Kirk Dooley’s Blog
Let’s see how this first-round home field advantage works on Friday night.
The UIL is testing a new concept this season, only on the 6A level (which includes HP at 2,100 students and Allen at 6,000). In the first round of the playoffs, the higher rated team will have the option of playing on its home field. Your favorite Scots are taking advantage of this option; and so, the bi-district game against Irving Nimitz will be played at Highlander Stadium. All seats will be general admission, so folks with season tickets better get there early or their regular-season real estate will be occupied. No reserved seats. No saving seats.
The Scots will the have home-field advantage. Players will enjoy the routines of a home game. The school does not have to pay for the buses to take the band and the Belles and the players to a neutral site, saving the school thousands of dollars.
Nimitz sails into the game with a 6-4 record but has the talent to head back to Irving with a win. The Scots beat the Vikings last season in the bi-district game, then faced a tough Midway team. This week’s HP-Nimitz winner will likely face Midway in Round 2. Therein lies the biggest challenge for the Scots. Don’t look past Nimitz and start thinking about Midway. There’s a game on Grassmere to win first.
The Vikings have a 1,000-yard runner in Mark Eugene. He has scored 14 touchdowns on the ground and will be he focus of the Nimitz offense. Quarterback Joe Pena has completed 84 of 140 passes for 976 yards and seven touchdowns, but he got hurt last week and sat out the final three quarters in a 14-9 loss to Irving MacArthur. The Vikings pulled Jared Jenkins out of the secondary and made him the quarterback. We’ll see which version will be on display against the Scots.
The Scots won their first-ever 6A district championship last Friday as they came away with a 44-30 victory over Richardson. Stephen Dieb’s 128 yards rushing (three TDs) put him over the 1,000-yard threshold for the season. The 5’7” dynamo is averaging six yards per carry. Few golfers can shoot their age. Fewer ball carriers can average their height.
The demons that kept Richardson in the game last week were four HP turnovers – two dropped punts and two fumbles. Now that the Scots are in the playoffs, turnovers become fatal.
The Dallas Morning News Defensive Player of the Week is HP linebacker John House, who had 10 tackles, two assists, two tackles for a loss, a sack and a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown that iced the game for the Scots.
So this week HP has another home-field advantage – a fly-to-the-ball linebacker wearing number 47.
His mere presence says, “Not in our House!”