Texas Football

By Travis Stewart/TexasFootball.com

CLASS 4A FAST FACTS

• -- 4A Standings
• -- 4A Top 25
• Preseason ranked teams still ranked: 17 of 25 (out: Stephenville, Calallen, Lamar Consolidated, Beeville Jones, La Marque, Mansfield Timberview, Crosby, Gregory-Portland)
• Unranked teams now in Top 25: 8 teams (No. 7 Sulphur Springs, No. 10 Friendswood, No. 12 Edcouch-Elsa, No. 15 Ennis, No. 20 El Campo, No. 21 Denison, No. 23 Alice, No. 25 Marshall)
• The undefeateds: 33 teams (EP Austin, 4-0; Wolfforth Frenship, 5-0; Denton Guyer, 4-0; Aledo, 4-0; Everman, 4-0; Denison, 4-0; Highland Park, 4-0; Rockwall-Heath, 4-0; Dallas Carter, 4-0; Dallas Lincoln, 4-0; Sulphur Springs, 5-0; Lindale, 5-0; Forney, 5-0; Ennis, 4-0; Willis, 3-0; North Forest, 2-0; Lumberton, 2-0;, Vidor, 2-0; Port Neches-Groves, 2-0; Houston Davis, 3-0; El Campo, 4-0; Friendswood, 2-0; Lake Travis, 5-0; Dripping Springs, 5-0; Cibolo Steele, 4-0; Floresville, 4-0; Uvalde, 4-0; Port Lavaca Calhoun, 3-0; Tuloso-Midway, 4-0; Alice, 4-0; Flour Bluff, 3-0; Edcouch-Elsa, 4-0)
• Highest risers (These teams have made the highest climb in the Padilla Poll, a ranking service used by TexasFootball.com): No. 73 Dripping Springs (opened at 178); No. 56 Forney (opened at 160); No. 135 Tuloso-Midway (opened at 225); No. 69 Hallsville (opened at 158); No. 138 Waco University (opened at 224)
• Lowest droppers (These teams have dropped the farthest in the Padilla Poll): No. 184 Manor (opened at 57); No. 193 Kingsville (opened at 80); No. 165 Crockett (opened at 61); No. 196 Amarillo Palo Duro (opened at 102); No. 198 Houston Wheatley (opened at 118)

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PICKS
Best guesses at DI, DII champions

Jake Shaw's picks: DIVISION I: Region I final: Abilene Cooper over Mansfield Timberview Region II final: Longview over Highland Park Region III final: Friendswood over Lamar Consolidated Region IV final: Lake Travis over Cibolo Steele Semifinals: Longview over Cooper; Lake Travis over Friendswood State final: Longview over Lake Travis DIVISION II: Region I final: Wichita Falls Rider over Aledo Region II final: Sulphur Springs over Ennis Region III final: Texas City over Dayton Region IV final: Kerrville Tivy over Alamo Heights Semifinals: Rider over Sulphur Springs; Tivy over Texas City State final: Rider over Tivy

Travis Stewart's picks: DIVISION I: Region I final: Wolfforth Frenship over Denton Guyer Region II final: Longview over Highland Park Region III final: Friendswood over Texas City Region IV final: Lake Travis over Port Lavaca Calhoun Semifinals: Longview over Wolfforth Frenship; Lake Travis over Friendswood State final: Longview over Lake Travis DIVISION II: Region I final: Everman over Wichita Falls Rider Region II final: Sulphur Springs over Ennis Region III final: Dayton over Lumberton Region IV final: Cibolo Steele over Edcouch-Elsa Semifinals: Everman over Sulphur Springs; Cibolo Steele over Dayton State final: Everman over Cibolo Steele

BMOCs
Top MVP candidate per region

• Region I: QB Scotty Young, Denton Ryan: It seems like every year since coach Joey Florence stepped on campus back in 2000, the Raiders have had a quarterback put up eye-popping numbers en route to an all-state appearance -- 2008 brings us Young, a junior who has already thrown for 1,469 yards and 22 touchdowns in just four games. For comparison's sake, that's more in both categories than 2009 blue-chipper Casey Pachall of Brownwood posted through all of last season. The Raiders are 3-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of state contender Wichita Falls Rider.
• Region II: RB Peter Smith, Forney: Smith went from one of the top sleepers in the DFW area to one of the best runners in the Metroplex seemingly overnight. The senior back has already churned out 1,057 yards and 15 touchdowns while guiding his team to a perfect 5-0 record and has yet to rush for less than 170 yards in a single game. The Jackrabbits still have a ways to go to become legitimate contenders, but as long as Smith continues to carry them on his back, they'll be at least a dangerous team that no one will want to see in the playoffs.
• Region III: QB Jacob Karam, Friendswood: It's usually hard to argue an MVP candidacy for a kid that’s only played in two games, but A) that's not Friendswood's fault, and B) the two games the Mustangs have played have both been wins against higher-ranked opponents, Dayton and Texas City. Karam, who has already committed to Texas Tech, has been stellar in both of those games, throwing for a total of 683 yards and seven touchdowns. Hurricane Ike has thrown a wrench in every Houston-area teams' plans, but Karam is doing his best to fix things up for Friendswood.
• Region IV: QB Garrett Gilbert, Lake Travis: It may seem a bit too easy to pick Gilbert here, but everything the budding superstar has done this season typifies the term 'MVP': his team is 5-0, he's thrown for more than 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns and the Cavaliers look to be right on track for another state championship run. No matter which way you define the term MVP, Gilbert will be standing at the forefront of the list of candidates.

COACHES OF THE YEAR
Best coaching performances so farTOP COACHING JOB: John Walsh, Denton Guyer
Coaching at Denton Guyer will probably never be easy. You're in one of the tougher districts in 4A football. You're almost always going to be playing second -fiddle to the offensive fireworks over at Denton Ryan. And your region is full of monsters like Aledo and Stephenville. What's a man to do? Walsh has braved all those odds and turned a program that was 1-9 in 2007 into an undefeated contender with strength in the offensive lines and talent at the skill positions. Winning a state championship will be tough in Region I, but at this point in the season, no coach has put his team in a better position than Walsh.

Best of ...
Region I: Todd Lawson, FW Dunbar -- Dunbar showed promise last season before being swept out of the postseason by Everman; now, coach Lawson seems to have harnessed the Wildcats' ability and has assembled one of the fastest and most athletic teams in the whole region. Dunbar may give up some yards, but the 37 points the offense has averaged over its first five games will be this team's calling card.
Region II: Greg Owens, Sulphur Springs -- We knew Sulphur Springs was going to be good, we just didn't know they were going to be this good. Out of the top 15 highest risers in 4A (according to the Padilla Poll) no team has reached heights like No. 12 Sulphur Springs (No. 7 in our rankings); yes, QB Tyrik Rollison and RB Ryan Young have had a lot to do with it, but Owens has been the straw stirring the drink.
Region III: Lionel Crawford, North Forest -- When it rains, it pours -- and them sometimes there's a hurricane, too. As if Crawford didn't have enough to deal with when he inherited the difficult task of coaching a team made up of two student bodies that had been hated rivals months ago, he then had to sit helpless as fledgling North Forest High was swept up in the hectic scheduling brought on by Hurricane Ike. Despite it all? The Bulldogs are 2-0.
Region IV: Bob Schultz, Dripping Springs -- No team has made a bigger jump in the standings than Dripping Springs, which has leapfrogged nearly half of the 4A field since moving up from No. 178. Close wins like the 7-point ones over Wimberley and Austin McCallum and the one-point nailbiter over fellow surprise squad Marble Falls give the Tigers the battle-tested experience you want for a long postseason run ... something Dripping Springs, picked to finish sixth in 25-4A, was never supposed to get.

PUT ON YOUR RADAR
Five unranked teams to watch

• Corpus Christi Flour Bluff (8-4 in 2007; 3-0 in 2008) - One of the key cogs to a very competitive 31-4A, Flour Bluff joins Alice and Tuloso-Midway amongst the district's unbeatens. The Hornets' first two wins weren't close, but the third, a 13-10 victory over district rival Laredo Nixon, shows these guys can win the close games, too. With six returning offensive starters and a talented influx from an undefeated 2007 JV squad, this team has loaded up well for the 2008 run.
• Denton Ryan (6-5 in 2007; 3-1 in 2008) - No offense in the state has produce like Denton Ryan, plain and simple. The aforementioned Scotty Young has been the biggest reason why this team has put up so many points, but the defense will still have to improve if the Raiders want to make a serious playoff run. The biggest issue right now for Ryan is last week's loss to Rider -- that game could already take it out of the 5-4A title race.
• Floresville (9-2 in 2007; 4-0 in 2008) - The surging Tigers have been excellent in non-district play -- and RB Troy Palomo (715 yards, 8 TDs) is a big reason why -- but there will still be plenty of work to do once 29-4A play gets in full swing. Floresville already has a win over SA McCollum, but Medina Valley and Uvalde will both be tough games.
• Kilgore (9-3 in 2007; 4-1 in 2008) - The 28-18 loss in Week 2 to Marshall is the only thing keeping this squad out of the Top 25, and if the Bulldogs win another two or three in a row, even that game won't matter so much in the standings. Actually, two-third of 14-4A could lay a claim to this spot, as Lindale (5-0) and Nacogdoches (4-0) are both undefeated and Whitehouse has three wins and a victory over Celina. East Texas has some underrated talent lurking beneath the surface of the rankings.
• Rockwall-Heath (7-3 in 2007; 4-0 in 2008) - The offense out at Heath is one of 4A's best, with UH-pledged QB Drew Hollingshead (743 yards, 5 TDs) guiding the offense and RB Kendial Lawrence (598 yards, 12 TDs) providing the ground work. The Week 1, season-opening win over Sherman is still the Hawks' marquee win of the season, but expect this team to make noise in the playoffs.

IN NEED OF REPAIRS
Teams on your playoff-watch list worth reconsidering

• CC Calallen (12-1 in 2007; 1-3 in 2008) - The Wildcats may have run into the wrong team at the wrong time in their season-opening loss to Edcouch -Elsa, and now its been downhill ever since. QB Dustin Vaughn has been good, but not good enough for Calallen to overcome a nasty rash of mistakes and mental errors, and now coach Phil Danaher's squad enters district play with a substantial emotional hole to climb out of.
• Houston Washington (7-5 in 2007; 0-3 in 2008) - You have to give some of the Houston schools a pass because of the interference of Hurricane Ike, but storm or no storm, Washington has struggled in the absence of Joshua LaBum and Darrius Austin, both UTEP signees. The War Eagles were the pick to finish atop district 22-4A, but now they look like a team destined to enjoy the playoffs from a sofa.
• Dallas Kimball (5-6 in 2007; 0-4 in 2008) - The Knights have gone from looking like a preseason playoff pick to a last-place team in a heartbeat. In Kimball's four losses, the Knights have only managed 12 points, one of the lowest totals in any classification, and in a district with defensive teams like Carter, South Oak Cliff and Pinkston, that's going to be trouble.
• La Marque (9-3 in 2007; 0-2 in 2008) - There aren't many teams in Texas who have been as consistently good as La Marque, but 2008 has started off on the wrong foot in every possible way. Right now the Cougars are winless at 0-2, and unless they win out and then make a strong showing in the playoffs, this season could become the second consecutive year with less than 10 wins after topping that mark 15 times from 1991 to 2006.
• Manor (8-3 in 2007; 1-3 in 2008) - To put it simply, no team has dropped further in the Padilla Poll rankings than Manor, and the near-130 spot freefall the Mustangs find themselves in must be disorienting. First-year coach Eric Carter knew it wouldn't be easy taking over at the helm of a team bringing back just nine starters, but the number of losses to 3A teams has to be disheartening.

FIVE NAMES YOU SHOULD KNOW
Surprise performers who've made big impacts

• The Edcouch-Elsa defense: We knew QB Erik Nino was going to be the firepower on offense, but the defense has played even better than the experts predicted. In the Yellowjackets' first four games, the defense has given up, in order, 7 points, 14 points, 19 points and 23 points -- for a team that plays in a region stigmatized by its poor defenses, Edcouch-Elsa is getting the work done with the "other" eleven.
• Dominique Hardaway, Lockhart FB: After stumbling to a 1-8 finish last year and returning only four offensive starters over the offseason, Lockhart didn't look like it was going to be in any kind of contention for a playoff bid. Now, with the strong running of FB Hardaway, the Lions are 4-1 and making a push for the postseason. The biggest thing in their way is their own defense, which has to start getting more stops, or Hardway's hard work will be all for naught.
• Joey Knight, Lake Dallas WR: Knight wasn't even the leading returning receiver for the Falcons this season, but the 6-1 senior has made a splash in 2008 with his prolific performances, especially in Week 4, when he caught seven passes for 172 yards and four touchdowns. With Wichita Falls Rider, Denton Ryan and Denton Guyer all likely headed to the playoffs, Knight will need to continue to play well if Lake Dallas wants to sneak into the fourth spot.
• Troy Stein, Medina Valley QB: Troy Stein has gone from splitting time to big time in a heartbeat, and now the talented signal caller has been rushing his way into contention for a regional MVP. With 729 yards and eight touchdowns on just 65 attempts already in the books, Stein's Medina Valley squad could be a difficult out come playoff time.
• Luke Woodley, Highland Park QB: After Highland Park graduated both of the quarterbacks it leaned so heavily on last year, the most important thing for the Scots to do during the offseason was to find a new signal caller; well, Woodley already has 1,182 passing yards and 14 total touchdowns and Highland Park is continuing to roll through the 4A competition. Guess what? He's only a junior, too. The future, as usual, is bright for the Scots.

DOWN TO THE WIRE
Five district races that won't be decided until Week 10

• DISTRICT 9-4A:This isn't meant to be an insult to Denison, which clearly looks like the cream of crop heading into Week 5, but the rest of 9-4A is no slouch. Sherman has one of the best running backs in the state, and both Frisco Centennial and Frisco Wakeland have DI-committed quarterbacks whose offenses can score a ton of points. Denison is up early, but this one isn't over yet.
• DISTRICT 14-4A: What a mess 14-4A is right now. It seems like we don't really know anything about anyone -- Whitehouse beat Celina (which is a bit down), Kilgore couldn't beat Marshall (which is on the rise), and Nacogdoches and Lindale are undefeated on the backs of fairly easy non-district schedules. The only thing we do know is that Jacksonville and Henderson are probably out of it. Aside from those two, anyone can win it.
• DISTRICT 16-4A: Ennis is the clear-cut favorite right now, but would it really surprise anyone if it lost to a team like Midway or Waxahachie? After last year's huge upset of Waco in the first round of the playoffs, it seems the Lions are in the business of surprises, and I still think this district race could fall into the hands of a darkhorse by the season's end.
• DISTRICT 20-4A: Perhaps this district race would be a bit more clear-cut if there had been some more games played, but since so many of these teams are recovering from the damage done by Hurricane Ike, we may not know who the favorite is until Week 9 or 10. Then again, it didn't help that most of these teams were pretty evenly matched from the get-go.
• DISTRICT 27-4A: Doesn't it seem like every team in 27-4A has been ranked at some point in time? Every team in the group is relying on something different in 2008: Cibolo Steele is using a stellar defense, Tivy is using a high-powered offense, Alamo Heights leans on a great quarterback, New Braunfels Canyon has a great running back and Boerne Champion thrives on balance. Five powerful teams with five different approaches -- what a district race.