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