Category: KIRK DOOLEY’S BLOG

by Kirk Dooley

   And it’s Homecoming night at HP.

   To be clear, the Lions are capable of winning the game on Friday night. Coach Randy Allen compares Tyler to Longview, who came within five points of the Scots at Highlander two weeks ago. Tyler is as fast, as big and as athletic as Longview. 

   There’s three Tyler players in particular that the Scots must contain to keep their home winning streak alive.

   Quarterback Eli Holt appears to be the second coming of Michael Vick. And if you’re too young to know who Michael Vick is, then Eli Holt is the second coming of Kyler Murray. Shifty, athletic, fast, great arm and his athleticism buys him more time or more yards when he scoots out of the pocket. And when I say scoot, I mean a possible 50-yard touchdown run. 

   Makavion Potts is a dynamic wide receiver who has six points written all over him when he catches a pass no matter where he is in the stadium, even at the concession stand.

   Derrick McFall is hard to describe. He’s not old enough to have a driver’s license but can drive any defense crazy. He might line up at running back. He might line up at wide receiver. Either way he will also line up as a defensive back. He will return kicks and is good at taking them to the house.

   Last week quarterback Holt completed 12 of 16 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 38 yards and another score. He threw touchdown passes to Potts of 52 yards and 71 yards. Then McFall ran 59 yards for a touchdown them returned a kickoff 84 yards for score. If that’s not enough, Holt hit Montrell Wade for an 89-yard touchdown, his only catch of the night.

   Last Friday Potts caught four passes for 181 yards. That’s 45 yards per catch but it’s nothing compared to Wade, who averaged 89.

   A few key players go both ways for the Lions, including Ameer Johnson, who starts on the defensive line and offensive line.

   The Scots are coming off their most complete game of the season, a 59-24 win over McKinney North. The leading tackler was Pierce Shelby, who had 14 tackles while starting in place of George Wright. It was Shelby’s first varsity start and he was named honorable mention Defensive Player of the Week by The Dallas Morning News.

   Quite a few backups got into the game last Friday. Ten different receivers caught passes. QB Brennan Storer completed 77 percent of his passes, then backup QB Hayden Ferguson came in a completed 75 percent.

   The Scots know what to do to take care of business this Friday. It should be a festive Homecoming at Highland Park as the Homecoming Court is introduced at halftime. Former football captains representing their teammates will also be introduced. 

   For the first time ever, a Highland Park student athletic trainer, Andie Criswell, has been nominated for Homecoming Queen. The football players, who consider her a teammate, are buzzing about it.

   My question is this: After she is introduced at halftime, will Andie bolt for the locker room to tape ankles and tend to her other student trainer duties … while possibly wearing a crown?

by Kirk Dooley

The Scots travel up North Central Expressway to McKinney on Friday to battle the McKinney North Bulldogs.

The Scots have won five straight games and are 2-0 in district play. They are coming off one of the top games in the state last Friday when they edged the Longview Lobos, 21-16. Going into that game, HP was ranked third in state and Longview was ranked fourth. It was billed as a potential offensive explosion but turned out to be a defensive slugfest with the Scots defense slugging a bit harder.

McKinney North has won its past two district games, beating West Mesquite, 45-38, and Wylie East, 28-21. In the West Mesquite game, Bulldogs running back Jadan Smith ran for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner with 5:38 left in the game. The Wranglers stormed back but their drive stalled on the 13-yard line and they turned the ball back over to the Bulldogs.

And, by the way, when Smith was not rushing for over 200 yards, he was returning a kickoff 94 yards for a first quarter touchdown.

Scots’ pre-game strategy: Don’t let Jadan Smith beat them by himself.

McKinney North quarterback Colin Hitchcock completed one of seven passes for 17 yards against the Wanglers so that could indicate that Smith could get a little more attention Friday night.

When the Bulldogs squared off against the Wylie East Raiders last week, it was a barn-burner. With 2:06 remaining in the game and the score tied at 21-all, a Raider field goal to win the game was blocked. On the next play our man Jadan Smith sprinted 72-yards for a touchdown to win the game, 28-21. McKinney North quarterback Hitchcock completed six of nine passes for 124 yards and a TD. Smith rushed 16 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Other notable stats from the north side of McKinney: Tyler popped McKinney North three weeks ago, 35-18, in the first district game for both teams. And the week before that Rockwall-Heath rocked the Bulldogs, 70-35. Heath is the team that recently held the Rockwall Yellowjackets to 71 points and then beat the Jackets by eight points. When was the last time you  remember two teams combining for 150 points in one game?

Back to Jadan Smith. The Scots need to address this talented running back and I might humbly suggest that linebacker George Wright be hired to shadow Smith on every play. Wright made a name for himself by being named the Dallas Morning News Defensive Player of the Week last week after his standout performance against the Lobos. Wright had 13 tackles, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery he returned 23 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the third quarter, giving the Scots a 14-3 lead. It was the play of the game.

I give credit to Wright for making such a big, heads-up play that changed the trajectory of the game.

But Wright is quick to give credit to his teammate, Jack Curtis, who caused the fumble.

And you know what? Wright is right.

by Kirk Dooley

Your honor, I’d like to present Exhibit One: The Longview Lobos are 2-0 in district play and have scored 56 points in both games. The evidence should prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lobos are averaging 56 points a game.

Exhibit Two: Highland Park is ranked third in the state and Longview is ranked fourth.

As witnesses I’d like to call upon the Rockwall Yellowjackets to testify that in the second half of their game against Highland Park they had their jackets handed to them by the Scots defense. The HP offense scored 28 points in that second half while the Rockwall offense was held to seven. This was an offense that was averaging 67 points per game. May I point out to the court that Rockwall was predicted to win the game and to hang 59 points on the Scots.

Let the evidence reflect that the final score was Highland Park 52, Rockwall 31.

It appears that the Scots are capable of being unimpressed with offenses that have scored a ton of points before rolling into Highlander Stadium. Fear none, respect all.

But this Friday’s game could prove to be more challenging than Rockwall or Flower Mound. They play a different style of football in deep East Texas. And Longview is the king of deep East Texas football. You might call it old-school football or smash-mouth football or five yards and a cloud of dust.

They run the football – hard – right up the middle then when faced with the occasional third down will fake the handoff and hit one of their sprinters screaming down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown.

It’s pick your poison. Load up the box and let them air it out or drop your linebackers into pass coverage and watch as their running backs chew up your real estate. Longview has it all. They are big, physical, athletic and have more speed that most track teams.

The Scots figured it out last season and beat the Lobos for the district championship in a close game. According to Coach Randy Allen, the Lobos are better this year. Their only loss was to Denton Ryan in the first weekend of the season.

The Longview quarterback is Jordan Allen, a young man who is fast, quick and very dangerous in the open field. But when he stays in the pocket he can find his speedy receivers. In the last two games he has completed 18 of 23 passes for 414 yards. Keep an eye on running back Jarrett Lewis, who averaged 9.75 yards per carry against West Mesquite, gaining 195 yards on 20 touches.

Last week Lobos sophomore cornerback Willie Nelson returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown. This Friday the Scots hope he stays on his tour bus.

Your honor, my closing statement will address the number of points the Longview Lobos have scored in the last two games – 112. My client, the Highland Park Scots defense, requests a physical mediation to take place Friday at 7:30 at Highlander Stadium. They would like the opportunity to prove that they can slow down this scoring machine enough to earn a hard-fought, home-field victory.

That’s when the defense will rest.