Texas Football

By Jake Shaw/TexasFootball.com

Tomorrow, we'll kick off what will be our third-annual countdown to the football season: 20 Days 'Till Texas Football (relive the 2007 and 2006 versions). In these upcoming 20 days, per class, we'll name THE toughest district; the candidate to have the biggest breakout season; the top darkhorse (best unranked team); and our pick for preseason MVP.

When the 20 days are up, we can all breathe easier. Football season will be here.

But before we kick off the 2008 20 Days 'Till Texas Football, I thought we should recap our picks from a year ago, a sort of refresher on the 2007 season before we completely immerse ourselves in what promises to be an exciting 2008.

So below, check out our hits and misses from the 2007 season.

THE TOUGHEST DISTRICTOur 2007 Pick in 5A: District 10
We based this on the four teams that made the 2006 playoffs: Garland, Rockwall, South Garland and Rowlett. Of those three, only Garland didn't make the playoffs last fall, as Naaman Forest took its place. And while this district had its moments (Rowlett's upset of Allen in the first round comes to mind), we should've gone with 26-5A as the choice. Judson made the finals, Madison the semifinals, while Smithson Valley and Reagan each made the quarters.
Our 2007 Pick in 4A: District 16
This district had the preseason sizzle; Copperas Cove, Waco and Brownwood all entered the season ranked in the top 10. Outside of Cove, this district fizzled. Waco was upset in the first round, while Brownwood didn't even qualify for the playoffs, as Waco Midway took its place. The actual winners were either 8-4A (Aledo, Stephenville and Everman) or 26-4A (New Braunfels, Cibolo Steele and NB Canyon). You'll get a different answer on these two depending on which region you ask.
Our 2007 Pick in 3A: District 6
Every team in 6-3A entered the 2007 season on the heels of at least a .500 season, something no other district in any class could claim. We used that as our justification. The three eventual playoff teams made a small impact, though, as only Vernon finished in the top 25 and made it past the second round. We're not sure we can pick one district last year that was THE toughest in 3A, but these three stood out the most in hindsight: 29-3A (Cuero, Gonzales and Palacios); 21-3A (West Orange-Stark, Kirbyville and Jasper); and 3-3A (Snyder, Andrews and Midland Greenwood).
Our 2007 Pick in 2A: District 22
This district was home to the reigning DII champ (Mart), the preseason no. 1 team, plus two more ranked teams in Marlin and Teague. Nobody expected what unfolded. Mart and Teague both were upset in the first round, while a loss to Centerville prevented Marlin from even showing up for the playoffs. Even so, 19-2A proved by a mile it was the toughest district, as it produced both state runner-ups (Tatum and Elysian Fields), while its third playoff team, Arp, lost to Elysian Fields in the regional finals.
Our 2007 Pick in 1A: District 20
While its playoff teams fared well (Tenaha and Joaquin both made the third round), this district also could claim the best non-playoff qualifier in Mount Enterprise, which went 8-2 but was left at home. Still, we think there's little debate which district was tops in 2007: 9-1A. It had one state champ (Munday in DII), one runner-up (Seymour in DI), and Windthorst rallied to make it as far as it could, the regional finals, before it ran into Munday again.

BREAKOUT PLAYEROur 2007 Pick in 5A: QB Stephen Payne, Allen
We got the school right, just not the player. An injury pretty much cost Payne his season, but sophomore Matt Brown stepped in admirably, leading Allen to a 10-0 record in the regular season. But because Brown and Allen stumbled so badly in the playoffs, our pick in retrospect goes to Temple RB Lache Seastrunk, whose incredible sophomore numbers (125-1,660, 22 TDs) and even more incredible speed has made the junior-to-be the biggest blip on the national recruiting radar for the 2010 class.
Our 2007 Pick in 4A: RB Deon Hill, Alice
It's not that Hill had a bad year; his 706 rushing yards were nice. But we were expecting more (and he still can deliver his senior year), and thus, we have to call this a tie between three QBs from last year, one who was a senior, one a junior, and one a sophomore. The senior, Winston Gamso, didn't even enter the '07 season as starter, but once he entered the lineup, he elevated Highland Park's offense, leading the team to the finals. The junior, Drew Allen, replaced Giovanni Vizza in a big way, throwing for more than 2,400 yards for Alamo Heights. And McKinney Boyd's Daryn Alves had a monster sophomore year, rushing for 2,636 yards. It's hard to pick just one from those three breakout players.
Our 2007 Pick in 3A: DB D'Anton Lynn, Celina
Since he missed much of his junior year with an injury, Lynn, in our minds, qualified for a potential breakout candidate. And since it's harder to quantify the impact of a defensive player, we're not saying this was the right or wrong choice, though Lynn was named his District's MVP and helped lead Celina to a state title. Some other guys returning in 2008 that had breakout '07 campaigns: Gonzales WR Ckody Burton; Cuero QB Tyler Arndt; and Gilmer QB Darien "Stump" Godfrey.
Our 2007 Pick in 2A: QB Travis Chrisman, Comfort
A starter at Ingleside in 2005, Chrisman transferred to Comfort for the 2006 season, where he was moved to WR. He moved back to QB for 2007 and lived up to our billing. Chrisman returned to form, earning district Offensive MVP honors while passing for 2,749 yards. But if you're talking QBs, the breakout player by a landslide was Canadian QB Coleman Bentley. In one year to start, Bentley passed for 3,730 yards and 44 TDs in leading his team to the 2A DII title.
Our 2007 Pick in 1A: RB Traylon Shead, Cayuga
We kind of cheated a bit on this one. Shead had rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2006, his freshman year. But we predicted this East Texas phenom would become a household name with a big 2007 season, and we'd have to say Shead made us look good. He rushed for 2,810 yards last year -- more than any other player returning in 1A. He's also being hailed as the top running back among all juniors in the state. A district rival of Cayuga's also had a strong case for top breakout player. RB Marcuse Gasaway helped Alto repeat by having a breakout junior year, rushing for 1,703 yards while earning first-team all-state honors, something bestowed upon Shead as well.

TOP DARKHORSEOur 2007 Pick in 5A: Arlington Bowie Volunteers
Finally, a pick that really makes us look good. Coming off a 7-4 season, Bowie was picked third in its district. Instead, Bowie tied for the district crown and made the state quarterfinals before a valiant performance against Euless Trinity, a 21-14 loss. Second place for '07 darkhorse: Pflugerville, which shocked everyone by going from fourth-place team in its district to state runner-up in Division II.
Our 2007 Pick in 4A: Paris Wildcats
Then, we loved the talent Paris brought back. Then, we loved the fact 15 starters returned, including several who had already made verbal commitments to DI schools. But then, we obviously didn't know that injuries and other factors would lead Paris to a 3-7 season -- including an unthinkable 0-5 in district. So we were very wrong. We would've been very right (and downright psychic) had we chosen Cibolo Steele instead. The second-year program rebounded from a 3-7 inaugural season to go 11-2 last year, finishing No. 23 in our season-ending rankings. The biggest other darkhorses, looking back, were Austin LBJ and Waller.
Our 2007 Pick in 3A: tie: China Spring Cougars and Waco La Vega Pirates
We couldn't decide between these two, and good thing we didn't. Both clearly deserved a ranking, and both made us look smart for picking them as darkhorses. China Spring suffered just one loss in the regular season -- to La Vega, which went 10-0 in the regular season. The two met again in the fourth round, where China Spring got revenge in a thriller. CS made it as far as the state finals, barely losing to Celina. Each team finished in the top 6 in our season-ending rankings.
Our 2007 Pick in 2A: East Bernard Brahmas
We can't pick East Bernard as darkhorse again, because the Brahmas enter this season ranked No. 18, and that's mostly because of last year's successful run. EB won 9 games and made the third round of the postseason, barely falling to then unbeaten Refugio. Still, the greatest darkhorse proved to be Canadian, which though unranked in the preseason ended up going 15-1, winning the DII title, and finishing No. 1 in our final rankings.
Our 2007 Pick in 1A: Evant Elks
Let this serve as an example of putting individual over team. We picked Evant as our darkhorse team mostly because of QB Aaron Doyle, one of 1A's best players. Doyle didn't disappoint, accounting for 2,890 yards of offense and 7 INTs defensively. Evant as a team, though, did disappoint, going 3-7. Like in Class 2A, the biggest oversight in 1A was the eventual DII state champs, Munday, which went 15-0 last year after not earning a preseason ranking.

PRESEASON MVPOur 2007 Pick in 5A: QB Riley Dodge, Southlake Carroll
Of course, the year we pick a Southlake Carroll QB, it's the first year in since 2003 a Southlake Carroll QB doesn't win the award. Dodge was having an MVP season until he was introduced to Abilene LB Chris Williams, whose hit on Dodge in the third round of the playoffs ended Dodge's high school career. Dodge didn't play another snap after that collision, and Carroll didn't play another playoff game. Instead, it was Katy going unbeaten with its running back, Aundre Dean, earning the state's MVP award after rushing for 2,498 yards.
Our 2007 Pick in 4A: S Victor Johnson, Waco
We're not off to a good start. We missed 5A, and this bold pick in 4A also came back to bite us. Johnson had a good year, but for a defensive player to win the award, it has to be special. Losing in the first round of the playoffs isn't special. The MVP in 4A belonged to Lamar Consolidated RB Jacquizz Rodgers, who lit up the Houston area, then put his team on his back on the way to the DI title. Named "Mr. Texas Football" in our 2008 Winter Edition, Rodgers rushed for nearly 3,000 yards, giving him 8,239 (sixth-best all-time) for his career.
Our 2007 Pick in 3A: QB Brock Fitzhenry, Giddings
Class 3A didn't have a clear-cut favorite for this award. The state champs -- Celina and Liberty Hill -- both relied on strong casts rather than a superlative individual. Like Dodge in 5A, Fitzhenry had his career cut short by injury, his coming in the second round. We'll never know what he and Giddings would've done had he stayed healthy. Pressed to pick the MVP for 3A, we went with Snyder's Will Clay, whose 3,135 yards and 42 TDs rushing helped Snyder reach the state semifinals.
Our 2007 Pick in 2A: QB Lee McClendon, Mart
This seemed so safe. The best player on the reigning state champion, a guy named to our 2007 All Texas team, a guy who accumulated 3,700 yards of offense and 50 TDs that year. McClendon had a good regular season (2,240 yards, 34 total TDs) last fall, but Mart had a bad postseason, getting upset in the first round. As we discussed in the "darkhorse" category, the eventual MVP honors belonged to Canadian QB Coleman Bentley, with Farmersville RB Tajh Redwine a close second.
Our 2007 Pick in 1A: QB Lance Low, Alto
With the graduation of Julian Willis, Low was supposed to take over at QB. Already an outstanding linebacker, Low seemed like the right leader for the offense. But Alto coaches eventually kept Low at LB and placed Tarlandus Mitchell at QB, a move that seriously paid off. Mitchell rushed for 1,202 yards, passed for another 1,685 yards, and accounted for 42 TDs in Alto's successful defense of its 1A DI title. He eventually won state MVP honors, and deservedly so.