by Kirk Dooley
When the season began folks circled Oct. 20 on their calendars and prepared for an epic battle between two of the top 5A teams in North Texas. As it was last year, the game would feature two undefeated teams in 15-5A that would battle for the inside track for the district championship.
The showdown between Highland Park and Poteet this Friday in Mesquite will still be epic but the Pirates limp into the game with a 3-3 record to face the 5-1 Scots. And worse, Poteet comes off a 40-28 loss to North Forney last Friday.
Make no mistake. Poteet will be a major challenge for the Scots, who will play their third tough district game in a row. North Forney and West Mesquite are now in the Scots’ rearview mirror and both look like playoff teams.
The irony of the North Forney win over Poteet is that the Falcons coach, Randy Jackson, is the former Poteet coach who whipped the Pirates into a winning program a few years ago. After turning around Poteet, he moved on to Grapevine where he did the same thing. Then this year he took the reigns at North Forney and has put it on the map. Last season NF was 1-6 in district and this year it could go 6-1.
Poteet remain is good hands with head coach Kody Groves. They have plenty of talent and still control their playoff destiny. During the off-season former star receiver Cal Lampkin was moved to quarterback where his athleticism could be on call for every play. Over the past few weeks Dalton Dale has taken over the QB duties and he can both pass and run. Against the Falcons Dale completed 13 of 28 passes for 202 yards and he ran 16 times for 132 yards. His two interceptions partially offset his 334 total yards.
Lampkin returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown and De’Michael Smith caught a 64-yard TD pass from Dale which tightened the score to 33-28 in the fourth quarter. The Pirates still have their lightening.
Keep an eye on sophomore running back Seth McGowen. He’s a very talented running back who hasn’t busted out of the barn yet, but he will at some point. Hopefully not this Friday.
Last Friday Scots linebacker Noble Nash had a breakout game, flying all over the field making tackles and returning a key interception 84 yards. He sprinted all the way down the sideline to the seven-yard line before being tripped up by either an invisible gamma ray or a magic spell cast by the Wrangler coaches. Nose guard Elliott Newsom had a nice game against West Mesquite, as did cornerback Hudson Clark.
So, what is the key to beating Poteet? I think game film from last week’s North Forney-Poteet game will enlighten the HP coaches. While North Forney has a respectable passing game, Falcons running back Calvin Ribera gained 246 yards on the ground on 36 carries. He controlled the clock and the game.
Ribera is only one guy but the Scots have Paxton Alexander, Conner Allen, John Stephen Jones, Benner Page, Cameron Reeves and Davenn Robinson who can run the ball all night.