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Breaking down the district races
October 8, 2007I felt a cool breeze when I took the dog out tonight. Not a crisp wave of frigid air, but a nice feeling.
Usually when this happens, that means district football is upon us. And when this happens, I feel compelled to make some fearless high school football predictions.
I wrote some thoughts in my column in Monday's paper, but here is a more-detailed breakdown:
District 5-4A: I think Rider-Denton Ryan will decided the district championship, with the loser taking second place. I am going to go with Rider winning the whole thing.
Denton, Denton Guyer and Denison are all mediocre or worse teams, so that leaves only Sherman and WFHS for third place. Whoever wins that game in two weeks will make the playoffs.
I was impressed with WFHS' offensive production against Ryan. I think Sherman is a good team, and I think this game will be high-scoring. I choose the Coyotes.
District 6-3A: I just can't see anyone beating Graham. I know it is really tough to run the table against these teams, but the Steers are playing so well. That was a good private school team they whipped the other night in Bishop Lynch. And they just tore them up.
So Graham is in, and I think Burkburnett and Vernon are, too. The Bulldogs are playing pretty good defense, and Vernon is tough to stop.
Iowa Park is a sleeper. They have a chance to beat Burkburnett, and if they can do that, they have a chance to make the playoffs.
As far as Hirschi goes, I think they come up short. They are getting guys healthy, but they are not playing with the same precision on offense they did last year. I went out to watch them against SA Lake View because I hadn't seen them play in five weeks.
Neither team caught my eye as playing well, and I left at halftime with Hirschi trailing 14-0. They ended up losing 36-0. I am not sure what happened after halftime, but I will say this. Graham and Vernon are both better than Lake View. And I bet Burk (who I have not seen play yet) is too.
9-2A: Holliday, I am pretty confident, will win district. I say that having seen two of the other four teams play that have a realistic chance of making the playoffs and giving the Eagles a run.
Those four are Olney, Jacksboro, Henrietta and Nocona. Henrietta has already beaten two of those teams. They will face the Eagles in two weeks, and I think that winner makes the playoffs.
Olney must beat Nocona to move on, since the Cubs lost to Henrietta already. The Indians are pretty physical up front, which could give Olney problems.
We will know how good Nocona really is on Friday when they travel to Holliday. Until then, I will choose the same three teams who made it last year -- Holliday, Henrietta and Olney.
District 3-A: Quanah has not lost a district game since dropping down to Class A four years ago. The Indians are a young team, and they might lose a district game, but I am guessing they make the playoffs.
District 9-A: Every coach in this district will tell you it is a hard one. A real hard one.
And I agree. But I think I know who makes the playoffs.
Munday is in, and unless Windthorst really starts to pick it up, I bet the Moguls win the district. They have played some pretty average teams, but they have killed them.
Windthorst has made the playoffs for about 15 seasons in a row, and I just cannot see this changing. Sure, the Trojans haven't play up to their potential. But they have the players who can get the job done.
And in a close, playoff-implicating game, would you trust Windthorst or someone else?
So who gets the third spot. Electra is too young, and I am not sold on Petrolia, although it would not surprise me to see them pull some upsets and sneak in.
It comes down to Archer City and Seymour. Whichever team wins will be in a decent position after the first week. The loser will be 0-1 with games against Munday and Windthorst still ahead. Not a pretty predicament to be in.
So which team do I believe will win the game and make the playoffs? I know, but I will not tell. Check back for my high school predictions for the weekend on Thursday, and you will find out.
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