Region II GotW: Lucas Lovejoy vs. Sanger

[charlesrixey]

It's a pretty quiet start for Region II, as Celina, Prosper, Alvarado, Van and Argyle are expected to care of business in Zero Week.

#13 Lucas Lovejoy and #19 Sanger, however, face off in a lesser-known match full of potential impact for the post-season.

Last season, Lovejoy's first, began with a 42-20 loss against the Indians, whose only losses last year were to Prosper (14-1), Celina (12-4) and Argyle (8-4).

Lovejoy went on to make the playoffs just behind Farmersville, and return all 22 starters as one of the most experienced teams in the state. Sanger returns a good chunk of their 7-3 team and looks to knock off one of the top 3 in 9-3A (all in the regional top 5 and state top 25) to make the playoffs themselves. Lovejoy, though, is the new favorite this season, as a darkhorse in Region II, Division I and a win here would go far in giving them the confidence they need to win their district and maybe more.


As a sidenote, Alvarado vs. Hewitt Midway should be a good one to watch.

Alvarado finished 7-5 and 3-2 in their district behind Kennedale and Kaufman. Hewitt Midway was a 4A Quarterfinalist, 12-2 and 7-0 in a district with Ennis, Waxahachie, Waco and Corsicana. Midway lost 43-42 to Longview, who would go on to lose to Austin Lake Travis in the 4A State Championship.
So who won last year's season opener? Alvarado, of course, 17-7.

Alvarado comes back as just outside the top 25 to start this season, while Midway ranks #8 in their class. Should be interesting to see if Alvarado can pull off the stunner again or Midway will gain a measure of revenge.

Celina faces Ferris, the 4th place team behind Alvarado in their district.
#18 Paris faces 4A DII State Champion Sulphur Springs. It wasn't pretty last year, but Paris should be much improved and SS is still recovering from the lack of Tyrik Rollison. Should be a good one.

[trojan37]

Just on a side note about the Alvarado-Midway game last year. Midway had a running back by the name of John Hubert who has gone on to K State. That was all they had too. He did not play that first game last year and that is the only reason Alvarado won. He was Midways whole offense. I seriously don't believe that Midway is a #8 team, but they may prove me wrong. Without Hubert, I don't see them doing much.

[kaide]

You are correct, they didn't have Hubert, but certainly one of the biggest 4A schools in the state could have found enough athletes to beat lowly Alvarado. And it wasn't something that happened the day before, they had known since May that Hubert wasn't going to play.

With that being said, I expect this week's game to be another close, low-scoring game that could be decided by a defensive touchdown.

[charlesrixey]

Originally posted by kaide
You are correct, they didn't have Hubert, but certainly one of the biggest 4A schools in the state could have found enough athletes to beat lowly Alvarado. And it wasn't something that happened the day before, they had known since May that Hubert wasn't going to play.

With that being said, I expect this week's game to be another close, low-scoring game that could be decided by a defensive touchdown.

it is surprising because the score was such an aberration. If Hubert was all-world, that would explain a lot, but it doesn't explain 12-2 and losing by one point to Longview.

How Alvarado didn't win their district, i'm not sure. But i do feel like they will do so this year-they certainly have some pieces in place.

Lovejoy's next best game will be their matchup with Farmersville, who returns 18 starters themselves from a 6-5, 5-0 team.

[kaide]

Alvarado's problem last year was consistency - they were young, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They'll be young again in spots (four sophs will see time in the secondary) this year, but not nearly like a year ago. With an unproven quarterback this year, they are a lot like Midway last year - they will go as far as their running back takes them.

[charlesrixey]

Originally posted by kaide
Alvarado's problem last year was consistency - they were young, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They'll be young again in spots (four sophs will see time in the secondary) this year, but not nearly like a year ago. With an unproven quarterback this year, they are a lot like Midway last year - they will go as far as their running back takes them. \

Broam Hart is pretty good. I'm fairly certain he is near the top of the returning 3A RB's in terms of yards.

[charlesrixey]

It's a shame Celina isn't likely to meet Van, Lovejoy or Alvarado in the playoffs-don't think any of them have a chance of going DII

[SHSBulldog00]

I had to flip a coin for this one. Sanger wins the flip; now will they win the game.

[charlesrixey]

Lucas Lovejoy wins 16-7. The Leopards went up 13-0 at halftime and looked pretty good defensively overall

[CHS_89]

I think Lovejoy will do well this year. At our scrimmage the QB looked good and they had some speed especially #14. Their line was huge. Good luck to them.