Ranger Mom
06-20-2005, 09:41 AM
I thought this was pretty interesting........it is from the Abilene paper, so it mainly focuses on that area!
High school football magazine poll chock-full of laughs
By Troy Shockley
June 16, 2005
My 2005 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine arrived on Monday.
And like any good Texan, transplanted though I may be, my fingers immediately flipped past the front-end features, the Big 12 outlook and the NFL schedules, straight to page 187 - the start of the high school section.
If you're feeling a bit down and in need of a good chuckle, I suggest doing the same.
The poll with the highest chuckle factor has got to be Class 3A, but let's first take a look at the 5A list.
Not surprisingly, DCTF has Southlake Carroll pegged as No. 1. The Dragons come into the 2005 season having won 47-of-48 over the past three years, including a 35-30 win over Abilene High in last year's Division II regional semifinal.
All right, that one makes sense. But down the list it gets a little screwy.
To borrow from C & C Music Factory, here are a few of the things that made me go ''hmm.''
Both Abilene High and Midland Lee made the list, but Lee topped the Eagles with the No. 15 spot. Abilene High was slotted 17th.
Granted Lee gave Abilene High a run last season, it's got home-field advantage this time around, and there is of course the Quis Factor to consider. Former Cooper coach Randy Quisenberry, now at Lee, always seemed to have the Eagles' number. But Abilene High has one of the scariest QB/WR combinations in the state returning in Taylor Potts and Lyle Leong, and running back Casey Bell (259 yards on only 28 touches) is primed for a breakout season as well.
While anything can happen before these two teams meet in the regular season finale on Nov. 4, picking Lee over Abilene High right now just doesn't make much sense.
Past that, Dave's got Austin Westlake (No. 8 after an 8-3 mark last season) finishing ahead of Euless Trinity (No. 9 after a 10-4 campaign). Picking Westlake over Euless Trinity is just silly.
Rounding out the Top 10 is another curious pick - San Antonio Churchill, a team that went 7-3 last year, including a 4-3 mark in district play. Churchill has seen steady improvement over the past couple of years, but improving on campaigns of 4-6 and 0-10 isn't usually enough to propel a team into the best 25 let alone the Top 10.
So there were some odd choices in Class 5A. Maybe the staff at DCTM just knows a few things I don't.
But then I flipped to the 3A poll.
Not unfamiliar with pollsters' snubs, unheralded Wylie High School upended three undefeated, state-ranked teams to take the Division I state crown last season. Reaching the Division I semifinals was enough to give the Bulldogs the 16th spot in last year's DCTF preseason poll, so you'd think a state championship would put the Bulldogs somewhere on Dave's new list.
You - like me - would be wrong.
The Bulldogs did graduate more than a few lettermen from last year's team (37), but they are returning nearly as many (28). Included in that returning group is one of the top 3A players in the state - even Dave thinks so, ranking Case Keenum among the best 32 signal callers on page 54.
Also back is one of the fastest players in the state, Gary Edwards. Used primarily on the return team, trick plays and the deep pass last season, Edwards is definitely a game breaker, and ought to have a huge season.
Cuero, the team Wylie beat to win the state crown, was picked first, and Atlanta - a team that finished last season 3-7 was picked fifth. Huh?
And that's not even the only sub-.500 team making the list. Bridgeport went 4-8 last year, and got the eighth spot. Wha...?
Goofier still, not only did the state champion not make the list, but both Snyder and Sweetwater did. Both had outstanding seasons last year and should be good again. But both also lost their team leader and biggest offensive weapon.
When Snyder next takes the field, it will do so minus Dee Walker - who pretty much was the Tigers' offense last season. Without the Arizona transfer in the backfield, Snyder probably doesn't even make the playoffs last season let alone the Division II semifinals. And when the ball wasn't handed to Walker, it was often thrown to the speedy Lico Castillo, who also graduated - along with much of the 2004 offense.
That said, Matt Reigh will be back under center and the Tigers will have nine defensive starters back in black, so the outlook is good. No. 3 good? That's another question.
The Mustangs will also have some question marks in the upcoming season, but should have been picked to finish higher than the Tigers.
The biggest hole in Sweetwater is the one left by quarterback Jeremy Thompson. Kendal Carrillo would be a good choice to step under center, and having Brittan Pittman in the flat along with Joseph Banyard playing both ways should make the transition a bit less painful. Skye Green (with his 4.5 40) will also be a big threat, and is capable of running past nearly everyone on the field.
Can he and the rest of the Mustangs run past Wylie? It's possible. But falling back on the standard argument of ''you're the best until someone beats you,'' the Bulldogs have still got to be the favorite. And after that picking the Mustangs over the Tigers wouldn't be a stretch.
The laughs continue clear through.
But, in the end, Dave's lists left me with just one thing to say.
''Hmm.''
:thinking: :thinking:
High school football magazine poll chock-full of laughs
By Troy Shockley
June 16, 2005
My 2005 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football Magazine arrived on Monday.
And like any good Texan, transplanted though I may be, my fingers immediately flipped past the front-end features, the Big 12 outlook and the NFL schedules, straight to page 187 - the start of the high school section.
If you're feeling a bit down and in need of a good chuckle, I suggest doing the same.
The poll with the highest chuckle factor has got to be Class 3A, but let's first take a look at the 5A list.
Not surprisingly, DCTF has Southlake Carroll pegged as No. 1. The Dragons come into the 2005 season having won 47-of-48 over the past three years, including a 35-30 win over Abilene High in last year's Division II regional semifinal.
All right, that one makes sense. But down the list it gets a little screwy.
To borrow from C & C Music Factory, here are a few of the things that made me go ''hmm.''
Both Abilene High and Midland Lee made the list, but Lee topped the Eagles with the No. 15 spot. Abilene High was slotted 17th.
Granted Lee gave Abilene High a run last season, it's got home-field advantage this time around, and there is of course the Quis Factor to consider. Former Cooper coach Randy Quisenberry, now at Lee, always seemed to have the Eagles' number. But Abilene High has one of the scariest QB/WR combinations in the state returning in Taylor Potts and Lyle Leong, and running back Casey Bell (259 yards on only 28 touches) is primed for a breakout season as well.
While anything can happen before these two teams meet in the regular season finale on Nov. 4, picking Lee over Abilene High right now just doesn't make much sense.
Past that, Dave's got Austin Westlake (No. 8 after an 8-3 mark last season) finishing ahead of Euless Trinity (No. 9 after a 10-4 campaign). Picking Westlake over Euless Trinity is just silly.
Rounding out the Top 10 is another curious pick - San Antonio Churchill, a team that went 7-3 last year, including a 4-3 mark in district play. Churchill has seen steady improvement over the past couple of years, but improving on campaigns of 4-6 and 0-10 isn't usually enough to propel a team into the best 25 let alone the Top 10.
So there were some odd choices in Class 5A. Maybe the staff at DCTM just knows a few things I don't.
But then I flipped to the 3A poll.
Not unfamiliar with pollsters' snubs, unheralded Wylie High School upended three undefeated, state-ranked teams to take the Division I state crown last season. Reaching the Division I semifinals was enough to give the Bulldogs the 16th spot in last year's DCTF preseason poll, so you'd think a state championship would put the Bulldogs somewhere on Dave's new list.
You - like me - would be wrong.
The Bulldogs did graduate more than a few lettermen from last year's team (37), but they are returning nearly as many (28). Included in that returning group is one of the top 3A players in the state - even Dave thinks so, ranking Case Keenum among the best 32 signal callers on page 54.
Also back is one of the fastest players in the state, Gary Edwards. Used primarily on the return team, trick plays and the deep pass last season, Edwards is definitely a game breaker, and ought to have a huge season.
Cuero, the team Wylie beat to win the state crown, was picked first, and Atlanta - a team that finished last season 3-7 was picked fifth. Huh?
And that's not even the only sub-.500 team making the list. Bridgeport went 4-8 last year, and got the eighth spot. Wha...?
Goofier still, not only did the state champion not make the list, but both Snyder and Sweetwater did. Both had outstanding seasons last year and should be good again. But both also lost their team leader and biggest offensive weapon.
When Snyder next takes the field, it will do so minus Dee Walker - who pretty much was the Tigers' offense last season. Without the Arizona transfer in the backfield, Snyder probably doesn't even make the playoffs last season let alone the Division II semifinals. And when the ball wasn't handed to Walker, it was often thrown to the speedy Lico Castillo, who also graduated - along with much of the 2004 offense.
That said, Matt Reigh will be back under center and the Tigers will have nine defensive starters back in black, so the outlook is good. No. 3 good? That's another question.
The Mustangs will also have some question marks in the upcoming season, but should have been picked to finish higher than the Tigers.
The biggest hole in Sweetwater is the one left by quarterback Jeremy Thompson. Kendal Carrillo would be a good choice to step under center, and having Brittan Pittman in the flat along with Joseph Banyard playing both ways should make the transition a bit less painful. Skye Green (with his 4.5 40) will also be a big threat, and is capable of running past nearly everyone on the field.
Can he and the rest of the Mustangs run past Wylie? It's possible. But falling back on the standard argument of ''you're the best until someone beats you,'' the Bulldogs have still got to be the favorite. And after that picking the Mustangs over the Tigers wouldn't be a stretch.
The laughs continue clear through.
But, in the end, Dave's lists left me with just one thing to say.
''Hmm.''
:thinking: :thinking: