Article About BH/Huffman and Crosby/Forest Brook

[sticky]

Barbers Hill, Crosby look towards week eight

By Michael Pineda

Baytown Sun

Published October 26, 2006

It only figures that Barbers Hill would play their homecoming game against the only opponent they have a recent history with. Friday night, the Eagles will host Huffman in what will kick off a big three-game season-ending stretch. After facing rival Huffman, the Eagles will close out the regular season against District 21-4A foes C.E. King and Galena Park.

Although Huffman, which like Barbers Hill made the jump from 3A to 4A, has not enjoyed much success this season, they are coming off of their first district win after having knocked off Forest Brook, 27-25.

“I think it was a good win for them,†BH head coach Don Price said. “They had to grind it out in the end. They will be ready to play us. We will have to play well and have our ‘A’ game. There is a rivalry factor and they have been a district opponent of ours for a long time. It will be a challenge.â€

So far this season the Eagles have accepted the challenge by starting off 7-0. Barbers Hill is in sole possession of first place in 21-4A after Crosby knocked off previously unbeaten Galena Park last week.

“Everybody had their doubts about us but our coaching staff always pulls us through,†senior defensive end Kyle Cox said. “We are always prepared. The biggest challenge for us will be to keep everybody healthy and stay focused.

“These are our last three games as seniors unless we make the playoffs and it adds an extra fire. This year has gone by fast, too fast.â€

Although the senior year is coming to an end for Cox, he will more than likely play somewhere next season. Cox is currently looking at Louisiana-Lafayette, Northwestern, University of Houston and North Texas.

“Playing in college has been a goal of mine since I started playing peewee football,†Cox said. “I still have the first letter I got which was from Northwestern. I also still have the first handwritten letter which came from Oklahoma State.â€

The opportunities for Cox have come from hard work. This past offseason, the senior gained 22 pounds and cut his 40-yard dash time from 4.9 to 4.8 seconds. At 6-4, 240 pounds, the senior is an imposing presence for opposing quarterbacks. This week the challenge for Cox and the rest of the Barbers Hill defense will be to stop a Huffman offense that has a multitude of looks.

“They may line up in the spread or they may line up in the wishbone,†Price said. “They seem to have a formation of the week and you never know what they may do. One of their most impressive kids is Cody Schexnaider. They play him all over the place.â€

Defensively the Falcons line up in a 3-3 stack and like to force the action with pressure.

“We’ve got to win one more game to get into the playoffs,†Price said. “But your goal is always to win the district.â€

Crosby

The Cougars will look to pick up their third win in a row this week when they travel to Forest Brook to face a Jaguar team which has the potential to upset anyone.

Crosby is coming off perhaps the biggest win in the Kevin Flanigan era after they dropped Galena Park from the ranks of the unbeaten last week in a 42-20 win.

“Ever since I have been here people have said that Forest Brook has the best athletes in the district,†Flanigan said. “If they get on a roll they will be tough and we don’t want to get into one of those deals.â€

One point of emphasis this week for Crosby has been finishing the regular season off on a roll. Last season, the Cougars entered the last two weeks of the season with a 6-2 record but dropped their last two regular season games, as well as their bi-district playoff matchup with Beaumont Central.

“Practice has been great this week,†Flanigan said. “One thing we have talked about as a team is that the end of last season we lost some cohesiveness down the stretch. It is one of those things where if we don’t take care of their business it will be tough. Hopefully we can enter the playoffs on a roll.â€

Offensively the Jaguars will mix it up out of the spread and some I formation. The players to watch are quarterback Latron Thomas and running back Jeremy Harrison. Defensively Forest Brook will line up in a 4-3.

[Irish Madman]

Good article on #44.

[BH89]

Good article on #44.

He is somehting else. Well deserved recognition.

[Matt]

I'm rooting for nederland to make the playoffs, so dayton can kick the cowcrap outta crosby