micotrav

I'm here and eating my words. Maybe too long of a trip? No, I admit I was wrong. Nothing more I can say. What I saw in Rockwall, minus their tailback was some really fast kids, but my perception must have been deceived or on the other hand, I was right until they met that East Texas Speed! I'm on the Lobo wagon now...

I eat my words, and I admit that I could not believe the final score in this game. Longview is definitely the real deal. I really thought Rockwall's running and passing game would carry them to the Championship. I was wrong. Looks like we need to engrave a new name on that gold football. Forney has a great team, but I will just mention Javion Osbourne as an incredible running back and Adrian Peterson's little brother is a great athlete and talented. North Forney must have something, and this is shaping up to be a great battle for second place between Rockwall, North Forney and Forney.

Lake Travis getting a lotta respect from the Harris Ratings. Number 11 isn't too shabby.

We will let you know very soon because the Forney Jackrabbits are coming to Royse City this Friday night. Forney has got to a very talented team. They have a tremendous amount of athletes leading that team. Maybe the jump to 6A was a little more than they thought.

I realize that is a bold statement, but could SOC beat North Crowley or could Ruston beat Lake Travis? Could SOC beat Lake Travis and could Ruston beat North Crowley? Both would be great games, but I "think" those two teams on Rockwall's schedule are better than the two teams vs. Longview. No doubt both have had to fight their way to get to this game. Gonna be a great game Friday night in Longview, Texas.

Personally, speaking and I know how famous East Texas speed is and it is a touchy subject when you predict someone else having a speed advantage, but "overall" and that is not that Longview may have one or two players faster, but I'm convinced that this season, Rockwall has a very fast team and their backups to their backups are fast. I only give a very respectful slight "overall" speed advantage to Rockwall. Another challenged point, but Longview better adjust to Rockwall's passing game. They can air it out to some incredible athletes. I see Matt Stepp's challenge on paper about schedule strength, but North Crowley, Lake Travis and Lewisville are tough outs, as are Ruston, SOC and Lufkin. This can be argued another way as if North Cowley vs. Ruston; Lake Travis vs. SOC and Lewisville vs Lufkin, which I give advantage to Lufkin. And even though Rockwall did rough up my team Royse City last week, it was another game that the Yellowjackets played which is also another game scheduled more than Longview, which were resting on Bye Week. In other words, Rockwall has played 5 games mentally and physically and Longview has played 4 games. And of course this can give a schedule strength advantage to Longview for having a Bye week before they play Rockwall. I just "think" that North Crowley would beat Ruston, Lake Travis would beat SOC, and this is a wild guess on my part, Rankings are great and amusing, but they are also including opinions.

Congratulations to the Commerce Tigers. The team of the 90's and the team that went for two, playing for a State Championship, that is a decision that may have been wrong, but was one that I will respect forever. I was there, watching from the stands, great game. Royse City and Commerce had some great games back in the day. It is long overdue that "Tiger Nation" should have their own stadium. I've always thought that, even though some stadiums are too extravagant, but a school's football stadium is their home and are the identity of the team. Commerce has a lot of tradition and their program will thrive again, I'm sure. The stadium looks awesome and I know that your school and community are proud as well. Go Tigers!

Rockwall is already battle tested. Longview has also played some quality teams. Factors- -Strength of schedule- advantage Rockwall -Home field-advantage Longview -Overall speed- slight edge to Rockwall -Passing game- advantage Rockwall, Rockwall 238 ypg. Longview 120 ypg -Rushing game- Even- Rockwall 225 ypg, Longview 218 ypg -History series lead- high advantage Longview -Coaching- Even -Defense- Advantage Longview -Disappointing losses 2024- Rockwall's 42-45 loss to Lake Travis; Longview's 44-45 loss to 5A South Oak Cliff -Inspiring victories 2024- Rockwall's 42-27 win over Lewisville; Longview's 7-3 victory over Lufkin -Average Points per game- Rockwall 40.6, Longview 25.8, Advantage Rockwall -Most decisive quarter is third quarter for both teams-Advantage...too close to call, but possible game changing quarter - Total Yards per game- Rockwall 463 and Longview 338, Advantage Rockwall -Fan Base-Longview advantage with home field -Game changing players- Rockwall Jamir Wilson, tailback, 556 yards rushing and 6 TD/4 games. Longview Kason Brooks, Linebacker 51 tackles/4 games -Tangibles- Longview coming off a week of rest with a bye week last week. Rockwall rebounds from 70-17 loss to North Crowley to win 64-20 over Royse City the next week - Overall Advantage Rockwall ... Prediction Rockwall 24 Longview 21

Ultimately, talent is the big difference in every team, every year. But keep an eye on the Hawks, Coach Webb has been known to pull a rabbit out of his hat.

District 10-6A kicked off the 2024 Football season with two upsets and a big comeback win. The comeback win was not the fact that they were highly favored, but the Rockwall Yellowjackets took revenge on their 70-17 loss to North Crowley. The next man up was the Royse City Bulldogs and the Yellowjackets were swarming mad after getting torched in their last preseason game. Enough said, Rockwall 64 Royse City 20. North Forney faced off against their cross-town rival, the Forney Jackrabbits. Forney, after a highly respected final run in Class 5A that exposed their great running attack that was led by Sophomore Javian Osborne, who finished Forney's last year program with over 2000 yards rushing. But the Jackrabbits may have been marking this one down as a 'W', and North Forney welcomed Forney into Class 6A with a convincing victory. Final score North Forney 35 Forney 31 And last but certainly not least, Rockwall Heath traveled to East Texas to take on Tyler Legacy and what a way to start off District play with an overtime unexpected victory that was decided by a single point after touchdown. The Hawks may be wanting a do over, but it will go down in the history books as a victory for the Raiders. Upset? How will this affect the final playoff picture...Tyler Legacy 31 Rockwall-Heath 30 Next Week's Schedule and my picks- Game and Pick- Rockwall at Longview- Rockwall by 7 Forney at Royse City- Royse City by 3 Tyler Legacy at North Forney- North Forney by 10 Rockwall-Heath- Bye Week

This is one of those games where it is unexplainable if one team beat the other by a bunch or even beat them at all. I think the big elephant in the room is that Legacy beat a team, that at least had the edge, but it was also a team that is coached by who will one day go down as a coaching legend and that is Coach Rodney Webb of Rockwall Heath. Coach Webb is not only one of the best coaches to have ever coached the game, but also one of the best men to ever coached. We probably would not be having this conversation if the Hawks had made their two point conversion in OT. I'm a big Royse City Bulldog fan, but also a fan of any team coached by Coach Webb. Webb was a young coach that began his head coaching career at Royse City and led them to the State Semifinals. Webb then began his journey to Mesquite Horn where he made that team a winner. From Horn, he was offered the HFC's job at Rockwall High and once again the Jackets became a highly respected program. I feel like I'm writing a biography here, but if anyone in his profession needs recognition, it is Coach Webb. He left Rockwall to go turn Denton Guyer into a huge success and taking them to the Class 6A Final. Respected so much and still being a young coach, Webb accepted the Athletic Director's job at Highland Park. Rockwall Heath was desperately needing someone to rescue their program after a highly publicized controversy. So, who was the best man that Heath could hire? Rodney Webb was absolutely the best choice to try and help the Rockwall Heath program. Heath has been a hot bed of talent in the past, but the program took a huge hit by bad press. I'm saying all of this, and I certainly do not need to, but Tyler Legacy took a huge swing and knocked a home run by beating a team that was favored, but beat a team coached by Coach Webb. That single victory will help the Raider program tremendously. So now, Legacy, who was predicted to be an 'also ran', to being a legitimate playoff possibility and in only the first week of District 10-6A play.

Final in OT Tyler Legacy 31 Rockwall-Heath 30

Any updates on the Rockwall Heath Freshmen vs. Tyler Legacy Freshmen. I believe both of those teams were also undefeated.

Final for the undefeated Freshman Royse City Bulldogs vs. the undefeated Freshman Rockwall Yellowjackets. Final Score Royse City 18 Rockwall 13 Bulldogs remain undefeated

Last week the Royse City Freshmen defeated the undefeated Weatherford Freshman team. Weatherford's Frosh, had gone nearly three years without a loss. They were on a 21 game winning streak. Royse City won that game over the Kangaroos 51-12.