Atari2000

Matt - I'm really enjoying looking through these old alignments. I attended a class B school (later class A) that didn't play football and I would love to see the basketball district alignments for class B/A if you have them. I'm really only interested in the period from about 1968 to 1988. Please let us know if you're able to add/post them. Thanks!

Anything interesting or noteworthy?

Realignment is never kind to the Tree. Longview will most likely be in their district and the new district COULD include T-high, John Tyler, Whitehouse, and/or Lufkin. Probably not all of these, but with the UIL it's possible. Good luck!

Haven't heard much from my folks in Canton, other than a slow start with a couple of recent wins in district. What are Canton's prospects for next year? Who are they losing? Who is coming back? How are the JV/9th teams doing this year?

So why can't the tree seem to get it going? I've heard that they have some pretty good younger players, but I've been hearing that for several years. How are they so far behind Hallsville that neither Thursday game was even close? Can someone who knows the program's history or the community give us some insight? Is it discipline, coaching, apathy in the community, lack of effort, board/administrative roadblocks, or something else? Most losing programs I've seen could trace their problems back to one of those things. I've heard the lack of talent excuse, but good coaching can often make a good football player out of an average athlete. Does PT just not have many good football players? If not, then why?

Mexia's visitor side stands look like the typical home side with a press box. The home side stands are covered, with a separate section big enough for the band that has it's own cover. Not sure if the band still uses this section - I haven't seen a game there since the mid 90s. I noticed back then that, since the press box was on the visitor side, the chain crew worked the home sideline. Also, to relate this to another thread, I think Mexia's field runs east/west.

Pine Tree Freshmen 32 - Mount Pleasant 30. PT finishes at 7-2-1, pretty nice season! I got to see most of their games and they have a few good players coming up in the program. Both RB's, #1 and #2 had several good runs last night and each scored once. The QB #12 had two nice TD runs - broke several tackles and ankles - and had a TD pass as well. Future looks good for the Pirates!

My friend's son plays for the Pine Tree freshmen and I've seen them play 4 or 5 times. They have only lost one game all season and that was to Texas High. I agree with all posters that T-High's freshman team is the strongest I've seen. Their skill kids are good, but the O line and D line were the difference against PT. The T-High kids mentioned in previous posts were all good when I saw them, but #81 (defensive end) was the best player on the field that night. PT moved the ball well a few times, but stalled inside the 20 - a sign of good 'bend but don't break' defense. As for Pine Tree's freshmen, their are a few good looking kids that could help them down the road as they grow. Two good looking halfbacks #1 and #2, and #23 is a very fast receiver for them who also plays HB at times. #7 is a good DB. The linemen are small, but well-coached. They run a lot of read plays and I've seen their QB #12 run wild over Nacogdoches and Hallsville - friend said over 200 yards rushing in those games. The QB is about 6 ft tall and will outrun most team's DBs in the open field - serious speed. He also has a decent arm, too, but they don't pass much when the running game is clicking. IMHO, this group of PT kids will win some varsity games, but only if they are kept together on JV next year. They didn't win much in JH, so this winning thing is new to them. If they stay together in JV, they might win 8 or 9 games and enter their Jr year on a roll. Just one opinion... PT plays SS this week and MP next week. Does anyone have any info or records on them?

Sorry, Mavchamp - PT won the Freshman game 46-22. Marshall came out with a good gameplan - recovered a couple of onsides kicks and took a very quick 14-0 lead. PT came back strong, scoring 46 unanswered points, and were playing with only backups for the whole 4th quarter. Marshall stopped PT's bread and butter inside veer, but could not contain the halfbacks on the edges and the deep passing game hurt them, too. PT's QB has had a couple of 200+ yard rushing games, but not this time. He did beat them through the air a few times. For the most part, it was toss right, toss left - not rocket science. This group of PT kids never won much in Jr. High, but they are 5-1-1 this season. This group of Marshall freshman was always among the toughest Jr. High teams PT has faced the past two years. Do you know if they've lost some kids or moved some to JV? Also, does anyone have any info on the Sulphur Springs or Mt. Pleasant freshman teams?

Pine Tree Freshmen 52 Nacogdoches Freshmen 14 PT still undefeated at 3-0-1 PT QB ran for 4 touchdowns - Pirates looked fast!

Good post JBizzle. If the schools needed new computers, lab equimpment, or more classrooms, would we all say "No, because their test scores are too low and they don't DESERVE it"? Most communities would gladly pass a bond for those items to HELP students raise their scores. Why then should a football program have to EARN a new stadium? Maybe the new one will give them more pride and a better chance for success. You are right on the money by saying that the PT kids deserve as nice a stadium as anyone else's kids. I know this is the real world, but don't ALL kids deserve nice facilities, whether they get them or not?

I've been sort of watching this situation for a while now and I think PT's last two bond elections speak volumes about what the REAL issue is over on that side of town. Last year's bond saw over 2,000 voters turn out and the difference was only 12 votes. This year, over 2,700 voters turned out and the difference was less than a hundred votes. The issue is that PT is clearly a divided community with divided interests. I could put it more clearly by saying that there seems to not be a strong sense of community in PT. Think about it - PT is not it's own town, but is a slice of a much larger town. Parents and kids move in and out of PT's low income housing and never really get to know their neighbors or the kids their kids go to school with. Some PT folks have lived there for generations, but probably don't have much incentive to reach out to the new, more migrant neighbors. This means that PT will never have the built-in advantage of most 3A or 4A towns - the advantage of being the only school district in town. The teachers I know in PT tell me that the administration is really trying to promote pride and community unity. I think they are on the right track and have clearly figured out what the main problem is. It has less to do with football, although football seems to be the weakest link that PT people care the least about. It has everything to do with having community and school pride. Those who have lived in areas with great community and school pride will tell you that it is far different from just having pride in the band or pride in the football team. There is obviously much support from many PT folks for certain programs, but to us on the outside, there appears to be far less overall community and school pride. The close vote on the bond says it all. Everything PTISD put out in the media to try to raise support for the bond actually looked like they were trying to downplay the importance of the stadium. How many Texas communities are so football-poor that they have to try to pass a new stadium bond by talking about all the other things in the bond while downplaying the stadium? To PT admins I say keep up the good work and stick to your guns. To the community I would say keep working toward that unity and positive spirit. To the new AD, stay strong, be patient, and good luck!

Most people will say the moment of this game that "sealed the deal" was the long TD run by Kelly that put Yoe up 28-14. I say the defining moment was not the play itself, but something that happened DURING that play. #68 from Cameron (guard or tackle - don't remember) got down the field ahead of the RB. About 25-30 yards downfield, he ran full speed into a couple of Tatum players and pushed them into a third Eagle. All three hit the ground hard like a bunch of bowling pins. Kelly, the RB, stepped over the pile and had an easy sprint to the end zone - game over! The spread passing team won it with old fashioned power football. Game ball to Kelley - big helmet sticker to #68. That kid was pumped and his team knew he made that TD happen.

Great description, BaseballUmp. I have friends in Cameron and I've never seen such strong school pride from an entire town. You could find the two worst enemies in Cameron and they would band together like brothers if you disrespected their town or school. One thing you didn't mention: In Cameron, the Yoemen are not farmers, they are archers. I remember a painting of a Robin Hood-like man with a big bow and arrow on the gym wall. I would place this among the best names and NOT in a worst names thread!

My cousin says you make a great point rednblack! LOL!!!