why the panhandle area teams get no respect?

[cowdog]

Can people please tell me.

[oldbuff78]

WRONG SPORT FOR THEM!!!

[cowdog]

Wrong sport what do you mean by that. They play with the smallest enrolement 95% of the time do very well.

[oldbuff78]

programmed for basketball in smaller schools

[Jacket2000]

They get no respect for the same reason that Region 1 as a whole gets no respect. They cant beat Region 2 teams. This is probably due to lack of speed. The only time in recent memory that a region 1 team played in a state championship game was Abilene Wylie in 2000, and then they lost to a region 3 team. So, untill a Region 1 team can win a championship, they will contiune to get little respect.
J2K

[Matthew328]

The reason why most panhandle and West Texas teams in general don't get repsect is because of their performance when they play teams from outside of West Texas...plain and simple..I did research earlier in the year and there hasn't been a west Texas state champ since like the late 60's in Class 3A...Vernon did win in the early 90's but are they west texas? Look at what happened last year...in all classes basically but look at 3A...in D 2 all the West Texas teams were gone before the reg final...Bridgeport and Kennedale played..(2 DFW teams) and in D 1 Perryton made it to the semis but got blown out...

[cowdog]

Ok then exlpain to me how vernon was ranked higher than perryton in the final polls when perryton beat vernon this year?

[oldbuff78]

PROBABLY ON PAST PERFORMANCE AND OVERALL RECORD COWDOG. BUT YOUR RIGHT!!

[Matthew328]

Ok I have no clue why that was....sometimes the pollsters can be a little weird like that...I know in my poll I had Perryton ahaed of Vernon...I do think Vernon will still tough becuase they return their star RB

[cowdog]

Thanks guys I just wanted some feedback on other peoples thoughts. I do know that the speed factor in the panhandle is very important. If you have speed you are never out of a game and speed is very slim up their.

[vet93]

Cowdog...I wrote this about 2 or 3 months ago. I was trying to explain why I think that West Texas (and Panhandle) have had difficulty in the past competing consistently for a championship. Let me know what you think.

Before I answer why I think that there has been a decline, I want to start by saying that I will be speaking in generalizations relating to 3A. Anyone can site an example of a team or individual that goes against the norm. The exception is not the rule. I am also not trying to be disrespectful to any one individual, group, team or part of the state. Here are the reasons that I think that West Texas will have and continue to have difficulty competing against teams from the east. 1. Population - Everyone knows that for the past 20 to 30 years 2/3 of the population of Texas lies east of I-35. This means that West Texas has fewer representatives to fight for a championship. Looking at the schools, there are about 30 to 36 schools (depending on who you talk to) that are considered "west Texas" (I am including panhandle schools). This represents about 15% of the total number of 3a schools. Not a very large percentage. There does not seem to be any relief from the population trend because the Texas economy is continuing to depend less and less on oil and agriculture. 2. School enrollment - compared to schools in the east,West Texas has an average lower enrollment per school. Region I averages 531 students per school, region II averages 564, region III 570 and region IV 531. If you remove the metroplex schools from the region I totals leaving only west texas and panhandle schools then the average school
enrollment drops to 484. This is a deficit of 80 to 90 kids per school. These numbers mean nothing on an individual basis, but when taken in aggregate, west texas schools are at a fairly significant disadvantage from an enrollment standpoint. What coach
wouldn't want an extra 40 to 45 boys to try to get plugged into their programs. Again this trend does not seem to be reversing itself with the exception of suburban schools
such as Midland Greenwood and Abilene Wylie growing due to population shifts within the
community or traditional 4a schools moving down to 3a such as Monahans, Sweetwater,
Lamesa and Snyder (next year).3. Demographics - Football is a sport that puts a premium on size, stength and speed more than many sports. Therefore, regional demographics can play a significant role in determining the long term success of a team. Much has been made (and rightly so) of the "speed factor" related to teams from the east. How does this speed differential occur. Is there something in the water that makes kids that live east of I-35 faster? Do they work harder? Are the coaches smarter? While you may be able to point to one of the aforementioned reasons in some instances, the fact remains that there is only one primary reason for the speed differential. The schools in the east have a higher percentage of black athletes. I hope that you realize that this is not a racist statement, but just an observation of the facts relating to state demographics. Furthermore, many west texas communities have seen a population increase in only one sector of the population. That is the hispanic population. The same can be said for many south texas communities as well. When you are competing in a sport that puts a premium on size, strength and speed; schools with high hispanic populations do not have as much raw
material to choose from. Before you accuse me of racism on this point please know that
some of my best friends are hispanic and they were some of the toughest most fearless football players you will ever meet. However, if we are looking at athletic ability as it
relates to football, then all you have to do is look at the rosters of Collegiate DI and DII football teams and then look at the percentage of hispanic athletes that they have. I remember a statement made by a longtime college sportscaster (can't remember his name, used to announce with Bob Griese) which went something like this, "In all my years of following collegiate football the one thing that I have learned is that big fast guys will beat little fast guys every time". This is a paraphrase of course, but the statement holds water. The demographics of the state do not appear to be changing so I don't see any change for West Texas communities in the forseeable future. In conclusion, I love west texas football and have been watching it for years.The atmosphere, attitude, and all of the intangibles relating to football are second to none out west, but the fact remains that west texas 3A will continue to have difficulty competing on a statewide level based on the factors that I have mentioned. That is not to say that they can't win a championship. It just means that they have the deck stacked against them and will have to have an exceptional team to run the table.

[footballmaniac]

Thanks so much for your thoughts on West Texas Football. You were very classy on how you described the football scene as a whole. I have to agree with you 100% about your statement. I live in Perryton and my son plays for them.Yes, I am a mom, but not your ordinary mom. I eat and drink football, mainly because I was raised up in the sport, having a brother who played college ball. Now, I am first of all not from Texas origionally, actually N.Y.Football in Texas is like none other, next state being close to Texas Football , would be Forida. When we played Everman, I thought , my Lord, how can they be classified as a 3A team. Jokingly of course, I said there should be country 3A teams and inner-city 3A teams. Places like Perryton, middle of know where, the only places they can recruit from would be the cornfields!!! It would take a miracle for Perryton to beat a team like Everman, but, I really think we could have played them alot closer. We will not ever get that opportunity again, at least not for the next 2 years.I am really excited about this coming season for Perryton, they got a taste of success and the boys are hungry for more. Some younger players will have to step up and fill some big shoes, but, their a good bunch. I think there will have to be some changes concerning our offense, according to what I have been hearing. Well, thanks again . Oh, Matt, I really enjoy this site. Like I said I am not the ordinary mom. I try to stay up on the top recruits, not only in Texas, but across the country. I can't wait till football season gets here!!!!!

[bearcat1]

I'm not too sure but, there aren't alot of passing teams out in west texas. So defending the pass isn't a real strong concern out there, the teams don't run into that during the season much. but when you leave there, you see it more and more. If you haven't had to defend that or seen it much, it would seem to me to be hard to adjust to it. I've seen west tex. teams try to sit in their cover 2 all night and it just doesn't work against a wideopen offense, which is what you run into. also if you are facing a quick-strike offense, you could find yourself playing catch-up...hard to do that with the '3yards and a cloud of dust' offense that alot of W.TX teams like to run. Just MHO.


Originally posted by cowdog:
Can people please tell me.

[footballmaniac]

You are right about the passing game out in West Texas. Perryton passed the more this year then in the whole history of Perryton football. I think they averaged about 7 passes a game. Our coach is for sure, 3yds and a cloud of dust kind of guy. My son happened to be the leading receiver , his ending season was 33 catches for 706 yds. I think that might be a record for Perryton. Put those #s up against your teams from the rest of the state and they really can't compare. We tried to have a balance offense this past year , but, not for sure what their going to do this year. I think we will have to see some changes.