Category: KIRK DOOLEY’S BLOG

by Kirk Dooley

What is the key word in this week’s Scots-Pirates battle?
Speed.
The Poteet Pirates have plenty of it and the Scots will need to overcome it. Coach Randy Allen calls it “sprint relay speed” and he’s right. The Pirates have it on offense. They have it on defense. They have speed on special teams and they even have it when the team runs onto the field before the game. These guys are FAST.
The Pirates and the Scots come into the game undefeated in district play and this game is what everyone predicted when the schedules were announced – a battle for the district championship. Each team still has three more district games after this one, and the Scots must travel to Wylie East to close out district play, but the Poteet battle is the home game of the year for Highland Park.
Please note that Poteet has already defeated Wylie East, 26-14. The Raiders held the Pirates to 91 yards passing, 48 yards rushing and only six first downs for the night. Yet Poteet scored 26 points. The Pirate defense allowed Raider quarterback Eno Benjamin 190 yards on the ground but won the game because they kept him out of the end zone. That’s the point, right?
But let’s look at those 26 points. Cha Cha Corbin, a (fast) Poteet wide receiver, caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Kaleb Fletcher, who is also fast. Da’Michael Smith ran back a punt 86 yards for touchdown. We assume he didn’t stroll all the way to the end zone. The Pirates added two field goals by two different kickers. The first one out there gets to kick?
In Poteet’s 42-3 win over North Forney last Friday, Cha Cha Corbin had a 48-yard touchdown run, Daiquan Jackson had a 47-yeard TD run and Josh Johnson topped them both with a 57-yard run for a score. It seems that we can deduct that if any of these guys turn the corner or get into open space, it’s six points.
The Scots go into this game prepared and focused. They know this is a big game and they know they have the horses to win it. Outside of Denton Ryan, Poteet has not seen a defense like Highland Park’s. My gut feeling is that HP will keep the Pirate passing game off balance and will limit the big plays enough for the Scots offense to control the clock and the scoreboard.
HP quarterback John Stephen Jones has completed 60 percent of his passes this season for 1,335 yards and 10 touchdowns. The weather forecast calls for rain all night Thursday and much of Friday. Will a wet Highlander Stadium field force the Scots to abandon its superlative passing game? Well, maybe not. The best way to quickly dry off a soaked football field is to hover a helicopter over it.
I’m just sayin’…

Highland Park put together its most complete game of the year two weeks ago against North Forney, crushing the Falcons, 66-7. After the Sept. 30 open date, the Scots are now rested and ready to face their five remaining district games.

   The Scots travel to Mesquite Memorial Stadium this Friday (Oct. 7) to face the West Mesquite Wranglers. HP, West Mesquite and Poteet are the leaders of the district race with 2-0 records. While 15-5A is predicted to come down to last team standing between HP, Poteet and Wylie East, this Friday’s game will alert the world to a potential West Mesquite challenge.
   Here’s why the Scots should be concerned about Friday’s game in Mesquite. The Wranglers exploded into a superteam in the fourth quarter against Lovejoy two weeks ago. Trailing 37-6 with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter, the Wranglers watched as their season was slipping away. Then, incredibly, they stepped out of the phone booth and reeled off 40 straight points in 15 minutes to stun Lovejoy, 46-37.
   Did anyone get the license number of that orange-and-white truck that knocked the joy out of Lovejoy?
   With 3:37 left in the third quarter Wrangler quarterback Connor Neill hit Eric Knight with a 48-yard TD pass to tighten the score to 37-13. After an interception, the Wranglers went into an unstoppable Wildcat offense and didn’t throw another pass the rest of the game. Three plays after the pick, Demarcus Crockett scored from the nine. PAT blocked. Score: 37-19 with a minute left in the quarter.
   Was this comeback for real? Ask Jaylon Monroe, who picked off a Lovejoy pass on the first play of the final quarter and ran it back 44 yards for a touchdown. 37-26.
   The Wrangler defense then forced not one, not two, but three straight Lovejoy three-and-outs. With 9:16left in the game, Ja’Coty McCoy scored on a 16-yard run. 37-32. Then a minute-and-a-half later Crockett ran in from the 31 to give the Wranglers their first lead, 39-37. With two minutes left in the game West Mesquite put the game away with an eight-play, 61-yard drive to go up 46-37.
   Forty unanswered points in 15 minutes. And just as incredible is the fact that during that offensive rampage, the Wrangler defense held the Lovejoy offense to minus-15 yards and grabbed two interceptions.
   Most followers don’t know if West Mesquite will make the playoffs. I’m here to tell you that if the Wranglers play the rest of the season like they did in that 15-minute window against Lovejoy, not only will they make the playoffs, they’ll win the state championship.
   The Scots played like Supermen against North Forney two Fridays ago. At Mesquite Memorial Stadium, they’ll face some focused Wranglers who now believe they ARE Supermen. The Scots need to be concerned with any high school football team that suddenly has great confidence in its abilities.
   That confidence is the kryptonite of Friday Night Football in Texas.

By Kirk Dooley

Moving into the second game of district play, it is probably a good time to note the fact that the 3-1 Highland Park Scots have played one team with a winning record.

HP had been one of the state’s Top 10 teams before the Waxahachie loss, but the Scots shouldn’t worry about the polls at this point. They should focus on being one of the Top Four teams in 15-5A.
Rockwall (1-3), Waxahachie (4-0) and Lovejoy (1-3) all challenged the Scots while Mansfield Timberview did not.

Waxahachie turned out to be one of the better 5A teams in North Texas and deserves to be in the state’s Top 10. It’s star receiver, Jalen Reagor, leads the Area in receiving with 513 yards and seven touchdowns, and is second in scoring (62 points) behind a gentleman we will see on November 4, Eno Benjamin (74 points).
Benjamin is the star athlete for Wylie East and he may turn out to be the difference between Highland Park winning the district championship or not. He currently leads the Dallas area in rushing with 808 yards on 94 carries. He has scored 12 touchdowns in four games and leads the area in that category also. The last time I looked, the Wylie East coaches put him at quarterback so fasten your seat belts for the final district game, when the Scots face Benjamin and the Raiders in Wylie.
Go ahead and mark Nov. 4 on your calendar. Just write “Eno” across the page.

But that is then and this is now. The Scots travel to North Forney for a game between two 3-1 teams. The Falcons have beaten Mount Pleasant (50-21), Creekview (33-14) and Spruce (49-13) and then last week lost to Wylie East (56-28). So far this season the Falcons have score more points than HP or Wylie East. Quarterback Colby Suits has completed 59 of 110 passes for 1,001 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s ranked fourth in 5A passing, one spot above HP’s John Stephen Jones (69 of 110 for 980 yards and seven TDs). Falcons receiver Barclay Ford (sounds like an HP name) is fifth in receiving with 21 catches for 398 yards and three scores.  The Falcon defense is ranked 10th in the Area, holding teams to only 273 yards of total offense per game.

North Forney is a good team with solid skill players, a tough defense and a well-earned 3-1 record. The Falcons will face an HP team led by Dallas Morning News 5A Defensive Player of the Week Matt Gahm, better known as the second coming of Mitchell Kaufman. Gahm’s pick six propelled the Scots to victory last week. Cornerback O’Neil Sitzer had two key interceptions and was a runner-up for the DMN Defensive Player of the Week against Lovejoy. Two Scots. Three picks.

Traditionally the Scots transform from boys to men during the bye week as they get serious about moving into district play. But this season the bye week won’t take place until next week and by then HP will have two district games under its kilt. The Scots survived a serious Lovejoy scare last Friday and on paper North Forney looks better than Lovejoy.

The Falcons must be taken seriously. The Scots need to get serious and mature quickly or they could go into the bye week with a big ‘ol black eye.