At long last

The season is over. I love covering high school football - it's by far the most popular thing we cover and with all due respect to other sports, it's our favorite. But that doesn't mean that come the end of the state title games, we're not ready for the season to end.
It started way back in the spring with our "Spring Blitz" previews, continued through our extensive 7-on-7 coverage and pretty much nonstop from July 25 through next week. Yes, that's right, we'll have a few more football-related stories in the next couple days, but for the most part the season is done.
I don't think anyone can be surprised at Katy's state title. I hadn't seen them in person since the North Shore game in Week Zero and they were a pleasure to watch today. I feel bad for Hightower, though, having come all this way and run into an absolute buzzsaw.
Chad and I will have a season-ending podcast Monday with thoughts on this weekend and a few lookbacks at the season.
Until then, I'm gonna head home, have a beer and take a few deep breaths.

With all precincts reporting ...

Here are the final results of our poll on who would win the state championship games:

Hightower and Katy
70.2%

Just Katy
13.7%

Just Hightower
13%

Allen and Wylie ... DFW gets two up on Houston
3.1%
***
We're having problems with our photo upload system from here in the Reliant Stadium press box, so Article Slideshow and Photo Connect will be up as soon as possible.
Season-ending blog coming shortly.

Come on now ...

Can't say I'm terribly surprised at hearing the Allen and Wylie coaches are unhappy (mostly Allen) that they'll be playing road games Saturday at Reliant Stadium. I'm just surprised it took this long.

The game sites were determined in June!! For my part, I think all postseason sites should be determined in advance.

Northbrook's Rainey headed to Arizona

Read about the Raider WR/S' commitment here.

In case you can't pull the story up, the gist of it is he chose Arizona over Iowa State (the only school I'd ever heard about with him), TCU and Baylor.
"I'd like to play wide receiver or running back because I haven't played too much defense," he said. "I really like to be on the offensive side of the ball."

When you have a Wikipedia entry ...

... you've made it to the big time.
Googling my brains out for a Thursday "Alumni Watch" feature, I noticed Cy-Fair-ex Nneka Ogwumike has her own Wikipedia page. So does future UT quarterback Garrett Gilbert. I'm sure other former area athletes have some, but I haven't found them yet.
One of my buddies from back home once created a page for himself, but it was quickly deleted. Maybe he just needs to try harder.

Quick basketball poll update

While we wait for the big state championship football games this weekend, some interesting things went down in basketball, and it reflects in the latest poll by the Texas Basketball Coaches Association.
Dulles, who had both its boy's and girl's teams ranked in the top 10 in the respective polls, both saw its teams lose in tournament play. The boy's team fell to Bush in the Outback tournament finals, while the girls fell in the Clear Creek semifinals to Cy-Fair. Those losses dropped the boy's team to No. 14 from No. 6 and the Lady Vikings to No. 5 from the top spot a week ago.
Kingwood (No. 4) and Strake Jesuit (No. 5) are now the top two Houston-area teams in the boy's rankings, with Bush getting a big jump to No. 13, just ahead of Dulles. Bellaire is right behind at No. 16.
In girl's, Nimitz took advantage of Dulles' loss and moved to No. 1, with College Park at No. 2. Cy-Fair jumped to No. 4, and Dulles lands at No. 5. Rounding out the Houston-area teams are Bellaire at No. 6, North Shore at No. 12 and Hightower at No. 17.
It's shaping up to be an interesting next four months of basketball. A lot of great teams are battling and shaping themselves for what should be a fantastic finish to the basketball season.

Another Houston-area position opens

Just read on The Old Coach.com that Willowridge head coach Darrell Scurlock will not return as head coach next season.
Scurlock became head coach in 2001 after being a long-time assistant. This was back when the Eagles started its decent from being an area power to a cellar-dweller. But Scurlock, who had a record of 26-46 at the school, worked well with what he had, leading Willowridge to two playoff appearances and a district championship in 2004. The 2004 team was his best team with a 9-3 record and a playoff win over Alief Taylor.
But the attendance at the school has dropped year after year. Now, at 1,520 students, the Eagles are struggling to find players. With the times I talked with Scurlock about his team in the preseason, he was more concerned in filling out his roster instead of whether his team can compete or not. That has been the norm there the last five years, and it's not getting any easier.
After going 0-8 this season, you can sense the frustration on Scurlock and the program. I just hope the next head coach can turn the program around and bring the winning tradition back to the 'Ridge.

Last week's poll results

Good call:

Hightower and Katy
68.7%

Just Hightower
14.2%

Just Katy
12.9%

Neither ... it's not in the cards for Houston this year
4.3%

Thoughts from Don Coleman Coliseum

There's little a sportswriter loves more than a media-friendly facility. Even more so, we love media-friendly athletic departments and fast, fun games.
The Spring Branch ISD girls basketball tournament, and the boys tourney last weekend, have offered all three. I can't recall another set of tournaments where everything has run on time, mostly because the games have been clean so not many fouls have been called. Not one game has started late. Let me repeat that: Not one game has started late. That's a sportswriter's dream, especially on days like yesterday when I had plans with my girlfriend and our friends in the evening.
A big thank you goes out to L.P. Jones and the entire SBISD athletic department for putting on these great events. And thank you for the wireless Internet at Don Coleman!!! You have no idea how much easier our jobs are when we're constantly connected.
(And I can follow today's football games too.)
I might steal all our assignments at this place this year. :)

Post-Touchdown Club musings

Yeah this is off my day, but I have to get my mind off Christmas shopping. Boy I hate going to the mall.
I'm still wondering exactly what separated Russell Shepard from Jacob Karam in winning Offensive Player of the Year at the Touchdown Club banquet last night. I know my cousin, a Friendswood grad, will ask me my opinion tonight when we get together to watch the Bears-Saints game. The two things I believe went to Shepard's advantage were that he's a 5A quarterback and he has more total yards in his career (8,100 to around 7,300). When you get two players of that equal ability up for the same awards, those are the things that decide the difference.
I never saw Karam play, though I wanted to.
Can't quibble with the winners of any of the three winners. All of them were deserving.

Musings on winter

Houston, this is winter.
It definitely feels like winter, but moreover it smells and looks like it too. I swore I caught a faint whiff of a woodburning stove when I stepped out for lunch, which is something of a rarity in this office-dominated area. I've definitely smelled them the past few nights in my neighborhood.
Funny how it was 75 and rather balmy 24 hours ago at this time before the storms rolled in. There was an impressive cloud bank to the south of our office around 5 last night, down in the direction of 59 the Southwest Freeway, but as I was getting ready to head to my basketball game I neglected to snap a picture.
Only twice in my life can I remember a temperature change this drastic:
- Back in October 2001, I covered a volleyball playoff game in suburban Columbus, Ohio on a Wednesday night before heading to visit my grandmother on my Thursday off. A hellacious cold front was steaming toward Columbus and I was going to be driving right through it on the northwesterly trip. I left my game at around 8:30 and it was 75, give or take.
Eighty-five miles later, I pulled into St. Marys, Ohio and it was about 40. By later that night, it was around 35.
My other memory of that night comes from my sister, who happened to be watching the Ohio News Network's coverage of the storm and still laughs recalling the plethora of live callers asking "I live in (insert town here). When will the storm hit us?"
- Last December I went up to Dallas for my cousin's wedding (actually their anniversary was Monday and someone forgot to send a card!). A front came through after midnight after the wedding and dropped the temp to around 35. The wind chill was probably about 25.
My girlfriend and I tracked the temp on the way back to Houston, and somewhere north of Madisonville it went from about 46 to upwards of 70 within 5 miles. I was sweating later that day when I took the dogs for a walk.
Tomorrow, the high's gonna be around 60. Relief is on the way. So is Christmas, which is how today feels.

Check the main site tonight for our complete coverage of the Touchdown Club of Houston Player of the Year banquet. We'll have video interviews of nearly every nominee (we try to get everyone!) and the winners. Afterwards, it's a pretty good bet your AC coverage team will be across the street at Fox Sports Grill unwinding as the traffic clears. Traffic. Yeah, that's why we're going over there. :)

Shepard wins Honda Player of the Year Award

Here's the release from Cypress-Fairbanks ISD:

The Texas Gulf Coast Honda Dealers presented the Honda Player of the Year award to Cypress Ridge High School senior quarterback Russell Shepard on Tuesday during a special presentation.

Honda representatives gave Shepard a trophy for his achievement and presented the Cypress Ridge High School athletics program with a $3,000 check.

“This is our second year to present this award. We enjoy doing this because we are all about the local community and we are very involved with Cy-Fair ISD,” said Mac DeLaup, president of John Eagle Honda and the Texas Gulf Coast Honda Dealers. “We’ve all been following Russell throughout his high school career and recognize that he is truly a special athlete. We can’t wait to watch him play at LSU.”

Members of the Houston-area media voted on the award, giving the nod to the Rams’ dual-threat quarterback. Shepard accounted for 1,843 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns, 1,946 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns during the 2008 season. He was unanimously named the District 15-5A Offensive MVP and is a finalist for the Touchdown Club of Houston Offensive Player of the Year. He was selected to play in the 2009 Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 4 before enrolling at Louisiana State University in the spring.

Joining DeLaup in presenting the award were Mark Rehkopf and Rod Hall, vice president and treasurer of Texas Gulf Coast Honda Dealers, respectively, and Fox 26 sports director Mark Berman.

Volleyball postseason honors

Four Cypress-Fairbanks ISD volleyball players were named to the Texas Girls Coaches Association (TGCA) Class 5A All-State Volleyball Team and three players were named to the TGCA Academic All-State Team.

CFISD’s All-State representatives are Ashley Vrana, junior, Cypress Creek; Chiney Ogwumike, junior, Cy-Fair; Kendall Cleveland, senior, Cypress Falls; and Desiree Elliott, junior, Cypress Woods.

CFISD’s Academic All-State representatives are Cypress Woods seniors Leah Whitney, Cristina Arenas and Caleigh McCorquodale.

Olin (reportedly) headed to Lewisville, and other coaching changes

Got word from our good friend Carl Theiss that longtime Baytown Lee coach Dick Olin more than likely is headed to Lewisville, in suburban Dallas. Read the story here.
Olin told The Baytown Sun Friday that nothing is confirmed.
Other coaching changes already made include Aldine, MacArthur and Nimitz. Aldine's Bob Jones and MacArthur's Jerry Drones reportedly have been reassigned within the district. The Aldine and MacArthur jobs have already been posted.
What that means, of course, is all four Aldine ISD high schools have had head coaching changes within the past 12 months, dating to when Darryl Phipps was let go at Eisenhower shortly after the 2007 season.
Chad and I are keeping our eyes on the coaching changes and searches; we expect things to fire up big-time after Christmas. I'm sure he will add some thoughts later today.

Run first!

Interesting story in the Houston Chronicle this morning about how mostly running teams are still in the playoffs.
I love it. To me, true football is good old smashmouth, knock your opponent into your submission - not the 40 to 50 passing attempts we see in many games. Give me three run plays to every pass play every time. Yes it makes games go quicker (which is one reason writers love covering running teams), but moreso it separates the men from the boys.
Don't get me wrong - I really don't have much against the spread offense. It's just at the end of the day, teams who have two dimensions on offense and pride themselves in strong defense usually will be the teams left standing.

Plays of the Week results

Cy Ridge: Shepard runs 76 yards to tie game
37.3%

Hightower: Woodson's INT return for TD
28.9%

Copperas Cove: Greene to Boyce for game-winning TD
16.9%

Pearland: Allen's TD run on game's first play
10.8%

Brenham: Fake field goal goes for TD
6%

Cy-Fair to host Australian touring team

We'd known about this and had it on our schedule; we plan to cover this Tuesday night. Here's the official release from Cy-Fair ISD's PR office and Joel Weckerly:
***
Cy-Fair girls host Australian basketball team

December 3, 2008—The Cy-Fair High School girls’ basketball team will host an Australian touring basketball team, the Craigieburn Eagles, on Tuesday, Dec. 9. Cy-Fair’s junior varsity team will face Craigieburn’s JV at 4 p.m. and Cy-Fair’s varsity will face Craigieburn’s varsity at 7 p.m.

Craigieburn’s meeting with Cy-Fair is part of a 21-day United States tour for the Australian team, which will face opponents in Dallas, Houston and Oklahoma before visiting Los Angeles to close out the visit.

Cy-Fair head coach Ann Roubique said the team contacted her in the spring about a potential matchup.

“I think it’s an honor. I’m not sure how or why they picked us, but when I got the e-mail I was honestly taken aback that we would be considered in the conversation,” Roubique said. “It’s a good opportunity for the coaches and the kids and the entire district. It should be a good chance for our players to make some friends abroad.”

Following the game, nine Cy-Fair players will host the 19 Craigieburn players at their homes on Tuesday night, and the players will visit the school on Wednesday morning.

Roubique said she wasn’t entirely familiar with their international visitors and the challenge they will present. Even the differences in the metric system and U.S. customary units have made preparing for Craigieburn a challenge.

“We got their roster the other day, and their heights are listed in centimeters, so we don’t really know what we’re going up against,” Roubique said jokingly. “So I don’t know if they have more of an advantage or not. We’re looking forward to it.”

Taking a peek in boy's hoops so far...

In the midst of the wild and wooly time that is the football playoffs, we have neglected to talk about the other popular sport going on right now, and that is how the boy’s basketball picture is shaping up. The season is only a few weeks old, and there’s already a lot of activity from some area teams.

Taking a look at the latest Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’ poll, I see that Hightower, who was ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, has fallen completely out of the poll. The Hurricanes have dragged out to a 2-5 start to the season Tough losses to Madison, Kingwood, Atascocita and Seven Lakes have hurt the Hurricanes so far this season, not to mention that a couple of players are still playing on the football squad. But it’s just the beginning of December, and there’s still a lot of talent on the team, and there’s loads of time for them to turn things around. But they better hurry up before District 23-5A play starts up, which is always tough year-in and year-out.

Staying in 23-5A, the Dulles Vikings have stormed out of the gates again, winning its first four games of the year in dominant fashion. Wins over Pasadena Memorial, Beaumont West Brook, Dickinson and Lamar Consolidated have put last year’s state finalists at 4-0 to start the season. What’s surprising is the early scoring output from junior forward Bryant Mbamalu, who is averaging 20.8 points and is shooting an unbelievable 91.4 percent from the field (32-of-35). But No. 5 Dulles will be tested in the upcoming Outback tournament, with tough teams like Elkins, Hightower, Hastings and Elsik also in the tourney.

One team that has made a resurgence to the top is Kingwood, who is one year removed from making state in 2006. The Mustangs are 6-1 to start the season thanks to big wins over quality teams like Elkins, Hightower, De Soto and a 58-42 win over defending state champ North Crowley in the McDonald’s Texas Invitational’s third-place game. And their only loss is to state powerhouse Duncanville.
Coach Royce Huseman has created a tradition of winning at Kingwood, and after falling to Dulles in the second round last year, the No. 6 Mustangs are looking to make another deep run in the postseason this year.

Three other area teams – No. 4 Bellaire, No. 10 Madison and No. 14 Strake Jesuit – are still ranked high in the TABC poll, with Chavez ranked No. 18.

No "no respect" card here

Just arrived at my home office from a visit to Pearland High School for a feature on the Oilers defense I'm writing for later this week.
So often in high school sports you get the "no respect" card dragged out before any game, let alone a regional final, in which Pearland plays Hightower at 2 p.m. Saturday at Tully Stadium. I did chat with one player (I'd say who but my recorder was off) about why so many seem to be picking Hightower and why Pearland hasn't created a huge buzz, and I really couldn't say exactly why.
I myself have picked against them (Hightower) the past two weeks and have come up short each week.
But here's the bottom line: No one's really talking about Hightower either. Among the 5A-Division I teams, all year the chatter's been about North Shore and Cinco Ranch; North Shore because of its lengthy regular-season winning streak (which has no bearing in the playoffs) and Cinco because everyone thought this was the year they dethroned Katy (done) and made a deep playoff run (not done). Well, both those teams are done. That's not to mention The Woodlands, which lasted just two rounds into the Region II playoffs.
Hightower's behind a Berlin Wall of sorts out in Fort Bend County because all it gets is one non-district game, then it's all-FBISD sorting things among itself until the playoffs. I can't come up with nearly as good a reason why Pearland isn't talked about more. Really, the best I can come up with is that members of the local media tend to forget there's good ball played down south of I-10 (which is where I live). Other than Hurricane Ike-related stories, I'd love to know how many stories were devoted to Clear Creek, Pearland, etc. as opposed to the Kleins, Cy-Fairs, Katys and North Shores.
I won't make any picks here for Saturday's game, partly because I'll be covering it, but suffice it to say whoever wins this game will be a team not many expected to be in a state semifinal.

Poll results

As to whether this area would get a state champ from Region III, II, both or neither, your vote was as follows:

Region III (Katy, Cinco Ranch, Hightower, Madison, etc.)
81.5%

Region II (Cy Woods, Cy Ridge, Klein Oak)
13.8%

Neither
3.5%

Both
1.2%

I don't feel like getting mad about the Bears looking awful on national TV, so this is my therapy.
A blog.
Anyway, a few tidbits:
- I've been hearing rampant speculation the past three days that Sam McGuffie will leave Michigan at the end of this semester and play college football elsewhere, possibly Texas A&M. My brother-in-law who still lives in Ohio mentioned it to me Friday morning out of the blue, then Scout.com's Alan Zepeda mentioned it yesterday during the Madison-La Porte football game.
A&M was the other school everyone talked about him attending, partly because it's close to his home and his family (I believe his mother went there). I've read he's having some family problems, which backs up things I heard more than a year ago.
McGuffie wouldn't be the only player to leave the sinking ship known as Michigan football. At least three others have already left following a 3-9 season, but everything I've read points to McGuffie staying. He's a young "Michigan man," for one. For two, he honored his commitment even when Rich Rodriguez came on board.
If he was going to jump ship, I think he'd have done it then.
I certainly hope he stays, if for no other reason than on principle. Once you make a commitment, the least you can do is follow through. Things will get better in Ann Arbor, though as someone who watched a lot of Big Ten football this year, it won't be quickly. (And as an Ohio State fan, I'll never shed a tear over that.)
- I'll step up and say I was wrong about Hightower (I picked Cinco Ranch to beat them, a week after picking North Shore to do the same thing). Chad Washington will be sure to remind me Monday, though. :)
- As the saying goes out west, this is Katy's regular season. Do I need to elaborate?
- College football: Texas got robbed. I don't see any way that can be argued. Why even play head-to-head with a team if the losing team going to pass you based on running up the score, which is exactly what Bob Stoops did Saturday night?

Plays of the Week poll results: Area round

Cy Ridge: Shepard answers with 68-yard TD
45%

Eisenhower: McGregor's 64-yard TD
30%

Madison: Hallett's fumble recovery for TD
10%

Lamar: Gordon evades tackles, rumbles for score
8.8%

Lufkin: Flea-flicker for touchdown
6.3%

Game of the Week poll results

An overwhelming winner, and for my money the correct choice even though you couldn't have gone wrong with most of these.

North Shore-Hightower
75.1%

Cypress Creek-Klein Oak
6.6%

Eisenhower-Cinco Ranch
5.9%

Madison-Strake Jesuit
5.5%

Cypress Ridge-Lufkin
4.7%

Other
2.2%

I have to find this guy.

Cypress Ridge social studies teacher Jeff Burnthorn has a musical tribute to the Rams football team. This is actually pretty good:

http://schools.cfisd.net/cyridge/athletics/FOOTBALL/game_over.html

Tomorrow in College Station, I'm gonna do my best to find Burnthorn and maybe have him on for an interview.

Where we'll be this weekend

Barring any unforeseen changes, this is where Athlete's Connection will be this weekend:

FRIDAY
Football
Area playoffs
Eisenhower vs. Cinco Ranch at Rhodes Stadium, 7 p.m.
Madison at Strake Jesuit, 7 p.m.
North Shore vs. Hightower at Pasadena Memorial Stadium, 7 p.m.
Cypress Woods vs. Klein Forest at Klein Memorial Stadium, 7:30

SATURDAY
Football
Area playoffs
Katy Taylor vs. Lamar at Delmar Stadium, 1 p.m.
Cypress Ridge vs. Lufkin at Kyle Field, 5 p.m.
Klein Oak vs. Cypress Creek at Berry Center, 6 p.m.
Girls basketball
Fort Bend ISD tournament, semifinals at noon and 1:30, championship at 7 p.m. [all at Wheeler Fieldhouse]

I'll be at Strake Friday night and up at Kyle Field Saturday.

Plays of the Week poll results

Me thinks we got this one right. Overwhelmingly.

Eisenhower: Loston's INT return, leap into the end zone
50.8%

Hightower: Highsmith bolts in from 62 yards
21.1%

Katy Taylor: Botched punt recovered for TD
18.8%

Katy: Jeffrey runs 60 yards almost untouched
5.5%

Cedar Park: McKnight breaks tackles for 85-yard TD
3.9%

Poll results: Which district will have the best postseason showing?

Judging from this voting, I'm guessing respondents are banking on Hightower going deep into the playoffs. Personally, I'd have said 17-5A (but I don't vote).

23-5A
23.2%

15-5A
19.5%

17-5A
16.1%

20-5A
14.1%

18-5A
14%

22-5A
13.1%

Plays of the Week poll results

Here are our poll results from Plays of the Week:

Memorial: Miller follows blockers for 21-yard TD
45.9%

Fort Bend Marshall: Thompson picks TD pass out of mid-air
21.5%

Cy Woods: Williamson's 98-yard kickoff return
17.1%

Cy Woods: Huge hits, Callahan recovers fumble for TD
15.6%

Last week's poll results

As to which volleyball team will make the deepest postseason run, your answers ...

Cypress Woods
39.5%

Stratford
23.6%

Other
15.6%

Katy
10.9%

Cy-Fair
10.5%

It's like this and like that, and uh ...

This Sunday has been anything but a day off ... in addition to laundry and other house-assorted tasks, I've been researching the bi-district playoff matchups most of this evening. I've been keeping my girlfriend company as she works late at Beck Disastery Recovery down here on the Galveston seawall, giving me plenty of time to research while listening to Sunday Night Football on the Internet.
We'll preview all the area games coming up later this week, but in gathering notes here are a few nuggets that may or may not make it into our previews:
- Cinco Ranch went 5-1 against Alief Taylor when they were district foes from 2002-07.
- Stratford and Katy are 8-8 against each other all-time. But Stratford's last win against the Tigers was 6-3 in 1988, and the losses became progressively more lopsided until the teams were split into different districts following the 1997 season. They haven't played since.
- Katy hasn't lost a bi-district game since 1993. I'm sure Gary Joseph could recount most every detail of that loss to Booker T. Washington.
- Round Rock Stony Point, which will play Langham Creek Friday night out in CenTex, went 6-44 from 2000-05. They didn't have a winning season until going 9-3 last year; this year they're 9-1 and two-time defending 16-5A champions.
I'll find more as I go along.
Updated schedules for the football and volleyball playoffs are posted on the main page. Tune in to our podcast tomorrow as Ignacio Salazar and I recap the final weekend of the regular season. Ignacio's in for Chad, who is getting a well-deserved Monday off before going at it hard the rest of the week.

Area round volleyball pairings

Some area-round pairings; more coming as we learn them.

Thursday
Katy Taylor vs. Bellaire, 5 p.m. at Don Coleman Coliseum
Cypress Woods vs. College Park, 7 p.m. at Tomball
Katy vs. Atascocita, 7 p.m. at Don Coleman Coliseum
Travis vs. Deer Park, 7 p.m. at Clear Brook

Friday
Stratford vs. Eisenhower, 6 p.m. at Campbell Center
Cy-Fair vs. The Woodlands, 6:30 at Klein Collins
Cinco Ranch vs. Kingwood, 7:30 at Campbell Center

District playoff scenarios

We're finally down to the final week of football season, so that means it's time to take a look at some playoff scenarios and the games that will affect who will go on to the postseason or those who will have an early start to offseason workouts.

District 15-5A
Things we know now: Cypress Creek (district champion) and Cypress Ridge are officially in and would both go in the Division II bracket.

Teams with a shot: Cypress Woods is 4-2 in district, while Cypress Falls, Cypress Springs and Langham Creek are all 3-3.

Games to watch: Langham Creek vs. Cy Ridge, Cy Falls vs. Cy Woods, Cypress Springs vs. Cypress Creek.

Scenarios: Cy Woods: win they are officially in. A loss would create a three-way tie.
Cy Falls: Win would create a tie, but would be eliminated in a loss.
Cy Springs: Win would create a tie, but would be eliminated in a loss.
Langham Creek: Win would create a tie, but would be eliminated in a loss.

District 17-5A
Things we know now: Katy and Cinco Ranch (both 4-0) have clinched playoff spots and will face each other for the district title. The other four teams in the district (Katy Taylor, Mayde Creek, Morton Ranch and Seven Lakes) are all 1-3.

Games to watch: Mayde Creek vs. Morton Ranch, Taylor vs. Seven Lakes, Katy vs. Cinco Ranch.

Scenarios: Mayde Creek: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Morton Ranch: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Seven Lakes: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Taylor: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.

District 18-5A
Things we know now: Strake Jesuit won district title, with Memorial and Stratford clinching playoff spots. Strake and Stratford will go into Division II, Memorial into Division I. Elsik and Alief Taylor will face each other for last playoff spot on Friday.

Game to watch: Elsik vs. Taylor

Scenarios: Elsik: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Taylor: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.

District 19-5A
Things we know now: Eisenhower won district title, Humble clinches playoff spot. Ike will be in Division I, Humble in Division II. Kingwood is 3-2 in district, Atascocita and Aldine are 2-3, and Nimitz is 1-4.

Games to watch: Kingwood vs. Atascocita, Nimitz vs. Humble, Aldine vs. MacArthur.

Scenarios: Kingwood: Win clinches playoff spot, loss could create three-way tie.
Atascocita: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Aldine: Win with Kingwood win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss, but would force three-way tie with Kingwood loss.
Nimitz: Win along with Kingwood win and Aldine loss would create three-way tie.

District 20-5A
What we know now: Everything is set here, with Lamar and Westside going to Division I and Madison and Chavez going to Division II.

Division 23-5A
What we know now: Hightower (Div. I) and Travis (Div. II) have clinched playoff spots and will play for the district title, while there will be two games to decide the final two playoff spots.

Games to watch: Hightower vs. Travis, Elkins vs. Kempner, Fort Bend Austin vs. Fort Bend Marshall.

Scenarios: Elkins: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Austin: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Kempner: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
Marshall: Win clinches playoff spot, would be eliminated with loss.
If Kempner wins, it will go into Division I. If Marshall wins, it will go into Division II.

More districts coming later today...

Poll results

Here are the final results, which definitely have been padded in Texas Tech's favor since Saturday night! Right after the game ended, it was 35% for "Tech beat Texas" and around 29% for "Texas beat Tech." Oh well, gives me a good laugh!
***
Watching Texas Tech beat Texas
38.3%

A local high school football game
29.8%

Watching Texas beat Texas Tech
26.1%

Dinner, movies, relaxation, etc.
3.2%

Other
2.7%

An afternoon chuckle

I get FSN Southwest's Daily Wire e-mail every afternoon about this time. For Texas fans who want to try to forget Saturday night, tune in here:
Big 12 Football Classics
Texas Tech at Texas
8:00 p.m. CT
Replay of Texas' wild 43-40 comeback win over Texas Tech in 2003 engineered by backup quarterback Chance Mock's 86-yard game-winning scoring drive capped by a 9-yard TD pass to B.J. Johnson with 46 seconds left to play.

Got this moments after hearing the Craig Way call of the end of Saturday's game, then immediately hearing the Tech version. I was listening to Way and Keith Moreland as I finished my work Saturday, and to their credit they gave the moment its just due even though they must have been dying inside.

Touchdown Club's Scholar-Athlete finalists

The Touchdown Club of Houston will name its High School Football Scholar-Athlete in a luncheon at noon Nov. 12 at the JW Marriott in the Galleria. Here are the finalists:

Jonathan Baubie, Jersey Village
Ryan Bott, Cypress Springs
Jared Carameros, Memorial
Keith Cross, Nimitz
Joseph deLeon, Eisenhower
Steven McCormack, Seven Lakes
Michael Miller, Lamar
Charles Provenzano, Strake Jesuit
Wesley Ryan, Cy-Fair
Anthony Villamagna, Cypress Woods
Christopher Beto, Oak Ridge
Caleb Butler, Dickinson
Marshall Calpp, Kingwood
Brian Coffman, Clements
Sean Finney, The Woodlands
Stephen Henry, North Shore
Austin Howard, Klein Collins
Daniel Jordan, Yates
Andrew Kunkle, Deer Park
Max Pedowicz, Kempner
Jeremy Sapp, Caney Creek
Austen Smith, Fort Bend Austin
William Trumble, Bellaire
Ryan Viaclovsky, Dulles
Eoles Whitaker, Westbury

Bayley commits to Texas

Stratford swimmer Hunter Bayley has committed to the University of Texas, his mother, Lori, said in an e-mail Friday morning.

Bayley, the 2007 state 500 freestyle champion, finished third in the 200 free (1:39.63) and eighth in the 500 free (4:42.9) at the state championships last year. He was sixth in the 100 back as a sophomore.

He chose Texas rather than Arizona, Lori Bayley said.

I have a message out to Hunter, so when I hear from him a story will be posted as soon as possible.

Plays of the Week poll results

Cy Springs: Arter 66-yard TD pass to Wilson
43.8%

Memorial: Ratterree's 55-yard punt return for TD
26.7%

Madison: Thomas jukes, scores second of five TDs
21.9%

The Woodlands: Lasco 78-yard TD run
6.7%

Chavez: Cole busts out, scores from 40 yards
1%

Bi-district volleyball pairings

Here's what we have now ... waiting on a few calls and e-mails to be returned. Still waiting on the 19-5A vs 20-5A and 23-5A vs 24-5A. When I get more matchups, they'll be posted here:

Tuesday
Cinco Ranch vs. Memorial at Don Coleman Coliseum, 5 p.m.
Katy vs. Spring Woods or Alief Taylor at Stratford, 5 p.m.
Cypress Falls at Round Rock, 6 p.m.
Elsik vs. Katy Taylor at Morton Ranch, 6 p.m.
Cy-Fair vs. Georgetown at Brenham High School, 6:30
Cedar Park or Leander vs. Cypress Woods at Berry Center, 6:30
Bellaire at MacArthur, 7 p.m.
Cypress Creek vs. Round Rock Westwood, 7 p.m.
Seven Lakes vs. Stratford at Don Coleman Coliseum, 7 p.m.
Dulles vs. Dickinson at Pearland, 8 p.m.
Eisenhower vs. Westside
Kingwood vs. Carnegie Vanguard
Atascocita vs. Lamar
Travis vs. Clear Brook
Clear Creek vs. Fort Bend Austin
Elkins vs. Clear Lake

Poll results

The results of last Thursday's poll on how closely fans follow playoff projections:

Closely; it's fun to guess who my team might play
57.4%

Somewhat; I like to get an idea
30.9%

Not really; nothing is set in stone
11.8%

Playoff predictions: Week 9

Time to look at this week's playoff predictions at 5ATexasFootball.com and see what we got...

1. It still looks tough in the top part of Division I, Region III with Cinco Ranch, Eisenhower, North Shore and Hightower at the top half, while Pearland looks to come out of the bottom half. But which team could upset those teams and win the region? Well, Memorial could make a run with its tough defense and strong running game. Plus, the Mustangs will have an easy road until meeting Pearland in the regional semifinals. Also, Lamar could be a team that might be ready for a breakout run in the postseason, but will have to get past Memorial in the second round first.

In Division II, Region III, it's as wide open as it can get. Granted that Katy is the defending state champs and should always be a team no one should have any doubts about. But this is a Katy Tiger team that struggled early in the season against two really good teams like The Woodlands and North Shore, and it's still a question whether they have completely turned the corner and returned to its swagger it had last year.
One team that has the tools to knock off Katy is Beaumont West Brook. The Bruins have a very diverse offense centered around running back Christian Michel and quarterback Christian Louis. They could keep the Tiger defense on their heels and knock off the state champs.
I still think Elkins can run the table to the regional finals. The Knights look explosive enough on offense to overcome a mediocre defense, and has a favorable bracket with only Strake Jesuit as the only true test.

In Region II, Cypress Creek looks really strong, but will have to get past Klein Oak in the second round and a tough Tyler Lee team in the third round if the Cougars have any dreams of winning the region in Division II, while the winner of The Woodlands/Westfield game could be the region champ in Division I.

What say you? Got any big games or matchups you like, or am I off-base in my predictions?

More honors for Whitsett

Memorial High School golfer Cory Whitsett has been named a Rolex Junior All-American after he won two big tournaments this summer, the Western Junior and Rolex Tournament of Champions, and finished in the top 10 five other times.
The complete release is here.

There's still damage at Knoblauch Field

Much of the area, including most of that in our coverage area as well as my neighborhood out on the League City-Friendswood border, has recovered from Hurricane Ike to the point that you have to look for damage.

Other than a few fences that have yet to be repaired, my neighborhood has gotten off pretty lucky.

One structure still visibly damaged is Ray Knoblauch Field at the Butler Complex, where I was this afternoon to cover the Chavez-Madison football game. The left half of the backstop is completely collapsed but not broken away from the other half, so it bends down behind home plate – making for an interesting-looking and extremely bent support beam.

Much of the roof of the visitor’s dugout (the first base side) is completely gone, and many letters are missing from the scoreboard.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the infield was considerably overgrown.

Hopefully the pictures I took of the screen and fence along the left-field line will load correctly and you can see it yourself.

It was really something of a sad sight, considering that just four months ago I watched two of the best baseball series I’ve ever seen when Westside played Baytown Sterling in the regional semifinals, then was edged by Bellaire in a phenomenal three-game regional finals.

On an unrelated note, since we’re nearing playoff time scouts from across the area were out in force. Atascocita was in, as were Strake Jesuit head coach Ron Counter and a few assistants – presumably scouting a later-round game since 18-5A teams will see 17-5A in the bi-district round.

Lamar was out in force; they get Madison in two weeks in the regular-season finale.

Game wrapup coming soon.

This week's poll results

Because the results of our previous poll disappears when we post a new poll, here is the result of last week's poll:

Do you watch other high schools' games on TV?

Yes, I love high school football no matter who's playing

47.1%

Depends on the matchup

43.1%

No, it's not my school

9.8%

More Florida baseball

While the World Series is played Wednesday and Thursday in Tampa Bay, many local players are heading to Jupiter, Fla. for the 2008 World Wood Bat Association & Baseball Championship Series.
Teams representing our area are the Bellaire Offseason Cards, the Houston Heat and the Texas Scout Team Yankees.
The Cards team, coached by Steve Silver, consists entirely of Bellaire players. This group finished second in the recent TASO tournament. Players from our coverage area on the other teams are as follows:
* Houston Heat: 2B/SS Barrett Barnes (Fort Bend Austin), P/3B Matthew Bean (Kinkaid), P Michael Bentz (Memorial), C M.P. Cokinos (Memorial), P Tyler Duffie (Lamar), C Ryan Guedry (Houston Christian), P/1B Kevin Hahn (Stratford), OF Connor Harrell (Kinkaid), IF/3B C.J. Jarvis (Houston Christian), P/C Daniel Mengden (Westside), P Keifer Nuncio (Katy), P/IF Michael Reed (Stratford), P Jeff Spillane (Houston Christian).
* Texas Scout Team Yankees: 3B/middle IF Jake Miller (Stratford), UTIL Andrew Stumph (Katy), OF Kyle Von Tungeln (Kempner).
Thanks to the mother of Memorial pitcher/1B Steven Murray for mentioning this event to us.
Check out more info about the tournament here.

No new sports

The UIL shot down proposals to add gymnastics and boys volleyball as sports during its weekend meetings. Read more here.
Additionally, representatives from the Rio Grande Valley were in Austin trying to get Region IV postseason tournaments rotated into their area. Any changes would not take effect until the next realignment, which will be for the 2010-11 school year. Read more here.

UIL Legislative Council meeting Monday

It's always interesting to see what will come up at these meetings. Here's a look.
I noticed lacrosse is not on the menu. I was surprised last summer to hear that might not be a varsity sport in this state for a while.
Here's the agenda, straight from UIL.
**
The University Interscholastic League Legislative Council will convene October 19-20 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Austin to review UIL rules and vote on proposed rule changes.

The UIL Legislative Council meets annually to hear testimony from interested parties and consider changes in UIL policy. Some proposals that will highlight the agenda at this year’s meeting include:
· Adding gymnastics;
· Modifying 6-Man football realignment policies;
· Changing Officials fees;
· Allowing boys to participate in UIL volleyball;
· Creating bi-lingual UIL academic events.

Football thoughts to come sometime this weekend. It's late and I have cross country in the morning, not to mention a family wedding at night.
Have a great weekend!

The blowout story I "promised"

My former colleague in covering Central Ohio prep sports, Steve Blackledge of the Columbus Dispatch, mentioned the recent trend of blowouts in his notebook this morning. Click here. You may be surprised at what you read.

Random thoughs on Week 7

Sitting at my desk on a rainy Thursday morning (but it looks better this afternoon), I was talking with Dave about my thoughts about some football teams, so I decided to put them into words for you wonderful people in the blogosphere.

1. In today's podcast, Dave asked me about why teams in District 24-5A get mostly ignored in the conversation of top area teams. Well, I said mostly because a lot of those teams aren't very good. But one team stuck out in my mind as a team that has the talent and coaching to win, but always seems to bottom out late in the season.
Clear Lake is a well-coached, physical and talented team year in and year out. But the Falcons have had big problems winning district games the last couple of years. Late losses to rivals Clear Brook and Clear Creek hurt Lake last year and that cost them a playoff spot. If they would have won those games, they would be a top team in the area.
But this year, Clear Lake is playing pretty good ball so far. Except for a loss to The Woodlands (which is nothing to be ashamed of this season), the Falcons look really strong with impressive wins over Aldine and Strake Jesuit, plus two easy district wins against Alvin and Clear Springs. Now the tough part begins.
The Falcons face Clear Brook Friday night, then undefeated Dickinson at home next week, then at Brazoswood and a big game against Clear Creek to end the season. All of these games are make-or-break for Clear Lake. I hate to use that phrase, but it's the truth. Three of their next four games must be wins, or it will be another tailspin finish for Clear Lake.

2. I know I've been gushing about how Travis and its big win over Elkins last week. The Tigers are the talk of 23-5A (along with Hightower, of course), but one team that is making history is Bush.
Ever since their debut back in 2001, the Broncos have been a doormat in Fort Bend ISD. In their seven seasons, Bush had a losing record in each of them, only cracking the three-win plateau twice. But now, Bush is 2-2 so far and is 2-1 in District 23-5A play after a 20-19 win over Fort Bend Austin in a game where special teams were not too special for both teams. But for Bush, a win is a win.
Allen Aldridge, a former NFL linebacker who played for the Denver Broncos (coincidence?), has taken over as Bush head coach after being the defensive coordinator the last two years and has installed a winning attitude for a program that desperately needed one. Bush will probably fall to Hightower this Saturday, but with big games coming up against Elkins and Kempner, the Broncos are in a prime position to clinch the school's first playoff berth.

3. Who would have thought that Alief Taylor would be in a position to win District 17-5A? Well, they do if the Lions can beat Strake Jesuit on Friday and Memorial next week.
Give credit to Taylor quarterback Rodney Owens, who has made several big plays this season, including a 66-yard touchdown run against Hastings. Owens is averaging 9.7 yards per carry and has six rushing touchdowns and four passing so far.
But the defense will have to step up in the next two games if the Lions are looking to win its first-ever district title.

So it's football time this weekend, and my schedule is stuffed. I'll be at Mercer Stadium for three games: Austin-Kempner on Friday, Elkins-Clements on Saturday afternoon and Hightower-Bush on Saturday night. Should be a fun weekend of football!!!

A (really) short week

This note was for a football notebook this week that will have to wait until next week, but I liked it too much to waste so here it is:

Thursday night’s Cypress Ridge-Cypress Falls game at the Berry Center will have several interesting dynamics, not the least of which is that both teams will be coming off only four days of preparation.

The game will be shown on ESPNU at 7 p.m.

Fortunately for the Rams, Cy Falls didn’t have an extra day either. The Eagles are coming off a 40-33 loss to Langham Creek.

“We’ve done this (short weeks) before,” Rams coach Gary Thiebaud said Saturday night after a 21-14 win against Cy-Fair. “Tomorrow (Sunday) is gonna be a long day for coaches, then we’ll practice Monday. It’ll be a full practice. Normally after a Saturday game Monday practices are short. Then Tuesday will be good and Wednesday we’ll have to scale it back.

“It’ll be a huge one. The kids are excited about being on national TV. We’re right in the district hunt. It’s another important game.”

91-0? 96-0? Really??

Caught wind this morning of a high school football game in Florida that ended up 91-0. I have never seen with my own two eyes such a lopsided game; the worst I ever witnessed was a 76-12 beatdown back in 2002 or 2003.
That, however, wasn't the worst blowout of this weekend. That honor goes to Beechcroft High School in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, which beat Centennial 96-0. I know both schools well; in my high school days in the mid-1990s, Beechcroft was one of our biggest rivals for the conference championship every year. Coach Tom Dunlap has done a wonderful job with the Cougars for years, but when I look at a box score and see they beat Centennial (which long since has been an also-ran in the Columbus City League) by scoring 55 in the first quarter, 21 in the second, six in the third and 14 in the fourth, I just shake my head and wonder how it's possible.
Of course I haven't been able to substantiate this next anecdote, but I've read in more than one place that Beechcroft ran only 24 plays, not including kneeldowns. Among the scores were 10 offensive touchdowns, three fumble returns for scores and one punt return.
Beechcroft's only loss of the year came the week before, 13-6 to Brookhaven, the only other decent team in their division and one of only a handful of legitimate programs in the city. Other than that, they've beaten mostly creampuffs by a combined 376-19 score.
If your second- and third-teamers are good enough to continue to dominate the opposition, there's not a lot anyone can do. I hope that's what's been happening with Beechcroft or any team that wins that big.
I have a feeling my old compadre, Columbus Dispatch preps writer Steve Blackledge, will be doing a story on lopsided games sometime soon. If he does, I'll be sure to link to it here.

Loston to Clemson off?

With word of Tommy Bowden's ousting as Clemson coach comes the (almost inevitable) word that Eisenhower safety and Clemson commit Craig Loston now is "looking elsewhere," according to an ESPN.com story.
Funny enough, minutes after the firing was announced, Loston's recruiting page on ESPN.com already listed him as having decommitted.
This is hardly a secret. Loston committed to Clemson in April but has been considered a soft verbal almost ever since. His cousin, Cypress Ridge QB and LSU commit Russell Shepard, is working hard to build the Tigers' already-sterling class and - perhaps not surprisingly - Loston is on his watch list.
Loston may remain a Tiger, but gut says it'll be in Baton Rouge.
We'll keep our eye on this.

Thanksgiving Jamboree schedule released

Port Arthur Memorial, HCYA, Bellaire, Wheatley and host Strake Jesuit highlight the field for the Thanksgiving Jamboree basketball tournament, scheduled for Nov. 28-29 at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School.

As usual, it's mostly Houston taking on Dallas. Thanks to the omnipresent Jim Hicks of RCSSports.com for providing the schedule, which is as follows:

Friday, Nov. 28
Austin LBJ vs. HCYA, noon
North Forest vs. Port Arthur Memorial, 1:30
Second Baptist vs. Dallas Kimball, 3 p.m.
Istouma (La.) vs. Dallas Pinkston, 4:30
St. Thomas vs. Dallas Lancaster, 6 p.m.
Westfield vs. Dallas Lincoln, 7:30
Bellaire vs. Episcopal School of Dallas, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 29
North Forest vs. HCYA, 10:30 a.m.
Second Baptist vs. Austin LBJ, noon
Westbury Christian vs. Istrouma (La.), 1:30
Port Arthur Memorial vs. Dallas Pinkston, 3 p.m.
St. Thomas vs. Episcopal School of Dallas, 4:30
Strake Jesuit vs. Glen Oak (La.), 6 p.m.
Bellaire vs. Dallas Lincoln, 7:30
Wheatley vs. Lancaster, 9 p.m.

An early look at some playoff projections

It's that time in the season where a lot of us high school football pundits take a look at where teams might be when the playoffs roll around. Our friends at 5A Texas Football have posted their early playoff predictions, and there's a lot of good stuff out there. Of course, things can change from week to week until Nov. 8, but here's what I see that stands out in the predictions in teams from the Houston area:

1. The top part of Div. I Reg. III is super strong: Cinco Ranch, Eisenhower, North Shore and Hightower. All four of those teams could face each other in the area round (Cinco vs. Ike, NS vs H-Tower) and in the reg. semis. The survivor then would more than likely face Pearland in the reg. final.

2. Feel free to flame me on this, but I think Elkins could end up in the Div II Reg. III final. Why? I feel the Knights can get by Dickinson, Lee and La Porte, and have a shot against either Mayde Creek or Strake Jesuit.

3. We might finally see Katy vs. West Brook in the reg. semis if everything holds. I feel Katy can get by Stratford and Humble with ease, while the Bruins should take out South Houston and Clear Brook.

4. We could see a rematch of a fun, high-scoring game between Klein Oak and Cy Creek in the second round.

5. The Woodlands. Spring Westfield. First round. Wow.

6. Cy Ridge could face Lufkin in the second round. That should be real entertaining.

What do you think about the predictions, and what do you think about my thoughts?

Random observations

I would have filed this blog right after I got home from St. John's-St. Thomas last night, but a flat tire sustained at I-45 and the 2351 exit dictated otherwise, as in I got everything posted when I got home, then went straight to bed.
A few observations from Friday night:

- Congratulations to North Shore and coach David Aymond on their 73rd straight regular-season victory, a state record. Aymond is a total class guy and though I'm not the closest to their team, I always enjoy talking to him and stepson Dustin Porterfield, who is hard at work with the new VYPE publication here in town. The best thing about this win, as far as I'm concerned, is Aymond didn't schedule the sisters of the poor! They went 100 miles north into a potential hornet's nest and survived.

- I wasn't surprised that Memorial beat Stratford, but I was surprised it was by 18 points. The defense sounds like it was awesome; a Jared Carameros INT return for a touchdown and 190 total yards allowed. Unless they slip big-time, I'll put it on record now that Memorial goes undefeated in the district.

- Even having lost 20-12 to Langham Creek, Cy-Fair seems to have improved considerably. They rushed for 320 yards and shaved their turnovers considerably (one fumble and one interception). That said, they're already behind the 8-ball and need to punch through for that first win soon.

- Congrats to Aldine for getting that first win, 14-7 against Nimitz. The offense amassed only 210 yards but resorted to trickery for the winning score; the winning touchdown was thrown by quarterback/kick holder Alex Jones on a fake field goal attempt.

- Kudos to St. Thomas band director Donald Thoede, who was invaluable in more ways than one Friday night. Not only did he give me the complete bios of all the Homecoming candidates for that short story (I had it finished before the queen was announced!) but his band's selection is outstanding. Not every band plays "Day Tripper," the opening drum line of "Those Shoes" (by the Eagles) and other pop staples but they do. It was great not to hear the Hey song for once.

Trying to fix the site

The main site has been down since sometime Saturday evening. We're working as fast as we can (and as late as we can) to fix it and get everything posted. Until then, please bear with us. We apologize for the inconvenience.
You can find Saturday's game stories posted here.

Game story: Travis 20, Kempner 7

By CHAD WASHINGTON
The Athlete's Connection

It wasn’t the most well-played game, but for Fort Bend Travis, it will be the game the school will remember for a long while.

Travis got its first varsity win Saturday night, 20-7 against Kempner at Mercer Stadium in the District 23-5A opener for both teams.

While the Tigers only had 123 total rushing yards, the defense held the Cougars to 152 total yards rushing. Travis took control of the trenches on defense, continually smothering the Kempner running attack.

“An ugly win is better than a pretty loss any day,” Travis coach Randy Cunningham said. “We had a thousand mistakes tonight, but our kids are growing and improved every snap. We fought through all the adversity that we had and dug it in and got a win, the first in the history of our school.”

Both teams were rusty, especially since not playing for two weeks because of the situations surrounding Hurricane Ike. Both teams combined for seven fumbles (three of them were lost fumbles) and 14 penalties in the game.

“We showed a lot of rust out there today,” Kempner coach James Brown said. “Turning the ball over four times in a football game – no matter who you play – you’re not going to win.”

After Kempner defensive back Quaylon Ewing picked off a pass in the end zone, Travis made sure its next drive paid off. After starting the drive inside the Cougar 39-yard line, Travis went the distance in seven plays, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run by Colin Atkins to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

On its second drive of the game early in the second quarter, a couple of big passes by quarterback Alex Bynum set up a 16-yard touchdown run by Bynum to increase the lead to 14.

“I felt pretty confident (going into the game),” said Bynum, who passed for 114 yards in the game. “We were pretty confident even after coming off of a loss. And we’ll be going into the next game pretty confident.”

Kempner’s offense finally came alive in the fourth quarter, when backup quarterback Paul Nguyen found tight end Kenneth Bibbins for a 34-yard pass play to the Travis 9. Two plays later, running back Ali Foh took a pitch left and scored to cut the Tigers’ lead in half with 6:42 left.

After the Cougars forced a three-and-out and started the drive at their own 35-yard line, Nguyen fumbled the handoff and was recovered by Travis linebacker Justin Thurman at the Cougar 28.

Three plays later, the Tigers faced a fourth-and-7 at the Kempner 19. Bynum then passed to tight end Nick Hester to the Cougar 4, which Bynum ran in on the next play to seal the win.

Kempner (0-2, 0-1) will try to rebound next Saturday against Willowridge, while Travis (1-1, 1-0) will see if it can start the school’s first winning streak against Clements on Friday night.

But for the Tigers, it’s nothing like the first time.

“I’m so happy for our seniors, who have been working so hard for this,” Cunningham said. “This is a wonderful win for Travis High School, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Game story: Eisenhower 39, Kingwood 13

By JOHN HANDY
The Athlete's Connection

Big plays by Eisenhower were the order of the day for the Eagles as they ran roughshod over Kingwood, 39-13 Saturday night at Thorne Stadium in the District 19-5A opener for both teams.

The Eagles (1-2 overall, 1-0 district) built a 13-0 lead on their first five plays of the game when running back Curtis McGregor took a pitch right and scampered down the sideline for a 64-yard touchdown run and quarterback Kenneth Guiton connected with senior receiver Craig Loston on a spectacular 60-yard bomb for a score.

The two touchdowns came just 3 minutes, 16 seconds into the first quarter.

McGregor, a senior, ended the night with 249 yards on the ground. He scored three touchdowns on runs of 69 and 55 yards and he also passed for another score, five yards to Washington Allen.

Kingwood kept it close thanks to two 40-yard field goals by kicker Greg Saladino in the second quarter.

But Eagles field goal kicker Ronnie Mejia countered with a pair of his own field goals in the second period to give Eisenhower a 19-6 halftime lead.

Kingwood (1-2, 0-1) cut into the lead at the end of the third when quarterback David Fitt scored on a two yard run with 2:56 left in third to bring the score to 19-13.

But McGregor put on a show from there, scoring his 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and his 55-yarder with 8:29 left.

His touchdown pass to Allen with 2:18 left in the fourth capped off a fine night for the senior running back.

Eisenhower piled up 488 yards of total offense to Kingwood's 172.

Al Paradowski’s 114 yards on 22 carries led the Mustangs.

Game story: Stratford 31, Alief Taylor 24

By IGNACIO SALAZAR
The Athlete's Connection

Stratford overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Alief Taylor, 31-24 in the District 18-5A opener for both teams Saturday night at Tully Stadium.

Spartans (2-0, 1-0) running back Rodney Anderson was the star of the game, leading the second-half charge with three touchdown runs.

"I just had my eyes open," Anderson said. "The o-line did a great job up front and I just ran hard, seen the crease and just hit it."

Anderson's two-yard run with 5:19 left ended up being the clincher as the Spartans defense stopped the Lions on four downs to end the game.

The scoring started on the opening drive as Spartans kicker Jose Loa put his team ahead 3-0 on a 27-yard field goal.

The Lions (2-1, 0-1) responded right back on a seven-play, 79-yard drive as quarterback Rodney Owens scrambled in for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead.

In the second quarter, Spartans quarterback Mark Benninger connected with twin brother Brett for a 16-yard touchdown pass on a nine-play, 78 yard drive and a 10-7 Spartans lead.

After recovering a Lions fumble, the Spartans gave it right back as defensive lineman Emerson Evans recovered the loose ball that put the Lions offense in the red zone. Owens needed just three plays to connect with tight end Cedric Brown for a 20-yard touchdown pass and 14-10.

The Lions made a defensive stop and finished the first half on a seven-play, 68-yard drive as Rodrigo Rivas gave the Lions a 17-10 lead on a 22-yard field goal.

Stratford scored the third quarter's only points when Anderson punched in a five-yard touchdown run on a 15-play, 85 yard drive to even the game at 17.

The Lions got back on the board in the fourth as the Spartans mishandled a punt which put the ball on the 10-yard line after a penalty. Owens needed only four plays as he rushed in from a yard out to give this team a 24-17 lead with 11:06 left to play.

On the first play after the return, Anderson took over as he jetted 66 yards to tie the game at 24 and again ignite the Spartans crowd.

Owens led the Lions offense with 18 rushes for 139 yards and three touchdowns.

Lions wide receiver Byron Johnson had three catches for 57 yards.

Game story: Cypress Creek 39, Langham Creek 28

By HEATHER BURR
The Athlete's Connection

Cypress Creek’s defense forced five turnovers while the Cougar offense capitalized for a 39-28 win over Langham Creek Saturday night at the Berry Center in the District 15-5A opener for both teams.

“I thought our defense played exceptionally well,” Cy Creek coach Greg McCaig said. “We talk all the time about how we need to create turnovers and tonight they created five. That was a big deal.”

In the first 13 minutes, the Cougar defense forced a fumble and grabbed an interception which led to two touchdowns, each by quarterback Austin Pugliese. Cy Creek intercepted Langham Creek quarterback Will Bryant four times.

Pugliese, a senior, rushed for a game-high 137 yards.

“Austin did a real nice job,” McCaig said. “He played on varsity last year as a receiver mostly. The thing about Austin is the kids respond to him. They feel good about what he’s doing because he’s a leader.”

Cy Creek racked 30 points in the first half. Kicker Jordan Owens opened the game with a field goal, Steven McCaig connected with Pugliese for a 9-yard touchdown grab, and Tent O’Conner ran 7-yards for the final score in the first half.

“I thought we did a great job holding the ball in the first half,” McCaig said. “We’re pretty explosive with the ball at times. We’ve got some weapons out there.”

The Cougar defense was strong the first half, holding Langham Creek to one touchdown but fell a little in the second.

“In the second half, you could tell that we’re young,” McCaig said. “We did stupid things and we gave up some big plays.”

The Lobos, down 33-14 in the fourth, pulled out two surprising plays that brought the score closer and pressure on Cy Creek.

Bryant hiked the ball then immediately tossed to wide receiver Brett Reece who threw 55-yards to Mitchell Juergens for a touchdown.

Minutes later, on the Lobos’ next possession, Bryant hiked the ball then immediately tossed to wide receiver Garrett Juergens who threw to M. Juergens, bringing them within 15-yards of a score. Bryant went on to connect with Reece for the six points.

Cy Creek responded with a game-sealing touchdown from Brent Mitcham, a 50-yard catch with 7:18 left.

“We responded when it counted,” McCaig said.

Game story: Katy Taylor 42, Baytown Sterling 27

By DAVE PURPURA
The Athlete's Connection

It was tough to tell in the first quarter Saturday whether Katy Taylor or Baytown Sterling had had a three-week layoff because of Hurricane Ike.

For the record, Sterling hadn’t played since starting 2-0 while Taylor had won two straight games coming in.

But Taylor’s defense kept the Mustangs afloat long enough for the offense to find its groove, and they scored 35 straight points in the middle quarters to erase a 13-point deficit and win 42-27 at Stallworth Stadium.

Sterling fumbles set up Taylor’s first two scores – a 1-yard run by John Lattal and a 7-yard pass from Lee Rodgers to Steven Sartory – and Josh Thomas returned an interception 64 yards for the Mustangs (3-1), who trailed 20-7 just minutes into the second quarter but led 28-20 at halftime despite amassing only 108 yards in the first half.

Taylor was outgained 363-279.

“The first three touchdowns were basically all them (the defense),” said Lattal, who finished with 137 yards on 17 carries and caught a 61-yard touchdown pass just before halftime. “They gave us the ball inside the 20 pretty much every time and we just had to score from there.”

Taylor led midway through the first quarter, but Keagan Kogut’s 24-yard strike to Dwain Nicholas and Malcolm Zeno’s 1- and 4-yard touchdown runs staked Sterling (2-1) to a 20-7 lead.

“They hadn’t played a game in three weeks and they were the ones on top of us first,” Mustangs coach Flint Risien said. “But our guys got back in it. Our defense kept us in. Fortunately we were able to convert those short drives into touchdowns. Otherwise it could have been ugly.

“Our defense takes a lot of pride in creating turnovers. They stayed in the fight. They’re still learning. They stayed to the cause and fortunately in the third quarter they grabbed the momentum and kept it.”

Thomas read Kogut perfectly on his long run halfway through the second quarter, which gave Taylor a 21-20 lead.

“We watched film all week and we knew that was where he liked to throw the ball, so when he turned his shoulders to me I just broke on the ball and trusted my legs to take me into the end zone,” Thomas said. “We have a way of responding to what coaches tell us. We knew we could come out here and play great defense.”

Lattal added touchdown runs of 1 and 82 yards in the second half.

“We came out weak in the beginning. We knew we had to make some plays. We started running more in the second half and the line was working better,” Lattal said. “They came out in a defense we weren’t used to so we had to adjust a little bit at halftime. We did a good job of adjusting our formations to them.”

Kogut was 23-of-34 for 294 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Chance Nelson caught five passes for 86 yards for the Rangers.

Game story: Humble 31, Aldine 21

We don't know why our site is down, but we're working to rectify the situation. Until then, all of Saturday's game stories will be posted here ...
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By JOHN HANDY
The Athlete's Connection

Humble averaged just more than a point a minute in the first half, then settled into a second-half fight with Aldine before pulling out a 31-21 victory Saturday afternoon at Thorne Stadium in the District 19-5A opener for both teams.

Behind senior quarterback Keith Baker’s two touchdown passes in the first half, sandwiched between a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown by Rashad Garrett and an 80-yard run for a score by Darryl Smith and a field goal by kicker Walter Pinon, the Wildcats built a 31-0 lead at halftime.

But Aldine (0-3, 0-1) didn’t fold.

They scored two touchdowns in the third quarter by way of a five-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jordon Moore to receiver Clyde Green and a 41-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Isaiah Archie.

They tacked on their final touchdown in the fourth period when Dontae Williams burned the Wildcats defense for a 42 yard run for a score.

After the game, Wildcats coach Walt Beasley blamed the second-half meltdown by Humble to fatigue and rust after not having played a game in three weeks.

Yet, he was both surprised and happy with the results.

“We were a little bit rusty I thought, although I surprised by the way we played in the first half,” said Beasley, who saw his Wildcats climb to 2-1 overall. “We got a little bit tired in the second half, I thought. The second half had nothing to do with us playing substitutes in the second half. It’s been three weeks since we played and I think it showed in our execution.”

Baker is now 2-0 in his two starts after returning from injury. He completed 15-of-21 passes for 168 yards.

Baker said he was pleased with his effort against the Mustangs.

“I was pretty pleased with the way I played in the first half,” Baker said. “In the second half I made some mistakes but give them credit, they came out with a lot of enthusiasm. But we came back with a never lose attitude, pulled it back together and we got the win.”

Humble had 309 total yards to Aldine’s 266.

How about this matchup?!

Nothing seems confirmed yet, but rumors are flying that Cinco Ranch will visit Southlake Carroll in Week 5, which is Oct. 3. This amid growing speculation that North Shore won't be able to visit Carroll next Saturday night because school isn't yet back in session and no one knows when that will happen. Coach David Aymond said Thursday the team hasn't been together since before the storm.
I'll check into this Friday morning and see what I can find. If so, what a catch for Cinco!

Our games this weekend

Where we'll be ...

Thursday
Seven Lakes vs. Morton Ranch at Rhodes Stadium, 7 p.m.

Friday
Cinco Ranch vs. Mayde Creek at Rhodes Stadium, 7 p.m.
Sealy at Brookshire Royal, 7 p.m.

Saturday
Terry vs. Katy Taylor at Rhodes Stadium, 1 p.m.
Angleton at Waller, 2 p.m.

A Friday without football ...

... is flat-out odd! I can't remember a football Friday night since 1999 that I haven't spent at a game. The reality struck me looking at the Dallas Morning News Web site tonight and seeing live updates of games around the area (my lady and I are with friends in Fort Worth). Can't say I mind a vacation, but this is just about the most unfortunate reason to take one.

We've been watching Channel 11's coverage all day (DirecTV is carrying it full-time on Channel 361), and while it's good to get the local perspective I wish there was something to tear us away. There sort of is - we're heading to a local bar here in a bit - but there's a little part of me that wishes I knew exactly what was happening back home.

I live right on the League City/Friendswood border and am hoping the damage to our house is nothing more than shingles blown the roof and maybe some debris around the yard. Hopefully most of our coverage area in the western and northern portions of the metro are fine.

Wherever you're reading this, stay safe. That's the most important thing right now.

A few Ike-related schedule changes

Most school districts decided to watch Hurricane Ike's path through the Gulf Monday, and their lack of haste in postponing/canceling/otherwise changing events apparently was well-founded. However, Spring Branch ISD did move its two games at Tully Stadium this weekend. Changes are as follows:

- Pearland at Memorial, from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Thursday.
- Spring at Stratford, from 6 p.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. Friday.

Houston, Cy-Fair, Alief, Katy and Strake Jesuit have no changes to report at this time. Still no word from Aldine or Fort Bend. If we hear something, we'll pass it along, and likewise for you - it would be appreciated!

Week One observations

Good morning sports fans. Got home fairly late from Thorne Stadium - a lack of Internet to post my story and photos didn't help - and there was a lot to do here with everyone else's stories (not to mention a little straightening up around here) so blogging took a back seat. Anyway ...

North Shore is, well, North Shore. Eisenhower looked much better than last week against Hightower, but the Mustangs are just that good. They'll make a lot of teams look bad this year. Tracy Woods is the real deal, as is position mate Deandre Jones; both easily broke 100 yards last night and Woods got the glory with two touchdowns. Now it's on the Berry Center next Friday to try for that 73rd straight regular-season win. And even though Cypress Falls is 0-2, that one could be entertaining too.
That'll be one of the games we dissect in our Week Two primer, coming Wednesday.

Other observations:
- I wasn't at The Woodlands last night, so my jaw and those of everyone else at Thorne dropped when I gave the P.A. announcer news of the Highlanders' 40-0 lead against Katy. Wow. As smoothly as everything went for Katy last year, everything seems to be going that bad right now. Quarterback Parker Ray broke his hand, which likely means Michael Stojkovic will take the reins for a while. They hadn't lost this bad in 21 years, when Langham Creek beat them 49-0.
Can't think of a team that needs a week off more right now.
That said, there had to be a few inner smiles around the area last night, considering how many lopsided wins Katy has rung up in recent years.

- You knew Russell Shepard wouldn't be held in check for long. The Cypress Ridge ran for two touchdowns and threw two more, accounting for almost 400 yards of offense as the Rams beat Klein 51-21. This is the Cy Ridge team we all expected. Welcome back.

- Turnovers continue to kill Cy-Fair. They outgained Klein Collins Thursday night only to lose 17-9.

Tonight I'm off to Pridgeon Stadium for Memorial-Jersey Village. Chad's at Cypress Creek-Klein Oak and Ignacio Salazar will have Cypress Woods' first-ever varsity game covered; they get A&M Consolidated at the Berry Center.
Chad and I will record our weekly podcast after tonight's games; that will be posted late tomorrow night. Enjoy the games!

Final thoughts from Pearland-Kempner

My first visit to The Rig was everything I thought it would be. What a great facility for football. I think I had the greatest seat in the house, and it wasn’t even in the press box. Channel 13 took up most of the seats for its television broadcast on digital sub-channel 13.2, much to the chagrin of the Pearland staff and the rest of the media! In any case, I ended up sitting next to the press box out in the open on a beautifully breezy low-humidity evening.

(The view was spectacular … you could see every major landmark for 20 miles, including downtown Houston, Transco Tower and the 2,000-foot blinking radio/TV towers in Fort Bend County.)

To the game ... Pearland was far more dominant than even I expected. Maybe the second half against Madison last week was a clue, but the Oilers came out Thursday night and KO'd Kempner pretty early. I didn't think it was in the first quarter, when quarterback Sam Allen among others told me they saw Kempner getting tired, but by then all the momentum was clearly Pearland's.

Besides the offensive line's spectacular performance - I can remember at least seven or eight big-yardage plays where the rusher was completely untouched - the Oilers' no-huddle offense was run to a 'T.'

“We’ll learn it – the coaches as well as the players – but we feel like for us to win this is what we have to do,” coach Tony Heath said. “We don’t have a big offensive line so we have to get set and reduce what sets and packages the defense can run against us. Like I said, it’s something … we’re buying into it. At this point, we’re buying into it.”

I don’t know how much of the result can attributed to Pearland having one game under its belt while Kempner was opening its season, but the players thought that was a big factor.

“It definitely did … first-game jitters and all that,” said Pearland running back Josh Gonzalez, who had three touchdowns in his five carries. “It definitely had an impact.”

Other stuff:
* Cy Falls is 0-2 after tonight's loss to Westfield. Even so, the game with North Shore next week at the Berry Center should be a blast.

* How about Seven Lakes?! They piled up 51 points on Fort Bend Dulles tonight, winning by 37. Chad's story isn't in yet but I can't wait to see how the Spartans won. Congrats to them. Who'd have figured Morton Ranch and Seven Lakes would have a better record than Katy so far??

FSN Southwest's football schedule

In case you haven't seen it, here's a list of the high school games FSN Houston/Southwest (other than when Houston and Dallas events air at the same time, they're the same channel) is televising this fall. The games start tonight at 7 p.m. with Garrett Gilbert-led Lake Travis playing Austin Westlake. North Shore will be on against Southlake Carroll Sept. 27 from DFW:

Sept. 11 - San Antonio Madison at New Braunfels, 7 p.m.
Sept. 25 - Plano at Plano East, 7 p.m.*
Sept. 27 - North Shore at Southlake Carroll, 6 p.m.*
Oct. 2 - Euless Trinity at Keller Fossil Ridge, 7 p.m.
Oct. 16 - Teams TBA
Oct. 30 - Westfield at Klein Oak, 7 p.m.
Nov. 7 - San Antonio Roosevelt at Smithson Valley, 7 p.m.

* Games with asterisks will be seen on FSN Southwest's primary feed but not FSN Houston because of conflicts with the Astros. FSN Southwest is Channel 676 on DirecTV and 416 on Dish Network; FSN Houston is 678 on DirecTV and various channels on Dish. Some cable systems offer FSN Plus in cases of conflict; check with your provider.

Week 1 Podcast

Here's our podcast where Dave and I talk about some of the key games this weekend, including North Shore-Westfield, Pasadena Memorial-Clements and Cy Springs-Cinco Ranch.

Click here to listen...

And don't forget to check our site all weekend long for our game highlights and photos, as well as on Monday when we wrap up the football weekend!

Take time, kids

Part of the fun of covering high school sports is keeping an eye on recruiting. Here, virtually every school we cover has at least a handful of Division I-caliber athletes, as evidenced by a plethora of local products who make headlines at both the college and pro levels.

The Athlete's Connection's job isn't to cover recruiting - we leave that wackiness to our friends/colleagues at Rivals.com and Scout.com - but we at least have to have one watchful eye on that process.

As crazy as last season was - remember Sam McGuffie skipping signing day at Cy-Fair only to fax his letter of intent to Michigan in the evening? - this one could feature a few moves and surprises, too.

Word is Craig Loston, Eisenhower's phenomenal safety who verbally committed to Clemson in April, is listening to overtures from Michigan. Loston told Scout.com he expects to take a visit there sometime soon.

"I was talking to my cousin (Cypress Ridge quarterback Russell Shepard, an LSU commit) and he was like it’s important to take all of your visits because if he would have taken his final visit he would have gone to Texas,” he told Scout.com. “So I’m going to go ahead and take all of my visits.”

(An addendum: Their coach, Rich Rodriguez, is well known for flirting with recruits to other schools, a no-no in the gentlemanly coach's business. Purdue coach Joe Tiller called him a "snake oil salesman" after Rodriguez stole one of his commits. As an Ohio State fan, I laugh and say it befits the university that pompously considers itself the Harvard of the Midwest.)

Back to Loston ... who should be surprised by this? Loston committed to Texas A&M as a sophomore, only to recant during the Franchione fiasco. Then he committed to Clemson in April, all the while continuing to take visits to other big schools. Trusted sources say Loston's been to LSU several times and they'd be shocked if Loston didn't end up a Tiger.

My question is, why commit at all that early? In his case, not many people outside Loston's inner circle know. He doesn't like to talk much about recruiting to anyone in the media, clamming up during a recent interview and basically shutting down that line of questioning before it ever started.

There's the story of Tommy Mason-Griffin, the former Madison basketball standout who withdrew from that school to attend Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, then switched back to Madison on Thursday. He verballed to LSU, withdrew that when that coach was fired and then verballed to Oklahoma in mid-August.

The latest turn goes to the high school level, where Chavez point guard Mike Randle announced on Jim Hicks' Basketball Show the other night that he was transferring to downstreet school and District 20-5A rival Madison.

"I just feel like it was one of the best decisions because ... Madison is right around the corner from my house. ... I feel like it's gonna be a great thing," Randle said.

Thing is, he hadn't told Lobos coach Kevin Pullum of his decision. Pullum, of course, was watching live.

Less than four minutes later, the phone rang.

You could see co-host Terry Burdick grinning in the background knowing what was coming.

Or what he thought was coming. What most anyone watching thought was coming.

However ...

"Mike knows I love him like a son and I only wish the best for him," Pullum said. "However, he knows I'm very competitive when we're all on the court. Mike's a tough competitor and we're gonna have our hands full. I think I know how to guard against Mike. But again, I love him like a son. ... Take care of yourself. Anytime you need me, call me."

Have we heard the last of this on some level?

I bet not.

It's part of the nature of the beast. No decision a star athlete makes is truly private - whether it's the original commitment or a switch when or if they decide the original decision either was made in haste or is no longer feasible. Sometimes they seek a stage, sometimes the stage finds them.

I guess being 30 brings an increased sense of gravity and responsibility. That said, I don't make a lasting decision until I know I'm ready to. I wish some athletes would do that.

Where we'll be this weekend

Our football coverage this weekend will be as follows:

Thursday
Fort Bend Dulles vs. Seven Lakes at Rhodes Stadium
Fort Bend Kempner vs. Pearland at The Rig (I'll be there)

Friday
North Shore at Eisenhower (I'll be there)
Second Baptist at St. John's
Aldine at Deer Park
Cinco Ranch vs. Cypress Springs at Berry Center
Katy at The Woodlands

Saturday
Memorial vs. Jersey Village at Pridgeon Stadium (I'll be there)
A&M Consolidated vs. Cypress Woods at Berry Center
Cypress Creek vs. Klein Oak at Klein Memorial Stadium

Also ...
Chad and I will be recording our Week 1 predictions podcast shortly; that will be posted on the site this evening.

Welcome to our new blog!

Hey fans, we're working on something new here at Athlete's Connection! We have just created a blog for our main sports like football, basketball, baseball and softball so we can bring our news in a new way for our fans and supporters to enjoy.

Not only will we have previews and reviews here, but also have a little opinion on what Dave Purpura, me and other AC writers think about the Houston-area high school scene.

Also, we want to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment or question for us, whether it be about your favorite team or player, or about how we can make this blog or our website better.

Thanks, and hope to hear from you soon!

Week 1 Primer

Written by Dave Purpura and Chad Washington

Your quick study in high school football entering Week One: BEST OF THE LOT Cypress Falls at Westfield , 7 p.m. Thursday, George Stadium: The Eagles, who were held to less than 100 yards passing in last week’s 28-20 loss to Bryan, seek to win their second consecutive game in this series that dates to 2004. Prior to last year, Westfield had defeated Falls by an average of 17 points in three wins. Falls ran into a buzzsaw of a defense last week – Bryan’s lone interception set up a touchdown and QB Kolby Gray’s lost fumble late led to the game-winner. The Eagles were held to 237 yards; Gray was limited to 46 yards in the second half after 150 in the first. Westfield is seeking a fifth straight season of not only a district championships, but 10 wins and a playoff run at least three rounds deep. North Shore at Eisenhower, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Thorne Stadium: After a 10-6 win against Katy to open the season, North Shore wants to keep its 71-game regular-season winning streak and tie the state record. After being shut down against Hightower, Eisenhower has to find its offensive spark (along with its running game), or it will be a long night for the Eagles. They netted only 100 yards rushing – yards that will be equally tough to come by this week – and committed four turnovers. North Shore’s defense, which returned slightly more experience than the offense, was sterling the entire game against Katy. LB Daniel Salinas remains a star, but look out for LB Kerrick Brown and DB Larry Stephens among others to make big plays. Katy at The Woodlands, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Woodforest Stadium: After a tough loss to North Shore, Katy looks to bounce back against the Highlanders, whom the Tigers have beaten the last three years. But coming off a 42-0 shutout of Cy-Fair, The Woodlands look really tough and will be looking to put Katy to an 0-2 start. If Highlanders QB Andy McCloud or any of his skill players have another big night – McCloud accounted for well more than 200 total yards last week – it may be a sign lofty goals are attainable for The Woodlands. Despite the struggles of its offense, Katy’s defense made big play after big play last week. DB Kyle Hirschfelder was seemingly all over the field, as was LB Sam Holl. YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK OUT … Strake Jesuit at Clear Lake, 7 p.m. Friday, Veterans Memorial Stadium: Teams among the favorites in what should be two highly-competitive districts (18-5A and 24-5A) clash. Only an early rash of penalties stopped the Crusaders from blowing out St. Thomas. Their run defense was solid, which could work well against a Falcons team that rushed for more than 300 yards last week against Aldine but passed for less than 30. Cypress Springs vs. Cinco Ranch, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Berry Center: The Panthers surprised some people in their 20-3 win against Katy Taylor last week; their offense thrived on speed and athleticism. But Springs faces its first true test in the Cougars, who got a goal-line defensive stand to beat San Antonio Reagan at the Alamodome last Saturday. The loser of this game certainly can still have a great season, but the winner could gain some big momentum. A&M Consolidated at Cypress Woods, 6 p.m. Saturday, Berry Center: The Wildcats make their much-anticipated varsity debut against perennially competitive A&M Consolidated. The Falcons, who are reloading at most positions but should have a strong secondary and receiving corps, opened with a 26-3 loss to Round Rock McNeil. Memorial at Jersey Village , 6 p.m. Saturday, Pridgeon Stadium: This game might take only two hours and have a final score along the lines of 14-7. Falcons RB Jammell Alfred rushed for more than 200 yards in last week’s loss to Deer Park, and likewise the Mustangs love grind-it-out, time-consuming drives. This year, though, they probably will have a potent passing game behind QB Davis Miller. OUR PICKS TO CLICK Dave: North Shore RB Alex Tillman. Position mate Tracy Woods grabbed the headlines last week, rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown in the Mustangs’ 10-6 win against Katy, but Tillman put on a solid show too by rushing for 70 yards. Gut says the North Shore coaching staff will find a way to highlight Tillman against an Eisenhower defense eager to redeem itself. Chad: Pearland RB Kasey Carrier. He was held in check for most of the Oilers’ win against Madison last week, but he still rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns. I expect to see those numbers rise Thursday night against Fort Bend Kempner at the Rig. Carrier has big-play capability, and against a Cougar team the Oilers have beaten three times in the last two years, I see a big night for Carrier. QUOTABLE Among other gems in North Shore coach David Aymond’s post-Katy press conference was this: “I was sort of glad to see them make some mistakes. I thought they weren’t human for a while. Those people don’t make mistakes now. … I’m glad they did. We made a few.” NUMBERS ARE FUN 8: More first downs for Cy-Fair (15) than The Woodlands (7) in the Highlanders’ 42-0 win against the Bobcats. TV/RADIO COVERAGE Thursday Cypress Falls at Westfield, 7 p.m. (KTBU-Channel 55) Kempner at Pearland, 7 p.m. (KTRK-Channel 13.2; Comcast channel 314) Lake Travis at Austin Westlake, 7 p.m. (FSN Houston/Southwest) Friday Cypress Ridge at Klein, 7:30 p.m. (KBME-AM 790) Katy at The Woodlands, 7:30 p.m. (KFNC-FM 97.5)