Dallas Carter(6-1, 2-0) @ Midlothian Heritage(7-0, 2-0)

[regaleagle]

Here's an interesting matchup this week. Dallas Carter has defeated Wilmer Hutchins 45-23 and Carrollton Ranchview last week 39-0. Midlothian Heritage has defeated Dallas Pinkston 64-6 and Alvarado last week 38-10. So now you know all 6 teams in this District 6 D-1 in Region 2. Kennedale and Van are also in this Division 1 region. Dallas Carter is so far an unproven, under the radar winner this season......their only loss to coming to a pretty darn good 5A Dallas South Oak Cliff team. They lost that game 4 weeks ago 38-20 as their rivalry game. We pretty much know that Midlothian Heritage is the real deal because they were last season and returned everybody......this is only their 2nd year as a school. Last year there was no senior class, so their enrollment was 754.....almost the same as Argyle's and at the very bottom of Division 1 numbers. This season you can probably add another 250 to 300 students to that total. Midlothian Heritage will stay in Class 4A for at least one more realignment cycle......perhaps 2 cycles. Anyway......they have an undefeated football team and should get tested this week by the Carter Cowboys. In their first year as a school last season the Heritage Jaguars went (11-2), losing only to Sunnyvale in the first game of their existence and to Kennedale 49-47 in the 3rd Round of the playoffs. So we know they are for real based on what has happened from last year to present. Now we will discover how real the Carter Cowboys are this week, Huh?

[regaleagle]

IMO.....it's gonna be tough for Carter to "show up" against this Heritage team......the Cowboys will need some things to go their way to win on the Jaguars home turf in front of their rabid fans. Carter is a Dallas ISD school and therefore has a very limited fanbase, especially when the Cowboys play away games. Of course, the players and coaches are accustomed to this, so it should not have much impact on what happens on the field......but you just never know what might happen. Last year Carter lost 56-25 at home in front of their home fans, but last year Carter went (5-5) and did not make the playoffs. They are a better, more seasoned team this year and should be a tough opponent in the playoffs.

[regaleagle]

So lets look at the numbers of both teams and see what's what so far this season, shall we? We'll take a look at the Carter Cowboys first based on MaxPreps stats.

Total Pts. Scored....341 for an avg of 49 pts/gm.
Total Pts. Allowed....88 for an avg of 14.5 pts/gm.

Okay......that's all that we have up to date for the Carter Cowboys this season. Evidently only 2-3 games of game stats were entered into MaxPreps, so we don't have any offensive stats to show for the season.

[regaleagle]

Midlothian Heritage has their numbers for the season entered into MaxPreps, so let's at least see what those look like, Huh?

Total Pts. Scored.....327 for an avg of 47 pts/gm.
Total Pts. Allowed....114 for an avg of 16 pts/gm.
Total Yds Rushing....1504 for an avg of 215 yds/gm.
Total Yds Passing....1469 for an avg of 210 yds/gm.

[regaleagle]

Looks like the offensive numbers for the Jaguars are very balanced.......can't really tell about the Cowboys. The totals on points scored and allowed are very close, however. Maybe Carter will "show up" in this game.

[regaleagle]

I don't think looking at the schedules both teams have played gives us a worthy barometer to compare these teams. I'll look deeper.

[regaleagle]

QB Detron Hall#5,(6-0, 180) is a senior this season. Last year he was the starter for Carter, throwing for 1443 yds and rushing for 401 yds in 10 games as a junior. He throws lefty and has speed. I'm certain his numbers are even better this season. #22 Justise Harris(5-10-170) is a sophomore RB that looks very good on filmclips. Just looking at him from his freshman clips to his sophomore clips this season, he has gained at height, strength, size, and speed.....not to mention very good moves in the open field. He's the Cowboys main RB and very dangerous in the open field. He also runs back the kicks and has returned several this year for TDs. #12 Cameron Macon(6-3, 180 senior) and #11 Marquis Borner(5-8, 160 senior) are two of Hall's favorite receivers and the go-to guys for the Cowboys. Both have excellent speed and athletic ability. Looks like Harris will sometimes line up in the wildcat to run it. Hall will also tuck it and run, but has a very accurate and strong arm. He has no less than 8 receivers he will throw to.....in other words whoever is eligible to catch a pass on any given play might get his pass. They all can catch and run. Looks like the lines are good-sized too.....the D-line looks pretty big and fast. So that's what I dug deep to find out about this year's Carter Cowboys. Maybe they purposely want to fly low under the radar this year, huh?

[regaleagle]

Evidently Heritage did have a senior class last year that graduated some players, but #12 QB Landon Ledbetter(6-1, 170 junior) was their starter last year as a sophomore and threw for over 3000 yds in 13 games. This season he has thrown for 1278 yds in 7 games so far and kept it 23 times for only 127 yds......so he's really not much of a threat to tuck it and run. The Jaguars main rushing threat appears to be #10 Nathan Gascamp(6-1, 220 senior). He has carried it 70 times for 520 yds this season.....an avg of 7.4 yds/carry. Last season he was also their main RB as a junior and rushed for 1328 yds on 132 carries in 13 games for an avg of 7.3 yds/carry. #1 Raja Banks(5-7, 150 senior) is a little scatback with speed they use behind those big linemen that has gained 428 yds on 42 carries for an avg of 10.4 yds/carry. He also played last year and had over 500 yds rushing for the team. Looks like he's having even more opportunities and more success this season, huh? Ledbetter's main receivers are #4 Kerrion Fields(5-8, 150 senior) another speedy scatback they like to throw to.....he has 33 catches for 677 yds so far this season. #88 Langston Anderson(6-2,185 junior) has 24 catches for 377 yds. and #8 Jay Wilkerson(6-0, 140 soph.) has 17 catches for 208 yds. These are the main skill players for the Midlothian Heritage Jaguars this season. On defense, #36 LB Konner Jones(5-10, 200 soph.) has 66 tackles.....the most on the team by a good margin. The guy with the next most tackles is defensive back #2 Noah Parker(5-10, 160 junior) with 57 total tackles. The rest of the group have 30 or less tackles each on defense. #77 Jack Freeman(6-3, 275 senior) must be a heckuva O-lineman because he's been awarded Player of the Game 5 times so far this year and 5 times last season as well. You just don't see linemen getting that award that many times.....unless the player is special. He doesn't have any tackles......so he's not on defense making tackles or even on the defensive line. Looks like they have plenty of big boy beef on the lines according to their roster.

[regaleagle]

After doing this research and looking briefly at some filmclips, then comparing some skill players and looking at the scoring numbers.....I'm inclined to believe this game will be close. I think Carter has more speed and propensity for the big play, but Heritage a better O-line that gives their qb more protection and rb's better holes to run thru. I also believe Ledbetter is a better passing qb than Detron Hall, but Hall is a dual threat that Ledbetter is not. Looks like the defensive units for both teams may be the key to who wins this one.....and they both have their strengths and weaknesses. I wonder which offense will exploit the others defense the best???

[slingshot]

I think Heritage takes this one comfortably... 14-21 points.

[regaleagle]

I think Heritage takes this one comfortably... 14-21 points.

Not so fast, Quickdraw. What about all the speed Carter has at all their skill positions......they are very athletic too! I don't think Heritage has come up against a team quite like Carter this season. I admit I have not seen either team except on homer flimclips......but I'ma thinkin' Carter will score on Heritage and may even take a lead in this game. Of course, there's the penalties and lack of discipline you usually see with DISD teams to consider.......but I think Carter is on a roll right now and playing with a lot less mistakes than last year or recent years. How else could you account for all those points scored and those few of points allowed for the season? I think Carter has a better than good chance to go into Jaguar Stadium this Friday and play a quality close game with Heritage. Man for man they seem to matchup very equally. I don't think I'd be giving Heritage 2-3 TD's in this one.......maybe 7 pts. But that's just my personal take on the research I've done......I just don't see a big difference here.

[toddg]

Freemen played DLine a lot against us last week, and was effective. Heritage has a 1000 student cap on their enrollment..and will have until they expand the school, that info I got from friends in the MISD.

[hollywood]

I agree with sling, Heritage 14-21 pt margin victory tonight... maybe by more

[regaleagle]

Midlothian Heritage wins 33-12. I wonder how good this team really is.......they have certainly won lots of football games in two years. The winning margin turned out to be exactly 21 pts.