Solono

Small Sr. class. Young team, inexperienced secondary. Didn't see the usual difference-maker players they normally have (no real studs). I also understand their starting QB was out the first two games and maybe for a bit longer. Not as fast as they usually are. Pretty well coached. The kind of team you can expect to get better as the season goes on. Still don't think they'll be able to hang with Groveton or Centerville this year. They will probably finish anywhere from 3-7 to 6-4, depending on how their youngsters progress.

Now final. 50-31 Bremond.

50-31 Bremond. About 5 minutes left.

36-25

29-25 Bremond 3:45 left in 3rd

Bremond down 25-22 late 3rd.

By "football factory" I meant the system in place there that most small towns don't have. Most 2A towns don't have (or at least, I don't think they do) an organized pee-wee league where talent can be identified early or a HC/AD that coaches every team from 7th-varsity. As far as state championships go they've won 3 in 7 finals appearances since 1968. When I think of small-school powers, I think of Mart (9 SC appearances, 5 wins), and Celina (before they moved up) has 11 appearances and 8 championships (not all those appearances were at the lower level). Refugio is second in all-time wins in their class (670) behind Mart (714). In East Texas Groveton (6 trips, 3 wins) is 4th (630) and Alto (3 trips, 2 wins) is 11th (546). Canadian (3/3), Stamford (7/5), Shiner (4/2), Goldthwaite (5/4), Stratford (4/3) are others who have made multiple trips, and Albany has been there like 5 times and I think they've lost them all. Refugio may not be the absolute best historically but they're in the conversation for top programs all-time. This was quick and dirty, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Third year in a row the region winner came from this district.

ouch

I don't think anyone in this region will beat Refugio this year. Herring has a football factory set up there. Groveton loses their QB and I don't know about his replacement. SA has as many athletes as anyone in the state but rarely stays disciplined enough to play good defense consistently. Alto will always be in the mix; don't see how they can be left out of any "top programs" discussion. Haven't seen Carlisle. Centerville lines up and plays smash-mouth but they're vulnerable to speed and a good d-line/fast LBs. LL didn't have the speed they had last year and were short on size. It finally caught up to them. Small-school football (especially) runs in cycles. Sooner or later someone from Region 3 will come up with a couple of D1 athletes and enough complimentary players to win a title, but who knows who or when.

Well done SA. Didn't think you'd beat them twice. Congrats.

SA has ALWAYS had fantastic athletes and jaw-dropping speed ever since I first watched them in the 70's. Their decades-long problem is a lack of disciplined play which allows them to lose to teams who have less talent. They're the kind of team who can beat anyone on a good night and they can lose to just about anyone on a bad one. Never know which one is going to show up. Groveton is very impressive, especially offensively. I think they're the best team in this region and could possibly hang #4 on the wall this year.

Epic beat-down. This surprises me. Groveton along with Carlisle have to be the regional favorites. Has anyone seen both?

LL 42, Shiro 6 at half

Statistically about 1 in 50 HS football players play D1 college ball. That means a 2A school on average will have one D1 player come along every 2 years or so, and some schools may go several seasons without one. Occasionally you find a small school that has 3-5 such talents, and they are usually hoisting a trophy in December. A 6A team may have 3-10 D1 talents in each class 9-12. In my experience there have been some kids in big schools (who could play or even start at small schools) who don't bother to come out for football because they know they're not going to play. The end result is that the talent level is even more skewed toward the bigger schools. There are exceptions, of course, but in a general sense I think this is true. Having said all that, you really can't compare DF and Katy. They are 30+ years apart, different divisions, different mindsets, different coaching, different eras, etc. I saw both of them play and I'd say they were both historically good.