by Kirk Dooley
East Texas powerhouse Longview is the 64th winningest high school football program in the nation and they don’t lose at home much. Last Friday they defended their home turf against the Highland Park Scots who didn’t seem to be intimidated by the Lobo’s winning tradition. That’s because the Scots are the 10th winningest high school football program in the nation. And they don’t lose at home much, either.
Two strong, state-ranked teams with deep traditions collided last Friday in Longview. The Scots’ defense stepped into the spotlight and held the top two running backs in district 7-5A to a total of one touchdown. HP came away with a hard-fought 18-13 win in one of the Scots best defensive performances since John House, Bennett Brock and Matt Gahm wrote the book on linebacking as they led the Scots to the 2016 state title.
At the Lobos’ practice on Monday their coach let them know that their game this Friday against Sherman has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns at Sherman High School. With Nov. 20 being a bye week for the Lobos, their next game will be Thanksgiving weekend against McKinney North.
So this Friday when the Scots host McKinney North, if there is a sea of green letter jackets in the stands, it’ll be the Lobos team scouting the Bulldogs in person. They might even all go to Banditos after the game for some good post-game Tex-Mex before heading back east. 
On Friday this will be the third game in a row that the Scots face an opponent who is undefeated in district play. McKinney North is 3-0 and is coming off an impressive 52-31 win over Wylie East.
The Bulldogs will be screaming into Highlander Stadium playing like this is the district championship game. Sure enough, the winner will come away with sole possession of the district lead. The Bulldogs will be motivated and energized. They’ve got a sophomore quarterback – Gavin Constantine (#6) – who is fast and has a good arm. He’ll be handing the ball off to a freshman running back – Taylor Offord (#80) – who is shifty and quick but doesn’t have a driver’s license. The best player on the Bulldogs team is wide receiver J.J. Henry (#2) who last Friday against Wylie East averaged 20.75 yards per catch on four receptions. Last year, Henry lit up Justin Northwest for 204 yards. For the season he had 60 receptions for 1,214 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s no Marvin Mims or Jaxon Smith-Njigba but he can light up a secondary. Just ask Magnolia West, who lost their playoff game last November to the Bulldogs, 70-36.
“They can score a lot of points,” said HP coach Randy Allen.
Last Friday night the HP defense held Longview to only two explosive plays. Two Brayden Schager touchdown passes (to John Rutledge and Will Pettijohn) and two Jack Stone field goals were enough offense to give the Scots the 18-13 win.
The weather this Friday will be ideal for high school football under the Friday night lights. But, beware! It will be Friday the 13th.