Category: KIRK DOOLEY’S BLOG

by  Kirk Dooley

East Texas powerhouse Longview is the 64th winningest high school football program in the nation and they don’t lose at home much. Last Friday they defended their home turf against the Highland Park Scots who didn’t seem to be intimidated by the Lobo’s winning tradition. That’s because the Scots are the 10th winningest high school football program in the nation. And they don’t lose at home much, either.
Two strong, state-ranked teams with deep traditions collided last Friday in Longview. The Scots’ defense stepped into the spotlight and held the top two running backs in district 7-5A to a total of one touchdown. HP came away with a hard-fought 18-13 win in one of the Scots best defensive performances since John House, Bennett Brock and Matt Gahm wrote the book on linebacking as they led the Scots to the 2016 state title.
At the Lobos’ practice on Monday their coach let them know that their game this Friday against Sherman has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns at Sherman High School. With Nov. 20 being a bye week for the Lobos, their next game will be Thanksgiving weekend against McKinney North.
So this Friday when the Scots host McKinney North, if there is a sea of green letter jackets in the stands, it’ll be the Lobos team scouting the Bulldogs in person. They might even all go to Banditos after the game for some good post-game Tex-Mex before heading back east.
On Friday this will be the third game in a row that the Scots face an opponent who is undefeated in district play. McKinney North is 3-0 and is coming off an impressive 52-31 win over Wylie East.
The Bulldogs will be screaming into Highlander Stadium playing like this is the district championship game. Sure enough, the winner will come away with sole possession of the district lead. The Bulldogs will be motivated and energized. They’ve got a sophomore quarterback – Gavin Constantine (#6) – who is fast and has a good arm. He’ll be handing the ball off to a freshman running back – Taylor Offord (#80) – who is shifty and quick but doesn’t have a driver’s license. The best player on the Bulldogs team is wide receiver J.J. Henry (#2) who last Friday against Wylie East averaged 20.75 yards per catch on four receptions. Last year, Henry lit up Justin Northwest for 204 yards. For the season he had 60 receptions for 1,214 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s no Marvin Mims or Jaxon Smith-Njigba but he can light up a secondary. Just ask Magnolia West, who lost their playoff game last November to the Bulldogs, 70-36.
“They can score a lot of points,” said HP coach Randy Allen.
Last Friday night the HP defense held Longview to only two explosive plays. Two Brayden Schager touchdown passes (to John Rutledge and Will Pettijohn) and two Jack Stone field goals were enough offense to give the Scots the 18-13 win.
The weather this Friday will be ideal for high school football under the Friday night lights. But, beware! It will be Friday the 13th.

by Kirk Dooley

If you’ve found yourself whining about the lack of district competition for the Scots the past few years, just hop in your car Friday evening and drive 137 miles to Longview. Make sure your seat belt is buckled, even after you get there.
The Longview Lobos, who are recent 6A state champions, dropped down to 5A this season and are picked to win district 7-5A D-I, with Highland Park picked as the runner-up. Some sportswriters pick Longview to beat the Scots this Friday. The Lobos come into the game averaging more than 50 points per game in district play. If you yearn for top competition for the Scots, you’ve come to the right place.
Highland Park is ranked second in state and Longview is ranked third. How’s that for some district competition? And these two teams aren’t just good every once in a while. They are competitive all the time and are two of the winningest high school football programs in America. As of this week, Highland Park is the 10th winningest program in nation, with 843 all-time wins. East Texas powerhouse Longview is the 64th winningest program in the nation with 737 all-time wins.
Last year Longview went 11-1 and this season is currently 5-1, including two big district wins. The Lobos beat West Mesquite 49-24 two weeks ago and then last Friday they pounded Wylie East, 52-17.
What makes the Lobos go? Their offense begins with a star running back named Kaden Meredith (#7), who is a power runner with sprinter speed. Last year he ran for 1,646 yards and found the end zone 20 times. This season he is averaging 113 yards per game. While he’s no Don or Joe or Jake or Josh Meredith, his 4.4 speed could be the difference in the game. So while the Scots defense focuses on Meredith, another running back, Markevion Haynes (#17) is a 100-yard RB who averages two running TDs per game. Last week he averaged 20 yards every time he touched the ball.
Sophomore quarterback Jordan Allen (#12) is averaging just 75 yards per game in the air, so the Lobo passing game is not yet where it will be come playoff time.
Another Lobo speciality is explosive special teams. Shannon Jackson II (#32) had a 93-yard kickoff return against West Mesquite. And wide receiver Cedric Hopkins (#6) is a very dangerous kick returner who also caught an 88-yard touchdown pass two weeks ago.
Yes, the Scots got an upgrade in district competition. And Longview has played twice as many games as the Scots this season. On paper you would call the Scots inexperienced at this point, but Coppell and Rockwall would beg to differ. Today, both 6A teams are undefeated except for their losses to Highland Park.
For the Scots, that’s gaining experience the hard way, but the quickest way.

So district play begins this week in the craziest football season we’ll ever see on our lifetimes.

Forget El Paso Eastwood. Forget Flower Mound Marcus. Forget Skyline. Forget Austin Westlake. Forget Mesquite Horn. Those five teams were on Highland Park’s schedule and none of them happened.
The Scots wound up playing two 6A teams in pre-district games and came away with two wins despite no scrimmages, no practices during quarantine and no games. The Scots played 2-0 Coppell in HP’s delayed home opener on Oct. 9 and came away with a big win. Coppell averaged 40 points per game and the Scots knocked them off, 42-36. In game two, the Scots met Rockwall for the fifth year in a row. The Yellow Jackets were 3-0 and averaging 54 points per game. It looked like humility time for Highland Park.
But when the dust cleared, the Scots had squished the Yellow Jackets, 46-18. The HP defense humiliated one of the top offenses in the state and made a statement that caught the attention of Texas high school football.
Now as the Scots start the real season, they are ranked second in state (behind Denton Ryan, as usual) but before anyone gets a little too full of themselves, keep in mind that next week the Scots travel to Longview for a district game against the state’s third-ranked 5A team. Last year they won the 6A state championship and this year they dropped down to 5A and landed in HP’s district. And, by the way, the Lobos are picked to win the district championship. The Scots are picked to finish second.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Scots face the Sherman Bearcats this Friday.

Sherman is 2-3 for the season but its most recent game is the only one to focus on. Last Friday the Bearcats opened their district season by smashing Wylie East, 45-7. And the game was not that close. With six minutes left in the game, Sherman led, 38-0.
The Bearcats are led by quarterback Tate Bethel, who has a baseball arm and a supporting cast of great skill players. Keep an eye on Benji Omayebu (#10), who will line up in the backfield or as an inside receiver. The running back, Andrew Nehrbass (#8), is a very hard-nose runner. On defense, the middle linebacker Brandon Bonilla (#50), sets the pace as the defensive playmaker. Defensive end Teyvian Knight is the team’s top pass rusher. Two safeties, Jeffrey Banks (#1) and Phoenix Grant (#13) will challenge the HP’s passing attack.
As a little boy I remember going to see the Scots play Sherman in 1964 when my brother, Pat, played. I remember Pat’s friends thinking the Scots could win state if Johnny Mac Bergen had played football instead of choosing to be a rock and roll drummer, hoping to be the next Ringo Starr. As it turned out, the Scots beat the Garland Owls, then finished second in district to the Owls, who went on to win the state championship.
Now a half century later, Highland Park and Sherman are still duking it out in the same district. My only advice to the Scots is to focus on the challenge this Friday, and not look ahead to the big game next week.