Last week was a mostly positive one for the current group of future Longhorn football athletes, as some began their district schedules with wins, four commits helped their teams to their first win of 2019, and 11 commits still have yet to lose a game.
As of this week, 11 commits play for teams that are ranked in their particular state, and one of them plays for a team ranked among the top 5 nationally by USA Today. That team is the state’s current #1 team in Class 6A, and Longhorn commits also play a key role for the four teams ranked 2nd through 5th in 5A Division I.
All three of UT’s quarterback commits put up good numbers in leading their teams to wins last week, and in Ja’Quinden Jackson’s case that win came over a nationally-ranked out-of-state opponent. Two other commits who play QB for their team but will move to other positions in college (Juan Davis and Jaden Hullaby) both attacked opposing defenses through the air and on the ground and led their teams to their first win of the season.
I’ll have notes on all of those commits’ games and more below.
The Longhorns gained a new pledge to their 2020 class over the weekend in the form of West Mesquite running back Ty Jordan, who immediately after announcing his commitment probably began preparing to face Denton Ryan this week, whose roster includes two of his future teammates in 2021 athletes Billy Bowman and Ja’Tavion Sanders. As it happens, Sanders is the most recent addition to the #trUTh21 class, so Friday night’s West Mesquite-Denton Ryan game will feature UT’s newest commits in both the 2020 and 2021 classes, and it will be the second of at least six games this season that will feature Longhorn commits playing for opposing teams.
One aspect of UT’s current commits that I haven’t previously noted is that none of them are from “small” schools, which is extremely unusual in program history and especially within recent memory. Every one of the program’s in-state commits hails from a public high school that competes at the Class 6A or 5A level. Of the program’s three out-of-state pledges, 2020 cornerback Ethan Pouncey attends a very large Class 8A Florida high school that would be comfortably in Class 6A if it were in Texas, 2020 defensive end Van Fillinger goes to a school that competes in Utah’s highest classification (6A), and 2020 running back Bijan Robinson plays for a private school that competes in Arizona’s Conference 4A and whose current enrollment might be the equivalent of a large 4A school in Texas but has had a 5A-sized enrollment in previous years.
After a glance at the Longhorns’ past several signing classes, it appears that the 2004 class (which was comprised entirely of in-state recruits) was the last one in which all of the signees from public schools played at the UIL’s highest two levels (5A and 4A at the time), though that class also included one athlete from a private school that competed in the Southwest Preparatory Conference.
From a cursory look at UT’s reported offers, the only Texas public school athlete in the 2020 class UT has offered who plays at a school below the Class 5A level is Jalin Conyers of 2A Division II’s Gruver, a wide receiver/tight end prospect who is committed to Oklahoma. While the 2020 class may indeed end up with no small school athletes, the Longhorns do have class of 2021 offers out to 4A athletes J.D. Coffey of Kennedale, and teammates Landon Jackson and Marcus Burris of Texarkana Pleasant Grove. There’s a decent chance one of them could be the program’s first sub-5A in-state commit since 2019 wide receiver Kennedy Lewis, who played at Class 4A Melissa.
Most teams that have not yet started district play will do so this week or next, and that’s where the games start to count for purposes of playoff qualification and seeding. Also, the teams of eight commits will have a bye this week, so there will be less action than usual to recap in next week’s post.
The game start times listed below are for each site’s specific time zone
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2021 TE Lake McRee (Lake Travis) - injured, out for season
2020 QB Hudson Card (Lake Travis)
Last week: Completed 14 of 18 passes for 246 yards and 2 TDs, and had 6 carries for 46 yards and 1 TD in a 52-10 win over Austin Bowie.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:30, at Austin Akins
Notes: Lake Travis improved its record to 2-1 following an easy victory over Bowie that was made easier when Bowie’s quarterback suffered a possible season-ending knee injury in the 1st quarter. Hudson Card opened the game’s scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run in the 1st quarter, and he added a pair of scoring passes to senior receiver Kyle Eaves in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Eaves finished the game with 7 catches for 141 yards.
Lake Travis led 24-3 at halftime, then expanded that lead to 45-3 going into the 4th quarter. The win gave the Cavaliers a 1-0 start to district play, and they could have another lopsided win on Friday night when they face a 1-2 Akins team that is coming off a 58-7 loss to Austin Westlake in its district opener. Lake Travis has won its five most recent meetings with Akins by an average score of about 58-14. The Cavaliers maintain the #18 spot in this week’s Class 6A rankings.
2020 QB Ja’Quinden Jackson (Duncanville)
Last week: Completed 12 of 21 passes for 193 yards and 2 TDs, and rushed 11 times for 74 yards and 1 TD in a 35-14 win over Washington D.C. St. John’s.
This week: Bye
Notes: Jackson had the his best performance of the young 2019 season last week, leading his Duncanville Panthers to convincing win over nationally-ranked DC powerhouse St. John’s.
I noted in last week’s post that Jackson had a very sub-par performance in Duncanville’s second game against South Oak Cliff, which was masked by the Panthers’ utter domination on defense and their success in the running game. Jackson had just one completed pass in all of Duncanville’s scoring drives in that game. He topped that figure on Duncanville’s opening drive against St. John’s.
Jackson completed 3 of 4 passes (including two for first downs) and had two carries on a 10-play, 75-yard TD drive that gave Duncanville a 7-0 lead with 8:16 left in the 1st quarter. With the score tied at 7-7, Jackson hit Roderick Daniels for a 48-yard TD pass on the first play of the 2nd quarter, and after neither team scored in the rest of the quarter Duncanville led 14-7 at halftime.
St. John’s tied the game at 14 on a 61-yard run by junior running back Colby McDonald five plays into the 3rd quarter, but Duncanville ended the game scoring 21 unanswered points. Jackson connected with Daniels again for a 39-yard TD pass with 8:41 left in the 3rd quarter, then two possessions later Jackson ran the ball into the end zone from 29 yards out to put the Panthers ahead 28-14 with 2:06 left in the 3rd quarter. Senior running back and Central Arkansas commit Trysten Smith scored his second TD of the game less than two minutes into the 4th to make the score 35-14.
Jackson’s 267 yards of total offense was just 36 yards less than what St. John’s gained as a team. Duncanville’s defense recovered a fumble and forced three turnovers on downs, all of them on Duncanville’s side of the field.
Duncanville is 3-0 and remains firmly atop the Class 6A state rankings, and the win over St. John’s - previously ranked #14 in the nation by USA Today - moved the Panthers up from 6th to 4th in this week’s USA Today Super 25 Expert rankings. The Panthers have a bye this week before opening district play on September 27 against Richardson Berkner.
2021 QB Jalen Milroe (Katy Tompkins)
Last week: Completed 7 of 9 passes for 222 yards and 2 TDs, and had 2 carries for 11 yards in a 63-0 win over Alvin.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:30, vs. League City Clear Creek
Notes: Tompkins won in a cakewalk over a downtrodden Alvin team last week, dealing that team its 15th consecutive loss. Milroe threw TD passes in the 1st and 2nd quarter, and Tompkins led 42-0 at halftime. The Falcons outgained Alvin 458-56.
Tompkins improved to 3-0 and will play its final non-district contest on Friday night when it hosts 1-2 Clear Creek, which has lost its last two games by a combined eight points. Tompkins beat Clear Creek 38-7 when the teams played a year ago.
2020 RB Ty Jordan (West Mesquite)
Last week: Had 17 carries for 143 yards and 2 TDs, and caught 5 passes for 62 yards and 1 TD in a 34-31 loss to Keller Timber Creek.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, at Denton Ryan
Notes: Ty Jordan is a very explosive all-purpose threat at running back who joined the #cloUT2020 class when he committed on Sunday. He has long been one of my very favorite running backs in the state for this class. He may not have prototypical size for the position, at least as far as his height is concerned, but he can make cuts without losing much speed, and his acceleration is among the best you’ll see from any running back in the state right now.
Through his team’s first three games he has compiled 409 yards from scrimmage and scored 8 total touchdowns (one of them on a punt return), and he is West Mesquite’s leading rusher and receiver. For his senior season he will aim to get his team back into the playoffs for the first time since his freshman year. The West Mesquite Wranglers reached the playoffs in nine consecutive seasons from 2006 to 2014, but since then they’ve reached the postseason just once, and this year they have started off 0-3 for the first time since 2013.
It’s far from a promising start to a season, but it’s worth noting that the Wranglers reached the playoffs after that 0-3 start in 2013, and did the same following a 0-4 start in 2011, and since West Mesquite won’t begin district play until next week, a loss on Friday against Class 5A Division I’s 2nd-ranked Denton Ryan wouldn’t affect their playoff chances. A win, however, would give them a nice boost heading into their district schedule, and Jordan is no doubt looking forward to getting to play against future Longhorn teammates Billy Bowman and Ja’Tavion Sanders.
When the two teams played in 2018, Jordan gained 126 yards from scrimmage on 25 offensive touches, but Ryan won easily, 38-3. Looking ahead at West Mesquite’s schedule, Ty Jordan will get to face another future teammate in three weeks when West Mesquite travels to play Tyler John Tyler and Kitan Crawford on October 11.
2020 RB Bijan Robinson (Salpointe Catholic - Tucson, Arizona)
Last week: Bye
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, vs. Glendale Cactus
Notes: Robinson is coming off a bye last week, and when he was last seen on a football field two weeks ago he ran for 430 yards and 6 TDs on just 13 carries. With seven regular season games left, Robinson is seven rushing touchdowns and 536 rushing yards away from tying Arizona’s Conference 4A career records in each category.
The Arizona Republic ranks Salpointe Catholic as the #2 team in 4A, and three of the Lancers’ next five opponents are also ranked. Coming in at #3 is this week’s opponent, Glendale Cactus. Cactus is 3-0 this season and has beaten its three foes by an average of just under 14 points per game. Salpointe beat Cactus in each of the past two seasons by scores of 41-15 and 49-14.
2021 WR QuayDarius Davis (Dallas Skyline)
Last week: Caught 3 passes for 37 yards in a 39-21 win over Arlington Sam Houston.
This week: Bye
Notes: Skyline got its first win of the season with its 39-21 victory over Sam Houston last week. Skyline led 6-0 at the end of the 1st quarter, then went ahead 13-0 with a TD run in the first minute of the 2nd quarter. Two of Davis’s three receptions in the game came on that scoring drive. Three more TDs gave Skyline a 32-7 lead at halftime, which promptly became a 39-7 lead after a four-play scoring drive to open the 3rd quarter. Sam Houston scored TDs on its final two possessions of the game to make the final score appear more respectable.
Skyline has a bye this week before it begins district play with a home game against Lake Highlands on Thursday, September 26.
2020 WR Quentin Johnston (Temple)
Last week: Caught a 19-yard TD pass in a 37-3 win over Killeen Harker Heights.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:30, vs. Killeen Shoemaker
Notes: I have not seen the full stats from Temple’s win over Harker Heights, but Johnston caught one of the game’s two TD passes and gave Temple a 7-0 1st quarter lead that it never relinquished.
The win gave Temple a 1-0 start to district play and the Wildcats will next face Killeen Shoemaker, a team they have beaten eight straight times and not lost a game to since 2006. Temple beat Shoemaker 42-6 in the teams’ 2018 meeting. Shoemaker is 1-1 this season, with a 54-21 win over normally solid San Angelo Central, and a 51-20 loss two weeks ago to a Midlothian team that reached the 5A Division II playoffs last year.
2021 OL Hayden Conner (Katy Taylor)
Last week: Team beat Deer Park 65-34
This week: Friday, September 20 at 6:30, vs. Dickinson
Notes: Taylor got its second straight win last week after the Mustangs opened the 2019 campaign with a 69-7 drubbing at the hands of Humble Atascocita. Taylor led Deer Park 26-14 at halftime, before Deer Park rallied and cut the deficit to 37-34 going into the 4th quarter. But it was all Taylor in the 4th quarter, as the Mustangs outscored Deer Park 28-0 in the final frame to win in a rout.
Taylor gained 446 yards as a team and did not commit a turnover, while its defense forced five Deer Park turnovers and limited DP’s passing game to just 7 completions on 26 pass attempts.
Taylor has one more non-district game before beginning district play next week. The Mustangs will host Dickinson on Friday night, a team they lost to 35-7 a year ago. Dickinson is 2-1 and ranked 19th in Class 6A, with wins over Pearland Dawson and Richmond George Ranch, and its only defeat a 38-24 road loss to Allen, the current #3 team in 6A.
2020 OL Jaylen Garth (Port Neches-Groves) - injured, out for season
Last week: Team beat Tomball 28-9
This week: Bye
Notes: The PN-G Indians are ranked 10th in Class 5A Division II.
2020 OL Andrej Karic (Southlake Carroll)
Last week: Team beat Odessa Permian 48-7.
This week: Bye
Notes: With their 48-7 win last week over the Permian Panthers the Carroll Dragons moved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in games against teams with the Panther nickname. Their remaining opponents include teams named the Panthers, Wildcats, and Bobcats, so fully half of their regular schedule is against felines.
The Dragons gained 610 total yards in the win over Permian, with sophomore QB Quinn Evers completing a very impressive 30 of 34 passes for 392 yards and 4 TDs, and junior running back Jack Abram finishing with 124 yards on 16 carries. Abram now has 267 rushing yards in Carroll’s last two games. Carroll led 31-0 at halftime and 45-0 going into the 4th quarter.
The game pitted two of the state’s most decorated football programs, with 14 state championships between them. The loss gave Permian its first 0-3 start since Lyndon Johnson was President, and according to the Dallas Morning News, the Panthers did not record a first down until the final minutes of the 3rd quarter.
Carroll has a bye this week before hosting Keller to begin district play on September 27. The Dragons are 8th in this week’s Class 6A rankings, and in two weeks they have a road date with 7th-ranked Denton Guyer.
2020 OL Jake Majors (Prosper)
Last week: Team beat Flower Mound 57-34.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, at McKinney
Notes: Prosper improved to 3-0 for the season with another impressive offensive showing, at least as far as the box score is concerned. Prosper actually punted six times and lost a fumble in the game, but the pace of play was such that the Eagles still found time to score eight touchdowns on the night.
Prosper led 36-0 at halftime, before Flower Mound scored twenty 3rd quarter points to make the game a bit more interesting, getting to within 43-20 going into the 4th quarter. But two more Prosper scores made it 57-20 before Flower Mound added a pair of TDs in the final two and a half minutes of the game.
Prosper gained 574 total yards in the game, their last non-district game before they open district play on Friday night versus McKinney, which is 2-1 this season. Prosper beat McKinney 35-7 in last year’s meeting.
2020 OL Logan Parr (San Antonio O’Connor)
Last week: Team beat San Antonio Warren 35-21.
This week: Thursday, September 19 at 7:00, at San Antonio Jay
Notes: Parr’s San Antonio O’Connor team moved to 2-0 in district play with a sloppy, closer-than-it-should-have-been win over Warren. If the San Antonio Express News stats from the game are to be believed, the two teams combined for 498 offensive yards, 12 punts, and 30 assessed penalties that cost them 290 yards!
O’Connor led 28-0 a little over half-way into the 3rd quarter, but Warren didn’t go away, scoring three TDs in just under six minutes’ worth of game clock to get within a touchdown of O’Connor 9:01 left in regulation. But O’Connor shut the door on Warren’s comeback attempt after running back Zion Taylor scored his third TD of the night to put O’Connor ahead 35-21 with 3:08 left in the game, and didn’t allow Warren to add any points in the game’s final three minutes.
O’Connor will aim to continue their unbeaten streak in district games (which goes back to 2015) when they take on Jay tonight. O’Connor has beaten Jay in seven straight seasons and in 12 of the teams’ last 13 meetings. O’Connor won last year’s game 31-21. Jay is 1-1 in district play and coming off a 49-6 loss to Brennan.
2020 DT Vernon Broughton (Cypress Ridge)
Last week: Credited with 2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 sack in a 42-34 win over Jersey Village.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, at Houston Stratford
Notes: Broughton and the Cypress Ridge Rams got off to a 1-0 start to district play with a 42-34 win last week over Jersey Village, the defending champion of District 17-6A and a team that did not lose a single district game in 2018.
Cy Ridge’s defense limited Jersey Village to 78 rushing yards on 34 carries. The Rams returned the game’s opening kickoff for a 77-yard TD and scored three more times in the first half to take a 28-7 halftime lead. Neither team scored in the 3rd quarter, but Jersey Village scored four TDs in the final frame, the last of which came with 1:03 left in regulation and made it a one-possession game at 42-34, but Cy Ridge held on for the win.
The Rams will play their next district game on Friday night against 2-1 Stratford, a team they beat 24-21 a year ago.
2020 DE Van Fillinger (Corner Canyon - Draper, Utah)
Last week: Credited with 4 tackles and 2 tackles for loss in a 59-28 win over Sandy Alta.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, at Pleasant Grove
Notes: Corner Canyon won its 17th consecutive game last week, soundly beating Alta in a game that featured a lot of passing. The two teams combined for over 1,100 yards of total offense.
Corner Canyon’s junior running back Austin Bell, who compiled 707 yards from scrimmage and scored 11 touchdowns in the team’s first four games, was not listed on the MaxPreps box score in the win over Alta, but senior QB Cole Hagen set new single-game school records for total offense and touchdowns. He completed 28 of 38 passes for 547 yards and 6 TDs, and ran for 50 more yards and two more scores. His younger brother Cody Hagen (a sophomore receiver) caught 11 of those passes for 202 yards and 2 TDs.
Alta’s QB passed for 383 yards and 3 TDs himself, but the game was never close, as Corner Canyon led 45-7 at halftime and 59-21 going into the 4th quarter.
Corner Canyon is the top-rated team in Utah by every ranking I’ve seen. The Chargers will play their first regional (Utah’s equivalent of districts) contest on Friday when they travel to face undefeated Pleasant Grove, a team the Deseret News ranks as the sixth-best in the state. Jordan is the one common opponent the two schools have so far this year; Pleasant Grove beat the Jordan Beetdiggers (yes, their actual nickname) 28-21 on August 30, and Corner Canyon beat them 42-7 the following week.
Corner Canyon and Pleasant Grove last met in the first week of the 2018 season in a game the Chargers won 40-30. Pleasant Grove went on to reach the 6A state semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Lone Peak, while Corner Canyon went undefeated and won the 5A state title. Corner Canyon has not lost a regular season game since October 13, 2016.
2020 DE Princely Umanmielen (Manor)
Last week: Credited with 6 tackles and 1 tackle for loss in a 33-28 win over Liberty Hill.
This week: Thursday, September 19 at 7:00, at Houston St. Pius X
Notes: After losing their first two games of the season by a combined seven points to teams that reached the 6A playoffs in 2018, the Manor Mustangs got their first win last week in a back-and-forth battle with Liberty Hill, a team that reached the 4A Division I state championship a year ago. Liberty Hill had lost the previous week against Hutto, and Manor’s win gave the Panthers consecutive losses for the first time in 7 years.
It didn’t start out promisingly, as Manor fumbled away the opening kickoff, and Liberty Hill scored shortly afterward to take an early 7-0 lead. But the Mustangs tied the score at 7-7 a few minutes later and took their first lead in the 2nd quarter, and the game would see six lead changes before its conclusion.
Liberty Hill is known for its longtime use of the run-heavy slot-T offense, and the Panthers attempted only two passes against Manor, though they were two of the most consequential plays of the game. The first pass resulted in a 16-yard TD in the 2nd quarter that gave Liberty Hill a 14-13 lead. Later, with Manor leading 33-28 and Liberty Hill attempting a game-winning drive in the final minute of regulation, the Panthers faced 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line, and instead of relying on its running game that had gained 334 yards on 60 carries, they attempted a play-action pass that fell incomplete.
Manor is 1-2 for the season and will travel to play its last non-district game tonight against another Panther team: private school Houston St. Pius X. Manor led St. Pius X 34-21 at halftime in the teams’ 2018 matchup, only to see the Grant Gunnell-led Panthers outscore them 25-0 in the second half. Gunnell is now a freshman QB at Arizona, and this year’s St. Pius X team is 1-2, with losses coming against two teams it blew out a year ago.
2020 LB Prince Dorbah (Highland Park)
Last week: Credited with 4 tackles, 1 sack and 1 tackle for loss in a 30-19 loss to Frisco Lone Star.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:30, vs. Dallas Bryan Adams
Notes: In last week’s post I said that Highland Park’s defense would be more than tested by Frisco Lone Star and its QB Chandler Galban (a Nevada commit) and WR Marvin Mims (a Stanford commit). I was unaware that Galban had been sidelined this season following hernia surgery and had yet to play in a game, but sophomore QB Garret Rangel had filled in admirably and did so again last Friday, connecting 11 times with Mims for 236 yards and 2 TDs.
Mims returned the game’s opening kickoff 54 yards, then scored on a 45-yard reception on Lone Star’s first offensive play to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead they never relinquished. Lone Star led 24-0 at halftime, as Highland Park’s first half drives resulted in two punts, two interceptions, a turnover on downs, and the end of the 2nd quarter. Highland Park’s senior QB Chandler Morris (an Arkansas commit) was also picked off twice in the second half, which kept the Scots from building any offensive momentum until it was too late.
Lone Star led 27-7 going into the 4th quarter, and though Highland Park scored on its first two possessions of the final frame to get within 30-19 with 4:13 left, the Scots were unable to recover an onside kick, and after forcing a Lone Star punt they were unable to get past their own 30-yard line on their final possession.
The loss was Highland Park’s first in just over two years and it ended a 33-game winning streak. It was also reported to be the program’s first home loss to a Texas opponent since 1998! Highland Park fell from first to fourth in this week’s Class 5A Division I state rankings, while Lone Star vaulted from third to first.
The Scots will attempt to shake off that loss and begin a new home winning streak with their own rough equivalent to the Longhorns’ Rice game when they begin district play against Dallas Bryan Adams on Friday. Bryan Adams is 1-2 this year, with a win over a bad Fort Worth Southwest team, and lopsided losses (by a combined score of 103-6) to 3A Division I team Dallas Madison and TAPPS Division II team Dallas Christian. Highland Park beat Bryan Adams 49-0 in 2018.
2021 LB Derrick Harris (New Caney)
Last week: Team beat Willis 49-37
This week: Bye
Notes: New Caney improved to 3-0 with a strong offensive performance last week over Willis. The Eagles scored 49 points and gained 554 total yards, and senior QB Zion Childress, a UTSA wide receiver commit, compiled 464 total yards and 5 total TDs (4 passing, 1 rushing). Defensive stats for the game have not been reported.
New Caney has a bye this week before beginning district play on September 26.
2020 DB Xavion Alford (Alvin Shadow Creek)
Last week: Team beat Alief Elsik 63-7.
This week: Bye
Notes: If the Houston Chronicle’s box score stats from last week’s Shadow Creek-Elsik game are accurate, Shadow Creek scored nine touchdowns while gaining just 154 total yards, including 47 rushing yards on 26 carries, while Elsik gained -4 total yards and scored its only points of the game on a pick-six late in the 3rd quarter.
Shadow Creek scored its first TD on a blocked punt and its last on an interception return, and Elsik punted the ball 13 times, so the low offensive yardage total could be a result of Elsik’s punts consistently giving Shadow Creek a short field on its possessions.
Shadow Creek is 3-0 and ranked third in Class 5A Division I. The Sharks have a bye this week before beginning district play on September 27 against sixth-ranked Angleton. Also in their district is eighth-ranked Richmond Foster, who the Sharks will face on October 24.
2020 DB Kitan Crawford (Tyler John Tyler)
Last week: Had 5 carries for 40 yards, caught 1 pass for 13 yards, lost one fumble, made 6 tackles and intercepted one pass in a 42-0 loss to Longview.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, vs. Euless Trinity
Notes: Crawford had one of John Tyler’s very few highlights in its 42-0 loss to east Texas rival Longview, which was broadcast to a national audience by ESPN2. Crawford grabbed one of three interceptions thrown by Longview’s senior QB Haynes King, a Texas A&M commit. The John Tyler defense limited King to 8 completions on 18 pass attempts for 110 yards and no TDs. But the Lions couldn’t stop Longview’s ground game, allowing the Lobos to rush for 335 yards and 6 TDs on 50 carries.
To their inability to stop the run, the Lions added an inability to move the ball themselves against 6A’s fourth-ranked team, as their offense gained somewhere between 77 and 132 yards (depending on the source) and was shut out for the first time since 2007. The loss also gave the Lions their first 0-3 start since the 2011 season.
To avoid their first 0-4 start since 2006, the Lions will have to iron out their problems before Friday night, when they take on longtime DFW powerhouse Euless Trinity. Trinity is 3-0 and has beaten three perennial playoff teams in its first three games while averaging 290 rushing yards per game, so Crawford is unlikely to get challenged much in pass defense.
2020 DB Joshua Eaton (Aldine MacArthur)
Last week: Made 2 tackles in a 28-13 loss to Houston Bellaire.
This week: Bye
Notes: MacArthur fell to 1-2 for the season after dropping its first district game last week to Bellaire. MacArthur broke a scoreless tie late in the 2nd quarter and took a 7-0 lead into halftime, but the Generals were outscored 28-6 in the second half. MacArthur scored its second touchdown on the game’s final play.
The Generals have a bye this week before resuming district play on September 26.
2020 DB Ethan Pouncey (Winter Park, Florida)
Last week: Team beat Orlando University 42-0.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, at Orlando Edgewater
Notes: Winter Park evened its season record to 2-2 and got off to a 1-0 start in district play with a 42-0 win over University last week. After beginning the season with losses to two very tough teams, Winter Park has beaten two Orlando schools by a combined score of 92-0.
On Friday the Wildcats have another non-district game before resuming their district schedule next week. (It’s not unusual for Florida schools to alternate playing district and non-district opponents over the course of a few weeks, and Winter Park has four district and two non-district games left.)
This week’s opponent is another very challenging one: Edgewater, which is undefeated at 4-0 and ranked third in Class 7A (Edgewater’s MaxPreps page incorrectly states that it lost 12-0 to Orlando Jones on September 9 when it actually won 28-14. The Orlando Sentinel rates Edgewater as the top area team in its Super 16 rankings this week, while Winter Park comes in at #11.
Winter Park has won three of the last four meetings between the schools, but they have not played each other since 2013.
2020 DB Jerrin Thompson (Lufkin)
Last week: Team beat Redskins del Estado 67-7.
This week: Bye
Notes: After Lufkin faced three Mexican high school teams in the past three years and beat them by a combined score of 150-14, Lufkin head coach Todd Quick said last April that he hoped to schedule a tougher in-state opponent in future seasons but had been told that Redskins del Estado was a better team than the international squads the Panthers had faced in previous years.
But the final score was no different, as Lufkin won in another blowout 67-7. After breezing through their last two opponents 111-7, the Panthers will get a literal rather than figurative bye week before opening district play next week.
2021 ATH Billy Bowman (Denton Ryan)
2021 ATH Ja’Tavion Sanders (Denton Ryan)
Last week: Bye
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:00, vs. West Mesquite
Notes: Denton Ryan is ranked 2nd in Class 5A Division I and coming off its bye week. The Raiders will host West Mesquite on Friday in their final non-district game, and their district schedule begins next week against cross-town rival Denton High.
Billy Bowman and Ja’Tavion Sanders will no doubt find time to greet and get a photo with their new fellow Longhorn commit Ty Jordan at some point after the game on Friday night, and Sanders will be among those who will try to keep him from running wild on the Raider defense, which allowed its first two opponents this season to rush for just two yards per carry. Ryan beat West Mesquite 38-3 when the teams played a year ago.
2021 ATH Juan Davis (Everman)
Last week: Completed 2 of 2 passes for 29 yards and 1 TD, had 15 carries for 135 yards and 2 TDs, and caught 2 passes for 43 yards in a 44-6 win over Arlington Seguin.
This week: Friday, September 20 at 7:30, at Burleson Centennial
Notes: Davis had easily his most statistically productive game so far in his junior season last week, leading the Everman Bulldogs to their first win of the season and a 1-0 start to district play.
On Friday the Bulldogs will face Burleson Centennial, a team that has made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons and reached the third round in 2018. The Spartans are 2-1 this season and are coming off a 63-30 loss last week in their district opener against Aledo, the top-ranked team in Class 5A Division II. Centennial beat Everman 35-8 in the teams’ 2018 matchup and has won four of the last five meetings between them.
2020 ATH Jaden Hullaby (Mansfield Timberview)
Last week: Completed 6 of 10 passes for 121 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT, and had 12 carries for 74 yards in a 64-31 win over Mansfield Lake Ridge.
This week: Thursday, September 19 at 7:00, vs. Dallas Woodrow Wilson
Notes: Hullaby compiled 195 total yards and helped his Timberview team earn its first win of the season, beating a Lake Ridge team that had started its season with wins over a perennial 6A playoff team and Oklahoma’s third-ranked 6A Division I team.
This was Hullaby’s second game in which he lined up primarily at QB, and though he doesn’t offer a lot as a passer (he currently sports a 43.5% completion percentage but has averaged 8.4 yards per pass attempt), he presents a dynamic running threat, and he and Colorado commit Stacy Sneed and the rest of the Wolves’ running backs have contributed to Timberview averaging 320 rushing yards per game through the season’s first three weeks.
Against Lake Ridge, Timberview scored points on 10 of its 13 possessions, including all of its first five, and the Wolves led 30-7 midway through the 2nd quarter. After forcing a turnover on downs, Timberview turned the ball back over on a Jaden Hullaby interception, and Lake Ridge scored a few plays later to cut the deficit to 30-14 with 2:32 left in the first half, but Sneed scored his third TD of the half (and his second on a pass from Hullaby) with just under a minute left, and Timberview went into halftime leading 37-17.
After punting on its first drive of the 3rd quarter, Timberview scored TDs on its next five possessions to dash any hopes Lake Ridge had of making a second half rally, and the Wolves’ lead never went below 20 points after halftime.
Timberview begins district play tonight against Woodrow Wilson, which has started the season 0-3. Timberview beat Woodrow Wilson 54-7 when the teams played in 2018. Wilson finished 6-4 a year ago but finished fifth in its district and had a nine-year playoff streak snapped. Wilson is in its first season under new head coach Tony Benedetto after playing the previous 21 seasons under Bob Estes, who led the Wildcats to the playoffs 14 times and won seven district championships.
Historical note: Dallas Woodrow Wilson is the answer to the trivia question, “What is the only public high school in the nation that has produced two Heisman Trophy winners?” Wilson’s list of distinguished alums includes Davey O’Brien (1938 Heisman winner at TCU, and the namesake of the annual award for college football’s best QB) and NFL Hall of Famer Tim Brown (1987 Heisman winner at Notre Dame), along with a pair of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees in Steve Miller (of the Steve Miller Band, duh) and Dusty Hill (of ZZ Top).