Texas Football

By Dennis Hall // TexasFootball.com

CLASS 3A GAMES
Liberty Hill at Cuero
Notes: This is probably not the best week to face Cuero. The Gobblers came out on the losing end of a thrilling 49-42 game against Wimberley, ending a 33-game home winning streak, and you can expect that they’ll be looking to bounce back with a vengeance. RB Trent Jackson picked up last week right where he left off in 2009, running for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Liberty Hill used its dominating ground game to roll to a 34-14 win over Leander Rouse in its opener. RB Brandon Corn had 189 yards and three TDs.
DCTF Prediction: Cuero 38, Liberty Hill 24
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Cuero by 20

Houston St. Pius X (PVT) at Sealy
Notes: In years past, it was rare for a private school team to topple a 3A powerhouse, but that’s no longer the case. Just last week, Argyle Liberty Christian shocked defending 2A state champ Pilot Point, while a year ago, Celina was knocked off by Addison Trinity Christian. St. Pius has the weapons to pull off a similar surprise this week against Sealy. In a season-opening 33-7 win over Addison Trinity Christian, St. Pius had a pair of 100-yard performers: RB Kenneth Barrow rushed for 133 yards, while WR Tad Ecby had 141 receiving yards. Sealy can make the same claim: In a 49-0 win over Houston Kashmere, RB Jowan Davis had 119 rushing yards, and WR Gabe Hamner had 108 yards.
DCTF Prediction: Sealy 31, St. Pius 21
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick:  Sealy by 4

Brookshire Royal at Giddings
Notes: This is a rematch of one of 2009’s biggest playoff upsets. Royal toppled Giddings in the first round, 40-21, and went on to win another playoff game before falling in the regional semifinals. The star for Royal in that game and just about every other game last season was RB Brandon Williams, who has committed to Oklahoma. He opened the 2010 season with another big performance, rushing for 269 yards and four touchdowns on only 15 carries in a 40-28 win over Wharton. Giddings also had a big rushing performance in its opening 28-14 win over Burnet. Giddings RB Eric Rimes had 204 rushing yards.
DCTF Prediction: Giddings 35, Royal 28.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Giddings by 15

Newton (2A) at Kirbyville
Notes: This is battle of two Southeast Texas small-school powers, as well as a matchup of two premier running backs. Kirbyville’s LeFrederick Ford opened the 2010 season with 115 rushing yards in a 20-6 win over Coldspring-Oakhurst. This is the season opener for Newton, which is led by RB Kelvin Bennett, who ran for 1,722 yards last season. In theory, this is a 3A vs. 2A matchup, which usually favors the 3A team, but the reality is that Kirbyville just moved up to 3A this year after reaching back-to-back 2A state title games. Still an edge for Kirbyville, but Newton won’t be easily intimidated.
DCTF Prediction: Kirbyville 31, Newton27.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Kirbyville by 5

Tatum (2A) at Gilmer
Notes: Some are predicting a state title for Tatum now that the Eagles are back in 2A, where they won back-to-back championships in 2005-06. A non-district game against Gilmer will give Tatum a chance to see how it fares against 3A competition before moving on to 2A competition. Both times had an easy time in their openers. Tatum knocked off Diboll, 52-13, while Gilmer toppled Atlanta, 63-28. Tatum had 365 yards of offense in its victory, while Gilmer rolled up 465 yards. The numbers won’t be that big this week, but the offenses will still be tough to stop.
DCTF Prediction: Gilmer 42, Tatum 38
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Gilmer by 9

Mexia at Gatesville
Notes: Gatesville coach Kyle Cooper sure doesn’t shy away from facing elite competition.  The Hornets faced a Region I power last week in a 56-19 loss to Brownwood, and now they take on Region III power Mexia, which has one of the state’s most explosive running backs in Doug Gentry. The Blackcats are coming off a 45-31 win over China Spring. Gatesville will need to work on its defense after seeing Brownwood QB Graylon Brown and WR Jaxon Shipley have their way a week ago. Mexia is much more ground oriented behind Gentry but will be just as hard to stop.
DCTF Prediction: Mexia 38, Gatesville 30.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Mexia by 11

Waco La Vega at Cameron Yoe (2A)
Notes: Both these teams are district title favorites and they showed why in their season openers. La Vega played tough but came up just short in a 15-14 loss to 2008 state champion Prosper. La Vega played a flawless game for three quarters, but two fourth-quarter TDs for Prosper cost La Vega the game. Yoe had a dominating effort from beginning to end in a 52-7 win over Waco Connally. Decrick Westbrook had three TD catches for Yoe.
DCTF Prediction: La Vega 20, Yoe 14.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick:  Yoe by 1

CLASS 2A GAMES
Littlefield at Idalou
Notes: Sometimes, season openers can be hard to read. For example, take Littlefield’s 50-6 domination of Brownfield last week. In that game, Brownfield’s passing game was completely shut down, finishing with minus-1 passing yards on 4-of-15 passing with two interceptions. The question is: How much of that was Littlefield’s tough defense, and how much was Brownfield’s struggling passing game? We should have a better idea about how good Littlefield’s defense is after this week’s game against Idalou, which is coming off a 29-23 loss to Lubbock Cooper. Idalou was a playoff team last year and has some nice weapons on offense.
DCTF Prediction: Littlefield 35, Idalou 21.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Littlefield by 16

Lexington at Blanco
Notes: Blanco takes on its second consecutive tough opponent and will once again try to show that it can close out a narrow victory. Blanco opened with a hard-fought 12-7 win over Fischer Canyon Lake. Blanco won that game on a last-minute TD pass from Tanner Rogers to Kyle Garrow. This week’s matchup might be even tougher because Lexington has a powerful ground game that produced two 100-yard rushers in a season-opening 60-0 win over Smithville: Xavier Ward (172 yards, 3 TDs) and Spencer Taylor (112 yards).  
DCTF Prediction: Blanco 20, Lexington 17
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Pick’em

Lorena at Grandview
Notes: Lorena QB Fisher Simpson sat out his team’s regional championship run last year with a broken collarbone, but he made a triumphant return to the lineup last week with a 175-yard passing effort in a 41-13 win over West. He’ll face a tougher test this week as Lorena takes on a speedy Grandview squad that also won its opener in convincing fashion, 35-3 over Troy. QB Derek Jarrell and WR Daniel Spencer form one of the top passing combos in Class 2A and will give Lorena quite a challenge.
DCTF Prediction: Lorena 34, Grandview 30.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Grandview by 4

Altair Rice Consolidated at Somerset (3A)
Notes: It’s almost unfair to judge Altair Rice based on its season-opening 50-28 loss to Refugio. Refugio is favored by many (including us) to win a state championship, and the Bobcats can hang 50 on just about anybody. So the best thing for Rice Consolidated would be to put that game behind them and focus on the next challenge: pass-happy Somerset. Coached by Sonny Detmer, Somerset won its opener against San Antonio Holy Cross, 48-42. QB Steve Joe Dorman threw for 305 yards and five TDs, which is about average for him considering he averaged almost 300 yards passing per game in 2009.
DCTF Prediction: Somerset 41, Altair Rice 36.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Altair Rice by 4

Vanderbilt Industrial at Ganado (1A)
Notes: Vanderbilt Industrial can be proud of its defense after posting a 21-0 opening win over Shiner, and the Cobras will really have something to be proud of if they can have a similar effort this week against Ganado. The Indians feature one of 1A’s most explosive runners in Josh Labay, who burst onto the scene last year as a sophomore and opened 2010 with a 133-yard rushing effort last week in a 35-2 win over Hallettsville. Both teams look they could have strong defenses this year: Vanderbilt held Shiner to 140 total yards, while Ganado held Hallettsville to 204 total yards.
DCTF Prediction: Industrial 21, Ganado 17.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Ganado by 9

McGregor at Crawford
Notes: McGregor looked good on offense and defense in a season-opening 34-19 win over Rosebud-Lott. Bulldogs QB Keith Reineke ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns and also threw two TD passes, while the McGregor defense knocked out two quarterbacks in a dominating performance. Crawford faced little resistance in a 39-0 win over Jarrell. Crawford QB Jake Talbert carried his team with 161 rushing yards and four TDs.
DCTF Prediction: McGregor 24, Crawford 20.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick:  Crawford by 1

Melissa at Van Alstyne (3A)
Notes: You know, a lot of towns with female names have pretty good football teams. Melissa is a good example of that in North Texas. Katy is probably the state’s best example, and then there’s Lorena, Edna, Henrietta, Idalou – we could go on and on, but we won’t. Melissa opened the season with a 40-7 win over Nevada Community, with QB Wes McQueen leading the way with three TD passes and one TD run. Melissa rolled up 429 yards. The Cardinals will have a tougher time this week against 3A Van Alstyne, which narrowly beat Princeton last week, 20-14. Van Alstyne won in thrilling fashion on a 57-yard TD pass from Jared Ramsey to Tanner Neill on the game’s final play. Van Alstyne showed a lot of character in that game, scoring twice in the game’s final two minutes to pull out a come-from-behind victory..
DCTF Prediction: Melissa 28, Van Alstyne 24.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick:  Van Alstyne by 2

CLASS 1A GAMES
Kerens at Dawson
Notes: Kerens had big questions on offense entering the season due to the graduation of star quarterback Pat Faulk. But it looks like the Bobcats will be just fine with the leadership of new QB Jayveon Williams, who led the offense to 472 yards in a season-opening 35-15 win over Edgewood. Williams rushed for 119 yards and passed for 92. He’ll try to duplicate that effort this week against a Dawson team that struggled defensively in its opener, a 41-35 loss to Axtell. Dawson surrendered more than 300 yards to come out on the losing end despite a big offensive night from RB Alex Shaw, who accounted for more than 200 yards himself.
DCTF Prediction: Kerens 41, Dawson 30
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Kerens by 20.

Mason at Junction (2A)
Notes: Mason pulled off a nice upset in its season opener, a 28-12 win over Harper. RB David Mora ran for 175 yards and four TDs to give Mason a big confidence boost. The Punchers face a challenge this week against 2A Junction, which is coming off a 32-27 loss to Bronte, but Mason has won three straight meetings between these teams. Junction got a big game last week from RB Ty Stapp (259 yards, 3 TDs) but had a hard time containing Bronte’s ground game.
DCTF Prediction: Mason 35, Junction 28
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Mason by 15.

Garrison at Lovelady
Notes: Garrison RB Desmond McKibbens ran for 205 yards and two touchdowns last week in a 42-30 win over Hemphill.  Lovelady forced five turnovers but still got blown out in its season opener against New Waverly, 37-8.
DCTF Prediction:  Garrison 32, Lovelady 24.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Garrison by 7.

Falls City at Poth
Notes: Falls City, which is led by RB Colin Dziuk, opened the season with a blowout 46-19 win over Stockdale. Poth also won in blowout fashion against Marion, 42-23, but Poth has some work to do on defense after surrendering 182 rushing yards to Marion RB Doug Giles.
DCTF Prediction: Falls City 39, Poth 30.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Falls City by 14.

Bovina at Boys Ranch
Notes: Bovina RB Desmond Fox had a huge 2010 debut, rushing for 187 yards and four touchdowns on only six carries. He had TD runs of 56, 17, 28 and 85 yards. Boys Ranch pulled out an impressive 14-12 win over a strong Wheeler team. Boys Ranch was led by Sayvon Munnerlyn, who forced a fumble and returned an interception for a touchdown.
DCTF Prediction:  Bovina 24, Boys Ranch 14.
Jerry’s Forrest’s pick: Bovina by 13.