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Midseason Thoughts
October 7, 2008In a few days, almost every area team (with the exception of 5-4A, which has already started) will begin district action.
Which means it is time for some midseason thoughts:
Biggest disappointment: It has got to be Vernon. I went on KFDX's sports show before the season started and said the Lions should be considered the team to beat in 5-3A because they won it last year and had some key guys coming back.
Now Vernon is 2-3, has not broken the 14-point mark yet this season and could miss the playoffs. If Decatur didn't have so many injuries on defense right now, then I would choose the Eagles as the third playoff team. But, the Lions still have a decent chance to get in.
Biggest Loss: Olney would probably be 3-2 right now and in the mix for a 5-2A title or at least a playoff spot if Callen Pittman was still playing. But he is not, the Cubs are 1-4 instead, and I bet they probably only beat City View over these next five weeks.
Still Perfect: Three teams have shiny 5-0 records: Burkburnett, Archer City and Holliday. I am betting at least one (and maybe two, check back Thursday for this week's picks) of these teams will go down this weekend.
Still winless: There are four left here: Iowa Park, Hirschi, City View and Petrolia. I think the Huskies and Mustangs might go 0-10, while the other two could get a victory.
Biggest coincidence: In a 24-hour span last week, three quarterbacks from this area suffered separated shoulders. Rider's Shavodrick Beaver, WFHS' Ben Henderson and Throckmorton's Brady Hogue will all miss some time, but it looks like Henderson and Hogue could return quicker than Beaver.
Best three-quarter team: Gotta be Rider. If the game ended after 36 minutes, Rider would be 4-1. Better yet, the Raiders would be 5-0 if they could hold onto fourth-quarter leads. And in their two wins, 17-point deficits by Ryan and Guyer have been trimmed to 3 in about the last five minutes.
Biggest surprise: Not one thing has really jumped out at me. Maybe I did not think Holliday would be 5-0 now, but I figured they would be good. The starts by Nocona and Bowie may have caught some people's attention, but not mine. I guess if there is one surprise, it is that Quanah might not make the playoffs. The Indians are about where I thought they would be, but I am surprised how good their district is this year. Or maybe Burkburnett sitting at 5-0 is a small surprise.
Weakest area classification: Gotta be 3A. Take out the Bulldogs, and the area's other four schools are 3-17. One of those wins was against another (Graham over IP) and another win was against an Oklahoma school. At this time last year, these same five teams were 22-8 heading into district.
Strongest area classification: While I think Class A will have at least one of its teams make a long playoff run (as usual), the four 2A schools with winning records (Holliday, Nocona, Henrietta, Bowie) have some more impressive wins.
Interesting stat note: Mentioned this in my 2A/A roundup last week, but did you know Tevin Mitchell of Quanah has three 200-yard games, but no 100-yard games.
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