JK4404

Owlfred made idiotic comments. His comments are not reflective of EB. The Newton kids, coaching staff, seemed very classy. They are a great team I knew they would be. I wish Brown would’ve played for Newton, and EB would’ve had #22 (injured in Regional) and #5 would’ve played after the half. This EB team got so much better throughout the year. I said it earlier in this forum, EB will not quit it was just a matter if they could limit Newton’s explosiveness. That was a great game, good luck Newton in state, hopefully we meet again next year

I think most of us are realistic. EB has a very good defense, it’s been the strength of the team all year. A couple of really good D lineman and linebackers, However IMO This team is not near as good as the 2012 state champion, and is not as good as the 2015 team that lost to Franklin in semis a game they probably should have won. I’ve seen Newton a couple of times, last year and they are much better. My hope is EB is able to punch them in the mouth and create some turnovers and somehow control the clock. I have seen teams for years against EB run the play clock down before snapping the ball, EB needs to do that to limit Newton’s possessions.

It’s been a few years since I posted on here. Read it occasionally but haven’t had a reason to post since EB played Franklin in semifinals in ‘15. I would love to see the 2012 Brahma team take on this Newton team to see how they would do. As far as this year’s Brahmas I would say they have improved throughout the year. The defense has been very good all season. The offense started slow but has improved. Yes EB still runs the slot-t and uses multiple backs but they’ve thrown a few wrinkles in this year. I’m impressed that they’ve continued to get better. With that said, I am realistic. I would say since the state champion team in 2012 this is probably the 3rd best team EB has had since then. Not a shot at these kids or the coaches. They’ve done a great job of beating who has been in front of them. I think most from EB would agree Region 4 was weak. Actually since Refugio moved down other than when Lexington was Reg 4 or when Blanco is up, there isn’t a whole lot of competition. Boling is D1 now and they had a couple of good years with a superstar player but they weren’t a consistent force. I went to the Newton/ Boling game last year and was very impressed with Newton there and in the state game. Newton is much better now so I know it will take an amazing effort to stay in the game with them. EB will probably have trouble moving the ball and they will have to come up with a different game plan. Through the years EB says we’re going to do what we do and keep at it, even if it’s not working well (which doesn’t happen often). They can’t do that this week. EB will have to get out of their comfort zone on offense. The defense will fight hard and will have some success (don’t laugh). EB will need to create multiple turnovers, play a clean game on offense, try to limit big plays. If EB plays a perfect game we will see what happens. You can ask anyone that has played EB in the past they will fight and won’t quit.

I was looking forward to watch Chan Amie against the East Bernard Def. But Franklin can hit and has a great D against the run, looking forward to seeing how this plays out

The EB QB Whitley getting hurt on the 2nd offensive drive for EB really hurt. EB was going to need to mix in the pass to win this game. The offense seemed to have some issues after he went out, there was no passing threat, they didn't utilize the jet formation that works to switch it up and too many mistakes (penalties, fumbles) But credit to Franklin to keep grinding, they can hit and they can run the ball. They never quit and I think started to wear the EB def. down. Tough ball carriers. By far the best 3A team EB played all year, and would've given a good run and maybe beat the 2 EB non-district opponents that EB lost to. Good luck to Franklin, they'll give Waskom all they want. Great group of seniors for EB will be missed but, the young EB QB Long did well, getting thrown into a semi-final game with no true varsity experience. He will be back and so will the Brahmas. Plan on heading to NRG since its only an hour from EB to watch Waskom and Franklin. I hope for an injury free game and hope to see a great one. I love reading this board and hope EB can get back so I can interact with y'all .

I have alot of respect for 2A East Texas football. I've seen great teams out of East Texas for years. I watched Schulenburg vs Groveton w/ Rodney Thomas, one of the best games I've ever seen. I remember E.B. playing Groveton 3 straight years in the semi-finals. Elysian Fields vs. Rice Consolidated, Have seen Garrison, CC, play in the playoffs. Refugio is staying in 2A and most current 2A-DII schools going up to 3A, I think the path to state next year between region 3 & 4 is wide open. Dont' know what CC or Waskom has coming back, or if another Region 3 team is going to step up, EF, Hughes Springs, etc...But I know region 4 will be wide open.

EB was small this year compared to last season. The lines will be larger next year. It's crazy EB never had size, but the last few years there have been some big kids here and these are home grown kids born and raised in EB.

When I posted initially, I had no idea about the last TD, I had quit listening. WOW, can't say I'm surprised. I was actually giving them some credit because they play hard and don't quit, the Refugio kids deserve a ton of credit, they very easily could've lost 3 weeks ago and a lot of teams wouldn't have been able to pull of the wins they have. But man Herring pulled that b.s. again! Last year against E.B. in the 1st half of the QF game he went out to the middle of the field during a timeout and laid into his FG team, it was embarrassing, they had a false start penalty and he just jumped all over them in the middle of the field. I've never seen that period at any level of football. I've seen them play 7 times I believe since he's been there and he constantly gets out on the field and tries to intemidate the officials. He was out on the field last week after a penalty call also, we aren't talking just off the sidelines, 20-30 yards in the field of play. He tries to bully everyone, opposing teams, officials, that's why he was so bitter last year when they got punched in the mouth. I guarantee you if Cisco beats them he will be the same way. Look, it #### to lose, especially this deep in the playoffs, but you should win and lose with class. 16-18 year old kids may lose their cool occasionally, but the head coach needs to set a good example and not act like an idiot.

I'm from East Bernard, we've played Refugio 4 times now in the playoffs since Herring has been there. Unfortunately only winning once, all of the other games have been within 9 points. I've seen his antics first hand for years. I felt like he was a really sore loser last year to E.B. but he had those kids so primed to get revenge on E.B. which I thought would backfire. It didn't, they were down 27-13 late in the 1st half and I thought they may be done. 4 First half INT's by Quintanilla still wasn't enough. Rogers had them beat, period, they still found a way. The kids play hard for him, and they didn't quit when they were down 14-0 tonight, when EB was up 14 late in the 2nd and when Rogers was up 9 late in the 4th. I don't agree with what I see from the outside looking in, that stuff just would've work here. but give him and the Bobcats credit you can't argue with W's. I hope Cisco beats Leonard (which is a good story) just so the State Championship is a good game. They are the only ones left that may be able to compete. Congrats to Waskom on a great year.

I know nothing about Mildred, other than the QB is talented and going to Iowa. I assume they run the spread? What about defense?

Appreciate it, we plan on getting into Waco and going to eat around 4:30-5:00, thinking George's may be crowded, but we'll take our chances, hope to get there early enough to visit. If we see the Jacket fans, will come over and say hello. Maybe we'll bring some Kolaches and Cold Pivo (EB is mainly Czech), sorry forgot at Baylor, no cold Pivo......Cold Pivo at George's though.

Hope everyone has a safe trip from E.F. Just about 3 hrs. from E.B. looking forward to it. I've read this site on and off for years, just wish the E.B. "imposters" wouldn't have hijacked the thread. Here's to no injuries and a clean game. Good amount of E.B. fans staying over in Waco tomorrow night or coming back on the charter buses. Everyone have a safe trip from East Texas. Go Brahmas

Appreciate the info, that's about what I thought, knew there were problems in the 1st Hughes Springs game. Veteran team that will play hard. I was concerned EB put so much into beating Refugio that they may come out flat. Just from what I've heard and seen this week, I'm not concerned about that. I have no doubt this will be a battle, probably will be within 10-12 pts. either way. Sounds like neither team will quit, can't wait until Friday.

2A All-Time Records 2A rank win% district overall record 27 61.07% 13-2ADII East Bernard(467-295-15) 47 57.05% 9-2ADII Elysian Fields(323-241-18)

Some actual football talk here....EB runs the slot-t, as y'all probably know by now. It's been successful since Coach Long got to EB and put it in. This was the 5th time in the last 7 years that EB has gotten to the 3rd round. There is a difference this year though. Typically, EB isn't very big and has some speed, but this years team is big, fast, athletic across the board. The other difference is in the past it was slot-t run the football, when we got to the 3rd round and someone slowed it down, we were in bad shape. The passing game basically was throw it up and hope for the best. EB will pass if need be, or if EF puts 8-10 in the box they can throw it. #14 has a very good arm and plays qb in 7 on 7, he will rotate with #10 at qb.#10 can throw it just fine also. #10's speed is legit, so when he's split out wide or in the slot and goes in motion it attracts alot of attention. There have been games they send him in motion and all the LB's and secondary keys in on him and a running play to one of the other backs is wide open. I mentioned it on my initial post here, we have 7-8 backs that can run the football. Last week the 5th-6th backs were getting carries before it was out of reach. The reason for #10's lack of yards, carries, etc....he's a great decoy. There were games where he would get 6-7 touches but it would be enough. #40, #3, #32 are the primary ball carriers and all bring something to the table. Very unselfish team, pretty much every skill player on the roster has contributed at some point. On defense EB put their best athletes out there. This is the first year that I remember having 5-6 guys going primarily one way. The MLB's are a Jr. and Soph that seem to be getting better. EB can play and is better playing man coverage in the secondary. As far as the schedule, this is probably the weakest district we've had in a long time. The 2 games that most were looking forward to was Hempstead (non-district) who went to the Div 1 title game last year. They were ranked 4th in the state when they came to East Bernard. It was a wet night but EB cruised 44-8. Much like the Refugio game EB seems to get stronger as the game goes along. I would like to see the avg. per carry from last week minus #10, it was 4-6 yds a carry in the 2nd half. Both lines dominated and got stronger as the game went on. My concern this week, is EF has been behind and lost games, so don't think they'll panic if they get behind. Refugio was done once they were down 14. So what is the deal with Elysian Fields? I know in '07 or '08, EB lost to Refugio in Regional, then they were upset by Rice Cons. and EF ran Rice off the field in Waco. Know y'all have a good playoff history also, looks like the qb is good and makes alot of plays. Appears EF throws it for the most part, does EF run the spread? Defense? Just curious, It's impressive to lose to Arp and Hughes Springs the way EF did and come back to beat both in back to weeks. EF may be peaking at the right time.

doubt it either of these posters claiming to be from E.B. are. No players post on any message board that I'm aware of. They are disciplined and play with class. No problems on or off the field, so not sure who these 2 are.

thanks, I know everyone up there and down here can't wait for Friday night!

Refugio had no turnovers until EB was up 14, it snowballed from there. 3 INTS and a fumble in the 2nd half. All occurred after it was 34-23. They were done, didn't know what hit them. Refugio QB has a great arm and can sling it, passes weren't that off. Good defense, no pressure in the 1st half. 2nd half he was running around trying to avoid being sacked

2nd EB poster..... I've read this forum off and on for years and finally have a reason to post on here.....EBBulls is from E.B., don't always agree with him,but he's rolling right now after his prediction and all the Refugio guys having to eat crow. He and the Refugio guys and others have gone at it for years at Texas2aFootball.com. Just read the Region 4 posts on there and you'll see him. 99% of E.B. fans are respectful and excited to be at this point and know about East Texas football. It's no secret how Region 3 dominated Region 4 or years.....I'm excited for E.B. to be at this point. No doubt this is the best team we've had in forever. We had a good team that lost in quarters to Schulenburg in '95. EB won state in '77 and then lost in the state championship to Eastland in '82 and had a run of years up until around '86 where they were going to the 3rd-4th round every year. We are a perennial playoff team. We've had a good run recently and have been to Regionals 4 out of the last 5 years, but haven't gotten over the hump there until this year. We were real familiar with the Horaces' from Groveton as we met them in '82, '83',84, in the semifinals. I know enough about East Texas football to know about the athletes and speed. I know guys that coached at the 2A level in east Texas and respect the football there. I thought we may have met Elysian Fields in '07, we lost to Refugio in Regional who was then upset by Rice Cons. who then get beat by E.F. in semis. I have alot of respect for any team that gets beat by Arp and Hughes Springs pretty easily ( I know about the turnovers) and then can come back and beat them in back to back weeks to get to the semi-finals. No doubt this will be a battle. Typically, we aren't that big and fast, just always play disciplined with alot of effort. This is the first team in years that plays that way, but has size and speed. We are a slot-t team. This year we have put in a wrinkle to the slot-t. We have #10 who you have heard about. But there are plenty of other weapons, EB has 7-8 guys that carry the football, plus #14 does a great job when he comes in a qb and #10 is at WR. #10 may be the best decoy in 2A football!!! .....We have size and speed on defense also. I've watched EB football for 30 years and we've never had a secondary that has as much talent as this. In the 1st half against Refugio, we couldn't stop them....it was night and day difference in the 2nd half. We knew it would be a battle but we were all concerned down 10 at the half. Once we got the lead it was over....they didn't know what hit them. We beat Banquete 47-0 who was 9-1 the runner-up in Refugio's district (bi-district) Refugio beat them 31-0, thanks to the Refugio coach scoring with less than a minute to go to get to 31....(that's a different story, I'm sure y'all know about). E.B then beat Blanco 16-0. Blanco is traditionally a Region 4 area-regional-quarter-final, playoff team. Everyone was jumping off the E.B. bandwagon after that game since Blanco was 3rd in their district and Lexington killed them. Honestly, I think E.B. did what they had to do to win the game. Don't think they did anything special. Nothing against Blanco as they got after it, but if E.B. had the same strategy the used against Refugio it wouldn't have been 16-0. There is no doubt, EB is hungry as I know EF is....the biggest concern I have is the way EF has been fighting through and beating the teams they weren't supposed to beat, and EB coming off a Huge emotional win. We were 0-5 in history against Refugio in the playoffs. If there is a letdown and EF hangs in early, it will be a dogfight. I know EF won't quit, so EB will have to come out ready to play. This group is special and I expect their best and an EB victory. Hope for no injuries and safe travels for both teams and fans. Drove home 2 hrs. Fri. night from San Marcos. Have the hotel in Waco, so hope I have a reason to party!