JimThorpe

Will be there with grandchildren who are bringing their Harry Potter wands just in case.

I'm sure they were paying attention and based on the numbers they can throw the ball very well. You've got it pegged. It's a classic case of a high flying passing game against a big play running game. Assuming both teams do well at what they do well it could come down the the counterintuitive. How well Silsbee throws and how well Wimbo runs could be the decisive thing.

Really? After the drubbing Wimbo handed to Navarro? It really was an impressive beat down. I guess they understand the significance of that 4th quarter last Friday. They know the drill with WOS, get a 10 point lead that feels like 30 and hold your opponent at bay for the rest of the game. But Silsbee wasn't having it and those 18 unanswered points in the 4th quarter were astounding. I've never seen anything quite like it.

They have been blocking. They start kind of slow, Giddings and WOS were clogging it up at the beginning, but as the game wears on the Tigers just get stronger and bigger holes start materializing. Especially in the 4th quarter where they have been dominant. We've outscored our last two opponents 49 to 14 in the second half and 32 - 0 in the 4th quarter.

Wimbo deserves to be the favorite because they trounced a team with better rushing stats than Silsbee. Navarro was averaging 411 ypg rusing. They had two more or less 1000 yard rushers and a 2000 yard rusher in a fairly strong district. Wimbo handled them with apparent ease last week. Why shouldn't they be able to do pretty much the same thing against Silsbee? And we don't even know what will happen with Wimbo's passing. Silsbee hasn't faced an air attack like Wimbo's all year, or last year either for that matter. You've got to figure they will probably get around 400 yards of total offense. So on paper Wimbo has to get the nod. A 3pt spread is more than fair. But . The game before Navarro against Rockport game is very interesting. Rockport seems to be all run. Team stats show 32 passing yards per game and rushing ypg similar to Silsbee. And they played Wimbo even all the way down the line. Looks like an extra point in the 4th quarter was the difference.

I can't believe that Wimberly would intentionally play an ineligible player. That said there needs to be accurate accounting, especially for exchange students.

What Fox board? I think I could have some good clean fun with them.

Well it's easy come easy go in the charter school world. No sweat. They'll recruit some more talent. Is it that easy to come and go to the Jack Yates Communications, Maritime and Basketball Magnet High School?

The young man must think he's died and gone to heaven! To be in America and playing high school football and still in it in December. This has got to be the high point of his young life. Kind of sad it has to end for him on Friday.

Well... It's worked so far hasn't it? I guess you can go to the well once too often. Maybe we better not try again so soon. They'll probably be looking for it. I can think of another trick. How about this. Let's get a lead early and keep it for the whole game. They'll never be expecting that!

Getting a couple of scores down is our strategy to lure an opponent to sleep. Then we strike late leaving him no time to recover. And it's worked beautifully for two weeks in a row. We play a more subtle game with West Orange. It's almost frighteningly elegant. We let them roll over us during district play so that they can convince themselves that they are much better than we are. And then, when it matters, in the postseason, we set the hook. They never see it coming.

Favored by who? I'd like to see an objective sports writer or broadcaster analysis. I saw that Tepper on his Dave Campbell Monday Morning Fallout thing talked about our game. He didn't really analyze it but he did nail it. WOS gets their patented 10 or 11 point lead, that feels like 30, and the script always reads WOS then holds the opponent at arm's length for the rest of the game and wins. But Silsbee went off script, boy did they ever go off script, and won. And that's just how it felt at the game. When the Mustangs got their last touchdown I was thinking, "Oh brother, here we go again, same old story." And for just a second or two I was angry with God. You know, for not sending a rain storm. I don't really have a problem with the Texans being slightly favored by more or less impartial sources. Watching the highlights of Wimberly's win and of Silsbee's win the most impressive play I saw was Diego's 48 yard field goal. And yet Wimberly gets the 3 point edge. Interesting.

The Tiger Cubs were just too pesky and didn't give the Wolves any real good chances. The team on the floor tonight was the smallest Silsbee varsity I've ever seen at any point in the last 25 years, with or without the football kids. They really did look like the Tiger cubs. They are hard workers though and that makes up for a lot.

Whoever they are, I want the defense that was on the field in 4th quarter against WOS.

30. United is that good. But the good news for Silsbee is that this is as rough as it will get. We're playing the 3rd ranked 6A team which has a shot at the championship and has size and speed and talent. They could handle any 4A team. We won't face anything worse than this even in the holiday tournaments. This is like being in the ondeck circle swinging a bat with two donuts on it. It's probably a good year to be rebuilding because nobody is getting past basketball magnet school Yates in Region III. The goal will be to get back to the region tourney. If the Tigers can do that it will have to be called a great season. It's a long shot but possible. And if they do make it that far they will end up playing only one less game than the fully loaded Tigers of last year.

In my opinion this is the biggest win in school history. Bigger than last year and even a little bigger than 77. It was the most remarkable 4th quarter I've ever seen in football any time at any level. It was a combination of good decisions, execution, and a heaping helping of good fortune. And the icing on the cake was the never quit quality of the opposition. WOS is of course a remarkable program and their drive from their own 20 something, with only 1:30 left and no timeouts to deep in Silsbee territory speaks volumes about the character of that team. And my player of the game in the biggest game in school history was Diego Gonzalez. The kicker. He should be yours to if you really think it through. The Tigers couldn't have won without his 4 extra points and field goals of 30 and 48. That's 10 indispensable points. And, the Tigers also probably wouldn't have won had he not gotten that zany pass out to Cartwright on the fake punt attempt for a first down on the drive that led to his 48 yard field goal. It's easy to predict that Diego will become just as indispensable at some point in the next two games. It's call FOOTball for a reason.

Silsbee at No. 8? It's fine with me but perhaps reputation is a big part of that equation.

We might limit them, it could happen, but I doubt it after looking at the highlight reels. I'm afraid it's going to be a McCollum to Marshall nightmare all game long. There was one touchdown pass when the defender is practically hanging on Marshall and he still makes the catch for a 21 yard touchdown. Ya'll have probably all seen it. Man! We're not going to get any pressure on the QB, that's a pipe dream. He'll drop back 15 yards if necessary. We may get a coverage sack or two but our defensive front is a bit hobbled anyway. I say just make sure they don't get many running yards to go with the 250 to 300 yards passing they will get. And for goodness sake guys keep them in front of you. We've got to limit the run after catch. Most of receivers (Marshall) aren't terribly fast and they don't have running moves, they just run the route and catch the ball, which is all you have to do in high school to have success. So when they do make the receptions make sure we're in a position to tackle them right away. And that means being aware of the downfield blocking and the picks and fighting through for the stop. But it's okay, we'll make it a Taylor/Martin nightmare for them And then if they get 300 yards passing make sure we get 350 running. I think we can.

But how could they possibly top last year's game!

If Silsbee gets more passing yards than Wimberly gets running yards then the Tigers will win. And visa versa. I really don't think Wimberly can stop Silsbee's running any better than Silsbee can stop Wimberly's passing. The difference has to come from somewhere. So.... I predict that Silsbee WILL get those passing yards and will win the game.

I get it!!! Like "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!" ?

It wasn't 5 TD's, it was 4 TD's and 2 field goals and one very exciting and unusual looking 2 point conversion to tie the game with only a few minutes left. It was a strange 4th quarter. You kind of had to be there. WOS seemed to be in control with a 28 - 17 lead going into the 4th and then the wheels just came off. Big plays, unlikely plays, a 48 yard field goal, a fake punt that shouldn't have worked, a lateral option pass that shouldn't have worked. A Tiger defense that had been porous all night suddenly stiffened into a brick wall. It was just one of those things. Fate took a hand.

They have a good shot. They just scored 35 points against the best defense in the state. The place where the Tigers had the edge was in the kicking game and that proved to be decisive. Our place kicker scored 10 points and sent most kickoffs into the endzone. Other than that it was a toss up. Clearly it was the breaks and the big plays that decided that game. As Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez said back in the 30's, "I'd rather be lucky than good." Anyway, It's been a great two years. Even if both games had gone the other way it still would have been great. But now Carthage has moved down into Div II and all bets are off. We could both be in for a dry spell. Our last debacle against them still hurts. It was like Pearl Harbor. We had no warning.

Do they still have the coach from the championship year?

Silsbee is going to present all kinds of problems for Wimberly's staff. In preparation they could watch game films and that might help. Or they could get that new Disney streaming service and watch "Son Of Flubber" which would be just about as good. The only problem is that what happened in the 4th quarter tonight at BISD Memorial is a good deal less plausible than what happens in "Son Of Flubber".