Five BIG Things in Texas High School Football

9/16/13

Its that time again... time for my Five BIG Things! These are the things that stood out for me recently as it relates to Texas high school football. As usual, they are not listed in order of importance - just as they come to me.

1. Refugio opens the floodgates! - It started in 2011 when Jason Herring took the brakes off his high powered Refugio Bobcats.  The idea was that because they were so much better than their district foes, his starters were sitting on the bench for the second half of most games.  Unaccustomed to playing all four quarters, when playoffs rolled around and the Bobcats faced much better and deeper squads, Refugio starters ran out of gas.  Coach Herring unleashed his team to go all out for four quarters in every game and in doing so, not only won the 2011 Class 2A State Championship, but set the single season all time scoring record with 891 points.

The result of Refugio's powerhouse season was not lost on coaches around the state and they too decided that it was no longer necessary to "take your foot off the throat" of an opponent when you had a big lead.  Over the past two years, teams around the state have been rolling up crazy numbers and the twitterverse is all abuzz about "basketball scores."

If you are a fan of offense, thank the Bobcats for making it "cool to crush."   If you are a fan of the time honored tradition of not hitting a man when he's down, they you are shaking your head at these scores.  A case can be made for either - what do you think?  Call the voicemail line 713-568-6361 and give us your take!

It's sort of ironic that in the week I call this out as a BIG THING, Refugio drops a game to Lago Vista and only scores 39 in the process.

2. I just love close games – I caught really two really good games on Thursday and Friday.  Both of them turned out to be nail biters.  Thursday, Austin Bowie took on Round Rock and appeared at the start to be the stronger team.  The connection between Bowie's quarterback Austin Eschenburg and receiver Mac McGarah looked like it could be repeated all night as they jumped out to an early lead.  Round Rock stayed tough and scrapped their way to a solid lead as Deandre Story rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns.  The two teams trades scores as time was running low and in the end, Bowie's Connor Flanigan kicked a 40 yard field goal to break the tie and get the win 32-29.

Friday, in the Ranch Road 12 Rivalry, Dripping Springs played host to the Wimberley Texans.  This one too went back and forth but in much bigger swings.  Early on, it looked that Dripping Springs would run away with the win until Wimberley toughened up and not only clawed their way out of the deficit, but managed to build a 36-27 lead early in the fourth.  Wimberley out-gained the Tigers, 572 yards to 410, but the fourth quarter heroics by T.J. Coble rendered his stats irrelevant.  Coble  finished with 238 passing yards thanks largely to a 60-yard scoring toss in the third as well as the two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to take the win 41-36.  Wimberley had a chance to score with the ball on Dripping Springs' 1 with just seconds remaining.  Colton Cerday faked a spike to stop the clock and threw a short pass that turned into an interception for Dripping Springs sealing the game.

3. Rivalry Games are the best!– I say it all the time that the "little" games are every bit as exciting as the BIG games... and I think a lot of the reason why that is true is because of the rivalries.  When Mighty Mike and I played for the Class 2A Industrial Cobras, our team was not state ranked, we only had a few players that even went on to play college ball.  What we did have... was a bitter rivalry with the Ganado Indians.  THAT game was our Super Bowl each year.  Even when we had horrible seasons, if we beat Ganado the year was a success.

You see it with every team in the state.  They always have one team they consider their arch-rivals (and often two or three.)    There are some great rivalries like El Campo versus Bay City.  These teams have matched up 110 times and the rivalry is as strong as ever.  Lufkin versus Nacogdoches is a great one that has been going on nearly as long.  There are some new rivalries like Spring Westfield vs Spring DeKaney and some that come and go depending on team strengths.  In the end though, rivalry games just seem to be bigger, more important and a heck of a lot more fun that an average matchup.  What is your team's big rival?  Call the voicemail line and tell us about it 713-568-6361.

4. San Angelo Central looking good - The San Angelo Central Bobcats are lighting it up in District 2-5A.  The scored 78 points per game in pre-district and then opened up district play strongly against Lubbock Coronado winning 35-7.  Quarterback Mickey Scott is putting up great numbers through the air 48 of 67 for 851 yards with 10 touchdowns and a single interception. Scott also leads the team in rushing with 10.6 yards per carry (381 yards.)  I am not saying they are going to walk through the district, but I am saying you should pay attention to these Bobcats.

5. Player of the Year is going to be harder than ever! - The numbers being put up by the state's leading players are downright amazing.  Patrick Mahomes (Whitehouse) has over 1,200 yards passing in just three games and 9 QBs have over 1,000 already.  Ricky Olivas (749) and Austin Walter (717)  each have over 700 yards on the ground already and they are just two of the 11 running backs over 600 yards.  The top 14 receivers have over 400 yards each with the top player Mason Hays at 573 yards.  Add these big numbers to the career records being assaulted, or already broken, in passing and kicking and you have a recipe for some tough Player of the Year decisions.

Chris Doelle