Educated Guesses 5A Division II
We continue in the 11-man football ranks and take a look at 5A Division II.
I call them educated guesses, like your teachers used to, because I feel I have at least a little bit of knowledge about the upcoming season after speaking with area coaches for the 2023 edition of Big Country Blitz.
I’m not gonna lie; this one was hard to pick. Especially after scrimmages on Friday.
I know, I know, you can’t take a lot away from scrimmages, but it’s hard to completely clear things you’ve seen away. Wylie gave up seven touchdowns to Abilene High (just one in the timed scrimmage portion, however), and Cooper lost 27-0 in two timed quarters to Odessa High.
I know starters didn’t play the whole time, and both Coach Martin and Roan feel like their respective teams will learn from playing larger schools in scrimmages.
Both teams will need to grow up quickly as they face tough challenges in week one. Wylie hosts Brownwood, and Cooper will travel to Keller.
Both teams hope to settle their QB battles as well. Keegan Anderson or Bryant "Bear" Ming for the Bulldogs, and Caden Garcia or Austin Cummins at Cooper. Maybe all four see the field. Both certainly will at Wylie as Coach Clay Martin told BigCountryHomepage that Anderson and Ming would play against Brownwood. But both teams have plenty of weapons and powerful offensive lines to work with, and the one that gets things sorted out by the time district play rolls around will have the best shot at claiming the district title.
I’m going with Wylie by a very small margin to win the district, with Cooper and Rider, playing their final season of football, close behind. The Southtown Showdown was for at least a share of the district championship last year, and hopefully it will be again this time around.
The Abilene schools have the edge in returning starters—six offense/six defense for Cooper and five offense/four defense for Wylie—over Rider, which has just two starters back on offense and six back on defense.
Palo Duro was the other playoff squad from the district last season, and they have the inside track over Plainview and Lubbock High for the final spot.
BIG COUNTRY BLITZ COACHES POLL
T1. Wylie
T1. Wichita Falls Rider
3. Cooper
4. Palo Duro
5. Plainview
6. Lubbock High
BIG GAMES
8/25 Brownwood at Wylie
9/1 Abilene High at Cooper
9/1 Decatur at Wichita Falls Rider
9/8 Cooper at San Angelo Central
9/8 Wylie at Lubbock Cooper
9/14 Lubbock Cooper at Wichita Falls Rider
9/15 Wylie at Stephenville
9/22 Permian at Cooper
9/22 San Angelo Central at Wylie
9/22 Stephenville at Wichita Falls Rider
10/5 Wichita Falls Rider at Cooper
10/13 Wichita Falls Rider at Wylie
11/3 Wylie at Cooper
11/3 Plainview at Palo Duro
BIG NAMES
Cooper RB Daniel Bray
Cooper DB Elijah Stevenson
Cooper DE Dycin Davis
Cooper LB Eric Tonche
Lubbock RB/LB Zeke Rodriguez
Lubbock OL/DL Keagan Davis
Palo Duro OL Sammy Santos
Palo Duro LB Ali Hopson
Plainview QB Seth Mayberry
Plainview WR Mateo Hernandez
Plainview OL Luis Pesina
Plainview OL Brandon Ortega
Rider DL/LB Jailyn Gibbs
Rider DB Ryan Jones
Rider OL Cape Johnson
Rider OL Norman Mendieta
Rider RB/DB Tyrone Morgan
Wylie WR Braden Regala
Wylie DB Hayden Wright
Wylie OL Cameron Vann
Wylie LB Collin Bruning
Wylie WR Derrick Evans
