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Week 1 observations
September 10, 2008Here are some of my thoughts after the Sept. 5 weekend:
* Watched Burkburnett handle a pretty good Argyle team last week. I thought it was a better performance for the Bulldogs than its 10-6 opener against Sweetwater.
This team has a really good chance to enter 5-3A unbeaten and I cannot see Burk failing to make the playoffs.
As good as its defense is though, a couple of things worry me. The passing game will need to improve at some point for a lengthy playoff run to happen. And the offense really needs to cash in turnovers. Not putting teams away will come back and bite you.
* Last week, I was impressed by Bowie's win over Boyd. This week -- well, nothing was too shocking either way.
I thought Windthorst would have beaten Lindsay by a wider margin (and probably would have if not for 6 turnovers) and Vernon's close game against Altus was a little eye-catching.
The Lions have been drilling Altus for years now. So either Altus has gotten better, or Vernon may be a little down this year. They hung with Abilene Wylie in a game I covered last week, and Wylie almost beat the No. 1 team in the state.
But the Lions are also struggling to move the ball. Iowa Park is averaging more total yards than them. Vernon will get anther tough test against Argyle this week.
* How good are Holliday, Bowie, Windthorst, Nocona and Vernon? Are they just-playoff good, or are they make-a-deep-run good? We will see in the coming weeks.
* My Top 10 came out in Sunday's paper, and I am happy with the first five teams: Rider (a state title contender), Grandfield (Oklahoma Class C runner-up), Northside (very big win against good Valley squad), Burkburnett and Archer City (who does not play a real tough team until district).
The next five: Holliday, Bowie, WFHS, Vernon and Windthorst. All are playing decent teams this week, and all would probably need to win to stay in my poll.
* Just now did recall a shocker from last weekend. Quanah, which was a huge favorite over Hamlin, losing a crazy game, 36-32.
The Indians are always good, and I'm sure they will get things straightened out, but this was a bad loss. Hamlin got drilled by Anson pretty bad the week before. That is the same team Quanah plays this week.
* One last thing -- Burk coach Bill Dalke kidded with me Friday after the Bulldogs won about not selecting them to win. I was proven wrong on that one.
But it was one of my few mistakes. With the week's best record, I vaulted to the top of the periscope standings. Among the against-the-grain picks I made were Perrin-Whitt over City View (I do not know why so many of my colleagues picked a team who has two wins in four-plus years); Clyde over Graham and Benjamin over Christ the King.
Starting this week I will be blogging about my weekly predictions.
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