of success at Collie Station and after a rough start against tough nondistrict opponents, they've come together and won their last 7

I think the district is absolute dogshit. After the first couple rounds of dogshit they’ll fold like a cheap suit when they face real competition.

[Herbie Hancock 7392]

They have to get past North Crowley first, and that’s gonna be hard.  
 
Its too bad, the last two big school champs that were not Houston-DFW-Austin-San Antonio suburban schools were Longview (2018) and Abilene (2009). I don’t know when we will see it again. Permian never had better players, they just cared more.
Permian basically invented the idea of a high school football “program” and everyone since has their legacy in the DNA, but I don’t think we’ll see the return of West Texas powers outside of the small school ranks. 

It’s a rollercoaster, once in a decade team that makes it beyond the 3rd round when talking west Texas. My Abilene team in 2004 would have beaten seven shades of shit out of my little brother’s 2009 team that won state, and we lost 3rd round on an interception in the endzone with 8 seconds left to SLC that year. We had more D-1 athletes and were a more complete team top to bottom.

TLDR; high school kids are fickle at best

[Beau Vine 54857]

Wimberley 50 San Antonio YMLA 0 6:28 left in 2nd

[Helobious 9503]

4 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Wimberley 50 San Antonio YMLA 0 6:28 left in 2nd

YMLA just hasn’t been the same since all their good players and coaches left for Sam Houston. You should count yourselves lucky that happened.

[texifornia 57228]