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.