by Kirk Dooley
The Scots travel up North Central Expressway to Grayson County this THURSDAY AT 5:30pm to take on the 3-2 Sherman Bearcats. It will be the Scots’ first district game. The other six teams in District 7-5A Div. I have already played one game and so three teams are 1-0 and three teams are 0-1.
The Scots varsity football game originally scheduled for Friday night has been rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30 at Sherman Bearcat Stadium.
The change has been made due to expected heavy rain on Friday night.
All tickets will be sold online. Click here to purchase. Tickets already purchased for Friday’s game will be honored on Thursday.
At this time, halftime activities are still scheduled to be held, but may be cancelled in case of rain on Sherman ISD’s grass field.
Click here for parking information, stadium guidelines and outdoor venue protocols.
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Sherman is one of the three undefeated teams in district play. Last Friday the Bearcats beat up on Wylie East, 38-17. The win gave Sherman its third win of the season. The Bearcats had already edged Mount Pleasant, 36-35, and throttled Saginaw, 52-10, in pre-district play. The Bearcats dropped their first game of the season, 37-13, to arch-rival Denison and got skunked by McKinney, 56-0.
The other two games in HP’s district that played out while the Scots had a bye were Longview over West Mesquite, 56-28, and Tyler over McKinney North, 35-18.
The Bearcats have won all three of their away games and lost both of their home games. Go figure.
The Bearcats offense is averaging 27.8 points per game while the defense is allowing 31.
The key to stopping the Bearcats is bottling up their swift quarterback, Phoenix Grant. He’s a dangerous runner and a strong passer. He can even pass while on the run, so he is hard to contain. Grant leads his team in passing (146 yards per game) and rushing (67 yards per game). Last Friday in the Bearcats win over Wylie East Grant completed 18 of 31 passes for 202 yards. He also ran 17 times for 96 yards.
But while focusing on Grant, the Scots defense needs to account for running back Caleb Thompson who ran for 129 yards last Friday.
Grant has a trio of talented receivers who will be a challenge to cover. Last week Elijah Chapman averaged 23.7 yards per reception, Vontrelle Sanders caught three passes for 24 yards and Aries Jones led the team with nine receptions for 90 yards.
Meanwhile the Scots enjoyed their week off. They were able to bask in the confidence-building win over Rockwall, 52-31, a game that the Yellowjackets were supposed to win easily. But when Jack Curtis and his band of merry defenders shut down the high-flying Rockwall offense, the state of Texas took notice that this Highland Park team was becoming a powerful force. The Scots are now ranked third in the state, one spot ahead of Longview (who we will address next week).
At this point in the season, HP quarterback Brennan Storer has completed 60 of 93 passes (64.52 percent) for 769 yards and nine touchdowns. His leading receiver is sprinter John Rutledge who has caught 16 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Jay Fox has caught 13 passes for 161 yards and two TDs. Jackson Heis has 127 yards and one touchdown on seven receptions. Luke Herring has 116 yards and one TD on seven catches. Luke Rossley and Ben Croasdale have also caught one touchdown pass each.
Christian Reeves leads the team in rushing with 276 yards on 52 carries. Croasdale has gained 131 yards, Storer 120 and Fox 109. The leading tacklers on defense are linebackers George Wright and Mason Gallas, followed by DE Curtis, who also leads the defense in sacks, tackles for loss and quarterback pressures.
The Scots have grown up during their difficult pre-district 6-A torture chamber. They survived it and are now experienced enough to not look past this week’s game.