2022 District 8-5A DIV II Football Thread

[Mavchamp]

I don't know how Texas High is feeling....but I can sure tell you Mav Nation is still bummed out about Friday night.  People are still talking and stinging over it.  What a wild, crazy, exciting, heartbreaking game.

I've seen us win some games we shouldn't have...and I've seen us lose some games we shouldn't have.....but Friday might be right up there with the 2004 State Championship game Vs Ennis (lost 23-21).... and 2018 Region semis Vs. Huntsville (lost 35-34).

One.  stinking.  yard.  short.  UGH.....

So many chances we had to win....and each one of them slipped through the tips of our fingers.

I have no doubt THS fans are feeling some of that too.....OT is a terrible place to lose too.

We had a 2nd round game like Hallsville had last week.....and it's somehow much easier to accept a big loss.  Because you know that you know that you know you lost to a better team.

MHS and THS aren't really feeling like that right now.

-------------------------

On a lighter note.... the excitement about this new offense that Jack Alvarez has brought to town has really got everyone's attention.  Talk of the town, really.

We had a slow start with the new offense at the first of the season....of course some of that was because of the competition we faced.

But once it got rolling...... we were lighting up the scoreboard pretty well.

40
44
36
37
36
35
49
42
47

Three losses by 7 points or less.

If we can step up the defense going forward...... some of those losses will turn into wins.

Should be fun....but right now.....  just a little blah.....

 

[ANTI]

On 11/7/2022 at 5:01 AM, Ace1122 said:

Why can’t you just post information for everyone? 

Why can't you post information for your own school, like the rest of us?

[tomlandry]

On 11/8/2022 at 6:33 AM, LOBOFAN84 said:

You will NEVER see signs at ANY Lobo athletic game, made by students or otherwise that say anything derogatory about a school being uneducated; or referred to by any other name than their school mascot. Nor should the Lobo principal have to appeal to the neutral site custodial services to take down a sign that the WH parents and teachers wouldn't take down.  I was there.....I saw the sign.....I took pictures of the sign....we listened to the chants from the WH students at a volleyball playoff game. I also wrote a letter to the superintendent, explaining our disgust at the behavior of the students.  The kids involved had to apologize but "they didn't mean anything by it". The apology never happened and the kids graduated. The only notice about the "incident" was on Twitter for a brief moment.  

This is one incident among many, involving schools that have kids of color on their teams. So yes,  complicit is the perfect word for the administration and parents.  And if you don't see a problem with their behavior, then you are also part of the problem. 

I have been in the East Texas area for over 50 years...never known about a sign from any other school than Whitehouse. I have seen MULTIPLE signs in MULTIPLE years from them. Absolute GARBAGE to allow this type of behavior. 

[nacdragon07]

14 hours ago, Mavchamp said:

I don't know how Texas High is feeling....but I can sure tell you Mav Nation is still bummed out about Friday night.  People are still talking and stinging over it.  What a wild, crazy, exciting, heartbreaking game.

I've seen us win some games we shouldn't have...and I've seen us lose some games we shouldn't have.....but Friday might be right up there with the 2004 State Championship game Vs Ennis (lost 23-21).... and 2018 Region semis Vs. Huntsville (lost 35-34).

One.  stinking.  yard.  short.  UGH.....

So many chances we had to win....and each one of them slipped through the tips of our fingers.

I have no doubt THS fans are feeling some of that too.....OT is a terrible place to lose too.

We had a 2nd round game like Hallsville had last week.....and it's somehow much easier to accept a big loss.  Because you know that you know that you know you lost to a better team.

MHS and THS aren't really feeling like that right now.

-------------------------

On a lighter note.... the excitement about this new offense that Jack Alvarez has brought to town has really got everyone's attention.  Talk of the town, really.

We had a slow start with the new offense at the first of the season....of course some of that was because of the competition we faced.

But once it got rolling...... we were lighting up the scoreboard pretty well.

40
44
36
37
36
35
49
42
47

Three losses by 7 points or less.

If we can step up the defense going forward...... some of those losses will turn into wins.

Should be fun....but right now.....  just a little blah.....

 

It’s a hard offense to prepare for really. Nac only has seen it once before the Marshall game and that was against Palestine. If ran correctly it can cause problems for a defense. You have to be disciplined in every assignment to stop it. 

[mav01]

20 hours ago, Mavchamp said:

I don't know how Texas High is feeling....but I can sure tell you Mav Nation is still bummed out about Friday night.  People are still talking and stinging over it.  What a wild, crazy, exciting, heartbreaking game.

I've seen us win some games we shouldn't have...and I've seen us lose some games we shouldn't have.....but Friday might be right up there with the 2004 State Championship game Vs Ennis (lost 23-21).... and 2018 Region semis Vs. Huntsville (lost 35-34).

One.  stinking.  yard.  short.  UGH.....

So many chances we had to win....and each one of them slipped through the tips of our fingers.

I have no doubt THS fans are feeling some of that too.....OT is a terrible place to lose too.

We had a 2nd round game like Hallsville had last week.....and it's somehow much easier to accept a big loss.  Because you know that you know that you know you lost to a better team.

MHS and THS aren't really feeling like that right now.

-------------------------

On a lighter note.... the excitement about this new offense that Jack Alvarez has brought to town has really got everyone's attention.  Talk of the town, really.

We had a slow start with the new offense at the first of the season....of course some of that was because of the competition we faced.

But once it got rolling...... we were lighting up the scoreboard pretty well.

40
44
36
37
36
35
49
42
47

Three losses by 7 points or less.

If we can step up the defense going forward...... some of those losses will turn into wins.

Should be fun....but right now.....  just a little blah.....

 

I definitely didn't see the offense being the strength of the team this season. The defense should have been the dominant force that won games. Instead it was often the last team to have a couple minutes to score wins. Even before we lost all those stud lbs in district, they just weren't as dominant as last year.

[missionimpossible]

Just saw where Nacogdoches had 16 first or second team All District players. They only won 1 game? How did this happen with all that talent?

[Mavchamp]

35 minutes ago, mav01 said:

I definitely didn't see the offense being the strength of the team this season. The defense should have been the dominant force that won games. Instead it was often the last team to have a couple minutes to score wins. Even before we lost all those stud lbs in district, they just weren't as dominant as last year.

I agree.  Offense definitely wasn’t our strength. I spite of the numbers we were putting up… they had their struggles. Particularly early on.  We were wildly inconsistent.   A slow offensive start is what cost us Vs Hallsville.

We had a slow start in the first half of several district games that turned into blowouts. There was definitely a lack of consistency.  If we were.. some of those blowouts would have been worse. 

Defense had split personalities.   Thought we were pretty solid stopping the run most of the time. Pass defense was hit or miss.  And I don’t think we covered a screen pass ALL season.  Screen passes are our lunch all year long.  They cost us Vs Hallsville, Texas High, and Crandall.   PT and MP had some success with them too.

Really looking forward to next season.  We have some very important pieces returning…. But some good talent coming up from the sun varsities.  

[Mavchamp]

Since there’s always so much negativity after losses….. I thought I’d share this.  I didn’t witness it because I had to jet as soon as the game was over. 

As discussed….. Marshall lost to Crandall 48-47  heartbreaker.  It was a back and fourth game all night.  Marshall had a chance to take the win, but was stopped on the 1 yardline as time expired.  Mavs left it all out on the field.  

After the game….. several Crandall players were hugging, consoling, and congratulating Marshall players for such a great game.

The big man WR for Crandall that’s committed to (Oklahoma ? iIRC) was a champ with how he spoke to the Mav players.  I was told several of them knelt with Mav players post game.  

Mav player parents have openly praised Crandall’s team and coaches on social media for their show of sportsmanship.

Like I said… I missed all that.  But didn’t want to let it go unnoticed by Mav Nation.  

Best of luck to Crandall this week Vs Midlothian Heritage  

 

[nacdragon07]

1 hour ago, missionimpossible said:

Just saw where Nacogdoches had 16 first or second team All District players. They only won 1 game? How did this happen with all that talent?

Too long to type the answer. 

[Mavchamp]

10 minutes ago, nacdragon07 said:

Too long to type the answer. 

I have no idea what happened to Nac. I fully expected them to challenge THS and Marshall for the top 2 spots. 

But they gave up an eye-popping amount of points this season.  Almost 41 PPG.  Hard to win like that. 

Rotating QBs hardly ever works.  But rotating three makes absolutely no sense to me.  Can’t gain any rhythm when you’re changing signal callers and offensive strategies several times within a game.  

Do what you do best.  Nac seemed to be trying to do everything and ended up doing none of it well. You can’t run 3 or 4 offensive systems simultaneously.  It’s begging for struggles. 

[nacdragon07]

1 hour ago, Mavchamp said:

I have no idea what happened to Nac. I fully expected them to challenge THS and Marshall for the top 2 spots. 

But they gave up an eye-popping amount of points this season.  Almost 41 PPG.  Hard to win like that. 

Rotating QBs hardly ever works.  But rotating three makes absolutely no sense to me.  Can’t gain any rhythm when you’re changing signal callers and offensive strategies several times within a game.  

Do what you do best.  Nac seemed to be trying to do everything and ended up doing none of it well. You can’t run 3 or 4 offensive systems simultaneously.  It’s begging for struggles. 

We’ve been seeing that since Allman has been here smh.

[missionimpossible]

Looks like Nac should have hired O.C.  Reyes. Look what he has done at Lumberton. Made playoffs first two years there and won District Championship in his 2nd year. 10-1 and still playing. I heard Nac didn't even consider him, gave him a complimentary interview. 

I would bet he would at least be at all the practices. Nac has too much talent to be winning only 1 game a year. 

[nacdragon07]

19 minutes ago, missionimpossible said:

Looks like Nac should have hired O.C.  Reyes. Look what he has done at Lumberton. Made playoffs first two years there and won District Championship in his 2nd year. 10-1 and still playing. I heard Nac didn't even consider him, gave him a complimentary interview. 

I would bet he would at least be at all the practices. Nac has too much talent to be winning only 1 game a year. 

I’m happy for him and Lumberton. That doesn’t mean he would have had success in Nac. His dad only had two great years during his whole tenure.

[missionimpossible]

You are right, but he had two more than most coaches that coached in Nac. If I remember right, he did beat Lufkin two years in a row and went to the playoffs 3 of 7 years. It seems Nac is always looking outward for Boy or Man Wonder, when they have had qualified people in the system. This has occurred for years. Even Bill Harper only made the playoffs in Nac 1 time, and he was an excellent coach. It is a very tough place to coach apparently. 

[Nacwagons]

Allman has made the playoffs 2 of his 4 years but has only managed to be above .500 one time. Reyes had some really good teams but some bad luck with injuries to top end players, especially the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 teams. Every other time we have made the playoffs our reward was a top 5 team in the state and the #1 seed from the other district. 

I want the best candidate for the job and Allman's resume was impressive on paper it just has not materialized on the field. 

 

I agree Nac has too much talent to win 1 game, and I agree to have that many players listed 1st and 2nd team all district and finish last is maddening. I cant speak on who they had in mind during the last interview process and who was under consideration.  However, it looks like Reyes is doing well for himself in Lumberton and continued success their will surely open him up for a bigger school in the future. 

 

Hindsight is always 20-20!!

 

[budmanmpfan]

This was a very difficult season in MP. After making the playoffs last season, everyone was excited and ready for this season. Everyone was thinking they were on an upswing. They had a bunch of boys come out only for them to quit halfway thru the season after losing to SS, LE and Emerson. 

But I will always love my Tigers and support them. This coaching staff has to get things straightened out very quickly or they wont be here very long. 

I did watch both Marshall and T-High last week. Hard losses for both of them. Same with Whitehouse and Hallsville. Although 1 yard and OT losses are hard to take. I would rather be blown out than lose like these 2 did. 

Good luck to Crandall and Terrell this week as well. 

I will be watching the Longview game this week. 

GO LOBOS!!!

[Mavchamp]

Handicapping the 2023 race is going to be really tough. Going to be a lot of teams grouped together.

Obviously THS will be the favorite again.... even in their struggles...they came away with their third consecutive district championship.  They deserve to be the top pick again until someone knocks them off the top of the mountain.  They will have a lot of players coming back on both sides of the ball...and it's unlikely injuries will be as impactful as they were this season.  Potter will be back at QB.  Ball, Powell, and Johnson will all be back in the backfield.  Will need to rebuild the WR corps, but they have talent returning there too.  Defense will be their biggest question mark...which struggled in the latter part of the season.

Marshall ultimately ended at #2; but they took the scenic and difficult way to get there.  There were some offensive hiccups with Alvarez's new system...but after it got going...it was rolling pretty good.  Defense had some struggles.  Varsity had numbers/depth issues all season, but Alvarez resisted the urge to pluck from the JV too early.  The end result was some young varsity Mavs getting some valuable PT.  The Mavs will have some key peices back next season...but they will have some key peices to fill too.  A (5-1) JV will help...and a freshman RB may join  Soph Gatson (492 yards) in the backfield to help replace JQ Davis .  Depth will be replenished...and that will help tremendously.  Slone (1029 yd) will return at QB, but could be tested by one of the underclassmen.  The WR corps will need to be completely reloaded.  

Hallsville could have a hard time replacing their Mr. World ATH in Jace Mosely at QB.  He accounted for the majority of their offense.  He was their lead rusher, lead passer, offensive MVP.  He bailed out a porous defense on several occasions last season.  A defense that for the second year in a row was giving up about 40 PPG.  It'll be interesting to see what direction the Bobcats go with Mosley gone.  Will they return to the ground game Hallsville has been known for...or will they keep it wide open?  Will they have the horses to keep it going?  Will they play defense?

Pine Tree struggled at the QB position most of the season and never found "their guy" at the position.  The rotating QB system never seemed to make anything gel for the Pirates.  They had some success on the ground...in Robinson (son to Marshall alum Jackie Robinson)...but he's graduating.  Palmer was a Sophomore and will be back...but will he be the "go to" in 2023?  After years of inching upwards PT broke through in 2020 with a playoff win....but since then.... they have basically looked like the PT of old.  Will the Pirates find their groove again.....or will they continue the path they've been on for the better part of 3 decades?  Hard to tell.

Mount Pleasant, like PT has been on an upward trend as well.  But 2022 was disappointing.  The new coach was going for a NASCAR type offense like we saw in SS a few years ago....but it just didn't seem MP had the personnel to run that offense.  The struggled with turnovers and penalties.  Depth has always been an issue for the Tigers as well.  It looked like that had been solved....but apparently it could continue to be an issue for the upcoming season.

Nac..... perhaps the most under performing team in the district.  Picked to make the playoffs headed into the season, the Dragons managed only 1 win all season.  Nac appeared to have an identity crisis on offense.  They didn't know what they wanted to run.  Sometimes a spread, sometimes a wishbone, sometimes a power I, sometimes the veer.  And with three QB's rotating.... it was offensive confusion most of the season.  With so many things going on on offense....they didn't do any of them well instead of getting good at one of them.  Defense has usually been a hallmark for Nac since their uptick.....but the Dragons were dead last in defense...giving up almost 41 PPG

Whitehouse will be keeping some starters and losing some starters.

------------------

How do I think 2023 will pan out?  WHO KNOWS.  But I think there will be three groups when the race gets going......

1-3:  Texas High, Marshall, Whitehouse-  These three could be separated by paper-thin margins.  Any of them could beat the other..... but all three SHOULD be contenders for the district title

4th place:  Pine Tree and Nacogdoches:  These two seem to have the most athletes on the field of the others.....but this all boils down to each of them finding a QB and sticking with ONE.  Finding some offensive identity.  PT had a mediocre defense....and while Nac's was atrocious in 2022.....they USUALLY are decent on defense.  If they return to that....they should climb about of their abyss.  Coaching changes could play a part in these two as well.  Stay tuned.

6/7:  Mount Pleasant and Hallsville:  Like the 4th place slot...either of these could jump up into the race.  Hallsville just has more to replace on offense than anyone in the district.  It's hard to fathom they will even come close to perpetuating what Mosley did for them.  He's a generational type player that doesn't come around very often.  And that defense....... HAS to improve.  MP..... they seemed to take some major steps backwards after so much improvement.  It will be interesting to see if the Tigers will continue down the road of their NASCAR/Wide open offense or if they will return to something more conventional.  And will they re-spark some energy to get some of those numbers back?

[Mavchamp]

Marshall signed 5 for football today.  Should be a couple more in the coming weeks when decisions are made.  Congrats to all these young men.
 

Carson Combs: Centre College (KY)

J.Q. Davis: Mississippi Valley State University 

Conner Haggerty: Southern Arkansas University

Davernious (BYRD) Robinson: Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Jacorey Smith: Northwestern State University

[RogerDorn]

11 hours ago, Mavchamp said:

Marshall signed 5 for football today.  Should be a couple more in the coming weeks when decisions are made.  Congrats to all these young men.
 

Carson Combs: Centre College (KY)

J.Q. Davis: Mississippi Valley State University 

Conner Haggerty: Southern Arkansas University

Davernious (BYRD) Robinson: Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Jacorey Smith: Northwestern State University

awesome…I’ll be looking for them goin forward! 
 
Texas High 

Briley Barron OL - San Diego St

John Jack OL- Kilgore College

Tez Wilkerson LB- ULM

Richard Jackson OL- Kilgore College 

Brandon Childs DT- Oklahoma Panhandle 

Xavier Dangerfield WR- Morgan St