HP at Wylie East Tonight for Final Regular Season Game

by Kirk Dooley

   This week is Eno Week for the Highland Park Scots.
   HP travels to Wylie to end the district season with a key match against the Raiders and their star running back, Eno Benjamin, one of the nation’s top recruits.  wylie-east-helmet
   Not since Kendial Lawrence of Rockwall Heath back in 2008 has Highland Park faced a running back that can determine the outcome of a game by himself. Lawrence, whom the Scots couldn’t stop, led his team to the district championship over HP in the last game of the season. He was fast, strong, agile and each time he touched the ball he could go all the way. Lawrence gained 4,420 yards in two years at Heath, scoring 64 touchdowns and averaged 9.3 yards per carry.
   Let me repeat that. He averaged 9.3 yards every time he touched the ball over a two-year period. Whew!
   I have not seen a better performance from a Texas high school running back than Lawrence in 2008 when he ran over, around and through the Scots. That year Heath had a dozen players go on to play D-1 college ball. Lawrence went on to a lackluster college career at Missouri and then has bounced around the Canadian Football League since then.
   Eno Benjamin comes into the HP game with 1,605 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. He is averaging six yards per carry. He is number nine on the Dallas News list of recruits for the Class of ‘17 and is the number 26 overall recruit in the state by the 247Sports composite.
   Benjamin orally committed to the University of Iowa back in April and then last Wednesday he dumped the Hawkeyes and re-opened his recruitment. Nine times out of 10 when somebody de-commits like that, he is already in somebody else’s back pocket. We’ll see.
   The Raiders were predicted to challenge the Scots for the district 15-5A championship but two things got in the way – Mesquite Poteet and West Mesquite. The Raiders lost to Pirates, 26-14, and then were beaten by the Wranglers, 7-0. In both of those losses the Wylie East defense played well but gave up ill-timed big plays. They held Poteet to 139 yards of total offense and six first downs, but the Pirates scored 26 points. Go figure. They held West Mesquite to 119 yards and six first downs but gave up the only TD of the game.
   The takeaway from the West Mesquite game is that the Wranglers did what any intelligent team would try to do – stop Eno – but when they did, another running back did some damage. Benjamin carried the ball 20 carries for only 65 yards (only 3.25 yards per carry), but when the Wranglers keyed on Eno, Corbin Johnson carried the ball 32 times for 117 yards. Either way, West Mesquite kept the Wylie East offense out of the end zone. That is the goal.
   The Raiders have put Eno in at quarterback (why waste time by handing off?) and he has performed well at running, but not passing. Against Poteet, he threw the ball 14 times, completed seven – four to his receivers and three to the Pirates.
   The Scots want to win the district championship outright and so they will battle hard on Friday. Beating the Scots would make the Raiders’ season, so they will battle hard also. But the outcome of this game won’t change the playoff picture.  HP and West Mesquite will go into the Division I bracket next week while Mesquite Poteet and Wylie East will head into the Division II bracket. This last district game against a quality opponent will help both the Scots and the Raiders gear up for the playoffs.

HP Senior Night vs Royse City – Kickoff 10/28 7:30pm

royse-city-helmetsby  Kirk Dooley

   How does a first-place team get excited about playing a last-place team? In Highland Park’s case, the coaches have a list of areas where the team needs to improve and they are using that list as the focus this week as they prepare to face the Royse City Bulldogs.
   It’s nothing personal but they are not focusing on the Bulldogs. They are using this game to prepare for the playoffs, which will begin in two weeks.royse-bulldog-pride
   What can we say about Royse City? Well, first of all, they should have spelled it Royce. Second, Wylie East beat them 38-0 and Poteet beat them 48-0. And third, the Bulldogs are 0-5 in district play and are averaging 7.8 points per game.
   Meanwhile, HP is averaging 40.4 points per game as they’ve run up a 5-0 district record. Amateur prognosticators might assume that the Scots will win 40.4 to 7.8. That cannot happen but it might be close.
   This is the final home game for the Scots and it is Senior Night. The best thing that can happen is to jump out to a big lead and let all the seniors get some playing time. For the majority of those players and their parents, this is an emotional game, the climax to a lifetime of football that began in YMCA sports at Armstrong, Bradfield, Hyer or University Park and will end when the Scots season ends. A few HP players will take a stab at college football but most of them will hang up their shoulder pads and then find out how incredibly competitive (and fun) flag football can be in college intramurals.
   Friday will be a big night for the Highlander Band, whose seniors will be honored at halftime and then the band will perform after the game.
   Royse City has a running back named Brett Martinez who ran for 1,207  and 15 touchdowns last season. So far this season he has gained 680 yards and scored five times. He is also the team’s leading receiver, with 340 yards on 19 receptions. Sophomore quarterback Matthew Yelverton has completed 48 of 111 passes for 80 yards and three TDs. Clogging up the line will be defensive tackle Sam Rosenstengle.
   Truly, the worst thing the Scots can do is to go into this game thinking about the big Wylie East game next week. The best thing they can do is to play well early and then give their hard-working backups some action under the Friday night lights.

HP at Forney: 7:30pm Kickoff Tonight

forney-jackrabbits-logo-2

by Kirk Dooley

   The Scots took care of business last Friday, knocking off district rival Poteet, 40-29, to retain first place in district 15-5A with three games remaining.
   Highland Park did it the hard way, spotting the Pirates 15 points early in the second quarter. The Scots were down by six at the end of two quarters and made some good adjustments at halftime to command the third quarter with 24 straight points to ice the game.
   By rolling up more than 600 yards of total offense and holding the Pirates to under 240, the Scots made its most significant statement of the season against a very good team. Now the Scots, undefeated in district play, face Forney, Royse City and Wylie East to close out the regular season.
   This week Highland Park travels to Forney to hunt some Jackrabbits. Forney is 3-4, with wins over Berkner, Lindale and Royse City along with losses to Terrell, Poteet, Lovejoy and West Mesquite. They are 1-3 in district play but have fought most teams to close games.forney-jackrabbits-logo-1

Click Here for directions to game.  7:30pm kickoff tonight, October 21, 2016.

The Jackrabbits’ quarterback is junior Devon Rideaux who has completed 53 of 129 passes for 755 yards and six touchdowns. He is also the team’s second leading rusher, totaling 430 yards on 84 carries. If the Scots focus on Rideaux, they need to be careful because then Aaron Rideaux can hurt you. He is the team’s third leading rusher and third leading receiver. It’s confusing when they’re both in the backfield at the same time.
   Forney also has some excellent talent at center (all-district Ethan Hanley), linebacker (all-district Brendan Vaughn and defensive line (all-state Jaylon Hutchins). While taking a break from starring on defense Vaughn is also the team’s leading receiver (23 yards per catch) and Hutchins is the team’s leading rusher (526 yards on 79 carries). These guys are good but they will also be good and tired.
   The number for the Scots to be concerned with is six. That’s the number of yards per carry that Hutchins, Rideaux and Rideaux each average every time they run with the ball. That sounds like a lot of first downs…
   Last month an intoxicated man from Terrell stumbled into a Forney fast food restaurant and demanded some free enchiladas. When he wasn’t given any, he got into an argument and so his buddy took him outside. There the two of them got into a fight and enchilada man bit the ear off his buddy. I mention this as a reminder to all Scots fans who go to Forney this Friday. If you stop for dinner and order enchiladas, make sure you let your waiter or waitress know that you fully intend to pay for them.