Cougar14.2

Yeah, after UCLA signed Rosen they moved Sharp to receiver. He stayed one more year, went to Blinn for a year, and then transferred to Lamar to get another QB shot.

Looks like the varsity scrimmage has been moved to Lamar at 6:45pm. Thank God, we will now have parking and functional plumbing on our side.

Manvel beat North Shore, who was coming off the 6A-D1 title, and 6A Pearland by a combined score of 59-13. They beat regional finalist FB Marshall 63-6. They're going to be even better this year though. We also have Houston Heights who was a 6A playoff team last year and had the best player I saw all last year named Cody Roscoe. They also have the highest rated player any team in this coverage area wil line up against, plus a couple other FBS kids. Pretty tough two game to open with before district.

Probably not going to be the case anymore. Former Summer Creek QB Aaron Sharp just transferred in from Blinn after leaving UCLA.

I was feeling the same sentiment, I just didn't say it because then you get the proverbial second round comment. I remember watching us in '15 during practices and scrimmages and there was just this sharpness that almost left you asking, "Where do they go from here?". Turns out that was exactly the case the first 11 games of the season. As long as Crosby can stay healthy I think you'll see vast improvements by the time we play KP. Like you said though, if Jaiden can stay on the same trajectory you might see something special. . . and I'm not talking next year.

CROSBY KNOCKS OFF MANVEL IN FRONT OF RECORD RECORD CROWD!!!

I think you might be reaching a bit. The facilities at BH are nowhere near where he came from in Allen, starting with the 18,000 seat double-decker stadium. Allen is pre-season #1 in the state and #6 in the country, much like North Shore if you just have an above average coach you're going to be a contender just do to the sheer volume of talent. TW probably signed 60 FBS players while he was at Allen, I can't remember the last time BH even signed 1. To get to Allen you have to go through Highland Park, Richardson and Plano. Little different than going through Jacinto City, North Shore, Channelview and Baytown if you know what I'm saying. For now most of the parents that move their kid to BH to play for TW are going to have kids that couldn't play elsewhere.

Well, at least we'll be able to test ourselves against the #1 ranked team in the state.

My worry about BH is that even with the coaching change they still seemed to struggle athletically against the better teams. I really like the Cullen Kirkland kid but he just needs to be a little more consistent target for Cauthen. More than any other players graduating in the district I think BH will be hurt a lot by the loss of Langelier. BH has to get a break like they did last year and stay healthy, they'll probably have to improve on their execution without Skyler being there to bail BH out. I definitely think BH will make the playoffs but will probably be in a lot more wars before they get there. As far as the PNG game, it kind of highlights what I pointed out before Westeberg got here. I felt like BH was the better team that night, I think TW may have gotten outcoached by Faircloth though. PNG looked like they knew every play BH was going to run those first few drives Cauthen kept throwing picks. For a decade and a half TW has been the one on the sideline with Roschon Johnson. I.E. Kyler Murray(A&M), Seth Green(Minnesota), Nathan Dick(Arkansas), Matt Brown(TCU), Alec Morris(Alabama) and so on. On the flip side of all that, houses are expensive in Lake Travis and Aledo and they seem to do alright. BH will eventually become what everybody expects but it will probably be when the enrollment gets closet that 1,900 range.

Really liking what I've seen from Crosby so far. I know a lot of Crosby fans have been worried about how the defense was going to look and if you watched the scrimmage Friday you probably walked away still wondering? I don't think the defense stopped the O one time when they went good on good but I really think the offense is just going to be that efficient with Howard at the helm. On defense I feel like we have playmakers at all three levels. I think the defensive line may have been the biggest question mark on the team but it looked like we have some big bodies and nice depth at that position. If Crosby is going to beat a squad like FB Marshall the defensive line has to play at a high level, especially against the run game between the tackles. I think the strongest position on defense may be the linebacker spot. Hunter Moore will be a kid that plays on Saturday's for sure and Rashad Singleton(Raelon's little brother) might be the most freakish athlete in the district. I expect Singleton to be in consideration for defensive MVP of the district, I doubt anybody blocks him all year. Offensively, the ball has rarely hit the ground during the scrimmage or team portion of practices. I would say we're a little less talented than we have been the past 5 or 6 years at the receiver spot but I'm not sure you need a bunch of big time playmakers when you have an efficient qb. That being said, I still feel like we'll have the strongest receiving core in the district along with maybe Porter. If Crosby stays healthy, which is a BIG if, we're going to be very hard to play with for four quarters if you can't out-athlete us. We're about three kids stepping up away from having a special squad/season.

Now now Soulja, I still think Crosby would beat Central handily if both teams lined up healthy in bi-district. I just think Nelson makes Central a legitimate factor for the first time in almost a decade. Guy is legit, question is can he stay off the UIL's radar?

I think Matthews probably gets the more out of his talent than maybe any other coach in the district, but as far as X's and O's go I think he's behind Nelson and Faircloth for sure. Maybe even Babin? He has too many seasons where Vidor isn't a factor and probably more than any other coach in the bi-district his results are direct reflection of the talent he has to work with. Jim Holley took a 1-9 team and had a 7 game improvement the next year with the same kids, Westeberg took BH from 4-6 to 8-3 with similar circumstances, Riordan took Crosby from above average to averaging 10 wins per season. That's what X's and O's guys can do, I think Matthews deserves credit for being an excellent motivator though.

Kind of finishing up my preseason research and looking at 22-5A it's hard for me to drop Central below second place. I use a athletes x coaching x experience = w equation to make assumptions prior to the season. Cemtral has the second best athletes in the district, in my opinion they have the best coach in the district and I can't find what they have returning but all this stuff is adding up to them having a Porter-like season. The way Nelson coaches he doesn't need a qb that is much more than serviceable, he does need a game-changer at the rb position though. I think given the athletes he'll also have a chance to put together a very good defense. 1. PAM 2. Central 3. PNG 4. Nederland 5. Vidor/Lumberton 6. Lumberton/Vidor 7. Ozen 8. Lee 9. Livingston

No doubt I want to win but I'm not really worried about the score. I'm more concerned with how efficiently we move the ball on offense and how we hold up against the run. They have FB Marshall picked to play Aledo in the state title game, we will almost certainly get them again in the second round. If we're able to beat them I think we're probably looking at a '14 type season. If we rack up 400+ yard and 35+ points I would feel good with our ability to move the ball on everybody else in region 3 division II. We might give up 60 but if we don't get continuously gashed in the running game I think that's a good sign regardless of point total.

Do they go 15 school days or 15 days from the beginning of school. Manvel starts school on the 17th, if he has to only wait 15 calendar days he would be eligible on September 1st which is the first game.

Some programs exist in a different space. I think everybody understood what he meant. Would've been different if he said A&M or something.

Well, sledding just got a little tougher for Crosby week 1. Manvel already had 3-star Texas A&M commit Deneric Prince in the backfield. Today it was announced 2019 4-star running back from Wolforth Frienship, Garrison Johnson, has transferred to Manvel to join Prince in the backfield. Garrison Johnson - [Hidden Content] With this free agent pick-up I would have to give Manvel the nod over Denton Ryan as the favorite to win the D1 title. Don't be surprised to see them have a DeSoto-like season and get the monkey off their back and win a title. Will probably end the year ranked in the top 25 nationally after starting at #31.

Kind of what I'm feeling. I'm wondering if Westeberg isn't playing with a loaded deck like he was at Allen if the trajectory most are planning for BH is correct? All TW did was move BH to a system everybody else was already running. Last year was the first time everybody saw it, is that system going to be much improved or will the district have better answers the second time around? Reason I'm asking is because Crosby roughed BH up to start district play and NC roughed them up to finish. They also lost to a PNG squad with one great athlete in which they were probably the better overall team. I have BH finishing second in the district but I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish 4th with losses to Crosby, NC and maybe Porter if they can replace Jake Hall. 1.Crosby 2. Barbers Hill 3. New Caney 4. Porter 5. Kingwood Park 6. Humble/Dayton 7. Dayton/Humble 8. Splendora 9. Caney Creek

Question for 21-5A fans: Based on the condition of the program the prior season, who did the better first year coaching job between Jim Holley and Tom Westeberg?

Another pretty salty receiver from 21-5A is Cullen Kirkland from Barbers Hill. I believe him and Cameron Cauthen are the top returning duo in the district. This kid should be one of the three toughest covers in the district along with Jackson at KP and Sevonne Rhea of Porter. Cedric Patterson from Crosby:

Coach Riordan interview with DCTF today: [Hidden Content]

I didn't say Dayton wasn't growing, I said it's not growing as fast as the surrounding areas they have to compete with which is moving them down the ladder in district talent rankings. We're at the point now where Porter and New Caney are producing 4-star dbs. The game has changed. Building a bunch of houses is fine but you better have a bunch of millennials with young children moving in to fill them instead of older people moving out there that just want more property. It's a hard sell for a set of 30-40 year old parents with young kids to pass Crosby, Barbers Hill, Baytown, Atascocita, the newer Sheldon area and even Huffman to come to Dayton which has less to offer and is most likely a tougher commute to work. Compare that with the rapidly growing tax bases of the schools I just named and you can see why what used to be little 'ole New Caney probably has the nicest stadium in Houston for the moment, it's why BH can overpay to pull away a state championship coach from a cushy job and the reason Crosby's stadium has all the bells and whistles to go with the nicest baseball/softball complex in the state. None of that stuff meant squat 10-15 years ago, but now if you don't have it it matters a lot.

I think the only disappointment you'll see on Crosby and BH's faces will be when week 6 rolls around and the game don't mean anything because Dayton is already out of it. Dayton is really struggling to keep up with facilities, they have the slowest growing enrollment in the district which is moving them down the ladder talent-wise and favoritism/nepotism has caused even more issues due to a regression in coaching. With the level of coaching in the district and the amount of individual talent spread throughout I think it's going to be tough sledding again for Dayton.