Go Friday Night

Another Good Win

Clyde played an almost flawless game at Bangs last Friday winning 32-0. Which is good because it will get tougher from here on out. Next five games - Vernon, Burkburnett, Wylie, Sweetwater and Breckenridge - I doubt there are many 3A teams in the state that have it much tougher than that. I assure you though all those teams are taking notice of the Clyde Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs are just playing some real good football as of late. Clyde has some really key players, but we have a lot of players that are playing good sound football without many mistakes. I've seen a lot of talented Clyde teams in the past victimized by careless penalties, turnovers, and offense/defense schemes that kept us from beating the teams we should and having no chance against the better teams. In a nutshell our coaching staff is preparing our players better than we have had in a long time. It started last year and just keeps improving. The Breckenridge game last year was a good example of it. They were probably a little better than we were, but because we played sound football we snuck out with the win and made the playoffs.

Clyde vs. Vernon - this should be a good one. I believe Vernon was ranked #10 before their victory over Decatur last Friday. If your a high school football junky like me and do score comparisons on the teams we play, it would appear Clyde can go toe to toe with anyone on their schedule including Vernon. Next step is to beat them!

• Ken Mauldin
• September 24, 2007 7:24 PM
• Comments (1)

Clyde Over Early

Clyde took another big step last Friday night with a convincing win over a good Early football team. Clyde was able to throw the ball early in the game and it really opened things up. I think we converted 2 or 3 3rd and 10s early in the game that really helped a lot. We were able to follow our drives with TDs this week. Jacob Gonzales probably had his best game ever at QB, I haven't seen his stats yet but I know they were awesome. The coaches did a great job of taking advantage of Early's focus on stopping Curtis Kevil.

Speaking of Curtis, I wish announcer Dick Enberg would have been there because Curtis had one of the most awesome runs I have ever seen. It would be worth 2 or 3 "OH MYs". We just weren't able to open holes for him like we had in the first 2 games. He had only 20 yards at rushing at halftime. Then late in 3rd quarter he took a handoff and met all the Early defense as he had the whole game, but apparently he said enough is enough. He was hit numerous times as he worked his way sideways down the line of scrimmage. He twisted and turned his way out of about 5 tackles, it appeared his knees were only inches from the ground a couple of times. He shook one more defender away and took off for what i'm guessing was a about a 65 yard scamper before the safety caught up. His effort is just so fun to watch. He's even playing some noseguard on defense which drives me crazy, but he seems to be holding up well.

Once again though we had so many players contributing to the win. Early's passing game will be a nightmare for those 2A teams to stop in a few more weeks. They have several lanky and speedy receivers that can really get down field in a hurry. Their QB really gets good zip and accuracy on the ball, they will be real trouble for the 2A world if they keep improving.

Looking forward to the Bangs game, I will definitely stop by Underwoods Bar-Q on the way down. I hope coach Slaughter realizes how important it is to play near Brownwood once a year. We need to keep Early and Bangs on the schedule for eating purposes! Not quite sure were ready add the Brownwood Lions to the schedule yet!

• Ken Mauldin
• September 17, 2007 3:15 PM

So Close

What a good football game that was between our Bulldogs and Graham. If you saw the game then you know it was a game that we certainly could have won. Clyde pretty much owned the first half, but failed on 2 short field goals. Turnovers really killed us in the second half and they made one good drive for a TD.

Its really good to see us playing a tougher schedule. We use to play almost all 2A schools in non-district and that killed us when we got into district against better opponets. This year it really looks like we will be in the thick of things. Here's how it looks so far.

Wylie - Typical Wylie team that can replace 80 percent of its starters from the previous year and be one of the best teams in the state by week 2. They are the obvious favorite right now.

Sweetwater - Got demolished by Brownwood. But I know there missing there QB, I think their top two qbs. I believe he will be back though in a week or two. I have no doubt they will be tough by district.

Breckenridge - Also off to a slow start. I'm not sure whats wrong with them. What I do know is that we have to go beat them on their home turf, that will never be easy.

Commanche - Not looking to strong again, but they just about ruined our season last year. I hope we remember.

Clyde - After 2 weeks Clyde looks like a real contender, but we have to keep improving. Its one thing to play toe to toe with the better teams in 3A, its another thing to beat them.

It was awesome to see the effort and intensity level the Bulldogs played with Friday night. The coaching staff we have in place is doing a very good job getting them ready to play. It makes for a fun friday night.

• Ken Mauldin
• September 10, 2007 2:27 PM

Bulldogs 1-0, Graham next

Last Friday night was our first real look at the 2007 Bulldogs and it went really well. The Bulldogs played well in just about all phases of the game. The new offensive line did a great job opening up holes for Curtis, who doesn't need much. The offense mixed up the run and pass better than I have seen in a while. Wes, Jacob, and Curtis can definitely keep defenses guessing when there all healthy.

The defense played well also, the secondary seems so much more deep than it did a year ago. The secondary and receivers rotate in out like mad men, but everyone did a good job.

Of course Graham ranked 9th in the state will be a much tougher test than Ballinger. Their defense shut out Midland Greenwood, that doesn't happen very often. I think our offense will be the key, if we can move the ball we can stay in the game. We obviously don't want to play defense against that offense all night. GOOD LUCK BULLDOGS!

• Ken Mauldin
• September 5, 2007 5:00 PM