Category: KIRK DOOLEY’S BLOG

For those of you who set your watches 12 months ago for 7:30, Friday, October 9, 2015, your alarm is about to go off. The HP-Horn game is finally here at Highlander Stadium.

   After last year’s 42-27 loss to the Jaguars, the Scots players and coaches circled 10-9-15 on their calendars and pledged to avenge HP’s only district loss, which gave the 10-6A championship to Horn. It was only the third district loss by the Scots under Randy Allen’s reign, which began in 1999. but it still burns in the guts of the Scots who played last year.

   The 2014 loss was no fluke. Horn had one of the best teams in the state. Last year the Jaguars were loaded  with D-1 talent and this year they’ve reloaded with more. The biggest difference is that the player who commandeered the airspace above the Scots secondary last season – Jarrison Stewart – has graduated and is already terrorizing Big 12 DBs as a freshman wide receiver for the TCU Horned Frogs. He’s now catching passes for Heisman Trophy candidate Trevone Boykin, including five catches for 88 yards against Texas Tech.

   Last season against the Scots, Stewart caught six Chris Robison passes for 120 yards and three touchdowns – 20 yards, 34 yards and 28 yards. In his spare time he returned a punt for 67 yards and another score.

   When TCU plays the Oklahoma Sooners in 2018, I predict that Stewart will be the star TCU receiver and Robison will be the hot OU quarterback.

   This year’s Horn offensive line boasts two 300 pounders and the defensive line has a couple more. The Jaguars have two wide receivers bigger than Dez Bryant. I’m not kidding. You will see for yourself.

   Horn is larger and faster than Highland Park. Is has more players who will play on Saturday and some that might play on Sunday while most Scots will be watching NFL games on TV at the lake house.

   HP coach Randy Allen and his staff know how talented Horn is. Facing the Jaguars’ offense is like facing the Baylor offense. It comes at you hard and fast from all angles. But the Scots feel like they will win this game and win the district championship. The HP players will be well prepared by the HP coaches, who will have a game plan that will give their players a fighting chance.

   This is Highland Park football at its best. The Scots are playing a better team that is predicted to win. HP’s normal-sized, sort-of-fast, big-hearted athletes will come together as a team and challenge a squad of very real future college players. I feel like intangibles will dictate the winner of this game – HP’s winning attitude, an excited fan base at home, revenge from last year’s loss and a tradition of playing big in big games.

   There could be 1,000 yards of total offense, 100 total points and the winner could be the last one with the ball. Take Jarrison Stewart off the field and this game could go either way. I predict that the Scots will surprise the Jaguars and whether that translates into a win will be determined by who has the ball last.

Somebody needed to make a play and Turner Rejebian decided it would be him.

   The Scots were having a hard time stopping a strong North Mesquite Stallion offense and time was running out last Friday night. The Stallions were up 27-21 and were driving down the field to ice the game. It didn’t look like the Scots’ new home winning streak would get off the ground.

   Impossible-to-bottle-up quarterback Ja’Quez Gooch threw deep down the right sideline and Rejebian came down with the ball on the North Mesquite 10, giving the Scots a chance at wining the game. All it would take was a 90-yard drive and a PAT.

   Henry Allen marched his team down the field with precision and on the 17th play of the drive, hit Mr. Cy McCullough in traffic with a 12-yard bullet to tie the score. Will Moore stepped in to win the game, 28-27.

   In the first half, the Stallions were unstoppable except for one key play. They scored on each of their first four possessions but after the first touchdown, the extra point was blocked. Who would have guessed that it would wind up being the difference in the game?

   The Scots defense has seen its share of great running backs and Dreshawn Minnieweather was one of the more punishing. He carried the ball 20 times for 136 yards and fell forward for several first downs.

   Highland Park’s miniature version of Minnieweather, Stephen Dieb, ran 19 times for 119 yards and spun his way to extra yardage when the Scots needed it. Allen completed 50 percent of his passes for 212 yards and won the ESPY for his 12-yard shot to McCullough to win the game. When the referee raised his arms signaling the touchdown, more Mesquite hearts were broken than when Donnie Gay retired from bull riding.

   This Friday the Scots travel to Eagle-Mustang Stadium in Richardson to battle their longtime rival, J.J. Pearce. The Mustangs are 2-2 and are coming off a heart-breaking 54-50 loss to crosstown rival Richardson. In that game, the Mustangs gained 585 total yards and the Eagles added 548. You would have though you stumbled into a Big 12 shootout.

   Hank Hughes returns as the Pearce quarterback for what seems like the 10th year. Through the first four games he has completed 80 of 127 passes for 1,175 yards and leads the team in rushing. Like the Scots, the Mustangs have a herd of great receivers. Jake Griffin, De’Astone Barlow and Jack Brewer all have more than 200 receiving yards. Pearce is averaging 41 points per game, while the Scots are scoring 26.

   All four of the Scots previous opponents – Frisco Centennial, Pulaski, Prosper and North Mesquite – have won all of their other games this season. These are all good teams, no cupcakes.

   In Richardson, they still talk about the game in 2001 when Pearce beat HP in double overtime, handing Randy Allen his first district loss as the Scots coach. But Allen prefers to remember the 2010 Pearce game, when that victory made him the winningest coach in Highland Park history.

   Preseason predictions had the 10-6A district championship going to Mesquite Horn, Highland Park or North Mesquite. Later this Friday night those predictions should be a little more clear. The winner of Friday’shomecoming game between the Scots and the Stallions will emerge as the top challenger to Horn’s title repeat.

   While that’s true, let’s not dwell on Horn just yet. The focus should be on North Mesquite and how this could be their year, especially if Friday is their night.

   To begin with, the Stallions return eight starters on offense and eight starters on defense. I can’t name a North Texas team with more experience. And like Horn, North Mesquite is loaded with D-1 talent. The biggest headache for the Scots will be junior quarterback Ja’Quez Gooch, who ran for more than 1,000 yards, passed for 861 and scored 20 touchdowns last year as a sophomore. He could be the next Trevone Boykin.

   (If you’re not familiar with Boykin, he’s TCU’s Heisman Trophy candidate who hails from West Mesquite.)

   Dreshawn Minnieweather is the Stallion’s pounding running back and their line is anchored by the best offensive lineman in Texas, Jean Delance, all 6’5”, 290 lbs. of him. Don’t punt to A’daireon Madlock, who will take it to the house before your coverage is set up. Defense? Last week they held South Garland to 84 yards of total offense. Plus they forced two safeties in the first 20 minutes of the game.

   North Mesquite is averaging more than 48 points per game, allowing seven and is undefeated. I would say that HP’s home winning streak would be tested, if there were one.

   The Scots are looking forward to this challenge. Quarterback Henry Allen has been impressive each game. Stephen Dieb continues to defy gravity. The wide receiver corps is so deep that 10 players are considered starters. On defense, injuries to the defensive line have challenged the Scots. But here’s the good news: Zach Snelling, Bobby Hrncir and Turner Coxe are all expected to play Friday.

   Matthew Barge will sit this game out and Kyle Massimilian will step in for him at defensive back.

   As the North Mesquite coaches watch film of the Scots’ win over Prosper, they must be sweating how to deal with wide receiver Chris Buell. How do you stop a guy who catches 11 passes for 155 yards? If you shift your defense, what receiver would then be open? Jeffrey Kupp, Kemp Sauer, Cy McCullough, J.T. Dooley, Parker Alexander, Tom McDaniel, Carson Bryant or Jon Welfelt, depending on who’s in the game at the time.

   And add Jack Toohey to that list. He was listed as a starter when he suffered a preseason injury, and now he’s finally been cleared to play.

   With Toohey back, the Scots have a receiver corps deeper than the Mariana Trench.