Mavchamp

Legacy is (51-97) since 2010…. And you’re laughing at Marshall??? We have 93 wins in that amount of time. Lmaoooooo We've had 5 district championships and 3 region semifinals in the same amount of time We have a winning record over Legacy. 24-21-1 And you’re laughing? You should be crying.

Ummm…….. you’re the one that came to an Internet forum. Therefore by definition: An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.

Do they teach grammar and spelling at Legacy? Jeeeez. Ask for a refund.

Another question is….. how does it affect cutoff numbers as it ripples down? Namely for East Texas. Does Texas High get bumped up to 5A Div I with Tyler? To a lesser degree Nacogdoches could bump up And would we see some borderline 4A Div I schools get bumped to 5A Div II….. suspects like Pine Tree, Lindale, Kilgore, Sulphur springs….. we could possibly see TWO 5A Div II districts in East Texas Mount Pleasant, Sulphur Springs, Marshall, Hallsville, Pine Tree, Whitehouse, Jacksonville, Lindale, Kilgore, Nacogdoches… that’s 11 teams. 12 of Texas High doesn’t bump up. Definitely leads to 2 etx districts. Interesting stuff.

My guess is that they will do 16 districts instead of 32. That’s what they are doing in 5A split classifications

The date for the Whitehouse game was incorrect

Updated/corrected Marshall schedule

15-5A Boys Basketball Standings Longview 12-2 Mount Pleasant 12-2 Hallsville 11-3 Tyler 9-5 Marshall 4-10 Whitehouse 3-11 Texas High 3-11 Pine Tree 2-12 BI-DISTRICT PLAYOFFS Tyler Vs. Lufkin Nacogdoches Vs. Hallsville New Caney Porter Vs. Longview Mount Pleasant Vs. Kingwood Park ------------------------------------------ 15-5A Girls Basketball Standings Tyler 14-0 Longview 10-4 Whitehouse 9-5 Texas High 9-5 Hallsville 6-8 Mount Pleasant 4-10 Marshall 3-11 Pine Tree 1-13 AREA PLAYOFFS Longview beat Red Oak 53-45 Tyler beat Lancaster 71-57 McKinney North beat Whitehouse 67-30 REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS Longview Vs. McKinney North Tyler Vs. Princeton ----------------------------------------- 15-5A Boys Soccer Standings Longview 7-0 Mount Pleasant 6-1 Whitehouse 4-2-1 Pine Tree 3-3-1 Hallsville 3-4 Tyler 2-3-2 Marshall 1-6 Texas High 0-7 Game 7 Longview beat Mount Pleasant 2-1 Tyler beat Texas High 4-2 Pine Tree beat Hallsville 3-2 (OT) Whitehouse beat Marshall 4-0 ---------------------------------------------- 15-5A Girls Soccer Standings Longview 5-0-2 Whitehouse 5-1-1 Tyler 4-2-1 Mount Pleasant 4-1-2 Hallsville 3-4 Pine Tree 2-5 Texas High 2-5 Marshall 0-6 Game 7 Longview tied Mount Pleasant 0-0; won 4-3 in a shootout Tyler beat Texas High 3-0 Hallsville beat Pine Tree 1-0 Whitehouse beat Marshall 3-0

15-5A Boys Basketball Standings Longview 12-2 Mount Pleasant 12-2 Hallsville 11-3 Tyler 9-5 Marshall 4-10 Whitehouse 3-11 Texas High 3-11 Pine Tree 2-12 Game 14 Mount Pleasant beat Tyler 73-54 Hallsville beat Longview 71-65 (OT) Marshall beat Whitehouse 60-59 Texas High beat Pine Tree 49-37 (???) Hallsville got the upset of the night Tuesday night with their OT win over Longview, who had already clinched the district championship. MP beat Tyler to claim the #2 seed. The Bobcats settle into third. Tyler finished in the final playoff slot. Marshall beat WH on a 3 point shot at the buzzer to finish fifth. Texas High beat PT to remain out of the cellar. ------------------------------------------ 15-5A Girls Basketball Standings Tyler 14-0 Longview 10-4 Whitehouse 9-5 Texas High 9-5 Hallsville 6-8 Mount Pleasant 4-10 Marshall 3-11 Pine Tree 1-13 BI-DISTRICT PLAYOFFS Tyler beat Lufkin 61-23 Longview beat Nacogdoches 56-28 Whitehouse beat New Caney Porter 30-25 Huntsville beat Texas High 49-34 District 15 went (3-1) against district 16 with a couple of blowouts by Tyler and Longview. WH eeked by Porter, while state ranked Huntsville ended THS' season. AREA PLAYOFFS Red Oak (22-9) Vs. Longview (23-8) Lancaster (20-14) Vs. Tyler (29-9) Whitehouse (24-10) Vs. McKinney North (27-10) ----------------------------------------- 15-5A Boys Soccer Standings Mount Pleasant 6-0 Longview 6-0 Whitehouse 3-2-1 Hallsville 3-3 Pine Tree 2-3-1 Tyler 1-3-2 Marshall 1-5 Texas High 0-6 Game 5 Longview beat Pine Tree 3-0 Whitehouse beat Hallsville 2-0 Mount Pleasant beat Texas High 5-0 Tyler beat Marshall 3-0 Game 6 Longview beat Whitehouse 2-1 Mount Pleasant beat Tyler 3-1 Hallsville beat Marshall 1-0 Pine Tree beat Texas High 5-1 ---------------------------------------------- 15-5A Girls Soccer Standings Longview 5-0-1 Whitehouse 4-1-1 Tyler 3-2-1 Mount Pleasant 4-1-1 Pine Tree 2-4 Texas High 2-4 Hallsville 2-4 Marshall 0-6 Game 6 Mount Pleasant beat Tyler 3-0 Longview beat Whitehouse 3-0 Pine Tree beat Texas High 3-1 (2OT) Hallsville beat Marshall 5-0

15-5A Boys Basketball Standings Longview 12-1 Mount Pleasant 11-2 Hallsville 10-3 Tyler 9-4 Marshall 3-10 Whitehouse 3-10 Texas High 2-11 Pine Tree 2-11 Game 13 Longview Vs. Tyler 65-51 Mount Pleasant beat Marshall 60-28 Pine Tree beat Whitehouse 46-40 Hallsville beat Texas High 77-44 ------------------------------------------ 15-5A Girls Basketball Standings Tyler 14-0 Longview 10-4 Whitehouse 9-5 Texas High 9-5 Hallsville 6-8 Mount Pleasant 4-10 Marshall 3-11 Pine Tree 1-13 Game 14 Tyler beat Texas High 70-45 Longview beat Mount Pleasant 51-34 Hallsville beat Whitehouse 42-33 Marshall beat Pine Tree 62-57 The Regular season came to a close for the ladies of 15-5A as Tyler took a commanding win over Texarkana. The Lady Lions are the district champions. Meanwhile Longview takes the #2 seed with their win over MP. In an upset......Hallsville played spoiler Tuesday night with their win over Texas High. The loss dropped the Lady Tigers into a tie for third with Whitehouse. HOWEVER....the Ladycats swept Texarkana giving WH the #3 seed and THS settling for the #4. Marshall beat PT. PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS (1)Tyler Vs. (4)Kingwood Park (2) Longview Vs. (3) Nacogdoches (3) Whitehouse Vs. (2) New Caney Porter (4) Texas High Vs. (1) Huntsville ----------------------------------------- 15-5A Boys Soccer Standings Mount Pleasant 4-0 Longview 4-0 Whitehouse 2-1-1 Hallsville 2-2 Pine Tree 1-2-1 Marshall 1-3 Tyler 0-2-2 Texas High 0-4 Game 5 (All games Saturday) Pine Tree Vs. Longview Hallsville Vs. Whitehouse Texas High Vs. Mount Pleasant Tyler Vs. Marshall ---------------------------------------------- 15-5A Girls Soccer Standings Whitehouse 4-0-1 Longview 4-0-1 Tyler 2-1-1 Mount Pleasant 3-1-1 Texas High 2-3 Hallsville 1-4 Pine Tree 1-4 Marshall 0-4 Game 5 Longview beat Pine Tree 6-0 Whitehouse beat Hallsville 1-0 Mount Pleasant beat Texas High 2-0 Marshall Vs. Tyler- ????

Heck yeah I’m sure it is. If schools the size of Marshall, Hallsville, and Whitehouse (1500-ish) don’t want to play schools like Lufkin and Longview (2200-ish) for district football; Just imagine smaller 5A D2 schools like Jacksonville, Terrell, Crandall (1300-ish) Im willing to bet we see the split eventually spread to other sports for the same reasons. The gulf between the bottom of D2 and the top of D2 is enormous. Almost 1,000 students difference.

https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2024/02/06/asc-to-use-a-unique-conference-format-in-2024?ref=article_preview_title This entire mess is a combined colossal failure by the former and the current president of the ASC. This was a 9 team conference just 2 years ago. Will be down to 4 this fall. They have a 2 year grace period before they loose their automatic qualifier status into the playoffs. They need at least 6 schools to keep it. It's been almost a year since Sul Ross (headed to D2), Austin College, Texas Lutheran, McMurry all announced they were leaving to go to the SCAC. That's not even counting the fact that Southwest University already left after the 2022 season and Belhaven after 2021 both going to the SAA conference. Louisiana College bolted for the NAIA as well. Complete silence from the ASC. Pathetic. To come up with THIS "solution" is unacceptable. A merger with the Coast to Coast conference would have been a stronger move than this. Even a merger/alliance with the Southern California Collegiate Conference would have been better. Even stealing a couple of schools from the Sooner Athletic Conference (NAIA) would have been SOMETHING. They could have tried to snag Wayland Baptist, Texas Wesleyan, maybe SAGU. Now the remaining 4 have to play each other twice..... and still have the nearly impossible task of finding FOUR non conference games instead of the usual 2. I have no idea what Hardin Simmons..... Mary Hardin Baylor, and Howard Payne have planned..... but I hope ETBU administration is being more proactive than the ASC seems to be. They need to be out there hustling..... trying to get into the SCAC with all their former rivals. Hell even the SAA would be better than this garbage. The prospects of going to NAIA are unappealing. Not because they don't have good football in the NAIA...they do. They are very competitive Vs. D3 and D2 schools in all sports. But obviously the NAIA is less appealing than the NCAA. And the prospect of becoming one of the smallest D2 colleges in the country isn't really all that appealing either. Sounds like the ASC offices need to put a for sale sign in the window..... this conference is TOAST in 2 seasons and all the former members will see their rivals scattered to the wind.

I say it every year because it’s generally true. Where is the lie? Look at the non district schedules for Pine Tree, Hallsville, Whitehouse….Mount Pleasant… Who has been playing a team like Carthage with a trophy case full of state championships? Or a Longview with their annual 4-5 rounds deep playoffs (sometimes in 6A no less). Longview and Carthage are each near the tops of their classifications the last few years in wins and deep playoff runs. I never said THS had a weak schedule last season. I know Lone Star and Colleyville Heritage were very good. Are they Carthage and Longview good? I don’t know. And I too cheer for the district after the playoffs start. Except Whitehouse. Guess you’re a better person than me

Interesting question. But doubt they’d want to. PT could become playoff contenders in a lot of sports they aren’t contenders in 5A.

I’m didn’t realize my posts hurt your feelings. And I have never said we had THE toughest schedule in 5A. I said ONE of the toughest in 5A. Historically it’s annually been the toughest in our district. And it’s not even close. Considering we’ve been facing the likes of Longview, Carthage, McKinney North, New Caney, Tyler….. just to name a few over the last few years… I stand by my sentiments. I’m excited to see THS pull together a really tough schedule. I’ve always been a THS supporter other than when we play. Strange flex to drag my name….. but whatever.

I'd love an 8 team district....but where would they come from? Creates some nightmare situations like we see Lufkin facing right now. Greenville? That's brutal. Greenville to Nac...YIKES. Greenville to Marshall and Hallsville is rough, although we've seen it a couple of alignments in the past. Crandall, Poteet, Ennis, Terrell. That's brutal to any of them to Texarkana, Marshall, and Nac. Corsicana to Texarkana, MP, Marshall..... even Nac. ----------- Our best bet to get an 8 team district is to either see Pine Tree or Sulphur Springs move back up, neither of which I expect to see. From what I understand, both are in enrollment decline. Our best hope to move up is probably Lindale because they are actually showing slow growth. After that.... Lufkin is the only one that's even a remote possibility.....and it's not likely. I don't see LP dropping to Division II anytime soon. They are a little over 200 above the cutoff if I recall correctly. Scheduling would be great with 8......but figuring out where #8 comes from is tricky. We need PT and Jax to beef up those enrollments and stay in the neighborhood.

15-5A Boys Basketball Standings Longview 11-1 Mount Pleasant 10-2 Hallsville 9-3 Tyler 9-3 Marshall 3-9 Whitehouse 3-9 Texas High 2-10 Pine Tree 1-11 Game 12 Longview beat Mount Pleasant 45-42 Marshall beat Pine Tree 74-52 Tyler beat Texas High 67-65 Halllsville beat Whitehouse 61-31 Longview took sole possession of first place with their huge road come-from-behind win at Mount Pleasant Tuesday night. The Tiger fall to second place with the loss with the season sweep by the Lobos. Tyler beat Texas High in a surprisingly close contest 67-65 while Hallsvilled cruised over Whitehouse to keep the Lions and Bobcats tied for third place. Marshall beat Pine Tree to pull into a fifth place tie with Whitehouse. Texas High falls to 7th place while Pine Tree is in the cellar. For Friday Longview will be hosting Tyler, whom they lost the first match-up at the Lion's Den. MP will be looking to bounce back against Marshall. Hallsville travels to Texarkana in a cruicial battle for the #3 slot. PT and WH will face off. ------------------------------------------ 15-5A Girls Basketball Standings Tyler 14-0 Longview 10-4 Whitehouse 9-5 Texas High 9-5 Hallsville 6-8 Mount Pleasant 4-10 Marshall 3-11 Pine Tree 1-13 Game 14 Tyler beat Texas High 70-45 Longview beat Mount Pleasant 51-34 Hallsville beat Whitehouse 42-33 Marshall beat Pine Tree 62-57 The Regular season came to a close for the ladies of 15-5A as Tyler took a commanding win over Texarkana. The Lady Lions are the district champions. Meanwhile Longview takes the #2 seed with their win over MP. In an upset......Hallsville played spoiler Tuesday night with their win over Texas High. The loss dropped the Lady Tigers into a tie for third with Whitehouse. HOWEVER....the Ladycats swept Texarkana giving WH the #3 seed and THS settling for the #4. Marshall beat PT. PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS- TIMES TBA (1)Tyler Vs. (4)Kingwood Park (2) Longview Vs. (3) Nacogdoches (3) Whitehouse Vs. (2) New Caney Porter (4) Texas High Vs. (1) Huntsville ----------------------------------------- 15-5A Boys Soccer Standings Mount Pleasant 4-0 Longview 4-0 Whitehouse 2-1-1 Hallsville 2-2 Pine Tree 1-2-1 Marshall 1-3 Tyler 0-2-2 Texas High 0-4 Game 4 Longview beat Marshall 6-0 Mount Pleasant beat Pine Tree 2-0 Whitehouse beat Texas High 7-0 Hallsville beat Tyler 2-1 ---------------------------------------------- 15-5A Girls Soccer Standings Whitehouse 3-0-1 Longview 3-0-1 Tyler 2-1-1 Mount Pleasant 2-1-1 Texas High 2-2 Hallsville 1-3 Pine Tree 1-3 Marshall 0-4 Game 4 Longview beat Marshall 6-0 Mount Pleasant beat Pine Tree 7-0 Whitehouse beat Texas High 2-1 Tyler beat Hallsville 2-1

Whitehouse Vs Marshall. Mavs won on the final play of the game

Main page: https://www.marshallmavericks.net/ News page: https://www.marshallmavericks.net/general-9 Realignment news and thoughts 2024 schedule thoughts

I don't know much about the state of their program.....but Wildcat Stadium is fantastic. I attended a Jacksonville/Palestine game there several years ago and it was pretty awesome. Looking forward to visiting there this coming September. Best of luck to them finding their guy

15-5A Boys Basketball Standings Longview 10-1 Mount Pleasant 10-1 Hallsville 8-3 Tyler 8-3 Whitehouse 3-8 Marshall 2-9 Texas High 2-9 Pine Tree 1-10 Game 9 Longview beat Marshall 83-49 Mount Pleasant beat Hallsville 49-34 Tyler beat Pine Tree 78-45 Whitehouse beat Texas High 57-52 Game 10 Longview beat Whitehouse 65-27 Tyler beat Marshall 65-45 Mount Pleasant beat Texas High 71-39 Hallsville beat Pine Tree 71-44 Game 11 Longview beat Texas High 87-42 Mount Pleasant beat Pine Tree 63-28 Tyler beat Whitehouse 77-39 Hallsville beat Marshall 71-37 The four playoff teams have been decided..... but their order remains undecided. Longview, MP, Hallsville and Tyler are all in. The Tigers and Lobos are tied for first while Tyler and Hallsville are tied for third. Longview and Mount Pleasant have a huge rematch on Tuesday. Longview won the first meeting at home. Tyler and Hallsville are tied with the Lions still waiting to take on Texas High, Longview and MP again to close out district. Hallsville may have the upper hand with games against Texas High, Longview and Whitehouse. ------------------------------------------ 15-5A Girls Basketball Standings Tyler 13-0 Longview 9-4 Texas High 9-4 Whitehouse 9-4 Hallsville 5-8 Mount Pleasant 4-9 Marshall 2-11 Pine Tree 1-12 Game 11 Longview beat Marshall 58-30 Hallsville beat Mount Pleasant 38-35 Tyler beat Pine Tree 73-34 Whitehouse beat Texas High 47-36 Game 12 Whitehouse beat Longview 49-40 Tyler beat Marshall 85-50 Texas High beat Mount Pleasant 47-40 Hallsville beat Pine Tree 49-44 Game 13 Texas High beat Longview 43-40 Hallsville beat Marshall 54-44 Mount Pleasant Vs. Pine Tree Tyler beat Whitehouse 63-32 Tyler has already clinched the district championship. After that....things get real muddy with Longview, Texarkana, and Whitehouse all tied for second place. The Lady Lobos were in sole possession of second place, but losing 2 of their last 3 coupled with Whitehouse and Texas High winning 2 of of their last 3 has created the log jam. The regular season closes out with Hallsville and Whitehouse facing off while Longview takes on Mount Pleasant. ----------------------------------------- 15-5A Boys Soccer Standings Mount Pleasant 3-0 Longview 3-0 Whitehouse 1-1-1 Pine Tree 1-1-1 Marshall 1-2 Hallsville 1-2 Tyler 0-1-2 Texas High 0-3 Game 1 Hallsville beat Texas High 4-0 Mount Pleasant beat Marshall 3-0 Whitehouse beat Pine Tree 4-0 Longview beat Tyler 1-0 (2 OT) Game 2 Mount Pleasant beat Hallsville 4-0 Pine Tree beat Marshall 3-0 Longview beat Texas High 3-1 Whitehouse and Tyler tied 0-0 (2 OT) Game 3 Mount Pleasant beat Whitehouse 1-0 Marshall beat Texas High 5-3 Longview beat Hallsville 5-1 Pine Tree and Tyler tied 2-2 (2 OT) ---------------------------------------------- 15-5A Girls Soccer Standings Whitehouse 2-0-1 Longview 2-0-1 Texas High 2-1 Tyler 1-1-1 Mount Pleasant 1-1-1 Hallsville 1-2 Pine Tree 1-2 Marshall 0-3 Game 1 Texas High beat Hallsville 1-0 Mount Pleasant beat Marshall 6-1 Tyler and Longview tie 2-2 Whitehouse beat Pine Tree 1-0 Game 2 Hallsville beat Mount Pleasant 2-1 Whitehouse beat Tyler 1-0 Pine Tree beat Marshall 2-1 Longview beat Texas High 1-0 Game 3 Tyler beat Pine Tree 3-0 Texas High beat Marshall 5-0 Longview beat Hallsville 2-0 Whitehouse and Mount Pleasant tie 1-1 (2OT)

Game 1: Tyler- No doubt the Lions will be favored. The showed huge improvement from 2022 to 2023. If they were in just about any other 5A D-I district in the state they would have been a playoff team. But when you have the likes of Longview, Lancaster, Forney, and McKinney North.... that's a lot to ask. I have no idea what Tyler has coming back....but the Lions are never short on talent or athleticism. The 2022 game was a blowout win for Marshall....but the 2023 game was a 5OT barnburner (I still think our guy got in) that hopefully is a taste of how the series will be played in 2024 and 2025. I think it's a winnable game for Marshall..... but there's no doubt Tyler will be the favorite. I'm hoping for a good, tough game that prepares us for district play....win or lose. I just want competitiveness. Game 2: Longview- It's no secret I'm ready for this to end. And it's not even about losing to the Lobos. I could take losses to Longview if they were 21-14, 28-21, 31-28 type games.....but historically it hasn't been. Blowout after blowout. A game-long series of 3 and outs. We've seen this game play out the same for a while now. Marshall jumps out to a 7-0 lead on a long play to start the game..... and then the steamroll begins. There's always hope of seeing it becoming competitive again.....but until that actually happens..... I'd rather see this slot filled with Lufkin.....or Byrd....or a metroplex school (Ennis, Crandall, etc). Fact is.....Longview is 800+ bigger. They are 2 classifications above us.... they are among the state's elite and we are still trying to build back to that. Just in two different orbits right now. Game 3: at Tyler Legacy- Legacy is even bigger than Longview..... well over 1,000 more than Marshall. As stated in my earlier post..... there's been a glaring difference between us in our most recent series. The sheer size across Legacy's Offensive and defensive lines is astonishingly huge compared to ours. We simply do not have a bench full of 300+ lb players to pick from like the Raiders do. Granted.... our series with them in 2016-2019 was highly competitive. Marshall and Legacy each got blowout wins and 2 of the games were 1 possession games (29-27) and (27-20). I have no idea what Legacy has coming back.... I know they have a QB that transferred back to the school. But size matters....and the Marshall coaching staff has to find a way to use our speed to our advantage because we will never have the glut of huge linemen that they have. Legacy will no doubt be favored. I do think this is a winnable game for Marshall...... and I wouldn't be shocked if we won. But I'm no fool.... the Red Raiders will be favored in this game. Game 4: at Palestine- I was a little surprised by this match-up. I honestly thought we'd jump on Pine Tree as a non-district game. They have been much better rivals than Hallsville has been for the last decade, so I thought the Pirates were a sensible pick up. I even thought there was a chance we'd see a revival of the Lufkin series....maybe even Kilgore. This will be a good long road-trip game. The Wildcats are traditionally tough at home. Marshall should be favored.....but I'm not predicting a blowout by any means. The Mavs can't be overlooking people. We did it once last year Vs. MP and they punched us in the mouth. Hallsville did it to us in 2022. We have a proclivity to overlook teams we "should beat" at least once a season. It's infuriating. ------------ Week 5- BYE Week 6: Mount Pleasant- Opening district play Vs. MP is big...... this is going to be a huge revenge game. I know the players and the staff were disgusted with their performance (or lack thereof) against the Tigers last season. I'm willing to bet this game will be circled in the fieldhouse. MP is always loaded with athletes...it will be interesting to see how they replace their QB....he was the gas that made them go last season. Those are big shoes to fill. Big, big game to open district. Week 7: at Texas High- Winning at Grimm is something of a rarity for us. Haven't won there since 2017. This was a close game last season.....for a half. A 14-7 THS lead blew up into a 30-7 romp. Texarkana will likely be heavy favorites for this game.....and until we can beat them....especially at Grimm.... the Mavs have got to figure out a way to stop their offense. THS usually has their way with us, scoring early and often. We've had some success against them offensively...but we always have untimely turnovers and/or penalties that kill promising drives. Week 8: Jacksonville- I stand by my statement about not overlooking anyone. Marshall will likely be heavy favorites in this game......but we can't snooze on the Indians. They are never short of speed nor short on athletes. We've got to take care of business. I'm assuming this will be Homecoming.... and Marshall hasn't lost a homecoming game in a long, long, looooong time. Week 9: at Nacogdoches- We haven't lost in Nacogdoches in a LONG time (1999), but I'm never comfortable going there. It always feels like a trap game. It's a long trip..... always seems cold/chilly/damp/wet..... you'd think I'd be happier to go there considering our success. But it never translates into confidence. Nac hasn't had much success over Marshall in the last 30 years (only 4 wins), but all 3 of those 4 losses were devastating to our playoff hopes. They crushed our playoff hopes in 2020, 2006, and 1999. The long road trip coupled with their history of being a spoiler never makes playing Nac feel like a "homecoming game". Mavs will likey be favored.....but I won't be comfy until the W is in hand. Week 10: Hallsville- Another team I'm never comfortable playing in spite of our success against them. Marshall has won 8 of the last 9 games..... a bulk of them have been blowouts....but when they are close they are generally barnburners. The Bobcats have had serious defensive issues the last few seasons.... worst in the district the last two seasons, although Nac gave them a run for their money last year. If the Bobcats can figure out defense.... their offense traditionally has been pretty good. Marshall will be favored in this one....but rivalry games can be quirky. We can't let them sneak up on us. Week 11: Whitehouse- No team in the district has a bigger homefield advantage than WH. Ask MP, Texas High, Nac, PT..... It seems WH has a bit of a....."reputation" with their officiating. This game could be HUUUUGE. Texarkana is the favorite for the district title.... which means the winner of this game likely gets a home playoff game while the loser could be packing their bags and heading to PNG or Nederland, or Huntsville for a first round playoff game. There's some bad blood between these two. Whitehouse entered this game as the favorite both in 2022 and 2023 and lost both of them to Marshall. They lost on the final play of the game last season as the Mavs scored a TD with 0:00 left on the clock. The Mavs have won 5 of the last 6 games dating back to 2018. Whitehouse will likely be favored being the home team. You can't win a close game in Whitehouse...... gotta score and score and score. The Zebras will make sure a close game goes their way. Huge game to close the regular season. ----------------------- I could see this go a lot of ways....... could be anywhere from (5-5) to (8-2). (7-3) seems likely. But hard to say till I know what everyone has coming back. Particularly Tyler, Legacy, Mount Pleasant, and Whitehouse.

I don't see how we can be favored against Legacy. They are a large 6A school (over 2500).... they have more than 1,000 students than Marshall. I think they were a playoff team last season. Before picking up the series in 2016-2019.... we had last played them in 2001. The thing that was most striking to me in the recent series was their sheer size. Their offensive and defensive lines were ENORMOUS compared to us. I realize Legacy isn't a the winning program they once were..... but their classification, participation numbers, and bulk of their players is a lot for a mid-sized 5A Div II program to overcome. While they may not be a force against the likes of Longview, Rockwall, and other 6A metro schools.... they would be the proverbial 500 lb gorilla in 7-5A-II. They would likely beat everyone in the district with the exception of Texas High. Do I think Marshall can win? Sure..... we have a lot coming back. Our offensive/defensive systems are intact under Coach Hammett along with almost all of the existing staff. All that adds up to positives for the Mavs. Of the four games 2016-2019..... 2 were blowouts. One by Marshall and one by Legacy. But two of the games were very close (29-27) in 2017 and (27-20) in 2019. I'm definitely not sleeping on Palestine. I think we've proven what sleeping on teams does to us (Mount Pleasant 2023, Hallsville 2022). Especially on a long road trip. It's hard for me to gauge Palestine....they lost to a Nac team that we scored 70 on. I honestly thought Nac was going to blow that game out..... but Nac way under-performed in 2023 IMHO. I had Nac picked for the playoffs last season. Marshall last played Palestine in 1973. Mavs lead the series (10-8). They first played in 1919 and played on and off till 1930 (six games). The series was renewed in the 1950's when 6 more of the games were played. The series ended after another 6 games were played from 1968-1973. Marshall has won 6 of the last 8 games. Long road trip and they have a history of being tough at home.

That non-district schedule Gotta be one of the toughest in the state for a 5A Div II school. Two 6A schools….. one of them likely top 5. A 5A Div I school that probably would have been a playoff team in any other district last season. Expected to be even better in 2024. Marshall will only be favored in 1 of the 4 games. For the upteenth year in a row we have a murder’s row of non district games. This trend goes back well over a decade. Longview, Tyler, Legacy, Shadow Creek, Byrd, Bossire Airline, Royce City, Corsicana Would have traded the PT scrimmage with one of those big 3 games and made that a scrimmage. JMHO.