If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature. Even if it’s not your thing, there’s a 100% chance that you might like it.

We’re going to have an abbreviated version these last couple regular season weeks due to time spent on upcoming playoff coverage.

Region 1:

- Arlington Martin pulled back into a three-way tie (with Lamar and Arlington) for the 4-5A title following Friday’s 41-20 win over Arlington Lamar.  To recap the district title challengers:  Arlington beat Martin by 31, but lost to Lamar by 17;  Lamar beat Arlington by 17, but lost to Martin by 21;  Martin Beat Lamar by 21, but lost to Arlington by 31.  Such has been life in 4-5A this year…

- Mansfield Timberview entered the 4th quarter down 21-17 to Duncanville, but responded by outscoring the Panthers 22-7 in the final quarter.  This is a team that will give someone a sweat in the playoffs.

- We spoke of Cedar Hill’s explosiveness last week and their need to contain Mansfield RB Kenneth Burks.  The Longhorn did just that by limiting Burks to only 64 yards rushing.  The Longhorns’ explosiveness was on display once again with touchdowns of 63, 45, 34 and 56-yards.

- Trinity hammered Grapevine, 38-0 (35-0 at half).  The Trojans have continued to work the quarterback rotation between Joel Sullivan, Matt Hawkins and Lahi Kautai.  Sullivan and Hawkins combined for 6-9 for 78 yards, while the Trojan ground game is still punishing anyone and everyone.  Why do I get the feeling the Trojans love where they’re sitting right now?

- Allen pulled out a thrilling three-point win over FM Marcus on Friday night.  The Eagles responded to a Marcus touchdown with 1:40 remaining with one of their own with 8 seconds left on the clock.  I think all of those in attendance would agree that neither team deserved to lose this one.

• Each team totaled over 500 yards and 20 first downs on offense.
• Only one turnover for each team, a remarkably clean game for as many offensive snaps that occurred.
• Marcus had three guys go over 100 yards rushing, Deion Sanders Jr. – 121, Jeff Smiley – 150 and Harvey Giddens – 140.
• Allen WR Andrew Rodriguez caught 4 balls for 203 yards (50.8 yds/catch) and 2 tds
• Allen QB Alec Morris was 17-30 for 343 yards, 4 tds, and 1 int.

Region 2:

- DeSoto’s 59-53 OT win over Mesquite Horn capped an exciting night of Texas high school football.  DeSoto jumped out to a 26-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, but Horn then reeled off 26 straight points over the next 8 minutes to go into the half only down three.  Horn won the second half by three to send the game into overtime.  We know about DeSoto’s offensive abilities, but giving up 53 points in 3 quarters is a little worrisome.

…DeSoto ATH Dontre Wilson is possibly the most explosive player in Texas.  He carried the ball 21 times for 162 yards and 3 tds, while also catching 3 balls for 79 yards and 1 td.  OU verbal Devante Harris (Horn) caught 4 balls for 126 yards and 3 tds.

…. Is there any question that Mesquite Horn is perhaps the best 2-6 team ever?  They’ve lost to a much different Coppell team in Week 0 by 13, Hebron by 1, Guyer by 8, Stephenville (4A) by 8, Longview by 8 and now DeSoto by 6.

- McKinney Boyd junior RB Bryan Driskell carried the ball 41 times for 219 yards and 5 tds in their 34-20 win over Sachse.  On the season, 230 car., 1592 yds., 23 tds.

- RR Westwood overcame a 10-3 first half deficit against Georgetown with 35 second half points.  Ben Johnson continues to carry this team with 206 yards and 3 touchdowns on 19 carries from the quarterback position.

- Harker Heights’ 17-14 win over Bryan gave them a leg up in the race for a 12-5A playoff spot.  They are now one of three teams tied at 3-2 in a district where no teams have a clinched a spot yet.  With Consolidated and Cove left on the schedule, that was a “must win” for Heights.

- Staying in 12-5A, Cove pulled out a 2-point win on a field goal against Consolidated in a battle of the district undefeateds.  The win puts the Dawgs in pole position for the district title with two games remaining.

- He could make this space every week, but Dekaney RB Trey Williams (A&M) scored four times on 12 carries (161 yards) in their 42-10 win over Klein.  Do yourself a favor and watch the first touchdown run below…

Video provided by gigem247.com via Youtube.com

Region 3:

- La Porte defeated North Shore, 38-30, on the strength of a 21-point 2nd quarter that included two defensive touchdowns.  Despite North Shore leading in first downs, total yardage, passing, similar rushing totals and similar punting average, guess what stat they didn’t win?  If you’ve read this feature on a weekly basis, you know the answer.

… We brought the attention of our viewers to a sophomore LB named Hoza Scott (La Porte) before the season started by naming him to the All-Sophomore team.  Needless to say, he has lived up to the hype with three defensive touchdowns so far this year (2 against North Shore).

- As someone mentioned on the board within the last couple days, Pearland is quietly coming together nicely with Jacob Garner at the helm. Three of their last four have resulted in +15.5, +14.6 and +24.9 adjusted offensive scoring marks.  The bottom half of D1R3 better not sleep on the defending champs.

- And now for our weekly 17-5A offensive shoot-out, Cy Ridge against Cy Lakes.  Ridge won the game 44-38 after piling up a crazy 670 total yards of offense.  Ridge junior RB Renderick Childs went nuts with 342 yards rushing on 31 carries and 4 touchdowns.  Ridge also had another back go for 126 yards on 18 carries.  Cy Lakes totaled 505 yards of offense themselves.

- We discussed Channelview QB Averion Hurts earlier this season. Hurts and the Falcons are currently sitting in a three-way tie at 1-2 for two playoff spots.  It’s paramount that they get a W against fellow 1-2 West Brook this weekend with North Shore waiting on the schedule in Week 10. These guys will need to be at their best Thursday night…

• Senior QB Averion Hurts:  179-268, 2861 yds, 29 tds, 5 ints; 70 car., 293 yds., 4 tds
• Senior WR Stanley Wesley: 70 rec., 1139 yds., 8 tds
• Senior WR Marquise Johnson: 39 rec., 890 yds, 11 tds
• Senior WR Leterio Brown: 17 rec., 391 yds., 5 tds

Region 4:

- Steele’s Tommy Armstrong and Judson’s Quaylon Jones  put on a show last Thursday night.  Armstrong threw for 116 yards on 8 of 14 passing and 2 touchdowns, while adding another 114 on the ground and 2 touchdowns.  Jones carried the ball 27 times for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Steele won 34-20 and extended their winning streak to 21 games.

- Wagner and New Braunfels entered the 4th quarter tied at 10, but Warren dropped 14 points in the final quarter to win 24-10.  Wagner RB Derrick Kindred went over 1,000 yards on the season with 170 against New Braunfels.

- The opening quarter of SA Lee and SA MacArthur saw a combined 28 points scored.  The next three quarters only saw a combned 14 points scored.  Mac won 28-14.

- Reagan versus Madison was a highly anticipated match-up that quickly became one-sided.  The Rattlers jumped out to a 31-10 lead at the half and was on cruise control from there. Madison ran the ball well (299 yards), but couldn’t get anything going in the air (12 yards). Reagan’s leading rusher didn’t log a carry in this one.

…speaking of Reagan, if their playoff path is anything like what is currently being projected, they’ll be a favorite to reach the D2 Region 4 final.

- New QB at Brandeis? Junior Colbie Price received his first start of the year against SA Marshall and went 8-15, 202 yards, 3 touchdowns and no ints.  More importantly, he showed the ability to hit the deep throw with a 62 yard touchdown pass and a 71 yard touchdown pass.  We’ll keep an eye on this moving forward, but talk about finding help at an important position at the right time.

- Jay missed a golden opportunity to stay firmly in the playoff hunt by losing to previously winless Taft.  Instead of sitting in a tie for fourth at 3-3 in District 27, they’re in seventh at 2-4.

- Laredo Nixon and Eagle Pass may petition the UIL during the next realignment to join 17-5A.  These two combined for over 1,100 yards of offense, 44 first downs and only three punts.  Eagle Pass won 49-44 in regulation.

Statistics provided by: Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com, rgvsports.com

If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature. Even if it’s not your thing, there’s a 100% chance that you might like it.

Region 1:

- EP Montwood junior QB Angel Garcia threw for 383 yards and 7 touchdowns in their 56-31 win over EP Coronado.  A great performance considering Montwood (4-1) was without one of their best players in Ebrahim Britton.  Both Garcia and Britton are expected to be healthy for the big showdown with Americas (4-1) this week.

- Arlington Lamar defeated Arlington Bowie in a 21-20 classic that came down to a missed extra point with 3:41 left in the game.  Both exchanged 14-0 quarters in the middle of the game.  Despite picking up 23 first downs to Lamar’s 13, all-state RB Russell Hansbrough was limited to 69 yards on 19 carries, while Kolby Listenbee was limited to 71 yards on 23 carries.

- Arlington’s Tavarreon Dickerson had a quick and efficient day in a 56-0 win over Arlington Sam Houston.  7 carries for 173 yards (24.7 yds/car) and 2 touchdowns.

- Mansfield Timberview held Grand Prairie to -7 yards rushing on 31 carries.  That’s how you win ballgames.

- Trailing 16-7 to South Grand Prairie at the start of the 4th quarter, Duncanville reeled off 13 unanswered to win 20-16.

- Cedar Hill’s explosiveness had many excited by this year’s group and it was on full display in their 50-point win over Midlothian.  Junior QB Damion Hobbs continues to spark the Longhorn offense with a 10 for 10 effort in the passing game and 82 yards on the ground with 3 touchdowns. Junior RB Laquvionte Gonzalez added 145 yards on 6 carries and another 59 yards receiving and 2 total touchdowns.  Another junior, RB Jared Rayford, carried the ball 13 times for 159 yards and 3 touchdowns.

- More on Cedar Hill…1) Since Hobbs took over as the starter, the Longhorns are 4-0 and have scored 63 points in back-to-back weeks.  2) Have posted an adjusted offensive scoring mark of +14.1 over those four games after a +2.2 mark the first three games.  3) Biggest district game comes this week against Mansfield.

- Euless Trinity’s win over Irving Nimitz coupled with Irving MacArthur’s loss to FW Haltom all but guarantees Trinity’s #1 seed in the Division 1 bracket out of 6-5A.

- Haltom RB James Gibbs dropped 309 yards on 45 carries and 2 touchdowns against MacArthur.  Get that man an ice bath.

- Allen needed a 13-0 fourth quarter to beat Plano West who led 28-27 at the start.  The boxscore reads pretty similar between the two… both were around the 500 total yard mark, 25 first downs a piece, both averaged around 6 yards per carry and 3 turnovers for each.

- Fossil Ridge quite possibly saved their playoff chances Friday night.  A loss for the Panthers would have left them at 1-3 in the district with Guyer still remaining on the schedule. Instead, the Panthers ran out 24-16 winners over Central behind a 15-0 4th quarter and now sit 2-2 with 4-3 looking likely.  That would’ve been good enough last year, this year?

Region 2:

- Jesuit finds life against teams not named Skyline much easier to deal with.  Against Richardson, senior QB Brian Buell threw for EIGHT touchdowns on 23 completions and 427 yards.  Five of the eight touchdowns came in a 34-point second quarter for Jesuit.  A record setting day for the Jesuit offense.

…these two teams may have been close to another record for combined points in one quarter.  As mentioned above, in the second quarter, Jesuit scored 34 points while Richardson answered with 23.

- Haven’t had a chance to give Dallas White any love in this feature.  The 3-4 Longhorns picked up their first district win and three backs ran for over 100 yards.  Don Jones – 12 carries for 184 and 2 TDs; Donald Snow – 10 carries for 128 yards and 3 TDs, Jamarkus Smith – 13 carries for 152 yards and 1 TD

- Skyline junior QB Devante Kincade has maintained his 80% completion rate through seven games.  Weak schedule or not, an 80% completion rate (over 100 attempts) is great against air, let alone 11 guys.

- Speaking of slinging the rock around the yard, Garland Sachse senior QB Trent White has thrown for 1985 yards on 125 completions and 21 touchdowns to only 5 interceptions.  His team is now 6-1 on the year.

- McKinney Boyd junior RB Bryan Driskell is only two rushing touchdowns away from the 20 touchdown mark. 189 carries for 1373 yards and 18 touchdowns.

- DeSoto is just putting up stupid numbers… 612 total yards, 29 first downs and 0 turnovers in a 66-13 win over Tyler Lee.  59-7 after the 3rd quarter, they probably pulled folks out of the stands to finish this one off.

- A familiar face was back at quarterback for the Chaparrals in their 52-0 victory over Austin High.  Lewis Guilbeau was 11-14 for 156 yards and 1 touchdown passing, along with 65 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing.

- Dekaney RB Trey Williams had 321 yards rushing on 23 carries and 3 touchdowns in their 41-39 win over Tomball.  QB Justin Dvorak threw the ball for 380 yards and 2 touchdowns.

- If you enjoy offense, Spring Westfield’s 45-42 win over red-hot Klein Oak was one of two Houston area games to be at.  Both teams combined for close to 50 first downs, 1,000 yards of offense, and several big individual performances.

Region 3:

- The other offensive shoot-out in the Houston area was Cy Woods’ 50-44 win over Langham Creek.  This is Langham Creek’s kind of game and they almost pulled off the upset.  Remember, they were the ones that beat Jersey Village 65-56 in a four quarter game earlier this season.  Despite the lack of defense, Creek’s three district losses have come by 1-point (Ridge), 5-points (Falls) and 6-points (Woods).

- We expected Cy Fair vs. Cy Falls to be a close battle and it was.  Fair jumped out to a surprising 14-0 lead at the half, but Falls tied it up within the first six minutes of the 2nd half.  Fair would ultimately come away with a 24-17 win.  Both teams had similar total yardage (295/251), first downs (15/13), yards per carry (3.6/3.4), punts (5/5), penalties (5/4) and turnovers (1/1).

…Fair was a little more run-heavy with 44 carries to 12 passing attempts, while Falls featured a balanced attack with 21 carries to 26 passing attempts.  Both are good defensively.  There’s a chance these two could meet again for the Division 1 – Region 3 championship.

- Katy’s Brooks Haack went 10-10 for 168 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 52-0 win over Mayde Creek.  Haack has now thrown at least 3 touchdowns in each of his last four games (16 touchdowns in last four).

- Pasadena Dobie had three guys go for over 120 yards rushing against Pasadena Memorial. QB Deandre Bolden ran for 193 yards and 3 touchdowns, RB Andrew Robinson rand for 180 yards and 1 touchdown, and Patrick Hurst ran for 120 yards and 1 touchdown.  Dobie won 49-37.

- A 4-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds remaining (including PAT) gave Clear Brook the one-point win over Brazoswood in a game between two teams fighting for a playoff spot.

- And now for our weekly “I demand a refund” game… FB Austin  – 3, FB Bush – 0.  More shockingly, Bush came into the game tied for first place in 23-5A and Austin came in tied for last place.  Austin won the game with only 114 total yards of offense, 6 first downs, 0 pass completions and 7 punts.  One key stat stands out in Austin’s favor though, they won the turnover battle 4-0.

- La Porte’s run defense has been one of the best in the state so far, so it was kinda surprising to see that Baytown Sterling ran for 142 yards on 33 carries against them.  That, along with 2 turnovers and continued struggles on offense, almost allowed Sterling to pull off their first win of the year (La Porte won 14-13).

…Keep an eye on La Porte sophomore QB Jordan Jackson.  He saw some playing time against Sterling and went 3-3 for 20 yards and a touchdown.  Looking for a spark?

Region 4:

- Steele picked up a very solid 35-16 win over the always tough New Braunfels Unicorns.  Grizzled vet QB Tommy Armstrong did most of the damage for the Knights with 146 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, while adding another 165 yards on the ground with 3 touchdowns.  The big showdown with Judson happens this Thursday.

- Wagner RB Derrick Kindred busted a 97- yard touchdown run in their 49-17 win over San Marcos.  Overall, he finished with 134 yards on just 6 carries and 2 touchdowns.

- Madison continues to stay in the thick of the 26-5A race with a 30-20 win over Churchill.  The backfield duo of Marquis Warford and Galen McAllister combined for 285 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns.

…The Mavs are now 3-0 in district with three of their four toughest district contests behind them.  Reagan is also 3-0 with Madison, Johnson and Roosevelt left on the schedule.  If Madison beats Reagan this week, they’ll have the clear inside track to claiming the 26-5A title.

- Clark picked up a win they absolutely had to have to stay in the running for a playoff spot in 27-5A.  They beat fellow bubble team, Stevens, 31-21.  The Cougars are currently in a two-way tie with Holmes for the fourth spot.

- Holmes nearly pulled ahead in the race for the fourth spot when they took Warren down to the wire last weekend.  Warren needed a touchdown pass with 34 seconds remaining to win 32-27 over Holmes.

- District 28 favorite East Central (4-3) found themselves in an unexpected battle with Southwest (1-6), but scored 16-points in the 4th quarter to win 25-16.

- PSJA Memorial drove 63-yards and scored a touchdown with 35 seconds left to beat PSJA and stay alive for a playoff spot in District 31.  The win pulls them level with PSJA and two other teams at 2-2.  Harlingen (4-0) and PSJA North (3-1) currently hold the first and second spots.

Statistics provided by: Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com, rgvsports.com

If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature.  Even if it’s not your thing, there’s a 100% chance that you might like it.

Region 1:

- Arlington Martin was upset by Arlington to the tune of 47-16 one week ago.  This week, they took out their frustrations on Arlington Sam Houston in a 72-7 win.  They led 65-0 at the half.

- Mansfield Timberview continues to be a team that is flying under the radar at 1-2 in district, but keep an eye on the Wolves.  Their two district losses are to Mansfield (6-0) by 2 and Cedar Hill by 6.  They beat South Grand Prairie by 25 last weekend.  Their pre-district resume includes wins over Arlington Lamar and Arlington.

- Staying in Mansfield, Legacy has a sophomore back named Kijana Amous who has emerged this season. Not only does he have a great name, he has carried the ball 120 times for 798 yards and 3 touchdowns through six games.

- Hurst Bell put up a 29-point 3rd quarter after being down 17-14 at the half against Irving MacArthur.  Now at 3-2 in district, that could turn out to be the quarter that got them into the playoffs.

- We’ve talked previously about Southlake Carroll’s lack of second half offense.  They didn’t need a second half offense this week because they jumped out to a 41-7 lead on Justin Northwest.

- Keller Fossil Ridge was one missed 29-yard field goal from being tied with Coppell in the 4th quarter.

- Keller Central’s Zach Sanchez (Baylor) quite possibly gets the Week 6 MVP award.  He caught an 81 yard touchdown pass, a 66 yard touchdown pass and returned an interception for an 85 yard touchdown.  He accounted for all of his team’s points in a 21-14 win over Denton Guyer.

- Game of the week goes to the four overtime thriller between FM Marcus and Plano West.  FM Marcus ultimately won 51-48 in the fourth overtime on a 34 yard field goal, but it took a 53 yard field goal by Marcus’ Drew Hamrick just to send the game into overtime.  Incredible job by Hamrick.

Region 2:

- You don’t need me to tell you that Skyline absolutely hammered Dallas Jesuit.  Let’s compare 2010 Skyline with 2011 Skyline through their first six games.

2010 (through 6 games) – AOS:  + 1.45, ADS: – 18.95, DOM: + 20.4
2011 (through 6 games) – AOS: + 23.3, ADS: – 23.1, DOM: + 46.4

You can see the huge improvement on offense and in overall dominance.

- The other team everyone has been talking about is DeSoto.  The Eagles found themselves facing a 17-0 halftime deficit and my eyes nearly popped out when I saw this score last Friday night.  The North Mesquite Stallions did a masterful job of ball-control, dominating the clock, and finishing off their possessions with points. However, the second half was a totally different story. DeSoto went on to win the second half 28-0 in a thoroughly dominating fashion. Credit to the Eagles for fighting back.

- Watching the two teams, it’s hard to see where Lufkin is 20-points better than The Woodlands.  They were on Thursday evening thanks to a little help from The Woodlands (4 fumbles lost).  The Woodlands could only manage to turn 413 yards of offense into 10 points because of this.

- Let’s revisit/update an entry from last week’s Inside The Box on Klein Oak…

“Through their first three games, the Klein Oak Panthers lost twice and didn’t score more than 17 points in any game.  Credit to the coaching staff because adjustments were apparently made during their Week 3 off-week.  Look at the difference offensively…

Before the “bye” week (AOS – 3 games): – 3.8
After the “bye” week (AOS – 2 games): + 16.2″

Following this week’s 32-point thrashing of Spring Dekaney, let’s take a look at the defensive numbers…

Before the “bye” week (AOS – 3 games): – 6.3
After the “bye” week (AOS – 3 games): – 15.2

Quite the dramatic turnaround for the Panthers. Let’s see if they can keep it up.

- Spring Westfield held Klein Forest’s Matt Davis to 15 yards rushing on 13 carries and picked him off four times.  What an unbelievable job on defense. Westfield won by 21.

- Pflugerville’s Devonte Broussard carried the ball 29 times for 259 yards and 4 touchdowns.

- Copperas Cove had three backs go for 100+ in their 64-7 win over Killeen Ellison.  Chans Colbert (7 car., 111 yds), Brandon Hamilton (17 car., 133 yards, 3 TDs), and Vondarez King (10 car., 111 yards, 1 TDs).  Orlando Thomas wasn’t needed in this one.

Region 3:

- I totally forgot to include this tidbit in last week’s Inside The Box… Cy Falls played Cy Springs and about midway through the 1st quarter, Falls was up 14-0.  This seems very normal except for the fact that they got this 14 points by scoring one touchdown (plus xp), 1 field goal, and two safeties.  Now that’s weird…I mean like “cyfallsbooster2″ kinda weird.

- Pasadena Dobie RB Andrew Robinson carried the ball 4 times for 145 yards (36.3 avg) and 3 touchdowns.  Dobie RB Deandre Bolden carried the ball 9 times for 165 yards (18.3 avg) and 1 touchdown.  An efficient night’s work in a 42-0 win over Pasadena.

- Clear Creek managed to pull out their second one-point win out of three district contests to remain 3-0.

- Cy Woods has now scored 60+ in three straight games (68, 63, and 63).  Four in a row isn’t out of the question with Langham Creek on the schedule next.

- At the risk of jinxing him, we’re going to start the weekly Brooks Haack (Katy) interception watch.  Unofficially, he currently has 19 touchdown passes to 0 interceptions.

- This isn’t your older brother’s Deer Park.  They currently have more total passing yards (1374) than rushing yards (1241) on the year.

- Pasadena Memorial and Pasadena Rayburn played a game of H-O-R-S-E with each other. They both had 51 rushing attempts, both had 18 first downs, nearly had the same amount of yards and nearly finished with the same amount of points (45-43).  Also, Memorial won the second quarter 21-7, then Rayburn won the 3rd quarter 21-7.  I warned you that this feature was all about random statistics.

- The Houston Westside 38-19 victory over Houston Madison ended with a flurry of explosive plays.  The second half included a 52 yard touchdown run by Westside’s Benjamin Catalon, a 69 yard touchdown reception by Madison’s De’Landon Driver (the nephew of Green Bay Packer WR Donald Driver), a 71 yard touchdown run by Benjamin Catalon and an 82 yard touchdown run by Westside’s Deante’ Gray.

- Just scheduled a new eye appointment after viewing the FB Travis vs. FB Austin boxscore. This week’s “I demand a refund” game. It was 3-0 in favor of Austin after three quarters.

Points: Travis – 14, Austin – 3
Total Yards: Travis – 167, Austin – 181
First downs: Travis – 9, Austin – 12
Rushes/Yds: Travis – 34/62, Austin – 27/80
Turnovers: Travis – 1, Austin  – 3

Region 4:

- SA Reagan made quick work of SA Lee in jumping out to a 42-7 lead by halftime.  If you’re looking for potential sleepers, look no further than the Rattlers. Although, I’m not sure how much longer they can be considered a “sleeper”.

- Remember this from Inside The Box: Week 4…?

“Brandeis is currently 5-0 and 3-0 in district with three of their four toughest district games out of the way.  Two of those district wins came without their starting quarterback at the helm.  Barring something unexpected, O’Connor is the last team that stands between the Broncos and an undefeated record entering the playoffs.“

Well, Brandeis couldn’t quite clear the final hurdle on their way to an undefeated regular season with a 17-14 loss to O’Connor.  They ran into a team in O’Connor that did a great job of limiting Brandeis’ ground game.  Despite the result, Brandeis could still win the district “race”.

- One of  the biggest results of the weekend was Wagner’s 10-point win over Judson.  The first thing I noticed when looking at the boxscore was that Judson attempted to pass the ball 22 times.  In their five previous games, they attempted 37 passes combined.  Only 7 of the 22 passes were completed for less than 100 yards with an interception.  Sounds to me like Judson got away from doing what they do best.

- We touched on SA Madison RB Marquis Warford last week.  Another junior running back is emerging for the Mavs in Galen McAllister.  He carried the ball 15 times for 151 yards and a touchdown in their 35-14 win over Roosevelt.  Can’t have too many weapons.

[Welcome to the Region 4 - 200 club]

- SA Southwest’s Erin Mack carried the ball 27 times for 240 yards and 1 touchdown in a 21-0 win over SA Highlands.  As a team, Southwest rolled up 477 yards rushing.

- Another running back performance of note is Eagle Pass RB Daniel Felix’s 31 carries for 230 yards and 5 touchdowns in their 34-7 win over Laredo Martin.

- Del Rio’s Gudelio Garza ran for 233 yards on 20 carries and scored 3 touchdowns.

- SA Clark’s Kweku Larbie ran for 250 yards on 37 carries and scored a touchdown.

Statistics provided by: Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com, rgvsports.com

If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature.  Get caught up on Week 5′s highlights before we kickoff Week 6 tomorrow.

Region 1:

- Last week’s entry… “Southlake Carroll escaped with a 2-point win over Keller Fossil Ridge this week.  The Dragons need to take a long hard look at what’s happening during the second half.  In the last two second-halves, the Dragons have scored a total of three points.”

… make that a total of three points in the last three second-halves.

- Trinity losing at the half, 11-6, to Hurst Bell? Didn’t see that one coming.  Neither did senior RB Joel Kimpela and he wasn’t happy about it.  Kimpela responded with a monster second half to finish the game with 306 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns.

- Credit to Denton Guyer for coming out of a long rain-delay ready to play.  When the two teams retired to their respective locker rooms near the end of the first quarter due to lightning, it looked like the game was shaping up to be one that would go down to the wire.  However, Guyer came out of the locker room and dominated every phase of the game en route to scoring 21 unanswered.  More surprisingly, Coppell looked completely over-matched.

- Speaking of looking completely over-matched, an Arlington team that was coming off of losses to Coppell, Mansfield Timberview and Arlington Lamar, completely dominated Arlington Martin.  The turnover numbers tell the story in this one, 8-3.  Yep, that’s eight turnovers by one team in a game (5 fumbles, 3 ints).

- You’ve got to feel pretty good about your playoff chances if you’re a Mansfield fan.  Following an impressive blow-out win over South Grand Prairie, the Tigers now sit at 2-0 in district with wins over two of the better teams in the district.  We see the Tigers finishing, at worst, 5-2 in the district.

- Plano West bolstered it’s playoff hopes significantly in a four overtime victory over Plano East. Five more district games remain, but the Wolves currently hold a two game advantage over fifth place in the highly competitive 8-5A.

Region 2:

- Dallas Jesuit senior QB Brian Buell deserves a lot of credit for stepping in for injured junior Jack Brezette and the potent Crusader offense not missing a beat.  Buell has completed 62 of 93 passes for 744 yards including 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

- It’s still early, but Dallas Skyline junior QB Devonte Kincade is completing nearly 80% of his passes (78 attempts) and as a team the Raiders are playing top notch defense. Moving up the charts…

- Garland junior ATH Ja’Taveon Green is currently averaging 27.5 yards per carry (7 attempts) and 31.6 yards per catch (15 receptions).  He also has 7 offensive touchdowns so far, that’s basically a touchdown every 3 touches.  I’d say it’s time to get that man the football a little more often.

- In our Week 2 installment, we commented on the great start by Georgetown QB Jake Hubenak and the Eagles.  Unfortunately, an injury has ruled Jake out for the rest of his junior season (Austin-American Statesman).  The Eagles are 0-2 since the loss of their field general.

- In their 49-42 win over Temple, Copperas Cove had three 100+ yard rushers – QB Orlando Thomas (22 car, 203 yds), RB Brandon Hamilton (27 car, 176 yds), and RB Chans Colbert (9 car, 121 yds).  Temple RB Gaylon Sanders had 202 yards on just 11 carries.

- Through their first three games, the Klein Oak Panthers lost twice and didn’t score more than 17 points in any game.  Credit to the coaching staff because adjustments were apparently made during their Week 3 off-week.  Look at the difference offensively…

Before the “bye” week (AOS – 3 games): – 3.8
After the “bye” week (AOS – 2 games): + 16.2

Region 3:

- Katy’s defense has been performing at a very high level all season.  They’ve only allowed a total of 23 points through five games with some of that coming against the 2s and 3s.  This week, the Tigers held Strake Jesuit to zero first downs for three full quarters.  They finished with one to Katy’s 24.

… also, a special mention for Katy’s Brook Haack who threw a school-record six touchdown passes in this game.

- Cy Fair continues to shut opponents down, especially in the run game.  This week, Cy Ridge totaled 20 yards rushing on 17 carries.  The Bobcats haven’t allowed a 100 yard rusher all season.

- It only took 16 minutes for Bellaire to put up 49 points on Houston Sam Houston.  The Cardinals improve to 4-1 on the year and 2-0 in district.

- It’s important to note that Cy Ranch didn’t need 200+ yards from junior RB Keith Ford to beat a quality Cy Creek team.  Those are the types of wins that are necessary to compete for a playoff spot in the brutal ten-team District 17.  Ranch is now 4-1, 3-1 and looking for their first playoff appearance.

- Clear Springs’ Marcus Johnson (Texas Tech) is currently averaging 24 yards per catch on 19 receptions.  Since we’ve pointed out a number of quarterbacks that have taken over for injured starters in the last few weeks, Jake Blackledge is another one.  Blackledge is 44-64, 645 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 3 ints in two games as a starter.

- Cy Woods had a monster offensive output against Jersey Village with 724 yards of offense (449 rush, 275 pass) and 63 points.  Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time JV has been on the wrong side of a monster offensive output.  It was just a few weeks ago when JV gave up 571 yards and 65 points to Langham Creek.

Region 4:

- SA Madison junior ATH Marquise Warford isn’t someone we’ve mentioned previously.  In their 42-17 win over SA Johnson, Warford tallied 216 yards on 25 carries and 2 touchdowns.  On the year, 93 carries for 705 yards and 4 touchdowns.

San Antonio Running Back Watch:
Trinton Ynclan, SA Brandeis – 121 car., 1,165 yards, 16 TDs
Quaylon Jones, Converse Judson – 87 car., 910 yards, 13 TDs
Darik Dillard, SA MacArthur – 134 car., 758 yards, 3 TDs
Dazmon Johnson, SA Holmes – 155 car., 745 yards, 8 TDs
Elijah Ball, SA Reagan – 77 car., 745 yards, 7 TDs

- Roosevelt beat MacArthur with no time left on the clock in a game they absolutely had to have to stay firmly in the playoff hunt.  District 26 is always one of the better district races in the state.  Last year’s champion, SA MacArthur, currently sits in last place.

- We touched on Brandeis’ now 6-0, 4-0 start last week and mentioned that O’Connor seems to be the only team left standing between the Broncos and an undefeated season.  Brandeis is home to O’Connor this weekend.  The Bronco defense has pitched two shut-outs in the last three weeks and has held teams to ADS marks of – 22.0, – 8.3 and -18.8.  Keep that up and Brandeis will be playing deep into November.

- Eagle Pass Winn notched their third district win of the year over Laredo Martin.  Last year, they finished last in district with a 1-8 record.

- Time to check in on Harlingen now that we’re about three weeks removed from their big win over Abilene.  5-0, 2-0 record… QB Ledesma leading the RGV in completion percentage… RB Blake leading the RGV in yards per carry (10.4)… WR Bermea leading the RGV in receiving yards (523) and yards per catch (18.7).  Yup, seems about right.

Statistics provided by: Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com, rgvsports.com

If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature.  Get caught up on Week 4 before we kickoff Week 5 tomorrow.

Region 1:

- Anyone that didn’t expect Colleyville Heritage to give the Euless Trinity Trojans a game hasn’t been paying attention lately.  Heritage came in as the #21 ranked team in the state, a defense that is playing well and a junior QB in Cody Thomas that has been lighting up folks.  The four turnovers by Heritage really allowed a great opportunity to slip through their hands.

- Arlington has an offense capable of putting up big numbers, but 12 turnovers in four games has resulted in a 1-3 record so far.  Needless to say, they need to figure out how to protect the ball quickly with Arlington Martin on the schedule this weekend.

- Mansfield and local rival Timberview played one of the best games of the young season.  Despite a 21-10 lead late into the 3rd quarter for Timberview, Mansfield took a 23-21 lead with 3:45 remaining.  Timberview hit back with a great drive and touchdown of their own to take a 27-23 lead with just 40 seconds remaining.  Aided by a 15-yard Timberview penalty, Mansfield found themselves at their own 48 with one shot left at the endzone. That’s when QB Jerod Evans hit Lance Evans with a 52-yard touchdown pass with 1 second remaining on the clock for the win.

- Every opponent that faces Grand Prairie knows who they need to key on, senior WR Devante Lacy.  Despite this, Lacy looks well on his way to another all-state season with over 400 yards receiving (5 TDs) and another 200 rushing (2 TDs) through four games.

- After a slow start against Legacy, junior Damion Hobbs took over at the quarterback position and promptly led the Longhorns to touchdowns on six of their next seven drives.  Keep an eye on that situation this weekend against 3-1 Timberview.

- Southlake Carroll escaped with a 2-point win over Keller Fossil Ridge this week.  The Dragons need to take a long hard look at what’s happening during the second half.  In the last two second-halves, the Dragons have scored a total of three points.

- We could comment on the the Allen vs. Plano boxscore, but have no idea where to start.  It might be better for you to drink it in… Boxscore. That, my friends, is what a #1 team looks like.

Region 2:

- We predicted South Garland two win District 10-5A, but early returns aren’t favorable for that happening (1-4 overall).  The Colonels did finally get on the board with a win this week over North Garland, but will need much more from all phases of the game just to make the playoffs in this district.  Garland, Rowlett, Sachse and Boyd are playing much better ball.

- Despite the 1-3 start, Stony Point is playing very well defensively.  Against Wagner, DeSoto and Westwood, the Tigers are -5, -8.8 and -7.4 ADS respectively.  The problem continues to be an offense that has over double the turnovers than touchdowns through their first four games (13 turnovers, 5 touchdowns).  That’s a crazy stat.

- It’s good to see Westwood back healthy with QB Ben Johnson and RB Ledeans Anderson full go again.  Anderson returned this week with 130 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.

- Copperas Cove busted open a 10-7 game at the half with 21 straight against Belton in the third quarter.  Both teams are quality, however, Belton turned the ball over four times to Cove’s zero.  Belton passed the ball for 355 yards and Cove ran the ball for 323 yards.

- 12 different guys carried the ball for Pflugerville in their 42-7 win over Akins.

- 15-5A really struggled through non-district with a combined record of 7-21.

- Klein Forest defeated Klein in a crucial district tie, 28-21.  The first half was a bit of a snoozer (7-0), but the game definitely woke up in the second half.  The Golden Eagles put up 28 points and QB Matt Davis was the star once again.  The senior accounted for 418 of his team’s 492 yards of offense and topped it off with a game-winning 60 yard touchdown run with 1:51 remaining.

- Dekaney and Texas A&M verbal Trey Williams is averaging 230 yards and just about 3 touchdowns per game.

Region 3:

- In looking at the numbers, you wouldn’t think Cy Falls beat Cy Ridge 28-0.  Falls put up 21 points in the first quarter, including an 85 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 67 yard fumble return for a touchdown.  Otherwise, both teams did a good job of limiting their opponent.

- Pasadena’s 35-28 win over Baytown Sterling means that they’ve already surpassed their 2010 win total of three (4-1).  They currently rank as the sixth most improved offense from a season ago, which has helped them keep pace with their opponents.

- Port Arthur Memorial is continuing to hammer everyone in their path.  It’s pretty impressive that they can put up 63 points with star QB Terrence Singleton (Baylor) only throwing the ball 18 times along with 8 carries and star RB Nathan Holmes (Arkansas) with only 8 carries.  Their first real test comes in two weeks at North Shore, a game that we will be present for.

- It looks like Cy Woods was upset at losing to Cy Falls and Cy Fair on consecutive weeks.  They exploded for 68 points (48-0 at the half) against previously undefeated Cy Ranch.  The Wildcats had only scored a combined 39 points over their first three games coming into this one.  Most impressively, they held star RB Keith Ford to only 59 yards rushing on 16 carries.

- The La Porte rush defense is shaping up to be a top unit.  Let’s look at the numbers in their last three games – Deer Park: 35 carries for 68 yards, Humble Atascocita: 15 carries for 19 yards, Klein Forest: 36 carries for 140 yards.  Both Deer Park and Klein Forest average around 250 yards rushing per game against other opponents.

- No wonder North Shore and Pasadena had a hard time scoring on each other (17-6), they apparently played on a field that was longer than the standard 100 yards.  According to Chron.com, North Shore’s Davonte Milton had 2 carries (<——- missing digit) for 207 yards and two touchdowns (103.5 yds/carry).

- It’s time to start talking about Channelview.  The Falcons are now 4-1 with wins over Humble, Pasadena Memorial, Friendswood and Dobie.  Why is that significant? We’ll we’re talking about a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 1993.  District 21-5A (North Shore, PA Memorial, West Brook and La Porte) will be a tough district to break through, however, there’s certainly reason to believe.

- One big reason to believe they can get it done is QB Averion Hurts Jr.  Through five games, the senior is 116-175, 1831 yards, 20 TDs and only 2 ints.  He has another 200 yards and 1 TD on the ground.  Those are huge numbers.

Region 4:

- The New Braunfels Unicorns won their second straight game behind a 10-0 fourth quarter to put away Austin Westlake, 24-21.

- In their 52-14 win over Churchill, Reagan QB Trevor Knight carried the ball 9 times for 159 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Reagan looks to have the early upper hand in what will be a wide open 26-5A race.

- As mentioned above, Reagan beat Churchill 38 this week.  Judson beat Churchill by 7 last week. Hmm….for comparison’s sake down the road, let’s see how Judson does against Wagner (Reagan lost by 6) and how Reagan does against Madison (Judson won by 41).

- Brandeis is currently 5-0 and 3-0 in district with three of their four toughest district games out of the way.  Two of those district wins came without their starting quarterback at the helm.  Barring something unexpected, O’Connor is the last team that stands between the Broncos and an undefeated record entering the playoffs.

- Steele’s Tommy Armstrong threw for four touchdowns on just six completions in a 55-7 win over Austin High.  These weren’t just short passes in the red-zone either, he threw for 228 yards on those six completions.  How’s that for efficiency…

- La Joya Palmview is currently third in most improved adjusted defensive scoring from a season ago.  Keep an eye on the Lobos who just missed out on a playoff berth in 2010.

Statistics provided by: Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com, rgvsports.com

If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature. Here’s a look back at Week 3′s abbreviated action thanks to “bye” weeks across the great state of Texas.

Region 1:

- We’ve brought up El Paso Americas’ Jack Fields (Boise St.) in this space before and he has given us reason to do it again…336 yards rushing and 3 tds against El Paso Coronado.  He scored on three runs of 50+ yards, including one from 96 yards out.

- Franklin, El Dorado and Americas look like the early front-runners in District 1 with Franklin having a slight edge.  Franklin, 2-0 in district, has a big three-point win over Americas on the resume already.

- In last week’s Inside The Box, we pointed out how lopsided Trinity’s box score was.  Somehow, they may have topped that with this week’s effort.  Trinity won 64-0 against Irving despite a running 2nd half clock (weather delay), nor attempting a pass.  12 players logged carries for the Trojans, with eight of them scoring a touchdown.  That may be a first in Texas High School football?

- If Irving MacArthur and Irving Nimitz qualify for the playoffs, the mighty Euless Trinity Trojans are D2 bound.  This week, both schools notched district wins over schools projected to be in the mix for a playoff spot in 6-5A.  Keep an eye on this race as it plays out over the coming weeks.

- What is it about the Plano West defense and playing North Mesquite?  Their games against the Stallions have resulted in two of the three lowest point totals the Wolves have given up over the last two seasons (10 and 14).  What ever it is, bag it up and lock it away for 8-5A play.

Region 2:

- Sachse improved to 4-0 following Thursday’s 37-7 win over North Garland.  This week’s game against Rowlett probably won’t receive a ton of fanfare, but it’s a big game for Sachse.  The Mustangs have yet to beat Rowlett or make the playoffs in their seven previous seasons.  A win on Friday could accomplish one of those and go a long way in accomplishing the other.

- Garland’s 49-0 win over South Garland was a true eye opener.  We picked South Garland to win the district, but a playoff spot now looks in jeopardy if they don’t get it together on both sides of the ball.

- Mesquite Horn continues its tough non-district schedule.  They’ve lost by 13 to Coppell (ranked), 1 to Hebron (next 10 in), and by 8 to Guyer (ranked).  The only difference through the first four games of this year compared to last year’s 9-5 regional finalist team is a narrow loss to Hebron versus a seven point win last year.  Can they pick up a head of steam like in ’10?

- Staying in District 10-5A, McKinney Boyd’s Bryan Driskell now has 856 yards rushing on just 114 carries and 13 tds.  He’s only a junior.

- Stony Point has major ball security issues.  The Tigers put the ball on the turf seven times against DeSoto (lost two).  The snaps from center have been erratic as well, which kills any backfield timing.  In Stony Point’s offense, this is critical.

- Westlake is currently on a three-game win streak with wins over Abilene Cooper, A&M Consolidated and Pflugerville. During this stretch, their AOS numbers look like +19.8, +11.3 and +16.0.  RB Brice Dolezal and the Chap offensive line are a big reason for that.  Dolezal has rushed for 161, 160 and 228 yards, respectively.

- It was good to see QB Ben Johnson return to action this week for Westwood.  The Warriors jumped out to a 38-0 lead on San Antonio Lee and sat on it from there.  A trip to Stony Point is up next.

Region 3:

- So here’s what we know…

• Jersey Village outscored Langham Creek, 44-21 in the first half.
• Creek outscored Village, 44-14 in the second half to win.
• Both teams combined for 1,208 total yards, 51 first downs
• Langham Creek won 65-58
• All in four quarters of play…no overtime(s)

Reaction…

- FB Willowridge turned the ball over five times (4 ints, 1 fumble) in a 3-point loss to FB Travis.  Elsewhere, the stats were almost identical between the two teams.  (Willowridge-Travis) Score: 32-35, Total Yards: 350-353, First Downs: 16-17, Rushing: 172-178, Passing: 178-175, Penalties: 7-6.

- The Deer Park-Westside game featured two of the area’s best running backs and they didn’t disappoint.  Westside’s BJ Catalon (TCU commit) carried the ball 22 times for 327 yards and 4 tds.  Deer Park’s Demetrius Banks carried the ball 43 times for 254 yards and 2 tds.  Get that man an ice bath.

- We commented last week about La Porte’s dominant defense.  Well they dominated again in limiting Atascocita to 73 total yards, 2 first downs and forced 10 punts.  We’re all still waiting for the offense to come around though.  This one was only 13-7 going into the 4th quarter.

- Katy WR Jordan Thompson has received for over 100 yards in each of the Tiger’s first three games.  He’s quietly on pace for an all-state type of season.  It’s not often a Katy receiver hits the headlines.

Region 4:

- The rest of the state found out just how good these boys from Harlingen are.  The stars of the show were QB Kevin Ledesma (Passing: 28-41, 340 yards, 4 tds; Rushing: 19 carries for 95 yards), RB Brian Blake (12 carries, 122 yards, 2 tds), and WR Randy Bermea (11 receptions, 115 yards).  This team has the components to make a deep run in D1 and they are as hungry as anyone to do so.

- Friday night couldn’t have gone any differently for two of Region 4′s top backs.  Judson’s Quaylon Jones carried the ball 23 times for 315 yards and 4 tds (vs. Churchill), while MacArthur’s Darik Dillard carried the ball 17 times for 64 yards and 0 tds (vs. New Braunfels).

- Wagner is headed backwards.  They opened up the season with wins over SA Reagan and RR Stony Point, but have since followed that up with losses against Johnson and Smithson Valley (4A).  Judson looms in three weeks.

- Laredo Alexander’s Brian Swain and Xavier Scaggs form one of the state’s most explosive combos.  Both were 5ATXFB All-State selections a season ago and they’re doing it again this year.  Against Eagle Pass, Swain passed for 431 yards and 4 tds.  Scaggs ran the ball 7 times for 101 yards and 1 td, along with catching 5 balls for 173 yards and 2 tds.

Statistics provided by: Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com, rgvsports.com

One of the first things we do each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning is read through every box score we can find from the previous night’s action.  This gives us a good base to work from before starting the evaluation process each week.

If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature.  Here’s a look back at Week 2′s action before we head into Week 3 tomorrow.

Region 1:

- 1-5A opened up district play this week with all home teams taking the Ws.  The highlight of the action was El Paso Times’ #1 Americas @ #2 Franklin.  Americas jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but Franklin responded with 21 straight.  Although Americas would eventually retake the lead, Franklin finished it off with 2:35 remaining, 28-25.

- You can’t ask for a better performance from a quarterback in a big-time road game than what Alabama commit and Allen QB Alec Morris gave you this weekend against Longview (25-35, 365 yards, 5 TDs, 0 ints).  Roll Tide.

- It took the Mansfield Timberview Wolves all of three weeks to match last season’s win total of three.  The most impressive of the bunch came this week in a 17-point win over Arlington.  Sleeper Alert…

- It’s 1:34am on a Tuesday morning and I’m pretty sure Marcus RB Harvey Giddens just scored another touchdown.  He’s scoring at about the same rate as my hot dog intake, three to four per game.

-  Look away Richland fans — This may be the most lopsided boxscore of the weekend (Trinity-Richland)…Score: 64-0, Total yards: 533-57, First Downs: 25-4, Rushing: 408-40, Passing: 125-17. Yikes.

- Flower Mound involved in yet another high flying offensive shootout — say it ain’t so.  Going back to the start of last season, that makes 12 games in which the Jags have scored 40+ points.  In seven of those 12, they’ve also given up 40+.

Region 2:

- Coach Mathis (DeSoto) officially welcomes everybody to the bandwagon.  We call shotgun.  Next stop: Round Rock Stony Point.

- WR Jake Oliver (Dallas Jesuit) Watch: 17 catches, 245 yards, 2 TDs (v. Coppell).  44 catches, 651 yards, 7 TDs in 3 games.

- Tomball notched their first victory of 2011 this week.  This comes as a surprise considering the Cougars finished 2010 with a 10-3 record.  Their losses came to Katy Morton Ranch and Jersey Village, two teams that combined for a total of two wins last season.

- Klein Collins forced six turnovers against Fort Bend Willowridge (3 int, 3 fum).  Also, 20 of the 23 points given up by the Collins defense came in the fourth quarter once the score was 49-3.

- Coach Meekins’ Westfield Mustangs have opened up the season 2-0 with victories over two quality opponents in Houston Memorial (by 17) and FB Travis (by 6).  The Mustangs have limited opponents to less than 3.5 yards per carry.  Looking at their upcoming schedule, a 4-0 start looks likely.

- The Temple Wildcat offense has logged adjusted scoring marks of +21 (Georgetown) and +14 (Churchill) so far.  That means they’ve been two to three touchdowns better than what their opposition gives up on average.  A far cry from where they were at this time last season with AOS marks of -23 (Georgetown) and -12.5 (Churchill).

- Once again, Austin High WR Cayleb Jones showed everyone why he’s so highly touted with a 14 catch, 249 yards, 2 touchdown performance that included several grabs for the highlight reel.  That’s a career for many high school receivers.

- Georgetown junior QB Jake Hubanek is quietly putting together a big-time season.  Overall, he’s 52-73, 828 yards, 11 TDs and 0 ints.  The Eagles are 3-0 and looking like a good bet to better our 4th place preseason projection for them in District 16-5A.

- We’ve been advised by our ever-so-knowledgeable community that we need to look closer at the Belton Tigers when considering our statewide top 25.  Further research indicates the people have a point and we’ll be closely watching the 3-0 Tigers take on the 3-0 #15 Copperas Cove Bulldawgs in two weeks.

Region 3:

- Cy Ridge edged out Langham Creek, 35-34, in a highly important early district clash for both teams. For a refresher on the District 17-5A race, check out our 2011 Gridiron Guide – 17-5A district preview.  It’s still very early, but due to the quality in this ten team district, the Lobos will now need to upset a couple opponents to stay in the playoff mix.

- Fort Bend Marshall essentially shut down Elsik’s offense limiting the Rams to 163 total years and forcing four turnovers.  This is great news for a unit that has tons of individual talent, but hadn’t quite been able to put it all together.  It’ll show up in the win column if they can keep that up.

- Sophomore Watch:  Morton Ranch RB EJ Achelus continues to make a name for himself with 240 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns against Spring.  The speedster now has 390 yards rushing on 60 carries and 4 touchdowns.

- Deer Park dominated all aspects of the stat sheet against Clear Creek except for one key area, turnovers.  This translated into a lead for the Wildcats heading into the fourth quarter where Deer Park needed two field goals put them on top.

- La Porte entered the Top 25 following Week 1, but quickly exited after a 19-10 loss to Matt Davis led Klein Forest.  The Bulldogs did a great job of limiting Davis (133 pass, 76 rush), but couldn’t get the offense going at all.

- Pearland suffered their first loss since November 13th of 2009 (18 games) at the hands of Houston Memorial, 17-14.  As expected, the Oilers experienced defense did very well, but it was the youth on offense that eventually did them in (3 turnovers, 255 total yards).

Region 4:

- The defending Division 2 state champs continue to round back into form with their third win in three.  The stat sheet was heavily in favor of Steele against Tivy.  Total yards: 542-281, First Downs: 20-14, Rushing: 409-82, Passing: 133-199, Turnovers: 2-1.  Tommy Armstrong and Justin Stockton both went for around 180 yards on the ground.

- With 6:04 left on the clock, the San Antonio Jaguars found themselves down 27-14.  Two touchdowns in the final four minutes, including one with 26 seconds remaining, completed the comeback win over #25 San Antonio Wagner.  Senior QB Cohner Mokry (106 pass, 149 rush) accounted for all four touchdowns (3 pass, 1 rush).

- Smithson Valley’s (4A) one-point win over San Antonio MacArthur featured two of Region 4′s top backs in SV junior RB Lawrence Mattison (68 car, 448 yards, 5 TDs) and MacArthur senior RB Darik Dillard (73 car, 474 yards, 3 TDs).

- San Antonio Brandeis’ Trinton Ynclan has 83 carries for 598 yards and 9 TDs on the young season — that’s just about 200 yards and 3 touchdowns per game against decent competition.

- We’re all looking for a Region 4 team outside of Judson and Steele to step forward.  The Broncos, 3-0 with wins over Johnson and Warren, may be doing just that.

- McAllen @ PSJA turned into a classic.  The Bulldogs jumped all over the Bears in the 1st quarter by taking a 24-0 lead.  The Bears fought all the way back to tie it up by scoring the game’s last 14 points.  McAllen struck first in overtime with a touchdown and an extra point. PSJA matched the score except they decided to go for the win with a 2-pt conversion. Ultimately, they came up just short and McAllen prevailed with a 41-40 win.

- Mission Sharyland continues to dominate just about every opponent they face outside of the playoffs.  The Rattlers have only lost once in their last 24 regular season games.

Statistics provided by:  Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com, rgvsports.com

One of the first things we do each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning is read through every box score we can find from the previous night’s action.  This gives us a good base to work from before starting the evaluation process each week.

If random thoughts filled with statistics are your thing, you’ve chosen to kill some time on the right feature.  You might even pick up some knowledge that you can impress with at your next tailgate.

Region 1:

- El Paso Americas star RB Jack Fields (Boise St.) logged 40 carries for 190 yards in their opening victory over El Paso Andress (4A).  That’s quite the work-load.

- Duncanville moved up and down the field against Heritage, but drive after drive was killed by fumbles (2), interceptions (2), missed field goal (1), and turnover on downs (2). Only lost by seven should be considered a minor victory.  They’re a dangerous team if they can clean it up.

- Keller Central senior WR and Baylor commit Zach Sanchez showed his explosiveness with a 4 catch, 185 yard, 3 TD performance in a win over Carrollton Newman Smith (4A).  Central is a group we’ve had our eye on to nab the final playoff spot in the deep and tough 7-5A (Coppell, Guyer, Carroll).

- The team we have battling Central for that final playoff spot is Justin Northwest (projected #5).  They also made a statement in their opening game behind a top performance from junior QB Draze Lawliss (300 total yards, 5 TDs).  If this is any indication of the battle ahead, we’re in for a treat.

- Arlington Martin was the first team left out of our preseason rankings (#26). Martin made a big jump into the Week 1 Top 25 after an impressive win against Plano West. They put in an all-around team performance with 552 yards (299 passing, 253 rushing) of offense versus just 133 yards given up.

- Martin junior ATH Kyle Hicks is a guy starting to make real noise on the recruiting scene.  He opened with 75 yards rushing on 12 carries and a TD to go along with 4 receptions for 140 yards.

- Mesquite Horn sophomore QB Destri White opened his account against #4 Coppell.  Facing one of the top defenses in his first start was always going to be an uphill battle, but he protected the football, threw for a high completion % and kept his football team competitive for four quarters.  Those are good signs moving forward.

- The most entertaining game during the opening weekend may very well go to Southlake Carroll vs. Copperas Cove.  The two combined for almost a 1,000 yards of offense and 69 points.  Carroll is powered by junior QB Kenny Hill in the spread look with most of their damage coming through the air (402 yards passing).  Cove is powered by senior QB Orlando Thomas in the spread option look with most of their damage coming on the ground (380 yards rushing).

- We alluded to QB Kyle Romano bringing more of the dual-threat ability to Hurst Bell in our preseason 6-5A preview.  He came through with 5 TDs on the ground and 200 yards passing resulting in a 63 point output. Do they have enough to give Trinity a scare ?

- Explosive plays highlighted Arlington’s 49-42 win over Plano East.  The Colt’s  scoring included a 76 yard run, 66 yard reception, 77 yard reception and 25 yard reception.  PESH’s scoring included a 78 yard blocked FG return, 61 yard run, 39 yard run, 78 yard kickoff return and two 20+ yard receptions.  Did the two play against air?

- Two heavyweights in #1 Allen and #5 Cedar Hill battled on Saturday night.  The outcome was expected for the most part, however, the stat that jumps out is Cedar Hill limiting the Eagles to 97 yards rushing on 26 carries.

- The Eagles scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the game, but it was a different story once start RB Jonathan Williams went down in the 2nd quarter.  From that point on, the Eagle offense only managed to score one more time late in the game.  Nothing alarming at this point, but interesting to note and file away.

Region 2:

- A sign of things to come? Dallas Skyline pummeled Memphis (TN) Ridgeway to the tune of 40-0 at the half, 47-7 final.  You can see the highlights here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_S6dNI_HUw . Players of note… #3 WR Thomas Johnson, #10 WR junior Ra’Shaad Samples and #1 QB junior Devonte Kincaide.  Next up, nationally ranked Cocoa (FL).

- 2010 First Team All-Texas and 2011 Preseason First Team All-Texas junior WR Jake Oliver (Dallas Jesuit)…17 catches, 205 yards, 2 TDs against Flower Mound.  Beast.

…but not to be out-done by Flower Mound senior WR Chas Taylor who caught 6 balls for 312 yards (52 yards per catch) and 4 TDs.  He scored on touchdown receptions of 80, 72, and 74 yards.  Goodness gracious.

- Welcome to the scene, Klein Collins RB Marcus Goodson. 15 carries, 188 yards, 3 TDs.  Another 38 yards receiving on 4 receptions.

- Klein Forest and preseason first-team QB Matt Davis picked up right where he left off in 2009 with a 431 yard, 3 TD performance against Cinco Ranch. It’ll be interesting to see how far he can carry the Golden Eagles this year. In 2009, the Eagles fell short of a second round appearance in a close loss to The Woodlands. Get ya some: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTEzz9_yQVE&NR=1

- The Woodlands’ starter Lance Miles threw 3 picks against Monterrey Tech on Thursday before being replaced by Cooper Woodyard who went 8-12, 124 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs.  This is a situation to monitor, as is the Highlander defense.

- Don’t look now, but DeSoto played a little defense on Friday night.  They held Leander to 211 total yards of offense and won by 40.  That’s very impressive considering they were far from hitting on all cylinders offensively.  Quarterback play is still a question mark and the OL needs to get a little better push for the wealth of skill talent behind them.

- North Mesquite piled up 27 first downs in their 41-14 victory over Garland Rowlett.  They only gave up 10 first downs…talk about dominating the football, the clock, and the game.  Stallions, you are on the radar.

- Garland was very competitive with the highly ranked Guyer Wildcats.  Despite Guyer dominating the stat sheet, the Owls only lost by three.  Garland’s kicker missed four 40+ yard FGs, including one as time expired.  Tough loss, but definitely something the Owls can build on.

- Stony Point, Stony Point, Stony Point…we expected a slow start offensively, but not quite THAT slow.  The Tigers put up 350 yards of offense, but turned the ball over three times and committed seven penalties resulting in only 3 points at halftime.

- Not a great opening performance for Austin Bowie against Pflugerville (W 14-7), but we’ll learn quite a bit more about this team in the coming weeks…@ Westwood, @ Round Rock, Leander and @ Waco Midway (4A).

- Speaking of RR Westwood, they gave up 299 yards rushing to Cedar Park (4A).  It was a big win for the Warriors, but they’ll need to tighten that up.

Region 3:

- Sophomore RB EJ Achelus is the newest speedster in the Morton Ranch backfield.   How did he do in his first game? 4 carries, 126 yards, 2 touchdowns against Tomball.  We’ll get a first hand look at him this Thursday against Cy Falls.

- In the same game, Morton Ranch held Tomball to 2.75 ypc and 17 points.  That’s really impressive for a group that struggled so much defensively last season.  If they can keep this up, the Mavericks could be dancing in November (likely pushes Katy to D2).

- Really looking forward to a majority of 17-5A (Cy Schools) getting underway this week, especially Cy Woods and Cy Falls. It’ll be one of the stronger districts in the state this season.

- District 23-5A goes 2-8 against non-district opponents. Two narrow wins and six double-digit losses including two 50+ point losses. District-wide averages in Week 0…PPG: 17.2, PAPG: 35.3. The schedule gets even tougher this week.

- Katy QB Brooks Haack went 11/14 for 200 yards and a total of 4 TDs (2 rush, 2 pass), no turnovers against North Shore.  This kind of balance makes defending Katy very difficult.  Walk the safeties up at your own risk this year.  Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2_eLR-mer0&feature=related

- Port Arthur Memorial put up gaudy numbers against a 4A opponent and play two more 4A opponents before playing Aldine and South Houston. They’ll be 5-0 and light up the stat sheet, but we won’t have a good handle on them as a team until North Shore in Week 6.

- Clear Springs came in with a little Region 3 hype, but relying on first year sophomore QB Zach Cripps to do everything isn’t going to get it done.  He threw the ball 40 times and ran it 10 times.  On the ground, Springs carried the ball 14 times for -11 yards.  They surrendered 530 yards of offense, gave up 19 first downs, committed three turnovers and eight penalties.

- FB Hightower is another team that came in with a good bit of hype, but giving up 42 points, 69% passing and 5+ ypc isn’t going to get it done. We didn’t get crazy with Hightower because of the questions on defense and they still need to address those.

- Cy Ranch junior RB Keith Ford, a top 2013 prospect, had a nice day against FB Austin. 23 carries, 131 yards, 3 TDs.

- Houston Lamar sure put in a comprehensive performance against Clear Brook.  They are @ FB Elkins this week, so that’s a decent early test to see where they are at as a team.

- The PA Memorial backfield duo of QB Terrence Singleton and RB Nathan Holmes combined for nearly 500 yards of offense and 6 TDs.  As previously mentioned, they will be spending the next few weeks stuffing the stat sheet.

- Eisenhower sophomore and preseason Rising Stars team member RB Donald Catalon torched Hightower for 121 yards on just 14 carries.  Catalon has all of the tools to be a big-time recruit down the road.

Region 4:

- District 25-5A (Steele, Judson, Wagner) went 3-0 versus District 26-5A (Madison, MacArthur, Reagan) in Week 0.  Now district has a great chance to prove themselves even further against 16-5A in Week 1. Stony Point, Round Rock and Leander are the opponents.

- Brandeis out-scored Johnson 20-0 in the opening quarter, but then Johnson responded by out-scoring Brandeis 20-0 in the 2nd quarter.  Brandeis RB Trinton Ynclan went off for 172 yards on 33 carries and 4 TDs.

- Look out for Converse Judson…  They opened the season by shutting out MacArthur, 49-0, in arguably the weekend’s most impressive performance.  530 yards of offense (410 ground, 120 air) , efficient QB play to offset their powerful ground game, while committing only one turnover.  We see you Rockets.  RB Quaylon Jones rushed for 190 yards on just 13 carries (14.6 ypc) and 4 TDs.

- Similar to fellow 2010 state champion Pearland, it took Steele a little while to get going.  They fell down 28-14 at the half and couldn’t keep from putting the ball on the turf.  However, the Knights responded like champions do in the second half by out-scoring Madison 21-0.  The box score doesn’t indicate a close game until you note the six fumbles (five lost) and nine penalties committed by the Knights.  Something to take note of, they gave up 10.2 ypc on 19 carries on the ground to the Mav RB…need to shore that up.

- A ton of backs in San Antonio had monster days.  Pretty sure I counted no less than five over the 150 yard mark and neither of them had more than 20 carries.

Statistics provided by:  Chron.com (Houston Chronicle), DallasNews.com, Statesman.com (Austin American-Statesman), ElPasoTimes.com

In 2006, 5ATexasFootball.com started calculating adjusted scoring offense and defense ratings for every 5A program. The adjusted ratings put individual and collective game results into perspective relative to a team’s competition. The effects cascade even further into opponents’ opponents and beyond until virtually every team in the state can be linked numerically to varying degrees. The dominance index combines the adjusted offense and defense numbers to show which teams have the strongest overall bodies of work.

Our forum community has long debated the strength of past state champions versus each other.  While no one can definitively say what would happen in a one-game scenario between any of them, we can compare their overall bodies of work through the dominance rating (Table 1).

Table 1:  State Champion Season Dominance ratings

This doesn’t necessarily mean that 2010 Pearland (22.98) would lose to 2007 Katy (36.43).  What this means is that 2007 Katy dominated their opponents from start to finish more than any team in the last five seasons (including non-state champs).  We are all fully aware and understand that anything can happen on any given day.

However, it is interesting to note that if I did rank the previous state champions based on seeing these teams in person, I’d only make two changes to the order in Table 1.  2007 Katy and 2006 Southlake Carroll would be 1a and 1b.  My second change would be ranking 2010 Pearland just below 2009 Abilene.  2010 Pearland may not have dominated their schedule from start to finish the way those at the top of this list did, but the final product ranks right up there.

Originally, I was going to end this entry right here, but I decided to look a little deeper into this thought and wanted emphasize the final product.  To do this, I went back and pulled out the AOS, ADS, and Dominance ratings from only the playoff runs for each of these champions (Table 2).

Table 2: State Champion Playoff Dominance ratings

As one would expect, just about all of our champions performed at a high level during the playoffs on both sides of the football.  In my opinion, this table more accurately reflects the final product or true strength of our champions.

As you can see, 2008 Katy and 2010 Pearland made a large jump up the rankings from the previous table.  I think we can all agree that by the end of the year, 2008 Katy was a totally different team from the one that lost 10-6 to North Shore and 47-0 to The Woodlands in the opening two weeks.  Following those two losses, wholesale changes were made on both sides of the ball. 2010 Pearland didn’t suffer any losses, but as discussed in the previous Statistically Speaking entry, they really played to their full ability on defense during the playoffs making them a much stronger team overall.

Another thing to note, look at how consistently dominant each offense was during their respective playoff runs.  It begs the question, are we sure that defense wins championships?

To address that, let’s look solely at the offensive and defensive performances by each state champion in the state championship game (Table 3).

Table 3:  Champions’ Performance in State Game

Offensive performance clearly brought home a championship in only two of the ten state games.  In the other eight, a dominant defensive performance brought home the trophy.  I would conclude that defense still wins championships.

Note: I’d like to see where 2003 North Shore and 2005 Southlake Carroll would rank statistically.  The eye test says near or at the top.  Incorporating the  champions prior to 2006 is a project for a future Statistically Speaking entry.

Here in the 5A statistics department, we’re always looking for correlations between our numbers and what happens on the field.  One such correlation that we’ve been closely monitoring for years is how defensive success translates to state championships.

Since 2006, we’ve studied, tweaked, tested and now publish an adjusted defensive scoring metric we use to rank all 245 defenses throughout each season.  We choose to use this metric over points against per game (PAPG) because it allows us to factor in things like schedule strength which is essential in determining true defensive strength.

For further explanation of AOS, ADS, and last season’s scoring leaders, click here.

In studying our data from 2006 – 2009 (4 seasons), we found that all eight state champions held their opponents to an average of at least ten points below their scoring average.  Since we’re still dealing with a relatively small sample size, we realized that our criteria would eventually be stretched.

Keeping this in mind for 2010, the Division 1 Region 3 bracket featured Katy, North Shore, and Houston Lamar who all met this criteria during the regular season.  The eventual state champion Pearland Oilers barely kept their head above water on the defensive end with a very average adjusted defensive scoring rating of -1.2 (table 1).

Table 1:  2010 Pearland Oilers – Regular Season Results

Because of this, I doubted their chances due to being so far off of the defensive pace from the previous state champions.  We all knew about the explosiveness of the Pearland offense led by quarterback Trey Anderson, running back Dustin Garrison, and wide receiver Myles Kanipes. However, you’re just not supposed to win a state championship playing average defensively.

Apparently, the Oilers received that memo, ate their Wheaties, and activated full beast mode just in time for playoffs.  They registered an incredible ADS of -16.9 over the course of their six playoff games (table 2).  To put that into perspective, an ADS of -16.9 after six regular season games would put you among the top 5 defenses in the state.

Table 2: 2010 Pearland Oilers – Playoff Results

The Oilers finished their undefeated, championship winning season with an overall ADS of – 7.1.  For comparison’s sake,  fellow 5A champions Cibolo Steele finished with an ADS of -10.70. As a result, the 2010 Pearland Oilers are the only team out of our last ten champions to not meet the defensive benchmark previously discussed.

While this playoff run didn’t necessarily jive with our numbers, make no mistake about it, defense still wins championships.