VET93

[VWG]

Just to update you on your reply to 3A Football 2003. Dist. 5-3A will have Graham, Iowa Park, and Vernon returning to the playoffs. I can't see Childress, Breckenridge, or Bowie sneaking in unless they upset one of the "big three".
Vernon always has some talent but they will have to get their line (offense and defense) shored up and if I am not mistaken they will have to replace their QB. I don't think they will win the district, but they will make the playoffs.
Dist. championship should come down to IP and Graham. Iowa Park has a soph. coming back (McAlister) that is a good RB. They usually bring some size on the lines and they run a good wing-T offense.
Graham will have to replace some key offensive positions, QB and some offensive linemen mainly. They lost a good tight end as well. Defense will be strong with two all-dist. junior linebackers returning and their secondary should be good. They have some speed returning as well. Good speed with a couple of juniors coming back. JV only lost 1 game last year and Frosh. team went undefeated, so kids moving up should have some talent. Graham will again run the split-veer (old Houston Cougar offense) and usually run it until it kills them. (see last 4 playoff games)
Good pre-season schedule for these teams though. Vernon will play Sweetwater and their "Red River Rival" game with Altus, OK. Iowa Park will play some of the area 4A WF Schools and Graham will play WF Hirschi, FW South Hills, Sweetwater, and Abilene Wylie. Can't wait for 2 a days!!

[vet93]

Thanks for the update VWG. I figured that Graham would probably be one of the favorites again along with IP and Vernon. I am wondering if the head coaching change will affect Vernon. Breckenridge may be a spoiler...they were very inconsistent last year. If they could get things rolling, they could possibly sneak in if someone has an off game. The Wylie/Graham matchup should be an interesting one again this year. I was really surprised at the playoff score last year. I don't think that it was indicative of how good a team Graham had last year. Later Vet93

[VWG]

I agree with you VET93, Graham's last years playoff loss to Wylie was a shock. If you look at the talent they bring out every year, and then look at their playoff record..... well, let's say you might want to look at who is preparing this bunch year after year for these games.
19 straight district wins, 4 straight district championships are wonderful, but how about winning a playoff game?
Breckenridge can be a stingy bunch, but unfortunately I think they get hurt by the number crunch. Vernon, IP, and Graham all are large 3A schools with each having well over 650 kids in high school. Breckenridge barely has 500 and they have to play a lot of kids both ways. Again, they are a fierce bunch but I don't see them as being a contender.
The coaching change at Vernon might hurt them a bit. Did you see where longtime Graham(in the 70's), Vernon, and WF High coach Leo Britain resigned at Richland High? This is quite interesting that Britain would "retire" just as Vernon's job opens up. I wouldn't be surprised to see if Britain comes back to Vernon and spark up some of the "glory years" that they were known for under his helm. If not, whoever gets hired at Vernon will inherit a program with great history, good facilities, and a large student body with talent.

[vet93]

In Graham's defense...they did play some tough first round opponents...in 2000 they lost to Ballinger. That team played the state finalist Wylie Bulldogs to a standstill and lost 7-0. They were a very good and talented squad that was overshadowed by a very talented Wylie team that year that lost to Gatesville in the state championship. Last year...the score was a dissapointment especially because the game earlier in the season was so close. However, Wylie had a lot of speed last year and could hurt you with big plays and special teams. They always have a good game plan and kids to execute it. It seems like another of those first round losses was to a good Sweetwater team with Carillo at the helm. They were the 3rd place team in 2001, but they would have won it all in many other districts. They just happened to be upset by Ballinger that year and lost to a very good Wylie team. In other words...Graham has played good, solid teams that were somewhat underrated each year and those are the toughest kind of teams to play in the first round when you are the champion of a district and have a very talented team. Just my .02 concerning Grahams post season woes.

[pero chato]

Hey Vet93, you're right about the 2000 Ballinger/Wylie game. Two teams just slugging it out in the trenches. Ensor got hurt on the first play of the game, and never returned, so that changed our scheme a little, but the way the Ballinger defense adjusted was impressive. We finally scored late in the fourth when Unger pounded one in. Seems like Ballinger had a couple of turnovers that helped us out, too. Even the fans were tired after that game. As far as the Graham playoff woes, trust me, we were stunned at last year's score, too. Graham really should have beat us earlier in the year, but we got a lucky bounce on a punt. So we were expecting a close game in the playoffs. Special teams racked up some quick points, but our defense played well against the veer offense. We lose a lot of speed and size to graduation, so maybe next year Graham will get past us. (I'm not assuming we will win district; as long as we and they are at least third place, we will play them again). No matter though, I'm sure the second round will include Everman again. I'm looking forward to realignment so maybe they will go away. LOL! As a side note, we did beat Everman in track this past weekend along with Burnet at the Bluebonnet relays in Brownwood. Gotta win where you can!

[vet93]

Hey Perochato...congratulations on Wylie's showing in Brownwood. You guys really have a great track program for both boys and girls. I am looking forward to seeing Wylie play football next year. Many people have said that Case Keenum is a real good prospect for qb. His dad was my offensive line coach when he was with coach Allen in Ballinger. He was a great coach and better person. I wish that he could get ole McMurry rolling again. I met Case a couple of years ago at coach Jon Rhiddlehoover's funeral. He seemed like a good kid. By the way...it sure is nice to talk about football a little bit...it sure beats talking war, politics etc...

[pero chato]

I think Case will be our starting QB next year as a soph. On the freshmen and JV team this year, his throws were very accurate, and strong. I don't know him, but I do know his parents and you're right, they are good folks. I really don't know what's wrong with the McMurry program--I guess they just can't recruit the right talent. I believe McMurry as a whole is not in the best of shape financially. Who will Ballinger have at QB? Y'all always seem to find a tough kid who can run and throw. Plus with Posey back, you are loaded for a long playoff run. Like I said in an earlier post, I wish he could get a little relief and not have to play both ways the whole game--except against us of course! I see Clyde coming on strong this year, and possibly Comanche making the adjustment back to 3A football. Outta be a tough district once again.

[vet93]

Ballinger returns their starting qb from last year (McGee). He is the younger brother of the qb that started for the 2000 team. He had about 1200 yards passing last year. It would be nice if we could have less two way starters (our qb also started both ways as well). However, at a school our size we just don't have the depth to sit out our good athletes. Another thing that we have to consider is that many colleges will probably look at Antonio as a defensive player instead of an offensive player. This gives him the opportunity to have more of a chance of landing a scholarship.