Projected Playoff Teams:
A&M Consolidated, Bryan, Ellison, Heights

Vitals:

    
     After the way A&M Consolidated and Bryan started the year, it would’ve been hard to imagine that neither team would be around after Week 11.  In fact, none of 13-5A’s playoff representatives made it out of the first round, which is hard to believe given how competitive the district is. 

     Despite losing their entire starting defense and the likes of Detron Lewis, Cleavon Jackson, and Daniel Palmer, the Tigers of A&M Consolidated are our pick to come out on top of 13-5A.  Consolidated returns 26 lettermen including 10 players with significant experience.  Senior QB Dominic Preston will take over as the Tigers’ offensive leader.  Preston is a dangerous weapon in Consolidated’s Wing T attack because he can hurt you both on the ground and in the air.  Although Preston won’t have a proven downfield target, he will benefit from the return of 3 All-District offensive linemen.  The Consolidated defense, though having to completely rebuild, should be solid as usual.  Eleven starters are gone, but there are plenty of returning players who saw considerable action last fall.  This Tiger team has great potential despite the lack of name recognition; it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them contending for the region.

    Few teams started the year better than Bryan did, winning games at Cy Falls, Pflugerville, and Leander and nearly knocking off DeSoto.  The Vikings played very well in district and nearly knocked off Consolidated to win the district title.  This year, with 25 lettermen and 4 All-District players returning, Bryan is definitely capable of winning district.  QB Garrison Kickham is back, as is RB Stan McGruder and 2 All-District linemen.  Last year, the real strength of the Vikings was defense, but they’ll have to replace nearly everyone except DL Torlan Pittman and LB Elton Holmes.  If Bryan can reload on defense, they could come out on top.

     Killeen Ellison returns the most All-District players of any team in the district (5) and also returns the best QB in the district, Ivan Delgado.  Delgado will be starting as the Eagles’ QB for the third year in a row.  All-purpose athlete Daniel Cobb is also back for Ellison.  Like Delgado, DE Patrick Reilly and LB Morris Winkfield are three-year starters giving the Eagles invaluable experience on defense.  Only 16 lettermen overall return for Ellison meaning most of their roster will be made up of former JV players.  Whether or not the Eagles can compete for the district title will depend largely on how well those former JV guys perform.

     Harker Heights always manages to be in the mix no matter how many players they return and that doesn’t figure to change this year.  The Knights struggled to find offense last year, scoring just under 13 ppg, but somehow they managed to eek out 4 district wins.  LB Bobby Cook is the Knights’ top returning player.

     The bottom third of the district should look pretty much the way it has the past 3 years, with Shoemaker, Temple, and Belton struggling to put enough wins together to get themselves in contention.  Shoemaker returns one of the top athletes in the district in LB Lyvell Marzett as well as 30 other lettermen.  The Grey Wolves could challenge Harker Heights for the 4^th playoff spot, especially considering that they only lost to them by a score of 19-14 last year.  Belton returns star RB Keith Daniels and promising young LB Kyle Voss, but they are very thin on defense.  After giving up 35ppg last year, defense is the last place you’d want to be thin.  Temple returns 24 lettermen but their only district win came against 0-10 Belton.  It could be another long year for the once proud Wildcats.