Educated Guesses 5A Division I
We have reached the end of our Educated Guesses preview series, finishing up with 5A Division I.
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.
Abilene High, Tascosa, and Lubbock Cooper enter the season as the three teams most likely to win district, and the Eagles have the pleasure of welcoming both to Shotwell Stadium this season.
The Warbirds are stacked on offense and filling holes on defense, but that didn’t seem to matter in their scrimmage against Wylie. The Eagles scored often and made plenty of stops on defense as well.
Brayden Henry is still fast, and it looks like he’s improved in the passing department, which could be tough on opposing defenses. Bam Rashaw, Ryland Bradford, Brelon Badon, Jackson Howle, Bryson Perez, and even backup quarterback Dylan Slack give the Warbirds plenty of firepower, hopefully enough to get past Tascosa and Lubbock Cooper.
Tascosa swept the district to claim the title last season, beating Abilene High 36-14 and Cooper 28-14 before falling in the second round of the playoffs. The Rebels will be younger this year, welcoming back five starters on offense and four on defense. They’ll have to replace the likes of Avian Carter, who is playing at TCU, and Tayden Barnes, who is starting his college career at New Mexico State. They do have their flexbone offense to rely on and always seem to have quality linemen and runners in their system.
Cooper went 9-3 in its first season of 5A Division I football, taking second place with an 11-8 win over the Eagles. The Pirates return four starters on offense and three on defense, meaning they’ll have plenty of holes to fill on both sides of the ball.
Amarillo High was the third-place finisher a year ago and could also make some noise in the district this season. The Sandies have 13 starters returning, second most to Monterey in 2-5A D1.
Coronado will lean on receiver Surreal Garrett but needs to improve on defense to crack the top four.
Caprock and Monterey both have new head coaches who hope to turn things around after rough 2022 seasons. The Longhorns finished 5-5, while the Plainsmen went 0-10.
BIG COUNTRY BLITZ COACHES POLL
1. Tascosa
2. Abilene High
3. Lubbock Cooper
4. Amarillo High
5. Lubbock Coronado
6. Amarillo Caprock
7. Lubbock Monterey
BIG GAMES
8/25 Abilene High at Permian
8/25 Midland Legacy at Amarillo
8/25 Coronado at Frenship
9/1 Abilene High at Cooper
9/1 Tascosa at Midland Legacy
9/1 Lubbock Cooper at Frenship
9/1 Monterey at Wylie
9/8 Midland Legacy at Abilene High
9/8 Tascosa at Permian
9/14 Lubbock Cooper at Wichita Falls Rider
9/15 Abilene High at Frenship
9/22 Amarillo at Tascosa
9/29 Tascosa at Abilene High
9/29 Caprock at Amarillo
9/29 Lubbock Cooper at Coronado
10/6 Amarillo at Lubbock Cooper
10/12 Coronado at Amarillo
10/13 Lubbock Cooper at Abilene High
10/27 Amarillo at Abilene High
10/27 Lubbock Cooper at Tascosa
10/27 Coronado at Monterey
BIG NAMES
Abilene High RB Bam Rashaw
Abilene High QB Brayden Henry
Abilene High TE Trey Simpson
Abilene High DE Luke Fisher
Abilene High LB Bryce Neves
Amarillo OL Colton Flores
Caprock DB Jayden Acosta-Lewis
Caprock QB Lleyton Brown
Coronado LB Willie Parker
Coronado WR Surreal Garrett
Lubbock Cooper K/P Cub Patton
Lubbock Cooper OL Holton Hendrix
Lubbock Cooper TE Sam Marcinkowski
Lubbock Cooper RB Jackson Austin
Monterey WR/DB Kash Lewis
Monterey QB DJ Williams
Tascosa FB Treshun Wilson
Tascosa WR TJ Tillman
