District 1-3A Preview

[Matthew328]

Predicted Order of Finish
1. Perryton
2. Borger
3. Canyon
4. Amarillo River Road
5. Dalhart





1. Perryton Rangers Starters Returning 9/7 Last Year: 8-4
Key Players: QB/DB Bo Merrell, RB Jake Waide, WR/DE Brenden Baker
Outlook: Perryton is looking to not only be the best team in the panhandle but to also try and take the step up to elite status in 3A......with 9 back on an offense that averaged nearly 600 yards per game last year they have the firepower to do it....Merrell does it all for the Rangers on the ground, in the air and on defense...Depth is the main concern as the Rangers have a number of key performers starting both ways.....injury and fatigue could play a role late in the year.......

2. Borger Bulldogs Starters Returning 7/5 Last Year: 6-5
Key Players: QB Marcus Vidrine, DE Bobby Russell, WR Austin Bales
Outlook: 2 straight playoff trips for the Bulldogs in their drop to Class 3A make Borger the biggest threat to Perryton's dominance in the Panhandle...Injuries plauged the team last year, however this year's squad should have better depth....Vidrine is the main weapon on offense, if the Dawgs can find a 2nd option they could be a team to watch.......

3. Canyon Eagles Starters Returning 5/4 Last Year: 3-7
Key Players QB Matt Lovorn, OL Cole Thurman, WR Kyle Lovorn
Outlook: Last season was a disaster for Canyon as the Eagles were decimated by injuries...however the numbers for this year's squad are better and look for a big bounce back....M. Lovorn has a big arm and is elusive enough to make plays....his brother K. Lovorn will be the #1 target in the passing game...

4. Amarillo River Road Wildcats Starters Returning 5/9 Last Year: 4-6
Key Players: WR Kobe Jackson, OL Johnathan Wyatt, LB Monnie Harris
Outlook: RR only lost 6 letterman from last year's squad...with a few breaks they'll compete for a playoff berth.....Jackson is the wildcats all-purpose threat....if Gabe Gilmore can capably step in at QB, it could be a good season...last year Gilmore was all-district at WR and DB......

5. Dalhart Wolves Starters Returning 2/2 Last Year: 6-5
Key Players: RB Andy Bean, QB Bo Brorman, DE Travis Cox
Outlook: Graduation decimated the Wolves as only 6 letterman are back from last season's squad that lost to Littlefield 21-12 in bi-district.....Bean will be the focus on offense while the young Wolves get adjusted.....

[RBARKER]

AHH so thats why Perryton is getting some love. 31 more districts to go :D good job and thank you for getting us some football to talk about :clap:

[CRHSeagle]

Are u only releasing one district per day?

[oh well]

How about the other Districts

[Haunta Yo]

Parriton didn't average nearly 600 ypg last season...TxMike found out it was around 250 ypg.

Pretty big ooops if ya ask me. Even bigger ooops if Dave ranked 'em #3 based on that 600 ypg.

[wildstangs]

I still think Perryton will win that district. Dave really goofed on that one. I wonder if they would have been ranked third in state without that stat.

[Matthew328]

Yes Dave goofed on that one....for some reason schools in the fringes of the state...ie the panhandle, El Paso area and the Valley don't give out much info.....nor do they respond to e-mail questionaires....LOL Heck DCTF's info on Perryton was about as much as I could find...and that's wrong! geez.....

[Da Mules]

Perryton is not even ranked in the top 25 in any other poll I have seen; nor do they deserve to be. They will be in the running for the top spot in 1-3A, and might make a playoff run in Region 1. Time will tell if Canyon can pick up the pieces from last year's abrupt flame-out...they do have some good players and more depth than most W Texas 3A schools. Borger has yet to show anything in 3A; another 4A dropdown who just hasn't put it all together. They have the numbers; something's not right in Borger. River Road is one of those schools I just don't understand, a suburb of Amarillo that ought to draw out families who don't want their kids lost in a 5A jungle.. maybe it just doesn't draw the athletic ones. Poor Dalhart; another school that should have been 2A this year.. they will have a very tough time in that district now that they don't have Tulia to kick around anymore.

[Da Mules]

Keeping W Texas football on page 1, fellow W TX posters. I still don't see any reason Perryton should be ranked #3 in the state by Dave Campbell.

[westTXbest]

True they r over rated. Muleshue is 2a now right? Man they sure did have awesome teams a couple of years back.

[Da Mules]

Muleshoe is still 3A, in 2-3A with Littlefield, Lubbock Cooper, Brownfield, and Levelland.

[VWG]

I also don't understand why Borger hasn't made any noise after dropping down to 3A. Is it the coaching? No athletes in Borger?
Are there other sports where Borger has made some noise in?
I can't think of any....

[Da Mules]

Borger was pretty tough the last few years they were in 4A. Their worst finish since 1998 was 6-5, according to DataPoll and most years they were better than that. Looks like they didn't make it past the 3rd round of the playoffs at any time during that time period, but most of those years they finished considerably better than their rivals Canyon. So maybe this is a school that just doesn't have a big-time winning tradition; but one of my co-workers is from the Borger area, and he says they eat, live and breathe football, at least they did 20 some odd years ago. I vaguely remember something to the effect that they were state powerhouses like in the 50 or early 60's. But Brownfield beat them in bi-district last year, and Brownfield really wasn't all that good. (they were better than Muleshoe last year :o:mad: