5A, 4A Recap

By Greg Tepper // TexasFootball.com

By the third week of the season, it starts to become evident what teams are or could be. There’s enough of a sample size to draw at least some reasonable inferences. And in the big school ranks -- 5A and 4A -- it’s easy to notice some trends. Most of the teams that we thought would be really, really good, well, are. And some of the teams, well, aren’t.

So let’s recap a busy, exciting Week Two in the big school ranks, shall we? We’ll start with the Five Most Notable Results.

Lake Travis 62, Aledo 35

Yes, I know, I covered this briefly in my “Five Thoughts” on Saturday morning, but you’ll have to forgive me. When you are dealing with inarguably one of the top three regular season games in all of the state -- matching two multiple defending state champions against one another -- I get a pass and get to talk about it twice, OK? OK. Ahem. You can’t say enough about this victory for Lake Travis, going on the road to a more-than-hostile environment and totally dominating Aledo. And I mean totally dominating: aside from Johnathan Gray (and you knew he was going to get his, to the tune of 248 yards and 4 touchdowns), Aledo was basically held under 200 yards. And the let the Baker Mayfield hype machine fire up: the once-backup-quarterback completed 26 of 35 passes for 423 yards and six touchdowns. He is, and Lake Travis is, the real deal. Plain and simple, Lake Travis is looking almost totally invincible. Notice that I said “almost.” I think there’s one type of team that hasn’t played Lake Travis yet: a team with a truly dominating defense. Westlake’s defense is OK; Hendrickson’s defense is OK; Aledo’s defense, we’re coming to find out, is only average (ball don’t lie: the Bearcats have allowed 110 points in two games against Lake Travis and Stephenville). But Lake Travis has yet to face a team with a really outstanding defense…like, you know, Denton Ryan. The Cavaliers will be tested this week by an excellent Kerrville Tivy team (we’ll get to them in a moment), but looking over the schedule, it looks like their biggest test of the outstanding-defense type will come in the last week of the regular season against Cedar Park. And you were already going to be locked in to that one. Right now, though, it’s the Cavs’ world, and we’re just living in it.

Houston Memorial 17, Pearland 14

In a bit of a tongue-in-cheek way, I’ve been talking about how Houston Memorial running back Justin “Boomer” White demands your respect. And he does, to be sure, but by focusing on that, you’re missing the bigger picture. Sure, Boomer ran for 135 yards on a typical workhorse 29 carries, and scored the game-winning touchdown on an 11-yard touchdown run with 55 seconds left to help upset the defending 5A Division I champions. And that’s not to minimize his effort. But to me, what’s made Memorial a legitimate threat to beat anyone is a sensational defense, which held the powerful Pearland offense to just 255 total yards. And look back over Memorial’s other two games of the season: a 14-0 win over Stratford (115 total yards for Stratford) and a 37-20 loss to Westfield (431 total yards for Westfield). Now, obviously, Westfield gashed Memorial, but you can seen what the Memorial defense is capable of. Memorial could go far, and it’ll be on the back of a potentially stifling defense…and a running back who demands your respect.

Smithson Valley 20, SA MacArthur 19

Larry Hill has been around. He’s got a chance this year to win his 200th game this season. But I imagine this one will be catalogued away as one of the most memorable. With 3:46 remaining and Smithson Valley trailing 19-13, quarterback Parker McKenzie hit Easton McIntosh on a short back-shoulder throw. McIntosh maneuvered around his defender and blazed a trail 84 yards for the go-ahead score. It kept the Rangers undefeated after not playing their best ball against a very talented MacArthur team. Coach Hill admitted to Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News that his squad has work to do. And Coach Hill would know.

Skyline 47, Arlington Bowie 14

We knew this would be a fireworks display. Between Devante Kincade for Skyline, and Russell Hansbrough and Kolby Listenbee for Bowie, this was going to be an explosive game. But, if there’s one thing to be gained from this one: Skyline can play some defense. The knock on Skyline for the better part of the last decade has been, in my estimation, that they’re all sizzle and no steak. They’ve always had sensational athletes, but could never quite put it all together. But now, after holding Bowie to just two scores, you have to wonder if this is a different Skyline team. Sure, Kincade was awesome -- 202 yards and three touchdowns passing, another 48 yards rushing -- and wide receiver Thomas Johnson was terrific -- four catches, 133 yards, two touchdowns -- but that has always been there for the Raiders. If this defense continues, that makes them a totally different kind of threat.

Angleton 35, Dayton 27

The Angleton train keeps rolling…sort of. It took 21 points from running back Derrick Jackson (two touchdown runs and a touchdown pass to quarterback T.J. Austin) to rally, but Angleton passes a really big test from an excellent Dayton squad. Giving up almost 400 yards to Dayton isn’t ideal, but it sure beats losing. It’s an important step for a team I think you need to keep an eye on going forward. (And don’t sleep on Dayton, either; QB Andres Herrera is the real deal.)

A couple more 5A/4A thoughts…

-Hutto 7, Austin McCallum 0. Just like we all thought it would be, right? The two teams combined for 115 points in their first two games…so of course they combined to score 7 against one another.

-Denton Ryan 49, North Garland 14. That’s right, everyone. Keep paying attention to Lake Travis and Aledo. Pay no mind to the lurking monster.

-DeSoto 45, Cedar Hill 13. This boat is real.

-Port Arthur Memorial 49, Alice 10. Port Lavaca Calhoun is getting all the publicity down in 5A Region IV, but keep an eye on Memorial and QB Terrence Singleton.

-Austin Westlake 39, A&M Consolidated 29. Westlake has really bounced back nicely from an opening week thud against Lake Travis, and man, new Consolidated coach David Raffield just can’t buy one these days.

-Coppell 35, Dallas Jesuit 28. Really sad news out of this game is that talented Jesuit QB Jack Brezette broke his leg on the last play of the game, a play that could have tied the game. Meanwhile, Coppell -- a team that I expect to take a step back from last year’s regional final appearance -- is 3-0 and making me look dumb.

-Greg Tepper’s Unexpectedly Awesome Game of the Week: Lovejoy 64, Frisco 62. Frisco had 680 total yards. Frisco running back Carlos Harris ran for 446 yards and seven touchdowns on 36 carries. And Frisco LOST! Lovejoy quarterback Zach Saffle threw for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns, and ran for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns in a tremendous win for the Leopards.