Go Friday Night

Still Perfect in 3-5A

What a great game. I hardly ever pace during one. But that last minute, I was back and forth. It took me about halfway through my meal at Rosa’s to calm down and breathe.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the first half of play for the Eagles. The O Line was getting beat. The defensive backs were missing their assignments. I was just a nervous wreck. But we sure came out fired up for that second half. Great job by the defense for shutting down Permian. I also tip my hat to the Eagle offense. A 9 minute drive in the 4th Quarter, with two 4th down conversions, capped off by a touchdown to seal the deal, 24-21. Next to the Abilene High vs. Cooper game in 2001, this was one of the greatest games that I have seen for the Warbirds. And with only 4 flags thrown all game (3 to AHS, 1 to Permian), this was decided by the players and the coaching staff. I really enjoy seeing a game like that. Although I thought that there were a few missed calls for both teams, the refs did a great job to let the boys play.

I do believe that the District 3-5A playoff race is a crazy one. With the Eagles at 3-0, Permian at 2-1, and everybody else at 1-2, it is going to be fun this Friday for cross-town rivalries. I am really excited to see how it will turn out.

• David Craghead
• October 30, 2006 7:13 PM
• Comments (1)

Going For 14 Straight!!

The Abilene High Eagles will be making the long drive out to the famed Ratliff Stadium to take on Odessa Permian. Many people would say that the Panthers have found their Mojo. It looks that way, going 3-2 in pre-district, and now 2-0 in District 3-5A. The Warbirds will have their hands full. The Eagles will need to get a touchdown on their first possession to gain the momentum to carry them throughout the game. I hope that Coach Warren and the Eagle O will open up the playbook to make that happen. Coach Fullen needs to make sure that the DB's don't let anybody past them. We can't let any big plays happen against us. If we can control their offense, the game will be better than most of the predictions that I have seen. And more importantly, the Eagles will come out of Ratliff being 3-0 and clinching a playoff spot. The last time Permian beat AHS was back in 1998. I hope to keep that winning streak going, as well as the district game streak. I expect a great game against the Panthers. I hope we get a big crowd out there wearing black and gold, cheering the Warbirds to victory. Let's go into their house and knock some heads around. GO EAGLES!!

• David Craghead
• October 26, 2006 8:03 PM

Hard Fought Win Against the Rebels

When Midland Lee came into Shotwell, I expected the Warbirds to run all over the Rebels. This wasn't the case. Though the scoreboard read 29-17, the game wasn't an easy win. There were a bunch of mental errors that cost us points and gave them some. The Special Teams, more importantly the kickoff, needs some work once again. I thought we were past all of the late hit calls. I still noticed a little bit of uncertainty between the offense and defense, but overall, it was a good game. I expect this week's practices to be tough. In my opinion we are going to have to step up in order to face a tough Odessa Permian team. Permian (5-2, 2-0) will be coming off of a great game last week against Cooper. As I predicted before District play started, this game against Permian could very well determine who will wind up with the Bell. I have confidence in the Eagles to come out on top.

• David Craghead
• October 23, 2006 4:35 PM

Let's Keep It Going!!

Protect our house. We did that last week against Midland High. Now we get a chance to protect it again. This time it is Midland Lee who is making the drive. We have won 12 straight district games. I look forward to making it 13 straight. The Rebels will be coming into town looking to rebound from the loss to Odessa Permian. But the Warbirds won't let that happen. Our team has gelled together, and I don't think anything could stop them right now. We need to keep our momentum going that we have built up since the Denton Ryan game. If the Eagles get out there and play lights out football, it might get ugly. Last week we were able to pick apart Midland's D and make plays that we couldn't before. That will continue. I have high hopes for this game. Our Warbird D has stepped up tremendously. I expect a great showing. I also expect our side of Shotwell to be packed out. You know that I always will expect that. It gets our boys fired up when they look up in the stands and see our side full of black and gold cheering them on. I look forward to seeing some of the Lee fans that are apart of the mywesttexasfootball.com forum to be sporting the Abilene High avatar for the week. Let's get out there and knock some heads around. GO EAGLES!!

• David Craghead
• October 19, 2006 7:51 PM
• Comments (1)

Great Game Against Midland

Once again Coach Yenzer and his Bulldogs were defeated by Coach Warren and the Warbirds. This was a great game on all sides of the ball for us. Late in the game there were a few miscues on defense that gave Midland High a touchdown, but overall it was good. Spens Lackey stepped up for this district opener. I was very pleased. We opened up the playbook a little more, and took advantage of the holes in the Midland defense. He showed more confidence in the pocket as well as throwing the ball than in the past. I was also very pleased with the defense and their ability to stop the Bulldogs in the redzone. It reminded me of the "Bend But Not Break" defense from several years ago. I believe that the bye week brought us together more than ever, and it showed. I am VERY happy that we didnt get a late hit/unsportsmanlike flag thrown on us. It seems like we are playing a much smarter football game than the first couple of games. I hope that we continue this going into Friday's game against Midland Lee. I am sure that they are upset after the 48-20 loss to Odessa Permain. Although I would be more upset if I lost 51-0.

For those of you who visited thelittleswc.com and dont know what happened to it, it has moved. It is now mywesttexasfootball.com. Now you can see all of the "smack" talk that has been going on since district started. And I am sure the deeper we get into district play, the more the talk will happen.

• David Craghead
• October 17, 2006 12:58 AM

It's Finally Here!!

It is now time to get down to business. All of the 3-2’s, 2-3s’, and 1-4’s are thrown out the window. It’s the District race.

As many of you know, Midland High has yet to beat the Warbirds since Coach Yenzer took over in 2002. I am sure Yenzer put some fire in his boys over the past two weeks. But it won’t be enough. The Warbirds are going to fight hard to protect our house. I have heard many people talking bad about Lackey all season. I know that if our pre-district record was reversed, not very many people would complain. I am positive that with the bye week, Lackey, as well as the whole team, has calmed down and learned to play hard, gut-busting football. If we get out there and play 48 minutes like we did during the second half against Denton Ryan, the Bulldogs will have the lights shut out on them from the opening kickoff. Midland High has a very balanced offense, so the Warbird D will need to be honest. I am positive that Coach Fullen will keep them in line. If we get the momentum going, and start to click on all sides of the ball, we will come out with a victory. With this game being at Shotwell, I expect our side of the stadium to be packed for this opening game of District 3-5A. Let’s get out there and knock some heads around. GO EAGLES!!

• David Craghead
• October 12, 2006 6:51 PM

District Play Right Around The Corner

Only one more week before the opening of district play against Midland High. The first part of this season wasn’t exactly what you would call the normal Abilene High Eagles. But with the win against Denton Ryan gave the Warbirds a little momentum before heading into next week. Generally when you look at a team with a 1-4 record, you pass them off. This isn’t the case for Abilene High. Our losses have come from miscues on all sides of the ball. We have grown since the Westlake game tremendously. Our special teams have picked up better than I could have hoped for. The defensive and offensive sides of the ball have also picked up. But I still noticed during the Denton game that we are not communicating the way we should. With this week off, I am sure that we gelled together and are at our full potential. And we have to be at that stage in order to face a tough Bulldog team. I am really looking forward to this game and have been since last year. I am really looking forward to seeing how dangerous the Warbirds can really be. All of the records that each team put up for the first half of the season do not matter anymore. It all comes down to this. GO EAGLES!!

Here is how District 3-5A will start out:

Midland High (3-2) at Abilene High (1-4)
Cooper (3-2) at Odessa High (1-4)
Odessa Permian (3-2) at Midland Lee (2-3)

• David Craghead
• October 6, 2006 11:16 PM
• Comments (5)

And One For The Win!!

Friday’s game against Denton Ryan was a good one. The Warbirds took one step closer to playing the whole game as a team. I was very glad to see the Eagles come out of the locker room fired up for the second half. I have been stressing that since the start of the season, and it finally happened. And look how it wound up. The defense shut down the Raiders to come out on top 30-21. I was also very pleased with our special teams. So much improvement since the first of the season. I was also happy with the fans that showed up at their house. Every single one of you did a great job backing up our team. I wasn’t pleased with the amount of fans there, but to those of you who came, I thank you. I am looking forward to a much bigger crowd at Shotwell on Oct. 13th to cheer the Warbirds on as we start District play.

Even with the big win, there is still a lot to fix. I noticed in the first half that our offense wasn’t exactly working like a well-oiled machine. There wasn’t very good communication between the receivers and Lackey. I was glad that changed in the second half. The Eagles had 7 penalties that went for 75 yards. Every single one of them was caused by mental errors. I still am wondering why we keep getting late hit calls. There is no excuse for that. I am hoping that will change in two weeks when we open up District play at home against Midland High. With this week off, I am hoping that Coach Warren posts a few practices that remind the team of the little things. Like I said before, if the Eagles can cover all aspects of the game, we will be unstoppable. That showed in the second half against Denton Ryan. GO EAGLES!!

• David Craghead
• October 2, 2006 12:00 PM