Got feedback? Just shoot me an e-mail.

Obviously, the front page of our site proves it was the latter in this case, but I'm back to break my dry spell, and I'll do so with this question: How do you satisfy the 10 Division I fan bases in Texas, plus the supporters of the 1,300-plus high schools in Texas?

You don't, really, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.

I've already seen numerous threads in message boards about our cover alone. Naturally, Texas fans love the cover, A&M fans have had the equal and opposite reaction, while some TCU fans feel we snubbed the Frogs by not putting All-American DE Jerry Hughes on the cover (and even some Baylor fans have wondered how magnificent sophomore QB Robert Griffin III did not grab a small piece of the cover.)

The rankings have been a hot topic, too. There are gripes that some teams are ranked too low (have seen the most opinions about Stony Point in 5A), while others are too high (two schools in San Antonio, Roosevelt and Wagner, have been picked on).

Even our Super Team has been called into question. Some Houston-area fans have wondered how any defensive player can be ranked higher than Fort Bend Hightower LB Shaun Lewis, the MVP of the 2008 DI state title game despite playing for the losing team -- a true rarity in sports.

As I told a reader the other day, who had a gripe about one of our selections: We can't please 'em all ... but that doesn't stop us from trying. And frankly, we want to hear from the irate fans more than the satisfied ones.

So here's an open invitation: If something bothered or upset you in our magazine -- or you just need some clarification -- send me an email.

As some of you readers know, my last day with DCTF is approaching (it's actually this coming Monday, June 22nd). I'm moving to Europe next week with my wife -- but I still want to hear from you.

So if you've got a beef, send it to my personal email address to ensure I receive it. And if you have a compliment about the magazine, well, I won't turn that down either.

Make that North Pole High School in Fairbanks, Alaska, home to three former high school football players who recently signed with West Texas A&M. Their prep coach, Richard Henert, sent game film of three of his defensive stars to West Texas A&M head coach Don Carthel, who liked what he saw.

“It’s a hard thing for Alaskan athletes to get a look, you know. Most of the tapes probably get thrown in the garbage," Henert said. The three Alaskans -- Philip Warwick, Jackson Collins and Steve Wright -- said they plan to redshirt this fall. More than acclimating to college life, I'd think getting accustomed to the August Texas heat might present the toughest adjustment.

McGee/Harrell results illustrate draft's unpredictability
Back in February I joked with a co-worker that Stephen McGee just might get drafted ahead of Graham Harrell. Not only did that happen, Harrell's name wasn't among the 200-plus called out Saturday and Sunday at the 2009 NFL Draft.

So it goes with the NFL Draft. On one side is McGee, who had some positive moments in an otherwise disappointing A&M career. On the other is Harrell, who ranks first or second in most NCAA passing categories and just last fall led Texas Tech to its best finish in decades. Yet one player reportedly had great workouts for NFL scouts, while the other one failed to impress. You can probably guess which is which. Potential weighs much more than past on the NFL Draft scale.

I haven't read anything about Harrell's reaction, but his head coach didn't take it well. “I’m happy for Stephen McGee. The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did," Mike Leach said. Leach may be right, but this quote reeks of sour grapes.

Also noteworthy: McGee went to Dallas, which for the first time since I've been following the draft dipped deep into the Texas talent pool, taking three other natives: TCU's Stephen Hodge (Tatum), Texas Tech's Brandon Williams (Fort Worth South Hills) and Oklahoma's Manuel Johnson (Gilmer).

As many readers will know, DCTF (and the Texas high school football world in general) lost a great asset and a great man last October when Wes Underwood passed away (see the 10/24/08 blog entry). Wes was our resident historian (and much more), so losing Wes hurt us in so many ways.

Fortunately DCTF had developed a relationship with Jerry Forrest of PigskinPrep.com over the past couple years. Jerry has created a similar database of Texas high school football history, so it was a much better transition to a new historian (Jerry, of course) than I believed it would be.

Now that you have the back story, take some time to look through the record books, whether it's catching up on last year's playoff scores or checking out what active coaches are nearing milestones.

But mainly, I want to use this blog post to point out some absences. Twelve teams listed in last year's update of the record books are absent. And that's a very good thing.

Below, I've listed teams that removed themselves from an inglorious section of the record because of their 2008 efforts. Six teams ended decade-long playoff droughts, while six more ended losing streaks of 20 or more games.

LONGEST PLAYOFF DROUGHTS: Before 2008 Season
Last playoff appearance in parentheses
> Baytown Sterling (1985) ... Ending a drought of 23 years had a bonus highlight: beating rival Baytown Lee, 21-20. The win pretty much sealed both teams' fates; Sterling went to the playoffs, while Lee, which has the seventh-most playoff appearances (31) of all 5A teams, missed the playoffs.
> SA Burbank (1978) ... Nevermind the team's result in the playoffs (an unsightly 70-7 loss to state semifinalist Kerrville Tivy); Burbank has a lot to build on after finishing 6-5, its first above .500 record since 1996.
> Tuloso-Midway (1966) ... Ten previous coaches presided over the Tuloso-Midway sidelines from 1967 until 2007, but none made the playoffs. Joe Sendejar did it in his first season at T-M, taking an 0-10 team to a 6-5 record that ended the 40-year playoff exile.
> Robstown (1966) ... The Cottonpickers didn't look like a team unfamiliar with the playoffs; they nearly upset La Feria in the first round, but lost in an ultimate defensive struggle, 3-0. Robstown finished 5-5, a high mark considering it had three winless seasons in the previous 10 years.
> Boys Ranch (1962) ... The Panhandle provided plenty of great stories last year (two champs, Canadian and Stratford, from the same district topping them all), but Boys Ranch's first playoff trip will be most memorable to the players, coaches and fans of their program. Boys Ranch played well in its first-ever playoff game, giving unbeaten Wellington a scare in a 24-12 loss.
> Perrin-Whitt (1987) ... Despite returning just eight starters to its 2008 squad, the Panthers strung together an 8-win regular season, including just one district loss (to 10-0 De Leon). After a 21-year drought, P-W looks like it can make a repeat performance in 2009.

LONGEST LOSING STREAKS: Before 2008 Season
> Fort Worth Paschal (26 straight) ... Paschal rid itself of its losing streak the first night out in 2008, but the following week provided the real fireworks. Paschal lost a lead to Irving Nimitz with 13 seconds left, but a Hail Mary from 63-yards out gave Paschal a 38-37 win with no time left on the clock.
> Richardson (26 straight) ... The playoff absence still dates to 1992, but the Eagles appear on the upward swing. Richardson finished 5-5 in 2008, beating playoff-bound Carrollton Creekview, 22-21, in the season finale, setting up a season where expectations should be the highest in decades.
> Willis (25 straight) ... First-year head coach Audie Jackson already has validated his hiring; he led Willis to wins in the first three games of the season and also picked up the team's first district win since 2005.
> San Diego (21 straight) ... The combination of a new head coach (Ismael Ochoa) and dropping down from Class 3A helped San Diego not only halt its losing streak, it also ended a playoff drought dating to 2001. San Diego finished 7-4, its highest win total since 1990.
> Amarillo Highland Park (20 straight) ... The Hornets quickly cured the sting of losing 20 straight games, opening the 2008 season with three straight wins. However, district played swatted HP back down to earth, but this program, for the first time in years, has some positive momentum to work with.
> Lockney (20 straight) ... Like a couple other schools on this list, a new head coach helped steer Lockney in a better direction. Malcom Moerbe, who coached Lockney from 1994-97 (going 37-10-1), returned to the campus and helped the 'Horns to three wins. With Moerbe's proven track record, you'd have to think 2009 could be even better.

The committees must find players that represent every region and ever classification. Seeing that Texas is larger than many countries, that's a monumental task. Plus, players who enrolled early at the college level are ineligible.

However, several players not invited could've enhanced this game. Below is my Top 5 Missing THSCA Players, which doesn't include early enrollees (to be fair to the selection committee):

#5: Carthage RB Dwight Smith (shown at right)
A virtual unknown before the season started, Smith pushed Carthage to a state championship victory, earned numerous statewide honors (including 3A MVP from DCTF), and eventually signed with TCU, which doesn't have a player in the THSCA all-star game. Smith, for the record, double-signed with Navarro College, so there are some lingering questions about his eligibility. It stems from his transfer from Carthage to a California school and back to Carthage. No matter where he lands next fall, his 2008 season should have earned him a spot in this game.

#4: Aldine Eisenhower S Craig Loston
Defensive backs rarely provide the "wow-factor" that QBs, WRs and RBs bring to the table, but from all accounts, Loston breaks the mold. A starter all four years in high school, the nation's No. 1-rated safety had a Deion Sanders-type role with Eisenhower, lining up at receiver occasionally, returning kicks and punts, and shutting down whichever receiver he was assigned to.

#3: Beaumont West Brook RB Christine Michael
Five future Aggies will play in this game, but the player 99 percent of A&M fans would like to see most won't be there. Texas A&M, arguably, hasn't signed a bigger name than Michael in the past 4-5 years. Not sure what's going through head coach Mike Sherman's head, but I imagine many Aggies are expecting Michael to play major minutes in 2009, if not start.

#2: Sulphur Springs QB Tyrik Rollison
Having already played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, perhaps Rollison was all-starred out. And his absence allowed his top receiver, Jace Jackson, to take his place; Jackson definitely had an all-star caliber year. But Rollison is a dynamic player, and since he's headed to Auburn, it would've been nice for the state to see this dynamic QB one more time.

#1: Lufkin DT Jamarkus McFarland
He might be the top defensive player in the state. He's undoubtedly received the most attention of any graduating senior, and that's saying a lot considering the pub generated by Lake Travis QB Garrett Gilbert. McFarland had several NY Times' stories devoted to his recruiting, all of them setting off a fury in Austin about UT's alleged recruiting of McFarland. Seeing that McFarland will never play in Austin (because of the Texas-OU series in Dallas), this would've been a good chance for the OU-bound defender to stomp on the Longhorns' home field.

The small East Texas town annually produces top-notch talent. Baylor's Robert Griffin might've received the most recognition among all true freshmen, but the best running back in Texas last year -- at least in terms of production -- was Houston's Bryce Beall, a true freshman from Tatum. Beall was the state's only rusher to surpass 1,000 yards.

Two more Tatum products are currently getting a lot of attention. However, like Beall, both have college experience. Within a span of five days, two ex-Tatum players have announced plans to transfer from their respective programs.

Over the weekend, volatile first-year Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin announced sophomore Lennon Creer was leaving Tennessee to "go in a different direction." Creer has rushed for 606 yards in backup duty in two seasons.

Creer had a good shot at starting ... until Tennessee got a late addition. Bryce Brown, the No. 1 RB in the 2009 class, didn't ink on national signing day (a la Terrelle Pryor in 2008) and eventually signed with the Vols. Whether Brown is better than Creer is unknown, but you'd think Kiffin is feeling the pressure to start the blue-chip from the start.

Like Creer, Chance Blackmon is looking for a new home. The ex-Tatum receiver signed with CU last year but didn't see any action in 2008, taking a redshirt. He told his coaches he would be leaving the Buffs earlier this week.

For selfish reasons, I'd like to see both players return to Texas. Any program in the state would benefit from these guys. I had heard rumors -- so treat this info for what it's worth -- that Texas A&M would be a possible destination for Creer. But the Ags seem pretty loaded at RB with Cyrus Gray and Bradley Stephens on campus and Christine Michael arriving in the fall.

As for Blackmon, I'd think UH would be a sensible option. The passing game would give him plenty of opportunities, and I'll assume he's friends with Beall, since they're only a year apart.

Trying to get a hold of Tatum coach Andy Evans for more info ... when I do, I'll pass it on.

In a sense, the scene represented what could play out at Texas A&M in the future.

One of the attendees, Arlington High's Matt Joeckel, had committed to the Aggies the day before the Elite 11 camp. Joeckel follows Clay Honeycutt, the Dickinson QB who gave his verbal pledge to A&M in late February. And Honeycutt followed Killeen Shoemaker's Jameill Showers, who committed to A&M last November.

That's three QBs from the same class, all expected to enroll at A&M before the 2010 season. Now consider this: That same fall, Giovanni Vizza will become eligible at A&M. Vizza started the past two seasons at North Texas but left the program in January and has since enrolled in College Station.

Then there's Tommy Dorman, a highly-recruited QB who redshirted in 2008 and who, when these 2010 recruits arrive, will still have three years of eligibility remaining. And I assume Dorman wants to play; he left Birdville High early to enroll with A&M last January so that he could participate in spring drills.

No doubt this is a dream scenario for head coach Mike Sherman. He has stockpiled the most important position on the team. But unless Sherman plans to platoon the QB job, there aren't enough years available to make all these kids happy.

NOT A BAD BACKUP PLAN
If you're an offensive/defensive lineman, you don't think you'll play at the college level, and you're among the vote-getters in the yearbook's "Mr Personality," here's a career path you might consider: Pro wrestling.

Several ex-Texas high school football players exemplified that this past weekend in Houston at WrestleMania.

The latest anecdote ... apparently Edward Britton, Texas Tech's most accomplished returning receiver, was thinking too much about everything else -- but his studies.

Leach, being an advocate of the student-athlete -- remember, it was his recommendation that on-field tiebreakers (i.e. the three-way tie between UT, OU and Tech) be decided by graduation rates -- came up with a typically creative way to get Britton to think about his homework.

Leach placed a desk at midfield of Jones Stadium, where Britton was forced to sit and study while his team went about a spring practice. It didn't help that temps were not far above the freezing point, and the wind the South Plains is known for was in full effect.

It that doesn't get Britton's attention, I'm not sure what will. That is an example of a positive way to discipline a player. A negative way? Keep reading ...

Bad Times at Lincoln High
No matter what side of the "paddling" debate you fall on, I think everyone will agree that what went on at Dallas Lincoln was excessive.

A student was paddled (or "licked," as most kids have fearfully learned) so severely the paddle broke. That didn't stop the paddler ... he taped it together and resumed the licking. Allegedly as many as seven Lincoln football coaches -- including former head coach Jerry Sands, who has been on paid administrative leave since September -- either participated or observed the actions, which resulted in the student being taken to the doctor for "bruises to his lower back, upper thighs and buttocks."

The story gets worse. The Lincoln principal knew about the paddling and tried to conceal it. I hate that a student -- a child -- suffered like this. It appears he deserved some kind of discipline, but his punishment doesn't appear to have matched the crime.

That a student was paddled with such force that he required medical attention is deplorable, but the fact the No. 1 authority at the school not only let the incident go unpunished -- he also attempted to hide it -- is much more disturbing.

In the offseason, however, no games command our attention, thus the rumor mill starts running at full speed. Coaches leaving for other programs ... teams looking for non-district opponents ... players transferring.

The latter topic hits close to home for Katy Morton Ranch head coach Scott Svendsen. Entering his first full offseason after leading Morton Ranch to a 6-4 record last fall -- Morton Ranch had just one total win in its first two varsity seasons -- Svendsen had heard the floating rumor that 4A Houston Sharpstown QB Sam Carter was transferring to his campus.

"I've heard a lot of rumors, and I heard them last year," Svendsen told me, "but I don't know anything about it."

Svendsen did say Carter had visited the campus a year or so ago, but that he has never been told Carter had intentions to transfer -- both in the past or in the future.

Getting Carter would offer a major boost; among Morton Ranch's graduated players were athletes Michael Venson (a TCU signee) and Joe Mitchell (Oklahoma State). A dual-threat QB who has several major-college offers already, the senior-to-be Carter had started the previous three seasons at 4A Sharpstown, including passing and throwing for a combined 2,780 yards and 28 TDs last year.

Carter is poised for a huge senior season; but it won't be at Morton Ranch.

AROUND THE WORLD OF TEXAS COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Some musings on the college game in Texas, in no particular order ... Two pretty big announcements at SMU in recent days. One, the Ponies will try to better utilize its pool of linebackers by switching to a 3-4 defensive set. Having attended a few SMU games the past couple years, I have noticed a major lack of size on the DL. This change should mitigate that weak point. Secondly, at least two '09 SMU games will be seen by national audiences: the annual State Farm DFW Duel Battle for the Iron Skillet vs. TCU on the Mtn. (the TV network for the Mountain West Conference) on Oct. 3, and against Houston on CBS College Sports on Oct. 24. ... I wonder who will pickup the broadcast for the two-year experimental Baylor/Texas Tech series, to be played at "Jerry World" in November this year and at the Cotton Bowl in 2010. I still am perplexed by this move. Both head coaches were outspoken about wanting to keep their home games, but I'm sure the same thing was behind this move as most in sports: $$$. .... two former star running backs are among the 2009 inductees into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame: Temple- and TCU-ex Kenneth Davis, and Andrews native Shaud Williams, who played briefly at Texas Tech before transferring Alabama. They join College Football Hall of Famer Corpus Christi native Johnny Roland (Missouri), former Texas Tech AD T Jones, Bob Goodrich (SMU, famed ABC football producer), Bubba Bean (Texas A&M), and team physician Dr. Newt Hasson. The new class will be honored at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on May 2.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS STILL HAS ELECTRICITY
For all you pseudo Texas high school football fans (a group that includes me), no need to worry about the dynasty of the Dillon Panthers.

NBC has announced it will renew the Friday Night Lights series based on the fictional Texas town and its football team. The series, of course, was inspired by both the book and movie that documented (one more factually than the other) Odessa Permian football in the late 1980s.

Like any TV drama, anything and everything in the show is romanticized and sensationalized, but I still find myself watching every episode. And it has nothing to do with DCTF's miniscule contribution to the show.

Before NBC debuted the hourlong drama, it asked us for a mock cover of one of the show's characters. We've since provided a new false cover for each season, including this current season. At right is Dillon freshman phenom QB J.D. McCoy. Wonder how they came up with his last name?

North Texas finally added a missing piece of the puzzle: a more manageable, "fan-friendly" football schedule.

One stat alone stands out: North Texas will play six home games for the first time since 1993. The Mean Green has spent more time on the road than the Rolling Stones. And like the Stones, UNT has played in front of some huge crowds. But the comparisons stop there.

Last year, UNT played three of its first four games on the road, including some forgettable games at Kansas State, LSU and Rice. The year before, UNT opened at Oklahoma and closed the first month of the season at Arkansas (a year the 'Hogs actually fielded a pretty good team).

This year, UNT only enters one non-conference game where a rational person will chalk up as unwinnable: Sept. 19 at Alabama. The other three non-league games aren't gimmes, but UNT is so much closer to Ball State, Ohio and Army than it is to teams like OU, Arkansas and LSU.

The one thing UNT's schedule lacks is an in-state rival. But if UNT can pick up a win or two in games it would've lost against better opponents, I don't think anyone will miss SMU or Rice.

No surprise, Texas' system better than others
A recent online piece from Sports Illustrated fears that the AAU circuitry of college basketball will work its way into college football via summertime 7-on-7 leagues. In states like Florida, star recruits comprise the 7- on-7 league teams.

Anyone can organize a team and recruit players for his roster. Problem is, "anyone" could have ties to universities, and thus could attempt (with ) to funnel players to a certain college program.

Paraphrasing Wylie ISD athletic director Mark Ball, who was interviewed for SI's story, the state of Texas doesn't appear at risk of the AAU-ization of prep football. Texas 7-on-7 teams must be formed by players at the high school, and though the head coaches are forbidden from actually coaching the teams, they are usually on hand to supervise.

Waco's future TBD -- soon
After 23 years under the guidance of Johnny Tusa, Waco High will soon finalize its new direction when it names its new head football coach. Waco ISD has narrowed the list of applicants down to 10 final candidates, all who have exhibited "success individually and success within programs," Waco ISD AD Johanna Denson said.

A cursory glance at a few Texas high school football message boards didn't reveal a true front-runner for this job, so there should be a bit of intrigue and surprise when the finalist is named.

Plenty of room for the press
The Navarro football program should have no trouble accommodating the leering press this football season. Nearby Smithson Valley is renovating its home stadium and decided to part ways with its press box.

Navarro will get the former SV press box free of charge, though it will cost five figures to install the press box on Navarro's stands.

On Monday night, the school board voted 4-3 to not renew the contract of head football coach and athletic director Randy Palmer. He had been on the job for just one year. Worse yet, when Palmer was hired, he was the fourth AD at Poteet in as many years.

The Dow Jones is a shining example of stability compared to Poteet.

The school board hasn't made any fans with this decision. Nearly 200 "concerned citizens" attended the board meeting to support Palmer and offer positive testimonials on his behalf. Seemingly unmoved, the board voted against him, and the following morning 100 Poteet students staged a walkout in protest. The Express-News's online story has received more comments from readers than any other on its site.

If Palmer is guilty of some kind of wrong doing, the school board better bring the facts to light. Otherwise, this story has the foul stench of small-town politics and selfish egotists.

And unfortunately, Palmer isn't the only victim; the students and football players suffer as well.

GPNS, Carroll matchup back on
Game on for North Shore/Southlake Carroll, a non-district showdown that was cancelled by Hurricane Ike in 2008. The powerhouse programs have agreed to meet this fall, and the lucky winner -- more so than the fans of either program -- is the city of Corsicana.

NS and Carroll will play on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Tiger Stadium in Corsicana. If you don't have a calendar on hand, that's a Saturday. Kickoff is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m.

Since opening Tiger Stadium in the past couple years, Corsicana has attracted some big-time matchups, but all of those have come in the postseason. This is the first marquee game not involving Corsicana to be played during the regular season at Tiger Stadium.

I think we'll see more of these types of matchups in the future. Numerous opening-weekend kickoff events already exist, including our very own Texas Football Classic (lineup to be announced in April, FYI). There are not, however, many single-game, neutral site meetings going on (Abilene playing Tyler Lee at Texas Stadium does come to mind), but they make a lot of sense. If you can limit travel to a couple hours, these games give teams a chance to face programs they normally wouldn't see until deep into the playoffs.

Mexico's best taking on another Texas program
While we wait for the full NFL schedules to be released, Laredo high school football fans finally learned where there favorite teams will be playing this fall. One game that stood out: Laredo LBJ will host Prepa Tec de Monterrey, the top high school football program from Mexico. Monterrey has played the state's best before; it lost at state champion Allen, 55-15, in the second week of the 2008 season.

The player Dodge backed up at Southlake Carroll, Greg McElroy, might finally get his chance. McElroy is the frontrunner for the starting job at Alabama. McElroy redshirted his first season in Tuscaloosa and has backed up John Parker Wilson the past two seasons.

Waiting is nothing new for McElroy; he backed up Missouri-ex Chase Daniel for two seasons in Southlake before getting to start his senior season in 2005. That year, he passed 4,698 yards and 56 TDs, leading Carroll to a state title.

And a third ex-Carroll QB may have a chance to play this fall. Class of 2009 QB Kyle Padron signed with SMU in February, and knowing how June Jones operates, Padron will get every opportunity to play right away.

Daniel, McElroy, Dodge and Padron account for the past four Carroll QBs; all signed DI scholarships after their prep careers. You have to think David Piland, likely Carroll's starter this coming fall, likes his collegiate chances.

At some point soon, the state of Texas will scrap its high school steroid testing plans. The results of the test -- not just in Texas but around the nation as well -- indicate that too much money is being spent on programs that rarely catch offenders.

Either way, I'm starting to believe that coaches and/or schools should receive penalties along with the student(s) caught using steroids. If schools were subject to penalties (perhaps even banning major abusers from the playoffs?), you'd think they would ramp up their steroids education.

Often times, we the media are to blame for sensationalizing certain stories. But most of the time, the media merely reports. We let the subjects of the reports take credit for the "sensational" part of the stories (see Octomom).

Shortly before the weekend, a story got out that Palestine-ex and Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson had saved the football program at Northern Iowa Area Community College by contributing, with help from some NFL buddies, $150,000 to a school facing an $800,000 budget deficit.

The NIACC assistant football coach who made the claim, Kevin Griffin, had ties to Peterson when Griffin was a coach in Palestine. But apparently they weren't that close. Griffin quickly admitted he fabricated the story and that he never even spoke to Peterson.

To top it off, Griffin wasn't even a full-time member of the NIACC staff, and since the truth has come out, Griffin is nowhere to be found, while the NIACC staff is back to considering dropping the football program.

Katy falls into that group. Katy has played for a state title in four of the past six years, winning titles in three of those tries, including last year's Division II crown. Katy has reached a summit that only a handful of other 5A programs have climbed.

So it makes sense that for the second year in a row, Katy will host a non-Texas program in non-district play. And truthfully, Katy's opponent actually has better credentials. Katy will face Bellevue (Wash.) High on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Rhodes Stadium in Katy. Bellevue has won six of the past eight Washington Class 3A state championships, including a title last fall.

Along the way, Bellevue defeated Concord (Calif.) De La Salle, a program that had won 151 straight games prior to their meeting. Bellevue has beaten all four of its out-of-state challengers. It won't be lacking confidence when it travels south to Texas (though it better schedule an early arrival to acclimate to the Texas heat and humidity).

Game organizers are billing this as the "Clash of Champions II," a sequel to the first clash, when Southlake Carroll fell to Miami (Fla.) Northwestern in 2007, a game worth all the preparation that went into it.

Click Here for the game's official press release.

Better late than never to mention that Lufkin defensive lineman JaMarkus McFarland (shown at right, with ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski) added another award, this one perhaps the most impressive.

McFarland was awarded the Maxwell Award, given to the nation's top high school football player, at the awards ceremony in Atlantic City a couple weeks back. McFarland had already earned numerous all-state awards and played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in early January.

An OU signee, McFarland had solid senior numbers, but his academic resume and non-curricular involvement (he's the senior class president) set him apart, according to the Maxwell Football Club.

From the useless information file: We have a running joke around the office about certain high schools that, using the UIL or statewide designation, sound like an actual person's name.

The three most lifelike names in our opinion: Katy Taylor, which sounds like the girl next door; Kyle Lehman, perhaps a golfer; and Tyler Lee.

More name-like schools include Bryan Rudder, Richmond Foster and Austin Anderson.

I thought we were going to add one to the list with the opening of Nelson High in 2010. The school is in Justin ISD, so I thought it would be called Justin Nelson. Alas, the school's physical address is in Trophy Club; no such luck.

The Division system (i.e. big school and small school brackets) implemented in 1990 in 5A has since spread to down every other classification. The latest development is taking the opposite approach. What started with six-man football is now taking effect in Class 1A, and I hypothesize that before too long, it will continue to spread upward until it reaches 5A.

Starting with the 2006 season, the UIL created predetermined Divisions in six- man football. Before their seasons start, six-man programs are automatically placed into either Division I or Division II, based on their enrollments. In the past in six-man -- the current system for all other classifications -- enrollment numbers would determine which Division a team would enter before the start of the playoffs. Teams from differing Divisions in six-man football can still play non- district games against one another, but come district play, teams are either DI or DII. Essentially, six-man football has become two separate classifications.

Granger Huntress, the six-man guru behind SixManFootball.com, said the six-man community -- from coaches to fans -- are generally pleased with the new system.

Now we'll see how 11-man fans and coaches feel. Last week, the UIL announced plans to implement the same system for Class 1A. It won't debut until the 2010 season, and we'll have to wait until February 2010 to see where teams will fall, but the UIL already conducted a case study and came up with what Division I and >Division II would be with the current schools from the 2008 enrollment numbers.

This announcement continues to push the case study from theory to practice. Since it worked -- or is working -- in six-man, the UIL will now test the 11-man waters. If 1A coaches, fans and administrators support the change, I honestly expect the UIL to implement the system in the other classifications.

I go back and forth on whether the Divisional system is good for the sport, but with the number of high schools playing football increasing every year, it probably makes sense to have more state champions.

Since this system appears here to stay, it must be perfected, and differentiating between Division I and Division II before the season is a much better solution than determining Divisions before the playoffs.

An offensive lineman from Minnesota, Seantrel Henderson, was named the No. 1 prospect among all seniors-to-be, although I expect many more versions of this list, leaving the opening for many more No. 1 overall players (perhaps they need a BCS-like system to vote for the top player ... kidding of course).

Seastrunk (this isn't breaking news) is an incredibly fast runner who can make an open-field move in half a blink of an eye. Better yet, the Temple offense calls for multiple ball carriers, so Seastrunk only has 301 career carries in two years, a number many blue-chip players average per season.

Just behind Seastrunk is Fort Worth Dunbar receiver Darius White. I went to one of Dunbar's non-district games last fall without knowing much about White, but he stood out from the opening. He had a one-handed grab that motivated me to immediately email a few friends/colleagues to seek out more info on him. I'm not surprised in the slightest to see him ranked this highly -- he's a difference maker.

A final Texan, Plano West DE Jackson Jeffcoat (a player I think could start on the college level this fall), is ranked sixth in the nation.

A total of 13 Texans made the top 100, not a surprise at all. But I was taken aback that the highest-rated player among UT's 19 verbal commitments was 48th overall: North Shore OL Trey Hopkins. Next best of the Longhorn class is Denton Guyer DT Taylor Bible at 68, and Daingerfield WR Chris Jones (another UT verbal) is rated 70th.

Having three players in the top 70 nationally is excellent, especially since we're still in mid-March. But when you have the ability to receive 19 verbal commitments before April, you'd think you'd also have the ability to land a player in the running for the top national recruit.

While I don't think UT can make that claim with its current list of commitments, the door is still open for UT to land Seastrunk or White or Jeffcoat.

But before you think Mack Brown just parades recruits into Austin and wows them with trophies, facilities and tradition -- therefore catching these players in such a state of awe they feel compelled to commit -- I have (in the words of my boss, Adam Hochfelder) "anecdotal evidence" that suggests UT's staff is recruiting as diligently, if not more so, than any staff in the country.

A very good friend of mine, Greg Branch, is a member of the Cayuga coaching staff (Branch once hosted a radio show before seeing the light, getting out of journalism and into coaching). Any time a college recruiter showed up on the Cayuga campus to see RB Traylon Shead, Branch would send me an email.

More times than not, the recruiter on the Cayuga campus was from UT, whether it was Major Applewhite, Mac McWhorter, or even Mack Brown. For the past two years, Texas has invested a lot of time and money into recruiting Shead and building a relationship with him.

Frankly, I think that was a leap of faith by the UT staff. Rarely does the Class 1A level produce DI recruits, and rarely do they pan out. Consider that five players (and three from the same school) from the 1A level signed DI scholarships last February, a total deemed unusually high.

But UT spent a lot of time recruiting Shead so that in the event he was worth a scholarship, the Longhorns would have a strong chance of landing him. It obviously paid off.

I'm not fortunate to have similar connections on other coaching staffs, but I assume UT put in similar work for its other recruits that it did while courting Shead.

Some amazing athletes were running the 40, bench-pressing 225 pounds, and jumping as high as they could to measure their vertical the last few days in Indianapolis, hoping to improve their NFL draft stock.

But if you thought they were impressive last weekend, you should've seen these guys back in high school.

Take Chase Daniel, the ex-Southlake Carroll and Missouri quarterback. Though Daniel ran a 4.92 at the combine last weekend, back in his high school days, Daniel ran a 4.5, according to the stopwatch at a Rivals.com combine in May of 2004. And Daniel's age is really getting to him. At that same rivals combine five years ago, he was measured at 6-0 1/2. According to the guys at the NFL combine, he's lost a half-inch of his height.

Daniel's not the only player who has seemingly regressed since high school. UT defensive end Brian Orakpo has lost a whole inch, shrinking from 6-4 (2003 NIKE camp) to 6-3 at the combine. He's also lost .14 on his 40 time. I thought this guy was supposed to be a speed rusher?

Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky wasn't -- he lost nearly two-tenths of his 40 speed between his high school and pro playing days.

And maybe Pete Carroll was right -- Mark Sanchez might not be ready for the NFL. Sanchez might've been had he declared for the draft out of high school. At a NIKE camp in April '04, Sanchez was 6-3 1/2. Now he's down to 6-2 1/2.

Fortunately, offensive linemen are shrinking too, so Sanchez won't have to worry about being too short to cut it in the NFL. Virginia's Eugene Monroe, a likely top 10 pick, has whittled three-quarters of an inch off of his frame since high school.

Which makes me wonder ... perhaps Alabama's Andre Smith missed the combine on purpose. With his off-field issues already a red flag, you think he'd want NFL scouts to know he was smaller and slower than what he measured at a high school summer camp?

That could change with the 2009 NFL draft.

Watching Highland Park's Matt Stafford out-duel Stephenville's Jevan Sneed in the 2005 Texas high school football playoffs, there was little doubt in my mind both would be huge successes at the next level.

And had you told me after that game (a 41-38 HP win that vaulted them into the state finals, where they crushed Marshall, 59-0) that three years later, Stafford would be a probable No. 1 draft pick, I wouldn't have argued. Stafford was the most college-ready QB I've seen since I've had this job.

But had you told me a Baylor offensive lineman might supplant Stafford as the top pick in the 2009 draft? Don't laugh; that's a realistic possibility. The interest around Baylor OT Jason Smith has swelled in Slumdog Millionaire fashion. He was a virtual unknown out of Dallas W.T. White High, a two-star recruit who was rated the 15th best of Baylor's 20 signees in 2004. (That Baylor class, by the way, ranked 87th overall in the nation.)

In a matter of five years, Smith has converted from tight end to left tackle, emerged as first-team All-Big 12 player, earned his college degree, and after great showing at the NFL combine, many scouts rate Smith as the top left tackle in the draft. Tom Kowalski, a beat writer for the Detroit Lions (who own the draft's first selection by virtue of an 0-16 season), said the Lions could be down to two players: Smith and Wake Forest LB Aaron Curry, though Stafford remains a strong possibility.

If any team were drafting first other than the Lions -- who have gone from bad to worse for a few reasons, partly by habitually drafting receivers in the first round - - the first overall pick might be yet another Texan, former Tech receiver Michael Crabtree. Though all the news of late surrounds his apparently-injured foot, Crabtree helped himself by saying he would run the 40 no matter what. Scouts like to see that kind of toughness and confidence in a player.

Stafford, Smith and Crabtree represent three of the most common types of recruits: the blue-chip (Stafford); the project (Crabtree); and the diamond-in- the-rough (Smith). Each of the three has a strong chance of hearing his name called out first by Roger Goodell and ending the state's overall No. 1 pick drought.

But since my church pastor once joked that "copying one source is considered plagiarism; copying two sources is considered research," I'm going to take the Texas-related excerpts from the National Football Foundation's weekly press release and mix in my comments, as well as some links to relating stories (to avoid the whole plagiarism thing).

Here we go ...

> Texas at Texas A&M will be played for the second year in a row on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. (CST) on ESPN (see schedule below). The Texas Tech at Texas game originally slated for Nov. 7 has been moved up to Sept. 19 for an ABC national telecast.

My take: No surprise on the UT/A&M game remaining on Thanksgiving. That should've been the case all along. But it does appear ABC wants to capitalize on the incredibly memorable UT/Tech matchup from 2008. I'd say it's extremely unlikely the 2009 matchup lives up to last year's classic. Texas should be better this fall; I don't think anyone can say the same for Tech.

> Baylor and Texas Tech are looking at the possibility of moving games in 2009 and 2010 to a neutral site in Dallas or Arlington, Texas.

My take: Doesn't Texas Tech have some other negotiations that are higher priorities right now?

Secondly, I really don't see the advantage a game in Dallas gives Baylor or Tech. Sure, neither of them play an annual game in the DFW area, but I don't think playing at the Cotton Bowl or Jerryworld will give either school such a boost in recruiting exposure that it mitigates the loss of a home game.

Plus, I kind of get the feeling Baylor is getting duped into this. First, there were rumors that Tech and A&M would meet in Dallas. Then, Tech explored that option with Oklahoma State. Since neither materialized, it seems Baylor has become Tech's latest target.

> Texas A&M-Commerce hired Dan Lounsbury as offensive coordinator and Brian Williams as defensive coordinator.

My take: For those who have turned their attention to other sports during the football offseason, TAMU-Commerce preceded these hirings by bringing Guy Morriss back to the state. Morriss spent last year as an assistant at Kentucky State after Baylor cut him loose following the 2007 season.

> The SMU Lettermen's Association will honor Rufus P. Cormier, Jr. , who lettered in football for the Mustangs in 1968 and 1969, with its prestigious Silver Anniversary Mustang Award on Feb. 28.

My take: Apparently Cormier never earned any "strikes" in June Jones' system.

> Ken "Dude" McLean, 65, a record-setting end at Texas A&M and catcher of the "Texas Special" 91-yard touchdown pass against Texas in 1965, died in Houston, Texas.

My take: Being a relatively young journalist/football fan, I regretfully don't know a whole lot about McLean, who must've been a pretty salty player to earn a nickname like "Dude."

> Austin College (Texas) football linebacker Zach Swirczynski, 20, died last week in Sherman, Texas.

My take: Sorry to end on a sad note. Austin College, a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in Division III, doesn't get a whole lot of statewide press, and it's too bad this is how AC enters the news. Swirczynski was a sophomore from Muenster who collapsed during a pick-up basketball game on campus. His family and friends will certainly be in DCTF's thoughts and prayers.

Two hires in particular have caught my interest. Both involve very young first- time head coaches, and, ironically, both indirectly involve both my high school and collegiate alma maters.

Several weeks ago, 2A Clifton hired Shawn Bell as its new head coach. Just four seasons ago, Bell was the quarterback at Baylor (where I matriculated). Many people considered Bell the best BU quarterback of the Big 12 era (though admittedly that's not a totally illustrious group). Among his backups in 2005 was Jason Lovvorn, who before walking on at Baylor played his prep days at First Baptist Academy in the heart of downtown Dallas (where I went to high school).

Shortly after Bell's hiring at Clifton, FBA promoted Lovvorn from quarterback coach to head coach. Lovvorn has been out of high school for all of four-plus years.

It's obvious neither Bell nor Lovvorn have a great deal of experience. But look back at the Super Bowl for examples of how hiring a young, up-and-coming assistant is a model worth considering. Or just check out the Cowboys and see how hiring a retread isn't a fail-proof route.

Both Bell and Lovvorn -- and all young, first-time head coaches for that matter -- will have to learn things on the fly. That might be a good thing; they'll have to be willing to learn and adapt. Sometimes veteran coaches are obstinate and unwilling to adapt. It's their system or else.

Before you call label an ageist, I'm not advocating schools ignore more experienced candidates and opt for the younger coaches. I just hope schools will follow Clifton's and FBA's lead and consider members of the younger generation and not a lack of experience dismiss them as viable candidates.

Moving on to another coaching topic, the THSCA announced the coaches for this summer's All-Star Football game, to be played in Austin ... outdoors ... in late July. Bring your Gatorade (or is it just "G" now?). Anyway, this is from the official release.

The Texas High School Coaches Association is pleased to announce the coaches for the 2009 THSCA All-Star Football and Basketball games. The All-Star games are held in conjunction with the Annual THSCA Coaching School, which this year will be held in Austin, July 19-22, 2009.

Gary Joseph, head football coach at Katy High School, will coach the South Football team. In his 22 seasons at Katy, Coach Joseph has been part of five state championships and made it to the big game four other times. Head coach at Katy since 2004, Joseph has helped lead the Tigers to a 55-4 record with state championships in 2007 and 2008.

Mickey Owens, head football coach at Monahans High School, will coach the North Football team. Owens held head coaching jobs at Rankin and Ballinger before taking the Monahans job in 2005. In his tenure at Monahans, the Lobos have compiled a 38-11 record, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2005 and the regionals in 2008. Coach Owens has a career record of 90-38.

My wife on the other hand ... she had put in so much time planning the wedding, when she woke up after it was all said and done, she felt relieved. Two very different feelings.

Where am I going with this? I liken that situation to recruiting ... when national signing day is over, the feeling of the recruits and the recruiters are drastically different. Coaches have spent many months -- sometimes as many as two years on a specific player -- courting a teenage recruit with hopes of getting his signature on a National Letter of Intent.

When a recruit finally signs, a coach feels a pretty rare feeling: relief.

"The only better day in the life of a college coach than the evening of signing day is after they win a bowl game or conference championship," Randy Rodgers, our recruiting analyst, told me. Rodgers now operates his own private recruiting service after spending decades as a college coach and recruiting coordinator, including a stint at UT.

College coaches can't completely move on to the next class, Rodgers added, until the NCAA clearinghouse has verified that all the signed recruits have met the NCAA's qualifications.

"When the clearinghouse has said so," Rodgers said, "that's when you know for sure."

College coaches dramatically decrease the amount of contact they have with their signees after signing day. Since the recruits are now bound to their program, coaches don't have to worry about losing the player to a rival.

And that's the flip side of the story. While coaches are relieved to have the process finished, recruits suddenly stop, well, feeling the love.

"On the part of the kid, there is certainly some withdrawal," Rodgers said. "He's getting all of this attention for months, but all of a sudden the mailbox isn't full, the voicemail isn't full, he isn't getting text messages.

"Nobody is telling him they love him anymore. The college coaches are now back at home paying attention to their wife and kids."

(Or grandkids -- great grandkids maybe? -- in the case of coaches like Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno.)

This withdrawal is the product of today's recruiting coverage. Kids become pseudo celebrities for months. Grown men wait on updates on players' decisions and anticipate announcement ceremonies as much as they would a game.

I'm not a big fan of that, but change seems nowhere in sight.

And what would a signing day be like without looking back at the all-too- numerous players that never fulfilled their expectations? If that's your cup of tea, check out this story in the Dallas Morning News; it's a where-are-they-now look at the DFW area's top 50 recruits from the Class of 2004. Less than half of that class finished school at the program they originally signed with.

That story begs the question: How did so many players fail to realize their potential? How many become the dreaded "bust"? ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman attempts to answer that question, finding 10 reasons why recruits don't pan out. Feldman turned to college coaches for the 10 reasons, so not surprisingly, only in one of the explanations (and last on the list) do the coaches accept the blame.

Some players see the bust tag coming before it's too late. A fresh start seems to be the best way to prevent that from happening. Transferring to a school closer to home can often provide a change of scenery that can revitalize a career. That's a story Sam Khan explores in the Houston Chronicle.

As the story dictates, Sam McGuffie is a prime example; he signed with Michigan this time last year and got a decent amount of playing time as a freshman. But it wasn't the right fit, and McGuffie has since transferred to Rice. Instead of being one of dozens of "five-star" recruits at Michigan, McGuffie will have the chance to be the go-to guy for the Owls.

As a poster on the Chronicle's site said, I hope current recruits are reading these stories. It's not that I think Texas high school players MUST stay in state, but they need to research their options pretty extensively. For some recruits, playing at a little less glamorous program closer to home is often a better option than playing at a major brand-name university halfway across the country.

That said, here's a note from Rice SID Chuck Pool sent me this morning in regard to players making a very long move (from Canada to Texas) to play college football. This is in response to my blog yesterday:

"We actually have four Canadians on the team right now, and have the two commitments you referenced. Arnaud did get considerable playing time last year, but the one you missed, and the one who started our pipeline, is Scott Mitchell, who signed in the summer of 2007, and stepped into a starting role at OT for the final five games of last year, then started all 13 games this year."

But John Werner of the Waco Tribune-Herald wrote about a trend few recruiting analysts could've foreseen: coaches from talent-rich Texas pulling in recruits from Canada.

Baylor has two Canadian-bred football players on campus with another expected to sign on Wednesday. Rice, according to Scout.com, has two verbal commitments from Canadians and two signees from last year's class, including Arnaud Gascon-Nadon (I have to assume he's French- Canadian), who totaled 11 tackles and returned an INT for a TD against North Texas.

The most interesting recruit of all these, however, is clearly Danny Watkins (shown at right), who signed with Baylor in December and enrolled in January in time for spring practices. Baylor coaches hope Watkins can fill the big void of left tackle Jason Smith, last year's starter who most draftniks have going in the first round (some say as high as the top 5) of the NFL Draft.

It's pretty common for a JUCO player to step right into a starting role. Watkins' path to Baylor, however, is anything but common. Watkins grew up as the "tough-guy enforcer" in his British Columbia hockey league. He became a fireman out of high school, which led him to Oroville (Calif.) Butte College, where he tried out for the football team, as he's said in interviews, "just for fun." He had no prior experience playing football of any kind.

I'd say Watkins a good time -- he started every single game at left tackle for Butte, including the school's 12-0 national championship season last fall. It was during that season Watkins was a unanimous all-conference selection and college programs began taking notice of Watkins, who entered Butte at 6-5, 265, but now weighs about 305.

I caught up with Watkins' former coach at Butte College, Jeff Jordan, who explained how Watkins went from a nobody to a top 50 nationally-ranked JUCO player:

“The season was going along and he had a lot of people sniffing around but no offers. We were three-quarters of the way through the season, and he had no offers, and he was kind of wondering what was going on.

"We told him it was all going to hit, and that's what happened. Baylor was the first to get on him, a coach came out and they had a good relationship from there on out. Next thing you know, Kansas and Arkansas come along with offers, and then Cal offers.

"I think he just had a really good visit (in Waco) and the opportunity to play and the direction of the program stood out to him."

With so many Texas recruits leaving the state to play college football, it's refreshing to see Texas programs import out-of-state players -- even if they come from another country.

That was my reason for calling Fort Bend Hightower coach Shane Hallmark today; six of Hightower's players are committed to DI programs (including to Rice, SMU and Texas A&M). Knowing that, I asked Hallmark about how the losses will impact his 2009 team.

"A lot of younger kids played this year, and we've actually played half a season already," Hallmark said. "Playing six more weeks gave us essentially half of another season."

Hallmark isn't the first coach to tell me that. Each week of playoff football lends as many as four to five extra practice days. Coaches get the chance to call up JV players and let them get the feel for the intensity and speed of the varsity level. Many of those JV players will step into starting roles the next season.

That's part of the reason teams like Katy and Euless Trinity go deep every year (and why, even though losses are plenty, they earn a ranking each preseason). These programs have a major head start on the competition.

And that's why Hightower, despite losing so many talented players from a state- runner up team, should be a force again this fall.

Can I remind them that there is already a plan in place? Every other sport has an early signing period allowing high school athletes -- if they're ready -- to sign college letters of intent before football players.

Some of the coaches oppose the early signing, such as Florida's Urban Meyer, who was quoted in the story with this gem: “I’m not comfortable signing kids I don’t know."

Hey coach -- an early signing period isn't mandatory. You can still wait till the traditional February date to sign your recruits. I'm sure another 30-40 days is all you need to build solid, life-changing relationships with these kids.

While in December Texas, USC, Notre Dame, Alabama and everyone else are busy signing players that they've spent the previous 12-16 months getting to know through in-home visits, tours of the campus and countless phone calls/emails/text messages, Meyer can use all of January to finish developing relationships with recruits.

It should be obvious now I'm in favor of an early signing period. By December, most seniors with college talent have evaluated their options and made a decision. As of this past December, for instance, more than 1,000 high school football players had made verbal commitments, including nearly 300 in Texas alone. Why not let them sign the paperwork and get it over with?

But (like the BCS), it appears change isn't on the horizon.

“I would say for now an early signing period is done," SEC associate commissioner Greg Sankey said. "I wouldn’t want to suggest there’s not another idea out there. But there’s not one that’s been identified at this point.”

The variety magazine (appearing as an insert in most major U.S. newspapers) announced its annual high school PARADE All-American team. I bet you need just one guess to figure out their national player of the year ... yes, Lake Travis QB Garrett Gilbert has added yet another national award. Gilbert, named our Mr. Texas Football in the winter edition, has also received national MVP honors from the likes of Gatorade and others.

But Gilbert isn't alone ... and he's not even the only Texas-bred QB to make PARADE's team. Here's the list of Texans making the cut (and the link to the whole story).

Running backs
> Kendial Lawrence (Rockwall-Heath) ... This tells me PARADE did its homework. Lawrence wasn't a big name heading into the season, and even after his incredible season, he's still not rated among the state's top 3-4 running backs. But I think he was the most deserving Texas RB this year.

Receivers
> A.J. Dugat (Dayton) ... Another solid selection by PARADE. Dugat, originally a TCU commit who is now headed to UH, had one of the best individual seasons, helping Dayton (along with QB Cody Green) to the state finals (where it met its match against Tyrik Rollison).

Offensive linemen
> Mason Walters (Wolfforth Frenship) ... Walters, headed to Texas along with Griffin, might be the biggest center in the state at 6-7 and nearly 300 pounds. That shows he's a versatile athlete who can play any spot on the offensive line. I wouldn't be surprised to see Walters on the field next fall.

Defensive linemen
> Jamarkus McFarland (Lufkin) ... I still consider him the top defensive player in the state (despite Rivals.com dropping him way down their state top 100 list). McFarland, who committed to OU a minute into Christmas Day, posted great senior numbers despite getting double-teamed on a regular basis.
> Alex Okafor (Pflugerville) ... Yet another UT verbal commitment, Okafor saw as may double-teams as McFarland and likewise produced great numbers. He earned all-state honors after collecting 59 tackles, 17 TFL and nine sacks in the regular season.

Linebackers
> Chris Williams (Abilene) ... I think Williams' value was most evident when he didn't play. An injury forced Williams to miss Abilene's playoff game, which turned out to be Abilene's only loss last season. Williams is part of Nebraska's very nice haul of Texans.

Defensive backs
> Craig Loston (Aldine Eisenhower) ... if McFarland isn't the top defensive player in the state, I think Loston deserves that label. He has started since his freshman year at a competitive program and could probably start at many college programs in the fall, though cracking LSU's athletic starting lineup will be a challenge.

So I figured I'd make the most of my time and update my blog ... it had been a while.

One of the biggest storylines for the 5A games is the battle between DFW and Houston (check out my friend Sam Khan's story about that in the Houston Chronicle today). Katy and Fort Bend High will represent the Houston area, of course, while Wylie and Allen hope to deliver the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area two more titles.

But even more incredible is that Allen and Wylie are from the same county, Collin, which just happens to lead all Texas counties in most football champinoships. Of course, Celina (8 titles) and Plano (7) did the bulk of that work. Those two schools alone beat out all other counties but Tarrant (thanks mostly to Southlake Carroll).

Thanks to Keith Whitmire of the Dallas Monring News, we have the breakdown of the top 20 most successful counties in Texas high school football.

Texas Counties Ranked by Most UIL Football Championships 1920- 2007
(includes 6-man, 8-man, and 11-man 1A through 5A)

1. Collin - 19 (Plano, Celina, Wylie, McKinney, Farmersville, Prosper)
2. Tarrant - 16 (17*) (Southlake Carroll, Everman, Grapevine, North Crowley, Masonic Home*, FW Arlington Heights, Euless Trinity, Arlington)
3. Dallas - 14 (15*) (Garland, Highland Park, Wilmer-Hutchins, Mesquite, Richardson Lake Highlands, Duncanville, Dallas Sunset, Dallas Oak Cliff, Dallas Carter*, Cedar Hill)
4. Bexar - 13 (12*) (SA Alamo Heights, Converse Judson*, SA Brackenridge, SA Roosevelt, SA Lee, SA Jefferson, SA Churchill)
5. McLennan - 12 (Waco, Mart, Lorena, Crawford, China Spring)
6. Wichita - 9 (Wichita Falls, Electra, Iowa Park)
6. Jefferson - 9 (Port Neches-Groves, Port Arthur Jefferson, Nederland, Beaumont West Brook, Beaumont Hebert, Beaumont French)
6. Galveston - 9 (La Marque, Texas City, Friendswood, Dickinson)
9. Harris - 8 (Deer Park, Houston Yates, Houston Stratford, Houston Reagan, Houston Lamar, GP North Shore, Aldine)
9. Denton - 8 (Lewisville, Denton Ryan, Pilot Point, Lewisville Hebron, Flower Mound Marcus)
9. Brown - 8 (Brownwood, May)
12. Taylor - 7 (Abilene, Abilene Wylie)
12. Ellis - 7 (Ennis, Milford, Waxahachie)
12. Ector - 7 (Odessa Permian, Odessa)
12. Fort Bend - 7 (Katy, Ft Bend Willowridge, Rosenberg Lamar Consolidated)
16. Upshur - 6 (Big Sandy, Union Hill, Gilmer)
16. Smith - 6 (Tyler John Tyler, Tyler Lee, Tyler Chapel Hill, Troup)
16. Bell - 6 (Bartlett, Temple, Killeen)
16. Travis - 6 (Austin Reagan, Austin Westlake, Austin SFA, Lake Travis)
20. Austin - 5 (Sealy)
20. Fayette - 5 (Schulenburg, La Grange)
20. Hudspeth - 5 (Fort Hancock)
20. Matagorda - 5 (Tidehaven, Bay City, Palacios)
20. Milam - 5 (Thorndale, Cameron, Rockdale)
20. Newton - 5 (Newton, Burkeville)
20. Stephens - 5 (Breckenridge)
20. Sutton - 5 (Sonora)

* - Carter won it on the field over CJ and was considered an official state champ for over 2 years before the title was taken away.
* - Masonic Home tied Corsicana 0-0 in the finals but lost the game by penetrations and only Corsicana is considered the "official champ" making Masonic Home the only team to play to a tie in a state final and NOT be considered a co- champ

Allen (playing for the 5A Division I title this weekend) went undefeated in District 8-5A play, but I think we got a glimpse of just how good Wylie is when it lost to Allen by a touchdown. That and a close loss to Plano were the only losses Wylie sustained, and before anyone says Wylie has no shot against Katy, remember that Katy lost its first two games of the season, then lost in district to Cinco Ranch in the final regular season game.

Like Wylie, Sulphur Springs finished third in its district, while Longview won the 13-4A title outright. Longview held Sulphur Springs to its lowest point total of the season in Week 5, a 32-13 Longview win. In the nine games since then, Sulphur Springs has averaged 41.7 points per game. That number increases to 43.6 during the five playoff games.

Dropping down to 3A, Prosper -- the Division I champs thanks to a 17-10 win over La Vega on Saturday -- also won the District 9-3A title, the most significant win coming against Celina, 33-7, in its second district game of the season. Celina may have lost two other games this year, but the defeats to Whitehouse and Daingerfield, Celina was competitive. Not against Prosper, which held Celina to four first downs and led 33-0 in the fourth quarter before Celina finally scored. Thus, if Celina wins the 3A Division II title, you'd have to think Prosper deserves the overall No. 1 ranking in 3A.

The same goes for 1A. Canadian won the Division I title over the weekend, but Canadian's only regular-season loss was a 17-7 decision to Stratford, which faces Cayuga this weekend with the DII title on the line. Stratford actually held Canadian's offense scoreless, allowing only a special teams touchdown. Thus, if Stratford wins it all, it should finish No. 1 in 1A.

'To one of the good ones, Cook, we say get well'

Near the end of his team's 27-13 loss to Cisco in the 2A playoffs last weekend, Cook collapsed on the field after a severe hit. As of Monday, Cook was slowly recovering at Covenant Childrens Hospital in Lubbock. Though not in a coma, doctors sedated Cook to slowly bring him back to consiousness.

Idalou head coach Johnny Taylor said it's a tenuous situation, but they expect Cook to make a full recovery.

I had heard a player was injured, but thanks go to a reader, Bart, who informed me of the severity and passed on this request:

"We request prayers from you and all your readers for his recovery."

Think about it -- if you had to fill in the ballot right now, who would you choose? There isn't a clear-cut favorite to be had, unlike last year (Katy's Aundre Dean) or in 2006 (Southlake Carroll's Riley Dodge).

Let's go region-by-region, looking at teams still going in the playoffs who have MVP candidates.

REGION I: The state's No. 1 team (until last weekend), Euless Trinity, didn't have one standout individual on offense, but rather a collection of productive players. The best offensive player on the team it lost to, Allen, hasn't played the last two games and likely won't play again with his shoulder injury. Teams like Permian (RB Sherard Ray), Plano (RB Rex Burkhead), and Abilene (LB Chris Williams or QB Stephen Warren) all departed the playoffs too early for them to have a runaway candidate.

REGION II: So many good teams, yet again, none have a player that immediately comes to mind for MVP consideration. Stony Point has two players that almost have the Harrell/Crabtree effect. Who do you pick between Stony Point QB Nyk McKissic and his RB, Glasco Martin? Copperas Cove gets so much production from so many players, like Stony Point, it's hard to single out one player for most of the team's success. The teams each beat to get here (Stony Point beat Skyline; Copperas Cove beat Klein Oak) also have standouts at both RB and QB, thus complicating the picture.

REGION III: The toughest region of all to break down. Sure, Katy has run rampant through the Division II bracket, but its district rival, Cinco Ranch -- a team that beat Katy but was forced to play in the superior DI bracket -- perhaps has two more deserving candidates in Shane Ros and Adam Hirtz. This is where I think a favorite emerges. In consecutive weeks, Fort Bend Hightower has beaten undefeated North Shore, one-loss Cinco Ranch, and undefeated Pearland. I have to think QB A.J. Highsmith, though not the most prolific passer this year, has a lot to do with those wins.

REGION IV: There are good players no longer playing (Reagan's Derrick Walls; Los Fresnos' Danny Silva), and as stated, I tend to think players on teams that go deep in the playoffs warrant more MVP attention. Looking at the two regional champs, I'd have to say SA Clark has a leg up on Smithson Valley. Clark RB Jock Tilghman leads the Alamo City in rushing; that has to count for something.

So there you have it. If pressed to pick an MVP in 5A, Hightower's Highsmith would get my vote. I can guarantee that many of you readers would vote otherwise, so as always, email me and let me know.

The 2008 inductees expected to attend are:

• Former University of Texas football star and Philadelphia Eagles DB Bill Bradley;
• Former Dallas Cowboys LB Lee Roy Jordan
• Former University of Texas men’s basketball coach Abe Lemons (deceased)
• Former NASL soccer star Kyle Rote Jr.;
• TCU & San Diego Charger RB LaDainian Tomlinson
• Former University of Texas RB Steve Worster
• Former University of Texas women’s basketball star Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil.

Let's now return to Texas high school football and a topic that came to mind. Check out this photo of Los Fresnos QB Danny Silva to the right. I've seen Stephenville wearing "Win 5" jerseys in the playoffs, meaning win five games and they're winning a state championship. John Tyler dons the "Cujo" jerseys, while 2A Holliday has "Hero" on the backs of their jerseys where last names usually go.

So where does "Family" come from? Los Fresnos coach Scott Ford filled me in via email:

"The story is that my high school football coach, Dennis Parker, based his program in Marshall on a FAMILY concept. I saw with my own eyes how it brought us together as a team. It didn’t matter if you were black, white, Hispanic, rich, poor or whatever when we were together we were more than a team we were a family.

"It’s not something that we can just 'talk' about as coaches; we have to model it and live it with our players EVERY DAY especially during the off season. In a nutshell that’s the story. "

Very interesting, and a good way to build team unity and chemistry.

Only two of those original 25 districts swept their competition for the second week in a row, while two more districts with opening-round byes saw all their teams win their second-round games.

Two-Week Sweeps:

• District 10-2A: The highest-ranked team in this district had the hardest time pulling off the win. That didn't surprise me, as many were actually expecting Pilot Point to lose against Gunter. Pilot Point escaped with a 15-13 win; meanwhile, Callisburg (42-21 against DeKalb) and Pottsboro (29-15 over Paul Pewitt) each had a little breathing room at the end of their games.
• District 22-1A: If Bremond, Mart and Normangee sweep the third round, they'll knock out some pretty good teams. Mart plays Alto in DI, while Bremond (against Cayuga) and Normangee (facing Maud) in DII face equally daunting challenges.

Rest before Sweeping:

• District 1-A: Before the season started, we named District 1-1A the toughest in 1A. I love it when teams make us look smart. Canadian had the toughest challenge, but it deflated Wellington, 55-20, while both Stratford (41-7 over Nazareth) and Sunray (23-7 over Clarendon) won their games in style.
• District 27-1A: Not only did this district sweep its playoff openers, all the wins came against 25-1A, a district that swept its first-round games. Pretty thick irony there. None of the wins by 27-1A teams (Shiner over Goldthwaite; Ganado over Chilton; Burton over Bosqueville) surprised me, but all wins were by double-digits ... very impressive.

Districts do not release their all-district lists until all of the playoff teams have been eliminated from the postseason. After one week, a surprisingly-high 25 districts saw all of their playoff teams wiped off the postseason slate.

• District 28-5A: The only 5A district to pull off the four-game sweep got its most unlikely win from first-year San Antonio Stevens, which upset Judson 14-12. The other three teams involved in the sweep (O'Connor, Warren and Clark) all won by at least 14 points.
• District 2-4A: In this battle of El Paso districts, 2-4A sent home some of the city's better programs (Chapin, Andress come to mind). The biggest stunner was EP Austin's 44-41 loss to Parkland; Austin had been the only team in El Paso to go 10-0 in the regular season.
• District 4-4A: Abilene Cooper, Wolfforth Frenship, and Big Spring all won by at least 19 points, while San Angelo Lake View beat Dumas, 33-25, Lake View's first playoff win since 1996.
• District 8-4A: Even with the loss of Aledo, 8-4A still swept the four teams from Fort Worth ISD's 7-4A. But unlike previous years, there was one really tight game: Stephenville needed double overtime to beat FW Dunbar, 47- 41.
• District 21-4A: Like 2-4A over 1-4A in El Paso, this bi-district pairing between districts 21 and 22 pit Houston ISD teams against each other. Three of the favorites won, while Houston Yates proved it still had a little left in the tank, beating Jones 27-6. Yates had entered the game with a 3-5 record, while Jones was 7-2.
• District 25-4A: You can't just say 25-4A is Lake Travis and three other teams anymore. Lake Travis definitely looked the best and played the part of No. 1, but 25-4A also saw Dripping Springs, Killeen and Pflugerville Hendrickson win their playoff games.
• District 27-4A: This district provided the least-surprising sweep. Three of the teams -- Kerrville Tivy, Alamo Heights and Cibolo Steele -- ended the season ranked in the top 25. The fourth, Schertz Clemens, lost just three games -- all to those ranked teams.
• District 30-4A: Three teams' games (PL Calhoun, CC Ray, and Beeville Jones) had little doubt about the outcome in the fourth quarter. But somehow, district champion Gregory-Portland let Uvalde hang around in an eventual 34-26 G-P win -- a less than ideal way to open the playoffs.
• District 2-3A: Again, not a surprise that District 2 swept District 1. While the best record from 1-3A was 6-4 (by both Lubbock Cooper and Dalhart), the 2-3A teams (Abilene Wylie, Sweetwater and Snyder) were all ranked and had a combined 23-7 record.
• District 3-3A: Sweeping District 4-3A sets up a District 2 vs. District 3 showdown this weekend, and there's a good chance that District 2-3A comes up with its second sweep in a row. Monahans (facing Snyder) gives District 3-3A its best chance at preventing a sweep.
• District 9-3A: This district really flexed its muscle, as Celina, Prosper and Argyle all beat East Texas teams by at least 20 points. I won't be surprised if 9-3A teams all win again this weekend. In fact, I might be more surprised if they don't.
• District 12-3A: These three winners (Kennedale, Kaufman and Alvarado) now play the teams from 9-3A, and as I mentioned above, I think 9-3A sweeps again.
• District 19-3A: District 20-3A saw the biggest scramble at the end of the season for teams trying to get in. Perhaps they expended all their energy doing so, as the three teams from 20-3A were swept out by Waco La Vega, Lorena and Mexia.
• District 25-3A: All our "experts" (and I use that word somewhat lightly) picked 25-3A to sweep this round. With teams like Bellville, Giddings and Sealy, we weren't exactly going out on a limb.
• District 2-2A: District 2-2A had to work hard to earn this sweep. Muleshoe beat Bushland in a battle of 10-0 teams; Friona upset 9-1 Panhandle in OT; and Childress beat Sanford-Fritch by 12. This may be the most impressive sweep of them all.
• District 3-2A: Well, I take that back. District 3-2A's three-game sweep of 4-2A might be more startling than 2-2A sweeping 1-2A. The three winners (Littlefield, Idalou and Lubbock Roosevelt) actually had a lower winning percentage than the teams it beat (Alpine, Crane and Kermit), albeit ever so slightly.
• District 6-2A: Two of the teams we knew would win -- Cisco and Clyde. The third, Merkel, pulled off one of the bigger upsets in 2A, beating 10-0 Holliday.
• District 10-2A: Like 6-2, I knew two teams from 10-2A would advance: Pottsboro (now 10-1) and Pilot Point (now 9-1). But Callisburg upsetting Paradise took me by surprise. Callisburg entered the game 6-4; Paradise was 10- 0.
• District 13-2A: It wasn't even close. Lone Oak blanked Mildred, 41- 0; Winnsboro crushed Edgewood. 55-6; and Caddo Mills handled Kerens 37-12.
• District 17-2A: The three teams in 17-2A provided games of every variety: A blowout (Daingerfield 49, Harleton 0); a somewhat competitive game (Hughes Springs 34, Harmony 14); and a last-second thriller (Jefferson 39, White Oak 35).
• District 26-2A: I'm still trying to figure out how Hallettsville stifled Rogers (a 9-0 win) like it did. I'm an admitted fan of high-scoring offensive showdowns, but I bet this game was pretty intense. The other two games in this sweep weren't so much ... East Bernard pounded Academy, 56-21, and Rice Consolidated beat Salado 31-7.
• District 31-2A: These three teams (George West, Dilley and Three Rivers) needed to win convincingly, as they'll now face three teams with a combined 26-3 record.
• District 20-1A: The two ranked teams from 20-1A, Alto and Cayuga, actually had the toughest time in the first round. Cayuga beat Tenaha, 18-16, on a late field goal, while Alto pulled away from Joaquin, 25-13. Meanwhile, the unranked team, Grapeland, had the best win of the three, upsetting top 25 Mount Enterprise, 53-33.
• District 22-1A: Bremond looked like it can make another run to the title game, pounding Dawson 55-8. Mart, meanwhile, didn't look like the Region III favorite, barely beating Axtell, 26-22. Speaking of favorites, Itasca no longer is one, as Normangee upset Itasca, 22-14, to pull off this 22-2A sweep.
• District 25-1A: No matter who the UIL puts in this district, it always seems to be strong. This year didn't change, as Chilton, Goldthwaite and Bosqueville all advanced by beating teams from 26-1A.

I'm skipping watching the playoffs today to watch a college game (Baylor vs A&M), but before I embark on that scenic Dallas-to-Waco trip down I-35, I thought react to some of the stunning results from Friday night's playoff games.

• Isn't it Ironic: Last year, a key injury turned a game around. Not just a game -- THE game of 2007. When Abilene LB Chris Williams kncoked Riley Dodge out of a third-round playoff game with a big hit, Abilene rode the momentum to an upset of Carroll.

  This year, the injury bug infected Williams. A knee injury just before the playoffs started kept Williams on the sidelines, and his presence was definitely felt. With Abilene defense missing perhaps the state's best prep defender, Mansfield and RB Stepfan Taylor (198 rushing yards) took advantage in a 20-14 win. A lot of people had picked Abilene to win it all, so this upset ranks at the top of the surprise- meter.

• Rally around a team: I think that's what the city of El Paso should do with Montwood. In case you missed it, Montwood pulled off its own West Texas stunner, beating Midland Lee -- on Lee's homefield no less -- 24-21. No El Paso team had beaten a Permian Basin team since 1990.

• Something old, something new: Converse Judson's legendary history ranks with any team in the state. San Antonio Stevens didn't seem to care. Stevens upset Judson, 14-12, winning its first playoff game in its first trip. Not to discredit Stevens, but I have to think Judson took Stevens lightly. Judson was used to playing "tougher" Austin-area 25-5A teams in the first round, so perhaps Judson entered the game too over-confident.

• Game of the night: It's hard to declare a winner, but the Jefferson/White Oak game sounded like a thriller. First off, there was so much off-field intrigue in this game. Jefferson entered with a 2-8 record because it had to forfeit four wins. White Oak, meanwhile, had rebounded from last year's 1-9 record to go 8-2 i nthe regular season and had a legitimate shot at making a regional final.

  But the game ended up overshadowing any other storyline. White Oak's lead was erased with 1:09 left in the game on an 88-yard Jefferson score. Still, White Oak drove all the way to the Jefferson 21-yard line -- getting there by converting a fourth-and-10 with 37 seconds left -- but three striaght incompletions allowed Jefferson to escape with a 39-35 win.

• Don't repeat yourself: Since Munday didn't make the 1A playoffs, it had no chance at a repeat state title. Now, neither Lamar Consol nor Farmersville will have a chance either. Both lost close games last night (Consol 28-24 to Friendswood, and Farmersville, now in 3A, 24-21 to Kemp). Some defending champs moved on (Lake Travis, Liberty Hill, Alto and Celina), some teams play today (Trinity and Katy), while Canadian had a bye and will face Wellington next weekend.

Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone enjoys the Saturday playoff games they attend. Meanwhile, I'll try to make the most of watching some college football.

"Texas & TCU tied in the power poll? Come on, Oklahoma beat TCU quite convincingly (35-10), only to have Texas beat Oklahoma by 10 points 2 weeks later. Not sure how you can compare a 25 point loss to a 6 point, last second (literally) loss and say they are even.

I realize that TCU will drop some next week with their loss to Utah, but I couldn’t let this go without a challenge."
-- Mark from somewhere in Texas

Both TCU and Utah looked like pretty good teams ... but Mark is right. UT (and Tech, and OU, and OSU) are a level or two above Utah and TCU. I'd put those four Big 12 South teams up against any team in the country and feel pretty good about their chances.

"Here’s a note that might be worth mentioning: Plano’s Rex Burkhead plays his 49th varsity 5A football game tonight against Jesuit. And as you may know, his Freshman year he alternated every other play at fullback and actually had an interception against SLC in as a Safety late in the game. Next Friday against Duncanville in the playoffs will be his 50th. I’m guessing that’s a pretty small list of people who have accomplished that in 5A, maybe even a level below."
-- Larry in Plano

That's one record we don't keep, but I can't imagine many players have played more than 50 games over a four-year varsity campaign. And as Larry alluded to, Rex Burkhead has probably played every position on the field in the course of those 49 games.

In our Thursday scores, I speculated (actually a reader did) about La Marque giving up 68 points to Friendswood Thursday night. Definitely uncommon for La Marque's typically strong defense. Thanks to this reader, we saw just how uncommon it was:

"I read your recap of last night including the Friendswood/LaMarque comments. LaMarque gave up 68 points in 16 games in 1995 on the way to a State championship. That being said, LaMarque had a freshman starting at running back and quarterback that looked good last night. Wild night in LaMarque."
-- Larry in Friendswood

So while last night was bleak, good times should be just around the corner for La Marque.

And finally, I'll let a reader named Swanny (who I believe hails from New Boston) have the last word:

"I understand NB doesn't put up flashy 63-7 scores, but they do what it takes to get the job done. They are 8-1, and not to make excuses, but if not for a blown call in the final minute where the ref called the receiver out of bounds and after watching the video he was clearly in, they would be 9-0. They just defeated an undefeated PG, a top 5 team, and they didn't just beat them by 1 point, they beat them by 14. So, both NB and PG are 8-1, and NB just proved they're 14 points better than PG, yet PG is 18th and NB isn't even ranked? If PG was top 5, then NB should be top 5, or at least top 10, much less top 25. Only twice has a team scored over 15 on NB all year, and no one has scored over 28. They allow an average of 10 pts. per game, which is pretty good in today's era of spread offenses. I understand the reservations on ranking them because they just moved back up to 3A, and they mostly run, but they do deserve a spot I believe..."

Yet having met and spent time with this head coach, I imagine he's more proud of what his sons are doing right now than any of his own accomplishments.

Thursday night, Brad Davis coached Frenship to a 16-10 win at Abilene Cooper. The win ran Frenship's record to 9-0 and all-but guaranteed Frenship the district title. Then, 24 hours later, Brent Davis (at right getting the Gatorade bath on Saturday) coached Alice to a 50-6 win against Laredo Nixon. The victory allowed Brent to match Brad -- both are 9-0 and in sole possession of first place in district.

So who wins in this sibling rivalry? For now, I have to side with Brad ... his Frenship team is ranked ninth in our 4A top 25, 10 spots better than Brent and Alice.

But there's a lot of football still to be played this season and beyond. I think we'll be hearing from the brothers Davis just as long and as much as we heard from their father.

Thanks to Football.AliceCoyotes.com for the photo of Brent Davis.

Like most obituaries, the final words from Wes Underwood's hometown paper, the Port Lavaca Wave, can not aptly summarize Wes' life -- and particularly, his meaning and value to myself and the rest of the DCTF staff.

We have several "regulars" who contribute frequently to our publication, guys like Carl Padilla and Jerry Forrest (high school rankings) and Randy Rodgers (recruiting analyst). I have always considered Wes as valuable as any of them.

For the past two years, Wes (shown at right) served as our official historian. Check out our records section -- 90 percent of those wouldn't be on our site without Wes. His mind was sharp; his HS football data system spotless. Whenever a reader emailed me asking a historical question, in no longer than 10 seconds would I forward the email to Wes. I knew if he didn't have an answer, there was no answer.

And though Wes was a self-admitted "old-school" football fan, in a matter of a month, Wes learned the technology behind making highlight videos of Texas high school prospects. If your son's highlight video has run on this site, you have Wes to thank.

In the professional world, you often come to know your contacts on a personal level. I first came across Wes in the fall of 2004 when I was sports editor of the Corsicana Daily Sun. We were looking for a site or company to provide point differentials for high school games. The Sun had used Collier-Sharp.com for years, but Wes - - the sole person behind that site -- told me he had run out of time necessary to maintain that site.

That was our last conversation until late in 2005. Wes had remembered our brief encounter, and having learned I had joined the staff at DCTF, he contacted me asking if he could provide any assistance, as he was re-launching his web site.

Within a year, DCTF had established a working relationship with Wes, and he soon became a regular face at events like the Texas Football Classic and the annual summer Coaching School. Wes was always the same no matter where we were; upbeat, friendly, and the personification of a nice, good guy.

It was at that THSCA convention this summer when Wes mentioned an interest in resuming his writing career. So he started the History Blog, a forum where he could share whatever was on his mind. And his mind was never short of ideas. Only a few people have I met that so vividly can recall past games and players -- only Dave Campbell and my boss, Adam Hochfelder, come to mind. All three could tell you about a game in '84 as if it were yesterday.

Wes always -- always -- sent me his blog update on Wednesdays. That trait typified Wes as I knew him. Accountable, trust-worthy, and an unfailing ability to deliver what was asked of him. I don't want to know how many more important things Wes shelved so that he could answer one of my research questions or so he could rush to finish a highlight video of a particular recruiting prospect that "I needed fast."

So when Wes's blog for this week didn't arrive, I definitely was aware. But I never sent a reminder. I knew I wouldn't have to. Wes would never forget nor slip on his responsibility. Whenever weather in his hometown forced an evacuation, I knew his plan and timetable for return days in advance. He was always a step ahead.

I know our magazine and web site will suffer from losing Wes Underwood. We've lost a treasured contributor and a good friend. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the entire Underwood family.

But after the Cowboys' 3-0 start, there was just as much media attention at the time. Except it was all positive then.

To me, it's a blanket observation of the sports media these days: that one way or the other, the media's analysis/opinions cover the ultimate and opposite extremes (hmmm ... probably applies to politics, no?)

To hammer that point in, check out these two views of No. 1 Texas, one from ESPN.com, the other from SportsIllustrated.com.

Now, on to my current blogging series: stocks rising and falling, with the spotlight on 3A today (and yes, I'm a day late) ...

Regarding Coppell's 57-53 win over Carroll in 2 OTs and Midland's 53-49 double- OT-win over Amarillo, Dana in McAllen asked: "How does a team lose an overtime game by 4 points?"

Great question. Obviously, both Carroll and Amarillo scored first in the second overtime, each kicking FGs in their respective games. Both Coppell and Midland then answered with TDs. Why kick a meaningless PAT? Because it might not be meaningless in Week 10, Wixon told me:

"It’s because of tiebreakers used at the end of the season. A team is allowed to kick the extra point in OT because a playoff spot could be determined by a point- differential tiebreaker."

I feel a little less smart today for not figuring that out. Anyway, on to the second entry where I pick teams either gaining or losing steam down the final stretch of the '08 season:

And since I haven't been eating all too well lately (hey, the State Fair just ended ... I have a decent excuse), I can at least attempt to blog much more often than I have.

Here's my strategy: start a blog series that will force me to write something each day. My first idea? Teams on upward or downward trends. So from today through Friday, I'll focus on each classification and pick out 10 unranked teams on both ends of the spectrum, teams with either rising or falling stock.

A question from a reader really has me stumped.

"So far, Midland/Odessa teams are a combined 14-0 vs. teams from Amarillo/Lubbock/San Angelo. Can you explain the dominance?"
-- Andrew in West Texas

Permian is one thing. The program was a juggernaut in waiting. It just needed someone who -- in Texas A&M terms -- "understood the culture" of Mojo. Darren Allman obviously fits that job description. He's the first Permian coach who also suited up for the team.

But I'm not sure how to explain why Odessa, a team that hasn't made the playoffs since the 90s, has beaten two Lubbock schools (LHS and Coronado), Amarillo Tascosa, and San Angelo Central. Midland appears to have its best team since 2005 when it went 10-3, but look at the differences in 2-5A results: it beats the non-Permian Basin teams by an average of 21 points per game, yet was only a TD better than rival Midland Lee.

Andrew is correct -- the numbers don't lie. There's a strong likelihood that the four playoff squads from the 10-team District 2-5A will be the combined four Midland/Odessa programs.

I don't know tha answer why, but the Panhandle and South Plains teams better hope its a cycle and not the norm.

Free of charge, here's an early edition (and addition) to our record books.

Laredo Alexander's 70-35 win over Laredo Martin last weekend produced all kinds of new entries, the bulk of them from Alexander QB Jerry Lopez:
-- The 8 TD passes Lopez threw ties him for the state record with three players;
-- Lopez's 591 passing yards are second all-time to Laredo United's Alvaro Garcia (595 vs. SA Reagan, 2006) and just one yard better than the previous second-place holder;
-- Likewise, Lopez's 46 completed passes rank second all-time, two behind the mark set by Henrietta's Brian Parrish in 1995 against Electra;
-- The top receiving target, Aldo Hernandez, tied for second with two other players for single-game receptions with 20, two behind the state' all-time leader.

While looking through Lopez's statistics, I also noticed he set the state record for single-game pass attempts at 76 -- but astoundingly, that wasn't in this win over Martin. Lopez attempted 76 passes in Week 0's 38-28 loss to CC Carroll.

And while I'm spinning these records, I should mention two other players we have our eyes on who are working their way up the charts. Whitehouse senior QB Brady Attaway how has 545 completed passes to his credit, pushing him past UT's (and Jim Ned-ex) Colt McCoy for 9th all-time. If Attaway can reach 600 -- highly likely -- he'll be fifth all-time. He also has a chance to crack the record books in all- time completions; his 889 are just 45 behind Chandler Dane (Decatur 2002-04).

We'll have to wait a little longer for Cayuga's Traylon Shead, a junior RB who has 5,538 career rushing yards (plus 72 TDs). Shead is on pace for 2,892 yards, which would give him 6,984 for his career. And if his senior numbers match his junior numbers, Shead would finish with 9,876 career rushing yards, second only to the legendary Ken Hall in Texas history.

The scary thing: that's only 10-game projections. If Shead stays healthy, and Cayuga (a top 10 1A team) adds some playoff games to the mix, Shead could join Hall as the only 10,000-plus yard rushers.

There's a reason why Major Applewhite was seen at a Cayuga game recently.

Many of his players and coaches still don't have electricity in their homes (power returned at the Aymonds just this past Saturday), and his team hasn't practiced regularly for an entire month. Yet Aymond, shown below, still took as long as I needed to ask him a few questions about something that now seems to be so trivial in the grand scheme of things.

If North Shore wins at Lufkin tonight, the Mustangs will set the state record for most consecutive regular season wins at 73, breaking the mark set by Southlake Carroll from 1984 through 1992. The last North Shore loss came in 2000, a three- point decision to Drew Tate-led Baytown Lee.

Since then, North Shore has won seven district titles and one state championship and reached at leas the 11-win mark every year.

“Back when we began this mission 14 years ago,” Aymond said of his first season at North Shore in ‘94, “we started with small accomplishments, and they get bigger and bigger, and this is certainly a major accomplishment.”

Aymond is proud of the work he and his players and staff have accomplished. It gives the school and community something to rally around -- "Anything that’s a positive thing is great for your school and community," Aymond said. "Those are pride builders, now matter how big or small they are." -- and a rallying cry is needed now more than ever.

The aftermath of Hurricane Ike has put the Mustangs' season and success in a new perspective.

“One of the things we found out in the last few weeks, as important as football is to ourselves as coaches and players, there are other things that come into play that we’re reminded are bigger things,” Aymond said. “Football has taken a back seat, and we were required to see it that way.”

Nevertheless, football will go on. Except now the pace needs to speed up dramatically.

Technically this would've been the sixth week of regular practice for the Mustangs. In reality, it's more like the second week.

"We’ve not played since Sept. 5th," Aymond said. "Here it is mid-season, and I can’t say we’re in mid-season form."

But don't take that as an excuse if North Shore has to settle for tying the record. Aymond and the Mustangs still expect to win tonight, no matter the strength of opponent, no matter the circumstances that even precipitated this trip to Lufkin.

North Shore originally had a bye this weekend, as did Lufkin. Both needed a game, and an arrangement quickly came to fruition between Aymond and Lufkin head coach John Outlaw.

So if anything, North Shore has been preparing for this game -- for this grand moment -- not only these dormant four weeks, but since Aymond arrived in 1994.

“The last time we were getting ready for a game, it was taken away from us,” Aymond said. “It’s good to prepare for something definite again.”

David Aymond photo courtesy of Matt Malatesta

A weekend spent watching football (read: attend a game Thursday night, Friday night, maybe on Saturday, but if not, watch as many games as possible, plus NFL on Sunday) still doesn't wear me out for the final word on the weekend.

But this year is different: I have retired from fantasy football.

And unlike Brett Favre and numerous others, I don't miss the game.

Agonizing over a player getting 59 rushing yards when one more yard would've earned me an extra fantasy point ... scanning the free agent list for an available TE to fill in for my TE who has an off week ... trying to dupe my friends into trading two of my spare players for his star player. Don't miss any of it.

Coincidentally, my enjoyment of the NFL has spiked from last year. Sure, I might be in the dark about Corell Buckhalter's sudden value now that Brian Westbrook might be less than 100 percent, but outside of fantasy players, only people like John Clayton need to know that info.

I'm back to enjoying touchdowns for the beauty of the play, not for the implications to my fantasy team. When I see Kansas City vs. Oakland on paper, I don't view it as Larry Johnson vs. Darren McFadden (at least not in the fantasy sense, as both KC and Oakland have little more to offer).

Quitting fantasy football has brought more relief than I realized. When the Cowboys beat the Eagles two Monday nights ago (I WAS watching that one), I enjoyed the game for the magnitude of it. Not all writers can say the same thing.

There's one thing I must admit.

The Lawn Wranglers, my fantasy team last year ... yep, they won their league. Nothing like going out while on top.

Can a winless team be ranked? I'm reaching out to the readers: You tell me what teams with losing records deserve a ranking.

4A Wichita Falls Rider, preseason No. 2 in 4A, triggered this debate. Rider has lost all three games to start 2008. The first was against a ranked 5A team, Cedar Hill. Next came the televised loss at unbeaten Sulphur Springs, a game where Rider miscues didn't help the cause.

And Friday night, resurgent John Tyler held off Rider, 28-24.

We know Rider is a great team despite its 0-3 record -- but does it deserving a ranking? Do we rank based on the team's recent past or the team's potential?

It's a tough call, with similar cases in abundance:

• 3A Brownwood: The Lions are 1-3, with losses to No. 1 Liberty Hill, top 10 La Vega and 4A Stephenville. This week's bye is timed just right.
• 4A Calallen: Losing to unbeaten 5A Los Fresnos and No. 14 Edcouch-Elsa have Calallen at 1-2.
• 3A West Oso: Staying in the Corpus area, West Oso's losses have come to state-ranked Devine and 4A Beeville Jones.
• 3A Carthage: Facing three 4A teams, Carthage has lost twice to start '08 1-2, including Friday's 21-18 loss to Nacogdoches.
• 1A Alto: The two losses by the two-time reigning champs haven't been pretty: 26-7 to San Augustine and 34-13 to Frankston. Call it a blessing in disguise that Alto's game vs. 2A top 10 Arp was canceled due to Hurricane Ike.

And then there are teams like Westfield and FB Hightower, both ranked in 5A, yet neither has played more than one game because of off weeks and Hurricane Ike. How much -- if at all -- should a team slide in the rankings because of inactivity.

This morning, the reporter sent the link to the story. I'll be honest, the "small- town" theme has been covered as well as any presidential election. From "Friday Night Lights" (the book, movie and TV show) to local columns in weekly papers -- I even wrote one a couple years back for American Profile magazine -- high school football in Texas has been glorified (and even sometimes vilified) too many times to count.

That's what makes this story by Wes Ferguson about football in Gilmer all the more impressive. Segmented by varying perspectives from the locals, we hear from the team's "grandma," an aging woman known as much for her 50-yard line seats as for her pregame cuisine weekly prepared for Gilmer coaches. The grandma espouses "the Christian values" instilled in the team by head coach Jeff Traylor.

On the opposite end is the ROTC, whose members lament the millions spent on Gilmer's stadium while their "bathrooms are trash."

If you have time today, make sure to give that story a read. It may focus on Gilmer, but it's just as much about your team as it is theirs.

While I'm in the blogging mood, I wanted to pass on a couple reader emails. Class 3A has gotten a lot of pub this week for its inter-Top 25 matchups, but two fans are upset their teams are not among the conversation:

"How in the world could you not have Burkburnett in the top 25 of 3A?? Burk is 3-0 having only given up 6 points in the first three quarters of all their games while averaging about 35 points. Burk was picked to win district and had nine returning starters on both sides of the ball. Decatur and Bridgeport are in Burk's district and you have them both in the top 25. Burk will beat both of them by 20!! Gives us some respect!!!"
-- Phillip in Burkburnett

If Burkburnett takes care of Decatur and Bridgeport both by the tune of 20 points or more, not only will your team win district, it could challenge for the whole thing. But yes, Burk is on our radar and very close to entering the rankings.

Talk about a tough district. Speaking of:

"Why is Smithville High School (35 miles east of Austin) not in the top 25 rankings for 3A? We are 3-0!!! What a turn around this school has seen in the last 4 years! Check them out. I know we are in one of the toughest 3A districts around, but we deserve a look (at least)."
-- Randal in Smithville

As I pointed out to Randal in my reply, we did get the Smiths a little ink in our story about surprising 2-0 teams. But Smithville's start could be the most impressive of all those teams. This is a program that lost all 30 games it played from the start of 2002 to the end of 2004.

A tough road remains as Randal pointed out. It likely must pull off a win against either Giddings, Bellville or Sealy -- all of them ranked in 3A -- to earn a postseason berth.

I'll start first with impressions from Sulphur Springs' comeback 22-16 win over Wichita Falls Rider, a game I watched courtesy of my DVR late Thursday night.

• Best player on the field: It wasn't either of the quarterbacks that the commentators talked about all night long. To me, the best athlete was Rider WR Eric Ward. I had heard he was great, but seeing is believing. This guy has great hands, excellent moves, and accelerates as quickly as any player in the state (too bad he's leaving the state for OU).
• Forget dual-threat: Yes, I know Sulphur Springs QB Tyrick Rollison is listed as a "dual-threat" QB, but he's a drop-back passer if I've ever seen one. Yes, he's swift on his feet, but Rollison's arm is extremely strong and he seems to read defenses pretty well. To me, a "dual-threat" QB is a guy who's a great runner and good passer. Rollison is a great passer -- even if he had Drew Bledsoe-quickness, he'd still have tons of offers.
• Speaking of: Rider QB Shavodrick Beaver can pass, but he seems to be more dangerous on the run. Dang, is he hard to tackle. I think he'll thrive at Michigan, and having seen the Wolverine's first two games of '08, I think Beaver can head up to Ann Arbor and win the job as a true freshman.
• Back-up plan: I didn't see Sulphur Springs DE Colton Nash make a ton of plays defensively (seemed to draw a double-team all night), but he really shocked me with how well he punted. Nash told ESPN he's looking at, among other schools, Baylor. I think the Bears have done well in the past converting a high school defender into a punter (Daniel Sepulveda for those not getting my drift).Still, despite the strong leg, Nash should be an impact-player at the next level as a DE.
• Unsung: SS receiver Rashad Hall is a nifty little player. Great quickness and even better hands. Not many HS players make the catch he did on SS's first TD of the game, a fastball from Rollison that traveled at a speed that would earn a ticket on a Texas highway. Somehow, I had never heard anything about Hall before this game. Same with SS RB Ryan Young, a transfer from Alba- Golden. His game-winning TD run was enjoyable.
• What a game: Yes, the individual players impressed me, but that was a dang good game tonight. Hard to believe Rider is 0-2, joining teams like Stephenville and Lamar Consol in 4A.

Before staying up late to watch the Rider/SS game, I went to Kincaide Stadium, which is fast becoming my favorite DFW-area facility both for its excellent press box set-up and for the friendly staff that works it.

Dallas South Oak Cliff was hosting FW Dunbar, and let me say I expected a much-better game from SOC. Granted, SOC's two best players, Kevin Brent and Kenneth Pinkard, were both sidelined with injuries, but those guys both play in the defensive secondary. It was the SOC offense that needed help in the 33-7 loss to Dunbar.

SOC had just 130 yards of offense. Only three drives reached Dunbar territory, and they ended with a fumble, turnover on downs, and a sack that took SOC back across the 50.

SOC had just one real highlight, and it was worth going just to witness it. Sophomore WR/DB Larry Jones, against his teammates' wishes, left the end zone three yards deep to return a kickoff. At about his own 5-yard line, he broke a couple tackles -- then decided to circle back around by running back toward his end zone.

With Dunbar's entire coverage team in pursuit, Jones ran across the back line of his own end zone, dodging several players, then somehow emerged out of a pack of players and hit the sideline opposite where the return started. Jones then went un-touched for a 103-yard TD return, but I bet Jones ran actually ran about 250 yards on the play.

Second-best highlight: Remember the name of Darius White, a junior WR at Dunbar. He had but two catches in his team's win, but one was an 81-yarder that would make Randy Moss jealous. Running full stride, White caught what was about a 20-yard pass with one hand reached behind his back, hauled in the pass without breaking stride, then broke two tackles and shifted a gear to break loose for the final 50 yards of the 81-yard score.

From that one play alone, I can tell White is DI material.

Well -- that was my Thursday night. All in all, I saw enough athleticism to get me through the weekend. If you have any good stories or highlight plays from the weekend, as always, send me an email and let me know.

"While we realize that Lago Vista is both a 2A school and ranked low, if not last in most District polls," Angelo wrote to me, "but we were hoping to see a mention of our upset victory over 3A Bandera on Friday night. After a close to 3-hour bus ride (one way), the Lago Vista Vikings showed up to win. It was an amazing display of high school football and what a team can do when they put their heart into it."

Angela, what you don't know is how much time I spent thinking about Lago Vista a few weeks ago. I ran a story about teams picked last in district that could prove us wrong, and my choices in 2A came down to Boling and Lago Vista. I chose Boling, mostly because I thought its district was a tad easier than Lago Vista's, but it looks like the Vikings have not lost the momentum from last year's 7-5 run.

I also owe Angela a "thank you," because her mentioning this upset gave me a blog idea: highlighting some of the bigger upsets from Week 1. Below are some of the picks, with the margin of defeat predicted upon them (provided by the Padilla Poll):

• Corrigan-Camden (16-point underdogs to 3A Crockett): Again, our readers often have the inside scoop. Several people wrote in to tell me we under- rated Corrigan-Camden. Boy, you readers sure are smart. C-C beat Crockett 12-7 and is under-rated no longer, having climbed to No. 18 in 2A.
• Denton Guyer (25-point underdogs to Stephenville): Test Guyer's defense at your own risk. In its 19-16 win over Stephenville, the Guyer defense scored a safety, and the offense responded with a game-winning TD drive. Guyer didn't give up a first down to Stephenville's offense in the second half.
• Edgewood (32-point underdogs to 3A Canton): Put this guy on your radar: Edgewood QB Weston Jameson set school records with 428 yards and 7 TDs passing, helping his team to a scintillating 48-40 victory. And believe me, I don't use the word "scintillating" lightly.
• Friendswood (28-point underdogs to Dayton): This 42-21 win earned Friendswood QB Jacob Karam a nomination for player of the week -- and also earned Friendswood a top 25 ranking in 4A.
• Hamlin (20-point underdogs to Quanah): A nip-and-tuck game all night, Hamlin doubled up Quanah in the fourth quarter, 14-7, to win 36-32.
• Lorena (18-point underdogs to West): West has established a troubling trend to start the season. While its defense has only given up 33 points in two games, West's offense has yet to score a single point. The score from this one: Lorena 7, West 0.
• Miles (22-point underdogs to Christoval): Talk about turning the tables on Christoval. Miles won with ease, 42-7, getting 141 yards and a TD and 175 yards and TDs passing from QB Garrett Brandon.
• Mount Pleasant (17-point underdogs to Texarkana Liberty-Eylau): The score -- Mount Pleasant 27, Liberty-Eylau 13 -- doesn't tell the story so much as the total yardage: Mount Pleasant 428, Liberty-Eylau 176.
• Stafford (33-point underdogs to 4A Wheatley): Forget a 33-point spread -- the teams only combined for 13 points, with Stafford taking this defensive dream game, 7-6.
• Taylor (23-point underdogs to 4A Manor): Despite two interceptions and fumbling it twice, Taylor moved to 2-0 on the season with a 21-14 win, two scores coming from RB Tristen Meyer, including one from 69-yards out.
• Van Horn (20-point underdogs to 3A Anthony): Van Horn made the jump up two classes, taking on 3A Anthony, and left with a 12-7 win.
• Westbury (19-point underdogs to Brenham): Brenham has started 0-2 for the first time since 2000, the second loss coming at the hands of Westbury, 43-36, in OT. Credit Westbury RB Charles Sims, who was listed as "questionable" before the game. Sims' statline: 176 yards, 2 TDs rushing; 28 yards, 1 TD passing; 36 yards, 1 TD receiving. By the way ... Sims is off the market: he's committed to UH.

Did I miss one? As always, let me know.

I got back late Tuesday, so fortunately, Travis Stewart took control of the Monday Recap. I have a few late additions, some thoughts from the opening weekend of the Texas high school football season, so here's a free copy of "Wednesday Recap" ...

• No more time to celebrate: Alto entered the 2008 season with a 28- game winning streak, the best current streak in Texas high school football. That streak vanished with a 26-7 loss to San Augustine. But Alto isn't alone; four other defending state champions started 2008 with a loss after finishing 2007 with wins -- that's half of last year's 11-man champions. 5A DII champ Katy (16-game streak) fell to North Shore 10-6; 1A DII champion Munday lost 32-29 to Stamford, a 2A team last year; 4A DI champ Lamar Consol fell to Texas City, 26- 21; and 3A DI titleist Farmersville fell to 2A Winnsboro, 20-6. So ... which defending champ will be next to fall? It might be Lake Travis, which takes on Westlake this weekend. Liberty Hill is also an option, mostly because of its very challenging schedule.
• Toughest schedules: I'd love to hear otherwise from readers, but surely no other team in Texas has a tougher schedule than Abilene Wylie. After facing playoff mainstay Vernon last weekend, Wylie faces No. 1 ranked Liberty Hill, the two-time defending state champ. Next is 4A's Wolfforth Frenship, itself a state-ranked team, followed by top 10 La Vega and 4A Canyon. District play doesn't lighten up ... there's two ranked teams in Brownwood and Snyder, plus solid teams in Graham, Sweetwater, and Breckenridge. Again, I dare you to find a tougher schedule than what faces Abilene Wylie.
• Speaking of schedules: Expect to see a lot of movement in the Class 4A rankings after this weekend. More than half (13 actually) of 4A's ranked teams face 5A teams this weekend. Among the most compelling matchups:
  >No. 1 Lake Travis faces Westlake, the only team Lake Travis lost to in its 2007 title run;
  >No. 2 Rider takes on Cedar Hill, which debuted in the 5A rankings this weekend at No. 20;
  >After pounding SA Roosevelt, the test gets tougher for Kerrville Tivy, which travels to SA Madison, a 5A DI semifinalist last year;
  >And Waco resumes its rivalry with Copperas Cove, which is back in 5A after a two-year stop in 4A.
• Representin': An email from a reader pointed out how well Texas teams did in the Herbstreit Football Series, the high school kickoff event created by ESPN's talking head (Kirk Herbstreit) that branched out from his native Ohio to include Texas this year. Texas teams, including No. 1 Euless Trinity, went a combined 4-1 against non-Lone Star competition.

  But those weren't the only teams that opened with an out-of-state opponent. Week 0 had 12 more matchups featuring Texas teams taking on non-Texas programs, nine of the challengers coming from New Mexico, which actually went 5-4 against Texas. Still, our state got the last laugh, going 11-6 overall.

  That includes 1A Marfa, 32-14 winners over OLD Mexico's Juarez High. And speaking of, Allen will face another team from across the southern border when Prepa Tech de Monterey (Mexico) visits the Eagles on Thursday night. Click here for what I wrote about the Monterey/Allen game for a statewide syndicated column.

I'd like to think our rankings are the "grandaddy" of them all, but the Associated Press has been doing it a bit longer than us. Sunday, the AP released the results from its 20-voter panel. Below are the rankings for the classes, where we ranked the teams, and an overall comment by yours truly.

Class 5A AP poll
1. Euless Trinity ... DCTF Rank: 1
2. Plano ... DCTF Rank: 2
3. Katy ... DCTF Rank: 9
4. Southlake Carroll ... DCTF Rank: 3
5. Galena Park North Shore ... DCTF Rank: 4
6. Odessa Permian ... DCTF Rank: 5
7. Abilene ... DCTF Rank: 8
8. Allen ... DCTF Rank: 14
9. Spring Westfield ... DCTF Rank: 6
10. Converse Judson ... DCTF Rank: 18

My comment: Not shown in the numbers is that -- astonishingly -- Carroll finished No. 3 in the AP's season-ending poll, while Trinity finished 7th! That's hard to believe, and I almost think it's an error. The teams we ranked in our top 10 that the AP poll left out: SA Warren (10th in our rankings) and Cypress Ridge (7th).

Class 4A AP poll
1. Lake Travis ... DCTF Rank: 1
2. WF Rider ... DCTF Rank: 2
3. Everman ... DCTF Rank: 5
4. Stephenville ... DCTF Rank: 8
5. Dayton ... DCTF Rank: 4
6. Dallas Highland Park ... DCTF Rank: 13
7. CC Calallen ... DCTF Rank: 10
8. Longview ... DCTF Rank: 6
9. Abilene Cooper ... DCTF Rank: 3
10. Port Lavaca Calhoun ... DCTF Rank: 7

My comment: Highland Park obviously deserves respect, but you have to think at some point that losing nearly 20 starters every single year will make it tough on the Scots to finish as a top 10 team. This seaso, HP returns just three starters, and its district got much tougher with the addition of Rockwall. That's the only team in the AP we didn't include in our top 10. The AP left out Texas High (9th in our rankings), which is somewhat reasonable seeing that it finished 6-4-1 last year. With 14 starters back, though, I think Texas High will finish the season higher than Highland Park.

Class 3A AP poll
1. Liberty Hill ... DCTF Rank: 1
2. Celina ... DCTF Rank: 5
3. La Vega ... DCTF Rank: 4
4. Navasota ... DCTF Rank: 2
5. China Spring ... DCTF Rank: 6
6. Cuero ... DCTF Rank: 8
7. Brownwood ... DCTF Rank: 3
8. West Orange-Stark ... DCTF Rank: 9
9. Sealy ... DCTF Rank: 7
10. Gilmer ... DCTF Rank: 23

My comment: Again, the AP only disagreed with one of our top 10 teams, CC West Oso. They subsitute Gilmer, and it's hard to argue against a team coming off an appearance in the state championship game. Otherwise, the AP and DCTF have pretty similar Class 3A rankings. Like us, they're not about to pick against Liberty Hill.

Class 2A AP poll
1. Cisco ... DCTF Rank: 1
2. Crane ... DCTF Rank: 5
3. Early ... DCTF Rank: 3
4. Pilot Point ... DCTF Rank: 2
5. Hitchcock ... DCTF Rank: 6
6. Arp ... DCTF Rank: 4
7. Newton ... DCTF Rank: 9
8. Kirbyville ... DCTF Rank: 13
9. Elysian Fields ... DCTF Rank: 8
10. Refugio ... DCTF Rank: 17

My comment: Two teams differed between the AP and our poll; one I agree with, one I don't. I'll start with the latter. I think Refugio will be a contender in Region IV, but I don't expect much beyond that. The loss of RB Carl Swain will be noticeable. I do agree with the AP on Kirbyville, a team I think we should have rated higher than 13th overall. This was a very good 3A team last year that returns 14 starters. The two DCTF top 10 teams the AP left out: DeKalb (7th in our rankings) and Altair Rice (10th).

Class 1A AP poll
1. Alto ... DCTF Rank: 4
2. Canadian ... DCTF Rank: 3
3. Maud ... DCTF Rank: 1
4. Sundown ... DCTF Rank: 2
5. Roscoe ... DCTF Rank: 5
6. Mart ... DCTF Rank: 10
t-7. Nazareth ... DCTF Rank: 6
t-7. Cayuga ... DCTF Rank: 7
9. Itasca ... DCTF Rank: 8
10. Stratford ... DCTF Rank: 12

My comment: The AP took the same approach in 1A as it did in 3A with Liberty Hill: stick with a two-time defending champ. Can't argue that, though in hindsight, my top team would've been Canadian, with Mart a close second and Maud third. Our rankings had Chilton 9th overall, but the AP left it out, putting Stratford in its place.

That comes from frequent emailer Tim, who had those words to say after the Lufkin Daily News confirmed that a documentary team basically earned roster spots on Lufkin's 2008 team. The Georgia- and New York-based crew has free reign over the Pack, and while targeting DT Jamarkus McFarland (rated the top defender in the nation), their cameras like won't ignore other compelling storylines.

Tim, I could calm your fears if I knew Alan Barber was behind this project. Barber I can vouch for.

Barber, the most religious readers of my blog might remember, scored a big win with his rookie release as a filmmaker, Six Man, Texas. I finally got the chance to see the film when Ken Capps generously hosted a watching-party at his Dallas home (the film was great, but it would've been worth the trip just to see Capps' UT-themed home, affectionately known as the "Hook- em Hut").

Barber quite luckily chose Aquilla for the 2000 season as the primary setting. Perhaps further motivated by the constant rolling cameras, Aquilla had the best season in school history that year, making a run to the state semifinals before losing to the eventual champion, Panther Creek.

I'm not exactly sure what Barber's film-making philosophy is, but it seemed to be this: A good documentary doesn't tell the story. It lets the story tell itself. A strong narrator opens the door for subjectivity, while a documentary -- in my opinion -- should be a window to a world most people don't see on a daily basis. Let the audience make their judgments and reach their own conclusions.

The Aquilla players, coaches, and town citizens detail to the cameras their daily lives, which to your average urbanite doesn't seem like much. Wake up ... tend to the farming duties ... play football (or watch the kids play football). Repeat daily.

I don't mean to trivialize their daily lives, because along with this simple existence comes luxuries the city can't afford. Leaving your doors unlocked while you're away because you trust your neighbors (which happens to be the entire town). Letting your kids roam free around town. The satisfaction that comes with a hard, honest day's work.

And, of course, no rush-hour traffic (or traffic at all).

From what I can tell, nobody interviewed in Six Man, Texas would trade that for the hustle and bustle of the city.

So, Tim, there is a chance these filmmakers could sensationalize Lufkin. But slip a copy of Six Man, Texas in their backpacks, and at least you'll know they have a template of how to do it the right way.

It's when your sport depends on polls to determine a champion, then your sport has a major flaw (cough ... BCS ... cough). If rankings are merely window dressing to the on-field action, and some sort of postseason tournament determines who finishes on top, again, the rankings serve a purpose for fans and media only. They have no relevance to players and coaches.

Fortunately, despite the several flaws (spit titles in classifications; district champs facing off in the first round; etc.) in the UIL's playoff system for Texas high school football, champions are still determined on the field. That's not true on a national basis, but it doesn't prevent folks like ESPN and MaxPreps (a partner of ours) from doing their guesswork and rating all the nation's top teams.

Last week, ESPN's high school spinoff, ESPNRISE.com, released its "Fab 50", the top 50 teams in the nation. I can't argue with their pick No. 1, Euless Trinity. The Trojans top our Class 5A poll, so you automatically must assume Trinity's our pick for best in Texas. And best in Texas is a pretty good argument for best in the nation.

However, I do disagree with ESPN's pick for the second-best team in Texas. After Trinity at No. 1, the next team to appear is Lake Travis at No. 12.

Obviously, we think highly of Lake Travis. We rank them tops in 4A. But I don't believe that Lake Travis is better than every other Class 5A team in Texas outside of Euless Trinity. I think Plano, Katy, North Shore, Westfield, Permian, Southlake Carroll ... etc., etc., all have arguments.

But therein lies the problem ... there's no possible way to determine inter- classification rankings. Still, this ESPN poll got me thinking and blogging ... they may not have ranked teams in the right order (in my opinion), but that didn't prevent them from succeeding with their objective.

For the record, Plano (No. 19), Carroll (30), Katy (40) and Permian (44) also earned rankings.

Neither Dennis Franchione (the former) nor Guy Morriss (the latter) could deliver, and so both proceeded toward the closest exit sign before their contracts had expired. But the ex-coaches haven't given up. Both Franchione and Morriss, within the same week, expressed their desire for another shot at head coaching.

“When you've been the head coach at two BCS schools, I'd like another Division I job in a big conference,” Morriss told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “But I don't have any hangup on coaching I-AA or even Division II. A lot depends on what's available, who's interested and where you want to live.”

Said coach Fran to the Topeka Capital-Journal: "I think I would like to coach again, given the right situation. That would probably be the key thing, to be with the right people — at whatever level it is, to just be with good people."

Neither have plans to loaf on the couch this season, though. Morriss has been named executive head coach at Division II Kentucky State, while Aggies can still hear Fran's voice if they so choose; ESPN Radio has tapped him to provide color commentary for college football games this fall.

With the Texas heat living up to its summertime reputation, coaches have to be particularly cautious with their players, making sure for every part sun, there's two parts water. An indoor facility, while both costly to build and maintain, would be the best preventative measure against heat-induced illnesses that strike each summer.

I read today, in an excellent roundup of Fort Worth-area football, that 3A Kennedale, a school of fewer than 1,000 students, has its own "plush" indoor facility. I guess I shouldn't be surprised if Kennedale gets out to a hot start early in the season.

Still, teams with the indoor advantage can't get too accustomed to the AC, or else playing their openers on Labor Day weekend will come as quite a shock.

Switching gears, still looking for some recommendations for some of the state's best high school PAs (see blog below). I'll admit, though, that a candidate for the "best-named" PA has emerged ... Refugio's own Jack Sportsman. Talk about self- fulfilling prophecy.

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