November 23, 2007

We are down to a Final Six heading into Round Two of the 2007 Texas High School Football playoffs.

For the first time in my memory, we will not have a representative from our Class 3A districts playing in the second week. That is pretty big news!

Much less newsy is the continuation of a trend involving our Class 5A teams. Once again, the CCISD's best, Carroll and Ray, were eliminated in Round One by schools from San Antonio. The Tigers, after zooming to a 7-0 start, lost three of their final four games this season. That was surprising to me! Ray's high-powered offense was also derailed last Friday night. The stats were there, but Ray was unable to convert the numbers into touchdowns.

So, once again, our Class 4A teams will carry the Coastal Bend Banner into round two today and tonight.

Calallen gets it started with a "traditional" day-after-Thanksgiving game. This time it is in Victoria against Port Lavaca. The 'Cats should win this one against a Port Lavaca team that beat Ingleside and GP, but was thrashed pretty soundly two weeks ago by Beeville.

Speaking of the Trojans, Beeville is in San Antonio tonight for a game against a very good Edcouch-Elsa team. E-E was lucky to sneak past Alice 18-17 last Friday night in the Valley. Beeville is one of my sleeper teams, and has been all year. They SHOULD have knocked off state-ranked New Braunfels back in September. They led 27-0 at the half, but somehow lost 30-27. Keep an eye on these guys, they have it together now! In fact, they could meet Calallen in two weeks for the Region IV Championship. You will see me in the stands for that one!

The best match up of the weekend occurs tomorrow night when former district rivals GP and Flour Bluff meet in Buc Stadium. I am still not sure who will win here. Both teams have really peaked during the final weeks of the season. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see this game go to overtime. I think it is THAT close.

Our two Class 2A reps are solid. I see Refugio as a state championship team, if they continue playing at the level they are playing now. First year coach Jason Herring has put some "pizzaz" into the Bobcats passing game. Their defense is solid, and they have speed to burn in key places. It looks like a big night in San Antonio for the Bobcats against a Dilley team that simply does not match up physically.

Skidmore-Tynan gets a tougher test when these Bobcats face Stockdale tonight in Victoria. S-T has played exceptionally well in most of their big games under coach Adam Arroyo, and I don't see that changing tonight.

So there you have it. Six teams out of nearly 50 which started the season in August with hopes of being on the field on Thanksgiving weekend. We'll have the scores and highlights tonight on the "Playoff Edition" of the Blitz.

See ya' on the field,

Dan McReynolds

Friday September 7, 2007

Boy, the Alice Coyotes are making quite an early-season statement this football season! After beating Cigarroa in Alice last week, Alice simply destroyed Brownsville Lopez 35-0 on Thursday night.

Our good friend from Alice, Mr. Lopez, kept us informed on every play. I also caught some of the great play-by-play by Mike Smith & company on Fox Sports 1070. As they explained, Alice's 'no-huddle" offense completely befuddled Lopez. Deon Hill ran for over 100 yards and a pair of TDs. A.J. Benavides also threw a touchdown as Alice piled up a 26-0 first half lead. The defense was just as outstanding, holding Lopez to five first downs (by my unofficial count) and well under 100 yards of offense.  

Next up for the Coyotes is a trip to Corpus Christi for a game with King. As a former Mustang, I am still on Cloud 9 over their big win over GP last week, but I want to see what happens tonight against Flour Bluff in our Friday Night Blitz "Game of the Week." It is hard to imagine the Bluff starting the year at 0-2.

Moody gets another toughie tonight as they play Carroll. The Trojans were definitely NOT as bad as the score indicated in their 51-0 loss to Ray last week. I think the Texans have something special going with Jerry Bell at QB and the return of RB Preston Streight. He was hurt at the beginning of last year and Ray turned into a passing team by necessity. Now with Streight back, Ray is reallllllly scary. Hats off (especially that droopy practice hat) to Coach Roland Gonzalez and his staff for a job well-done in the off-season. The Texans are playing Alexander in Laredo tonight, but be sure and circle next Friday night's game against the Bluff.

GP and Sinton face off tonight in Sinton with identical "oh-one" records. Sinton found out Cuero is still for real last week, while GP was beaten at home by King. Again, the loser of this one will be 0-2 and perhaps headed for another loss next week, since both GP and Sinton play tough opponents. The Wildcats will host Carroll and Sinton travels to Beeville. I know it is still early, but this one tonight ought to be an epic battle of survival on both sides!

OK...enough rambling. There is no rain in the forecast, the fields I've checked out are all dry and fast, and I am ready for lots of great offense this week. Defense DEFINITELY took center stage last week on the Blitz!

See ya tonight!

Dan