R E LEE

Hard to get much out of the scrimmage. Marshall's only score was on a 70 yard go route against our best corner on the second play of the scrimmage. Legacy line looks too heavy to me. Our QB needed to settle down and throw the ball. That was the first two times we had the ball. Our 3-3 defense did have trouble containing the edge but still held Marshall out of the endzone. Legacy seemed to get the offense rolling some in the live quarter, winning 14-0 with one long pass and one long drive. I just don't know how good Lufkin will be. The last few years, they don't seem like the Lufkin of old- maybe its just me. I don't see them blowing Legacy out.

New co-DC’s. One was on staff last year, but not DC. Berry went to Kerens.

This

Tyler is like Plano?

I'll give you this- there are probably a few people left in S Tyler that were not content with a .451 winning percentage or a .365 winning percentage. A solid admin in place that supports athletics at both schools, direct middle school feeders and an academic B rating (that is looking like it could be an A next year) bode well for the future for Lee. Building on some of the things Traylor was able to do and playing good football should quiet them down.

JT and their theories/infatuation about Lee. It must be true because someone spoke it into existence on Smoaky. I never heard Owens complain about old money for the 15 years he was the coach. I don't think it exists.. Just an attempt to take a side jab at your cross town school. And the comment that there "won't be any talent" at Lee after next year doesn't meet the smell test. The largest school in East Texas that is growing with a demographically balanced population doesn't have any talent?? Give me a break. As I have said before, a great program isn't built on shiny objects. I can think of multiple players over the last 15 years that were middle school studs that never even finished in either program. They will have plenty of talent to win with a coach like Coach Willis.

I guess that almost always comes down to how stable and sane the central administration is over the same time period. I could see this being one of those windows.

From everything I read and hear, it sounds like a solid fit. DR has lost 5 games in the 5 years he has been defensive coordinator and if you look at their scores on Max Preps, opponents have a bunch of single digit scoring games. Lone Star only scored 7 on them in the Semi's this year. I don't know if they were looking for offense or defense, but it would seem they would want to find the best long term prospect that would be a great head coach. The foundation is there for someone to make it their home for a while. I bet he wins alot of games in Tyler over the next ten years.

Hoping for a competitive game with a chance for Lee to pull out a win in the 4th. Midway has a tradition of winning, which usually follows a solid program with depth and a strong work ethic. We don't have any common opponents, so its hard to get much of a comparison. Euless Trinity and Lee both beat JT by about the same amount and the Midway/ Euless game was tight, so maybe that is a little of a gauge. Lee had its best half offensively last week, but is still searching for that complete game on offense. Defense has been solid all year. Even the Longview game was 14-0 to start the 3rd quarter until multiple special teams miscues gave the Lobos a short field for much of the 3rd. Two of their TD's were also pick 6's. It's hard to know what to expect from Lee. Will they be just glad to be in the playoffs or really hungry for a win. Is Midway beatable? Thoughts?

Disagree. Lee has the talent to make the playoffs every year in a Mesquite or Garland district with the right coaching. I'm not talking about Sunset or Molina- I'm talking about what walks the halls at Lee.

Great teams don't rise and fall with a "talent drop off". If your team just relies on a great back or receiver to make the playoffs, you are not that great of a team. Great teams make the playoffs every year and make deep runs when they have the horses. There are some things they have done over at Lee to establish the foundation, but still work to do to be great. They have not put it together for a full game this year. That is encouraging knowing they have alot of room to improve and every week they are still playing gives them a chance to get where they need to be.

13

Late night getting home from a memorable game. Everyone sees thing from their own teams perspective, but I did think the Lee defense played better than it has in years. We have been really slow and soft for the last 8 years. I know Marshall fans see mistakes and turnovers, but if you take away 3 big scramble out of your mind passes, this could have been a shutout for the Lee D. Our offense was pretty vanilla, as usual. Was surprised the Mavs couldn’t get someone on our Qb in the second half. I do agree the Mavs seemed a little overconfident and may have expected the same soft Lee. We have to get a passing game by District. Every year we see 8 in the box and don’t know how to deal with it. Good luck to Marshall the rest of the season. I always enjoy the rivalry.

REL Fresh win 38-12.k

Two small corrections. It's Poster, not Ponder, and he will be a Junior. There are three incoming Juniors competing for the QB job at Lee. Carry on.

I guess the 11-14 includes their 5 losses to 6A Lee and Longview? Not sure what the rest of their non-district looked like. I think the pieces are in place at Lee for a continued rise over the next few years, but get why people might assume they would continue to struggle. Winning is the only thing that can change perception and reality.

Right- they beat the 3 5a teams they played this year and I believe two of those teams are leading their respective districts at this time.

Several other plums: 1) Cost- If you can play teams in a 60 mile radius vs sending 2 schools to Rockwall or Rowlett multiple times a week, for several sports, it saves money. I heard it was around $1,000,000 a year to go to the metroplex vs playing all local. 2) Better game experience- when Lee played Mesquite a few weeks ago, MHS had no more than 15 fans at the game. That's not East Texas football. Lee-Marshall had a good crowd for two average teams that are rebuilding. With 5A splitting now, we may not ever get a true East Texas 5A district again, but we can still hope. The way Texas does school is changing, especially in the larger Districts like Tyler. The early college HS is filled with people who have no interest in athletics, extracurriculars or the traditional HS experience. They are happily not part of Lee or JT, same with Rise. They are there by choice and have no affiliation with the traditional HS's.

This is exactly what I thought would happen. Lee has more talent than you think. I was at two of the three games and there was not the huge talent gap that there has been across the board for the past 8 years. These kids and coaches have had 3 months in this system, at this school. They were not ready to compete with Longview, who is very good at what they do. Great run game with timely passing mixed in. They wear on you. Having said this, I have full confidence in the future. We have a good chance to beat Mesquite and North and I even think we have a shot against JT. If we can get to 5-6 wins this year, I see that as another step in the right direction. I think we are in the mix for a playoff spot next year and ready to challenge for one of the top spots the year after.

Lee will win the next title of the group- it just won't be in 6a.

We are sitting in the same spot we were in last year. My 2 cents- the offense looks a little better than in did last year, but there is still alot of room for improvement as they learn to trust the system. I saw a big difference from week 1-2. Defense appears to be better, but no offense to the QB's from Marshall and Cana, they were both better runners than passers. I'm holding out to declare the defense "much improved" until we hit some tougher competition. Biggest difference I can see between this year and the last 6 is that a foundation is being laid for a program. This was never the case in the last 6 years, for various reasons. 105 kids on the freshman team and growing (we were down to about 50 at one time). Coaches coaching their tails off because they want to be here and they want to compete. It's a different vibe with these guys. As far as the schedule goes, I know it got old traveling to the metroplex for subvarsity games, having 20 people in the stands for both teams, and getting back to Tyler at 1am. Playing Mesquite and Garland are not the same as playing some of your traditional rivals in ET. For now, its nice to be staying in East Texas. If Lee starts winning again, it will probably get hard to schedule locally again. Enjoy it while you can.

Lee Freshman A Team 42- Corsicana 0. Lee Freshman B Team 36- Ennis 0.

One resigned that he brought with him. Two left, but they were new to him last year, not people he "brought with him." The district newcomer of the year, Ladarius Wickware, will be a junior rb. I think he was All East Texas. Defense is the key.They need size and depth and I'm not sure where it is going to come from. Incoming 9th graders are loaded- if they can keep rebuilding until then, I think they can turn the corner. Still and easy target until they start winning in District. Subvarsities were a joke- hope that gets corrected this year.

WR by 40.

What a load! I hope Lee can tackle better than it has the last 3 years or he might run for a bunch.