HP vs Lovejoy – 7:30pm HP Homecoming 9/16/16

by Kirk Dooley
   You gotta love a team that has a middle linebacker named Bumper Pool.
   Lovejoy slips down below LBJ Freeway Friday night to open district play against the Scots at Highlander Stadium. Bumper Pool is 6’3”, 220 lbs. and is the best player on the team. Last year he made 148 tackles and forced five fumbles.lovejoy-leopards
   Can Mr. Pool and his teammates challenge the Scots? The answer is yes but the Leopards are coming off a 62-31 loss to Frisco Lone Star, which may prove to be the best 5A team in the state. How the Leopards compete against the Scots could predict the playoff future for Highland Park. Lovejoy lost to 4A powerhouse Argyle, 33-21, in the season opener but Argyle is picked to make it to the state finals for the third year in a row. Holding the Eagles to 33 and scoring 21 on them is not a bad effort in the grand scheme of things.
   Lovejoy did get a W in the second game of the season, a 21-14 win over Frisco Wakeland. It was our man Bumper who stopped a Wakeland running back in his tracks on a 4th and one from the 18 yard-line. Excellent timing for a loss on the play. Not only did that keep seven points off the board, but it gave the Leopards the ball back. In the third quarter Pool came in at quarterback and ran the ball in from the one to ice the game.
   When Lovejoy opened a few year ago, it was said to be the next Highland Park. Over the years that’s what they said about Lake Highlands, Plano West, J.J. Pearce and Rockwall Heath. Lovejoy did have a principal it hired from Highland Park and that led to a handful of teachers and coaches leaving HP for Collin County. Similar pay, similar students, affordable nearby housing and no commute made sense to several teachers, coaches and administrators who lived up near there.
   This is the first time for the Scots and the Leopards to be in the same district but they could become strong rivals. I miss the intensity of the Pearce battles in all sports and I think Lovejoy could replace that rivalry.
   The game this Friday should be a tough one for the Scots because they face a team that won eight games last season and were Area finalists. Lovejoy has a winning tradition. They are picked to make the playoffs this season and they return 10 starters. There is reason to be worry about the Leopards if the team that led Frisco Lone Star, 24-20, shows up. But the Scots might exploit the Leopard team that then allowed Lone Star to score 35 straight points after that.
   We liked John Stephen Jones’ numbers in the Timberview game last Friday. He completed 19 of 29 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown (to Scully Jenevein) and scored two touchdowns on runs of 20 and 24 yards. His ability to run gives the Scots an added lethal arrow in their offensive quiver.
   Last Friday one of HP’s best weapons was all-district left tackle Thomas Shelmire, who squared off against Timberview’s star defensive end, David Anenih. There was one play where Shelmire stood up Anenih and pushed him backwards all the way to the sideline. It looked like that great scene in “The Blind Side” where a Michael Oher pushed his opponent all the way down the field and over a fence.
   Shelmire enjoys wearing out defensive ends. Let’s see how much he enjoys playing bumper poolthis Friday.