Category: Sports Club News

by Kirk Dooley

When Coach Randy Allen scattered mousetraps throughout the Scots locker room last week, the players either thought there was a rodent problem or they thought their coach was losing it.
As it turned out, there were no mice and Coach Allen was simply a genius.
When he called the team together he talked about their opponent, Mansfield Timberview, who the Scots had beaten 42-7 three weeks before in their final district contest. It is human nature for one to assume one can defeat an opponent one thrashed 23 days before. It is very difficult to keep football players focused and hungry when in they assume that all they have to do it show up and they’ll win.
“It’s a trap,” warned Coach Allen.
He talked to them about how Timberview had improved and was playing with confidence. They had upset their first two playoff opponents, both good teams. Their star running back, Stacy Sneed, was averaging 200 yards per game in the playoffs. The Scots had to stay focused. They had to avoid the trap.
On the third play of the game Chandler Morris hit Finnegan Corwin for a 61-yard touchdown. Three drives later the Scots were up, 24-0. Just before the end of the first quarter Corwin returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown and HP led, 31-0. The Mansfield team’s confidence was already shaken and they were ready to get on the bus and go back home.
While the offense was putting up points – 38 at half time and 52 after three quarters – the defense shut down the Wolves and forced five turnovers. Sneed finished the night with 29 yards on eight carries.
That same hunger will be imperative as the Scots face a stronger, bigger, faster John Tyler team on Saturday. The fact that John Tyler beat the snot out of a very good Frisco Lone Star team means that the Lions are peaking at the right time, just like the Scots.
They have several players who are a heartbeat away from six points at any given moment from anywhere on the field. Stopping the big plays will be the key for the Scots, who are getting pretty good at containing skill players who are faster. HP defenders must continue doing a good job of getting off their blocks.
Much of the Lions’ success against Lone Star was taking away the Rangers’ top receiver and harassing a good quarterback into completing only two out of 12 passes for the night.
Will that strategy work against Highland Park? When they double-team Corwin, the Scots have a stable of excellent receivers ready to take up the slack. And I’ll take Chandler Morris over any QB in the state.
John Tyler averaged 5.36 yards per carry on the ground in their win last week. The Scots will need to whittle that number down. The Lions’ quarterback, Devlen Woods, is a good passer and runner who is very slippery. His scrambling could be the difference in the game. The Scots have three giant mouse traps – Jack Jurgovan, Jeremy Hanes and Prince Dorbah – who could be the difference in the game if they can set a trap for him in the backfield.

by Kirk Dooley

Which Timberview team will show up this week at the Star in Frisco? Will it be the team that the Scots trounced, 42-7, just three weeks ago? Or will it be the team that shocked state-ranked The Colony, 35-30, the following week in one of the state’s biggest first-round upsets?
Last week in the second round Timberview proved that it is no fluke when the Wolves eliminated Magnolia West, 45-28, to set up this Saturday’s regional semifinal tilt that features two teams from the same district.
They say that when one door closes, another one opens. That’s what the Wolves experienced when injuries at quarterback forced them to dig deep into their bag of tricks as they entered the playoffs with an unimpressive 5-5 record. They took their speedy running back, Stacy Sneed, and switched him to wildcat quarterback.
Why didn’t they think of that before?
The Colony Cougars did not know what hit them. There was no film on Sneed taking direct snaps from the center and there was no stopping Sneed in the wildcat formation. He ran for 246 yards and three touchdowns and personally snapped the Cougars’ eight-game winning streak.
Last weekend Magnolia West knew what was coming and they still couldn’t stop Sneed. He carried the ball 23 times for 197 yards, averaging 8.57 yards per carry. Then when a real quarterback came in to throw the ball, Sneed caught five passes for 93 yards. He accounted for three touchdowns. When Magnolia West focused on stopping Sneed, the other Timberview running back, Montaye Dawson, ran for 151 yards, including your standard 92-yard touchdown run.
Three weeks ago I said that the Scots were walking into a wolf trap when they faced Timberview.
I meant this week.
I don’t think the 12-0 Scots will relax because they are playing a 7-5 team that they beat by 35 points three weeks ago. The cards have been reshuffled and Timberview is playing with a high degree of confidence.
My favorite statistic from the Nov. 8 HP-Timberview game is that the Scots defense held Sneed to 19 yards on five carries while HP backup running back Hunter Heath also had five carries and he went for 116 yards.
It is a safe bet that HP will face a Timberview team that showcases a dazzling, hard-to-stop Stacy Sneed.
But which HP team will show up at the Star? Last week’s first half Scots or last week’s second-half Scots? Against College Station the second half HP defense looked like a state championship contender.
The Scots will be ready for whatever Timberview throws at them. To win this game and to qualify for the state quarterfinals the Highland Park players must stop thinking about Frisco Lone Star and start concentrating on becoming fast enough to stop Stacy Sneed.
Like they did three weeks ago.

Below find the UIL Playoff Bracket. Scroll down to Region 2 to find HP v Mansfield Timberview (G51).

2018 Football State Championships 2018 Football Conference 5A D1

by Kirk Dooley

   It doesn’t happen very often but here we are, with two defending state champions facing each other in the playoffs.
   The Scots are the (two-time) defending state champs in 5A Division I. The Cougars are the defending state champs in 5A Division II and this season they moved up to Division I.    College Station beat the invincible Aledo Bearcats in last year’s Div. II finals, 20-19, in a game where Aledo missed its final two PATs. Sure could have used those two points when the final whistle blew. Although the College Station-Aledo battle was one of the state’s best state championship games in recent years, the Scots’ 53-49 win over Manvel goes down as the most exciting Texas high school championship game in history.
   Of course, once you get to this point, it doesn’t matter who won what last year. It doesn’t matter what your record is. What is important is that each of these two teams knows how to win. The players all have the championship mentality that is the wild card in big games.
   The Cougars feature a slippery quarterback named Brandon Williams (#17) who has thrown for 1,718 yards and run for 248 more. He has accounted for 28 touchdowns, which is a few more than Finnegan Corwin himself. While defenses are guessing whether Williams will throw it or run it, he hands it off to Kolbe Cashion (#20) a hard runner who racked up 135 yards on the ground in last week’s 41-38 win over Poteet.
   But on Saturday afternoon in Waco train your binoculars on the Cougar’s all-state defensive back, #16, Brandon Joseph. If there’s one Cougar who can make the difference in the game by himself, it is Mr. Joseph. Just ask Dr. Ralph H. Poteet. Last week Joseph ran back a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and then ran a punt back 68 yards for another. His Cougars won by three points. Had Joseph missed the team bus, the Scots might be playing Dr. Poteet’s Pirates at the Star in Frisco this weekend.
   What is Coach Randy Allen’s overview of College Station Cougars? “They are very competitive, they score a lot of points and they are used to winning.”
   What is my overview? “Don’t kick it to number 16.”
   I presume that the Highland Park coaches have seen film of College Station’s district game against Lufkin, which trounced the Cougars, 35-3. I say just do whatever Lufkin did.
   On the other hand, we could very well face Lufkin ourselves if we advance in the playoffs.
   But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s a long bus ride back from Waco and the hopefully the Scots will cruise home with something to be thankful for.