casualobserver

IMO the only record that should even be looked at (and it just so happens is the only record that matters) is the district record. Who cares what a team does outside of district. All that matters is that a team has 1 of the top 3 or 4 records against district opponents pre determined by the UIL. Most schools try and play pre season games that will challenge them and have them ready for district. That may mean that they might lose some or all of their pre season games but be succesful in district. And alot of times teams are trying to figure out who they are in pre season. They may be trying to decide a position battle, or install a new scheme. All of this is done in preperation for district. And as the old adage says "the cream will rise to the top." heck not that it would be feasible, but if every team in the state of texas made the playoffs, i would almost guarantee that 10 times out of 10, one of the top teams will win the state championship. Thats not to say that there may be an upset or 2, but the better teams will win. and this is why the preseason record doesnt matter, a team may be 4-6 but all 4 wins were in district. so i personally dont see any problem with the expanded playoffs, and plus you are giving more kids the oppurtunity to experience a very tremendous thing in high school athletics.

first off alumni, i made a mistake, cayuga will be on the bottom. however, after more research as to who exactly will go big school little school, this is how i see the bracket shaping up from top to bottom maud-bye Mt. Enterprise/Tenaha vs. Grapeland Itasca vs. Normangee West Hardin/Evadale-bye hawkins-bye Mt. Enterprise/Tenaha vs Cayuga Dawson vs. Bremond West Hardin/Evadale-bye Mt. Enterprise and Tenaha play this week so the winner will play grapeland and the loser will play cayuga. IMO whoever wins the game between cayuga and MT/Ten will be the favorite to make the regional finals. And the favorite out of the top will be the winner of the Maud and whichever team they play. IMO the top 4 teams in this region are (in no order) Maud, Cayuga, Mt. Enterprise and Tenaha. Grapeland is right behind them because they have a tremendous defense. There is no easy part of the bracket for district 23. in the big school division its even worse for district 23. this is how i see big school shaping up. Big Sandy-bye Joaquin vs. Alto Axtell vs. Mart Hull-Daisetta-bye Mart is the obvious favorite. They will be just as fast if not faster and just as athletic if not more so than what you saw out of tenaha. And if you happen to beat mart, well lucky you gets to play the 2 time reigning class A champ. Now all of this is just my opinion. I like to think i have a pretty good idea about these teams, because i have had a personal look at alot of these teams for the last three years.

alumni please tell me why its goofy, i'll agree with you if you can tell me why. Im just telling you I have seen 4 of those 5 times and they are legit. Tenaha may not even win their district and they spanked HD if i remember correctly. Maud is the real deal they return all but 2 from last years state semi-finalists, Cayuga has one of the best RB's in the state in 1a and return the majority from a team that lost to maud by a TD in the 3rd round last year and Mt. has a dang good running back themselves.

thanks rebel yeller, i havent looked at ya'lls disrict path, but i have been looking at others and YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE ON THE TOP OF THE DII REGION 3 BRACKET. the top of the bracket will be loaded, Maud, Cayuga, Tenaha or Mt. Enterprise, possible Mart, the bottom of the bracket is much easier imo

who goes to what divisions out of this district?

yes patience is the key, and i agree they have very much of it and yes garrin is at iowa state and hubbard the qb starts for D3 howard payne as a sophomore

just like the majority of other schools, talent comes in cycles, and right now the talent level isnt the highest, plus i hear they have had the injury bug. If you recall the class of 2006 had some tremendous football talent in it, 2 of which are starting on saturdays now, and several more 1st team all-district players in a dang good district. Given time and proper support the program can get turned back around.

in most cases the coach is always a good man, not very often do you find a coach that isnt. In this case, coach hanks is a good man. can someone clarify what previous ADs are being discussed here please

in response to the post that shelbyville cancelled all their jh, jv games etc. I dont know about the junior high but i do know that friday night you saw their entire high school football program standing on the sidelines. I know that for a fact. in respone to the post about dancing on midfield. The only midfield my teams ever danced on were our own, or in the playoffs, on the road we ran straight to our sidelines, no need to get the other team fired up, because when people danced on our mascot, it tended to fire us up and we made them realize how incredibly ignorant it was to tick us off even more. in response to the shelbyville pre season schedule. You can not blame them. They havent had a winning season in many many years. There is nothing wrong with getting some confidence going into district, especially when you realize that your district is an absolute GAUNTLET. I remember shepherd doing the same thing in 04 and 05 and giving jasper, kville and silsbee all they wanted in district. In response to shelbyvilles chances. I have seen shelbyville on more than one occasion and i believe that they can compete for the 3rd spot. Obviously k-ville and newton will be 1-2, but SA, Wville, and hemphill really havent impressed me to much this year. Shelbyville plays hard and it would not surprise me to see them win 3 district games and get in, those kids deserve it.

have they not been tested yet? jasper, diboll, center, crockett...thats 3 good 3as and an athletic 3a

you cant take much stock in dave campbells. JMO but they dont really seem to give everyone a fair shake. I went thru and read all their mid-season reports and they didnt give hardly any love to region 3 at any level. IMO region 3 is the toughest region in all of texas. There are some teams that wont make the playoffs in this region, that would make serious runs in other regions. As far as Kirbyville, they are the REAL DEAL! I saw that this past week diboll beat 4a nacogdoches 30-14, thats the same diboll the Kville beat. I feel sorry for 2a right now, i just hope Kville will remember that there may come a time when they wont be dominant and therefore will have mercy on their opponents, so that if they are in the situation of taking a butt whooping, the favor will be returned.

just for those who dont wanna take the time to look it up...a horsecollar tackle SHOULD only be enforced when the defensive player grabs and immediately pulls down on the back of the offensive player. If the defensive players gets dragged for any period of time, even if he is holding onto the back of the player, it is not a horsecollar tackle.

shelbyville is much improved from past years. they are a senior laden team that is very very hungry to prove themselves. They are athletic, not kirbyville athletic, but athletic. They run the spread most of the time, but have a heavy package that they will jump into. Them running the spread plays right into kvilles hands. Kirbyville will win, but shelbyville will put up a fight

well congrats are due to tarkington, i guess shepherd is on the decline. Went from being extremely competitive against the likes of jasper, silsbee, kirbyville 3 yrs ago to not being very good now.

wow, correct me if im wrong but isnt this tarkingtons first district win in a while

glad to see that this district will get to play somewhat normal, i remember after rita, district 22-3a played on i believe saturday, thursday, tuesday, saturday, friday. As a player that was the most physically and mentally demanding time of my career, luckily these kids wont have to go thru that.

does anyone know how the flagship hotel in galveston did? i know a hotel is the least of folks concerns but i thought that was a kinda big thing in galveston

guys if i were down in SE Texas right now, i would get the heck out of dodge, more than likely Ike is gonna keep inching on over towards yall and could be a direct hit. Even if Ike is southwest of ya'll, the northeast side of hurricanes is always the worst, so whether they tell you to or not, id get north now before the roads get clogged or its too late, or both

tenaha graduated the qb, but i believe they have a freshman playing there, who is pretty darn good i think. and #8 and #5 are scary good. tenaha in a landslide

just as an observer with no ties to them, i would say that jasper has beat themselves the last two games with poor special teams and dropped passes...i was at the Jasper-Gilmer game and the KO return by gilmer and the dropped pass in the endzone in 4th really stick out in my mind as game changing, and from reading about this game it seems like special teams lost it for em...so jasper is much better than the 0-2 record shows, JMO

shepherd is no where near the team they were when they beat hardin in 04-05 and 05-06. That shepherd team wouldve been in the playoffs had they not been in a district with Jasper, Silsbee and Kirbyville. Hardin cant overlook this game and let themselves get distracted due to homecoming, hardin should win though