Three Thoughts:

It’s good to be back

For me personally, this was my first weekend back inside of a football stadium in almost two years. I skipped out on watching games in person last year with COVID with the broadcast restrictions lifted and I could’ve done the same this year. But that’s not what I love about football.

Watching the teams warm-up pregame, the music pumping through the stadium and the sun setting as the crowds file in – I missed that.

I was at Nelson Field Thursday night for Manor vs Austin LBJ, an East Austin rivalry that I remember watching when I was at Manor in high school. The trash talking, the swagger, missed that too. The game wasn’t close, LBJ won 28-7, but that didn’t matter. I was back and it felt great.

Although I do love that we can now watch more streams of football games this upcoming fall, nothing beats the in-person thing.

Be smart, be safe. Welcome back, football.

DFW Powers Struggle

It was a shaky start for a few of the Dallas area powerhouses.

Lancaster suffered a 27-7 defeat vs Port Arthur Memorial. DeSoto fell short of a comeback against Converse Judson, 35-28, Cedar Hill fell victim to Braedyn Locke and Rockwall’s high-powered offense, 42-29, and No. 5 Duncanville never quite got on track against the top-ranked team in the nation, Mater Dei out of California.

Now, of course that’s the risk when you schedule tough, which these schools tend to during non-district. But it’s not every year you see all four of those programs drop a game in the same week. Look for huge bounce-back wins as they get back to their contending ways over the next few weeks.

East Texas contenders flex

East Texas on the other hand, looked stellar. Carthage, the top-ranked team in 4A DI, had a formidable test against 4A DII runner-up Crosby and needed a kickoff returned for a touchdown to win, 27-24. Gilmer topped Gladewater, 42-14, Thursday night with UTSA commit QB Brandon Tennison going 15-of-19 for 217 yards through the air.

West Rusk is a team that we expect to be a darkhorse contender and the Raiders took care of business against a solid East Chambers team, 38-14. The Raiders tallied over 400 yards of total offense. Tyler Chapel Hill and QB Tyler Jones looked very impressive against Greenville with an emphatic 63-36 win where Jones threw for nearly 250 yards in the first half alone. And finally, Daingerfield controlled wire-to-wire against Atlanta, 48-7.

Three Players:

The story ahead of Southlake Carroll’s season-opener was what the Dragon offense would look like without star Quinn Ewers off to Ohio State. The answer is still very good. Junior running back Owen Allen took the burden of responsibility and rolled for 215 yards rushing on 21 carries against Highland Park Thursday night.

In the Battle of the Red Rail, Colleyville Heritage wideout Hogan Wasson gave Grapevine fits and finished with 10 catches for 208 yards. And he did it on the big stage in front of a state-wide audience on Texas Football Fridays.

Here’s something that shouldn’t shock anyone, Corpus Christi Calallen can still run the ball. Epi Hinojosa’s a name to keep an eye on after Friday night where he ran for an insane 313 yards on just 20 carries, including an 82-yard run on the second play from scrimmage. The Wildcats ran for 600 yards on the night.

Three Plays:

Noah Paddie's game-winner for Carthage

I mentioned it, but here's the play that took Carthage past Crosby, a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

So good, we have two angles!

Caleb Texada doesn't know quit

Willis' DJ Lagway, learn the name.

How about a game-winning scoop-and-score from Bravion Rogers!??? So good we had to make this week's Three Plays into Four.