Week 5 Rewind

The COVID cancellation carousel reached top speed, knock on wood, this past week as several area games were changed or lost forever. But the return of big school and private school football helped fill the void and helped many of us still get our football fix.

CAUGHT MY EYE

What a debut for Clay Martin and his WYLIE BULLDOGS. I saw the first half on the sidelines before heading over to KOXE and came away thinking the Bulldog defense was legit but the offense was far behind. However, the second half (I watched on the Brownwood ISD YouTube stream, and the streaming of these games has at least been one good thing to come from this crazy season) proved the Bulldog defense was, in fact, legit, and the offense can get the job done too in a 28-7 win. Brownwood racked up 284 yards rushing against Burnet, including 253 from the great Royshad Henderson, but could only muster 25 yards on the ground on 30 attempts. The Lions also turned the ball over six times. They will need to right the ship quickly as they get set to welcome rival Stephenville to open district play Friday night. The Bulldogs turn their attention to Lubbock Monterey in what will be the season opener for the Plainsmen.

Many, myself included, thought the Hawley/BANGS ballgame Friday night would go down to the wire and the Bearcats would have the upper hand. Many, myself included, were way off, as the Dragons demolished Hawley 39-15 to stay perfect on the season. Bangs racked up 461 yards of offense, 238 passing and 223 rushing, on their way to the win. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead, led 26-7 at the half, and 39-7 after three quarters before giving up the final score of the game to the Bearcats in the fourth quarter.

SWEETWATER continues to roll as the Mustangs took down Clyde 54-10 on Homecoming night to win their third game in a row. Leo Holsey continued his stellar play, throwing for 219 yards and four touchdowns in the win, and the defense gave up its lowest point total of the season. The Mustangs now prepare for the opening of district action with a bang against rival Snyder.

The EARLY LONGHORNS continue to impress in their first season under new head coach Daniel Price. Early made it a happy homecoming with a 36-0 shut out win over Grape Creek to improve to 3-2 at the conclusion of non-district play. Early outgained Grape Creek 331-82, led by Alex Jacobs’ 157 yard, two touchdown effort on the ground. The Longhorns have matched their 2019 win total with five games still to play, but will have a tough District 3-3A Division I opener in two weeks against Jim Ned.

WINTERS broke into the win column in a big way with their 41-0 shutout victory at Hico. The Blizzards were winless in their first four games (against teams with a combined 11-7 record so far this season) but turned it around against the Tigers. The defense allowed just two first downs, and Alex Salas ran for 124 yards and two scores and passed for another touchdown. Winters will be off Friday before kicking off district play October 9 against another tough team, Cisco.

EASTLAND also picked up win number one of the season, outscoring McKinney Christian 78-54 Friday night in Weatherford. Behren Morton put up ridiculous numbers, completing 49 of 63 passes for 486 yards and four scores while rushing for 125 yards and three more touchdowns. The Mavericks, who have had to shuffle games often this season, will face Panhandle in Post Friday before kicking off district play at 4-1 Millsap on October 9.

STAMFORD knocked off state-ranked Archer City in a 54-46 shootout to improve to 3-2. The Bulldogs saw Archer City rally from a 16-point fourth quarter deficit to tie things up, but got the final score to extend their winning streak to two as they head into the bye week. Stamford makes the short trip to Anson for the district opener October 9.

COLEMAN won for the third straight week and fourth time in five games this season with a 47-13 decision at Colorado City Friday. The Bluecats were balanced on offense, passing for 142 yards and rushing for 185 more, and had this one put away by halftime with a 27-0 lead. Coleman will take Friday off before starting district play October 9 at home against De Leon.

MAY traveled to defending state champ Blum and rolled past the Bobcats 74-28. The Tigers led 38-6 after the first quarter and cruised to their third straight win. May wraps up non-district play this week against 2-3 Newcastle.

IRA returned to the win column in a big way, taking down previously unbeaten Highland 70-52. The Bulldogs returned to form after falling to state ranked Knox City 55-16 the week before. Ira heads to 3-2 Loraine Friday night for a battle of the Bulldogs.

BAIRD broke into the win column with a 62-13 victory over Permian Basin Athletics CO-OP. That’s victory number one for head coach Derek Schlieve at Baird. The Bears host Lueders-Avoca on Friday.

STILL PERFECT

ABILENE CHRISTIAN: The Panthers kicked off the season with a 58-28 Homecoming win over Amarillo San Jacinto Saturday afternoon. I saw the first half of that one and came away impressed by a number of Panther players, including Caleb Burrow, Braden Baker and Owen Fisher. My 8-year old son also tagged along and got his first taste of the different rules the six-man game plays. He, like me, is a big fan of the constant action and high scoring. Proud dad/coach alert: He also scored two touchdowns in our Upward flag football game earlier on Saturday (his younger brother also scored a touchdown), so the Coil family had a great day of football. ACS did as well, and they will head to Lubbock to take on 1-0 Kingdom Prep Friday night.

BANGS: The now 4-0 Dragons seemingly get better every week.

HAMLIN: The Pied Pipers did not get to play their homecoming game against Haskell Friday due to COVID concerns, but shout out to my father-in-law Charlie Shira for being named Coming Home King. They always give it to the oldest candidate, right? (Insert winking emoji here).

HERMLEIGH: The Cardinals had no issues with Wilson Friday night, rolling to a 54-0 win to get improve to 5-0 this season. Hermleigh has outscored opponents 275-36 so far this year, and likely won’t have many problems with 1-3 Bronte this week. District play may be another story, however, as Aspermont, Ira, Roby and Rotan all look to be playoff contenders. District play begins for the Cardinals in two weeks at home against Aspermont.

ROTAN: The Yellowhammers were not tested, as has been the case all season so far, in their 61-14 win at Robert Lee Friday night. 4-0 Rotan visits 1-3 Hart and 1-3 Sanderson the next two weeks as they look to stay perfect through non-district play. They are up to #41 in the sixmanfootball.com 1A Division I rankings. Roby checks in at #38, Hermleigh is #31, Aspermont #29 and Ira is #19 in the intriguing District 7-1A DI.

WYLIE: As mentioned above, the Bulldog defense was spectacular in their 28-7 victory at Brownwood that kicked off the Clay Martin era of Wylie football.

Highland, courtesy of that 70-52 loss at Ira, and Ballinger, who fell at Llano 34-0, fell from the ranks of the unbeatens on Friday night.

LOOKING AHEAD

It is a light week on the schedule as many teams have their original bye week before firing up district play. Here are some of the bigger games to look forward to.

Cooper vs Abilene High
Wylie at Lubbock Monterey
Stephenville at Brownwood
Sweetwater at Sndyer
Jim Ned vs Hallettsville in Llano
Hamlin at Windthorst
Aspermont at Knox City
Jayton at Roby

STANDINGS

District 2-6A

Midland Lee 1-0
Odessa Permian 1-0
Odessa 0-0
Abilene 0-1
Midland 0-1
San Angelo Central 0-1
Wolfforth Frenship 0-1

District 3-5A Division I

Granbury 1-0
Justin Northwest 1-0
Arlington Heights 0-0
Azle 0-1
Brewer 0-1
Cooper 0-1
Crowley 0-1
Saginaw 0-1

District 3-5A Division II

Canyon Randall 1-0
Lubbock Cooper 1-0
Wichita Falls Rider 1-0
Wylie 1-0
Plainview 0-1
Wichita Falls 0-1

District 5-4A Division I

Waco La Vega 3-1
Midlothian Heritage 3-2
Alvarado 2-3
Brownwood 2-3
Stephenville 2-3
Waxahachie Life 1-3

District 1-4A Division II

Sweetwater 3-1
Pecos 2-1
Greenwood 2-2
Snyder 2-2
Monahans 2-3

District 3-3A Division I

Jim Ned 2-1
Early 3-2
Wall 3-2
Clyde 1-4
Breckenridge 0-4
TLCA San Angelo 0-5

District 2-3A Division II

Ingram Moore 5-0
Bangs 4-0
Ballinger 4-1
Brady 2-3
Grape Creek 1-4
Sonora 1-4

District 5-3A Division II

Comanche 5-0
Millsap 4-1
Jacksboro 3-2
Merkel 2-2
Dublin 1-3
Eastland 1-3

District 3-2A Division I

Anson 3-1
Hawley 3-2
Stamford 3-2
Forsan 2-2
Haskell 1-3
Colorado City 0-5

District 4-2A Division I

Coleman 4-1
San Saba 3-1
Cisco 2-3
Goldthwaite 2-3
De Leon 1-4
Winters 1-4

District 5-2A Division II

Hamlin 4-0
Lockney 4-0
Ralls 3-2
Crosbyton 1-4
Roscoe 0-5

District 8-2A Division II

Cross Plains 4-1
Albany 3-1
Santo 3-2
Meridian 2-2
Hico 1-4
Ranger 0-4

District 7-1A Division I

Hermleigh 5-0
Rotan 4-0
Roby 4-1
Aspermont 3-2
Ira 3-2
District 8-1A Division I

Sterling City 5-0
Westbrook 5-0
Highland 4-1
Robert Lee 1-3
Bronte 1-3
District 13-1A Division I

May 4-1
Santa Anna 4-1
Gorman 2-3
Baird 1-3
Lingleville 1-4

District 6-1A Division II

Blackwell 3-2
Loraine 3-2
Olfen 0-2
TLCA Abilene 0-4
Trent 0-5

District 8-1A Division II

Benjamin 3-1
Rule 3-2
Chillicothe 2-2
Harrold 0-1

District 9-1A Division II

Throckmorton 4-1
Woodson 0-4
Lueders-Avoca 0-5
Moran 0-5

District 15-1A Division II

Blanket 4-1
Rising Star 3-2
Sidney 3-2
Brookesmith 2-2
Panther Creek 1-4