district 10 2014

[Blue Bird]

This new district will include Gordon, Gustine, Lingleville, May, and Strawn. Four of the five teams were in the playoffs last year, so it is fairly safe to say that there will be four playoff quality teams in the district. Gustine has, I am pretty sure, the kids in high school to be competitive. If they will come out and play!

[Blue Bird]

Shane Mallory taking the head job at Throckmorton and more importantly taking his kids with him will leave a fair size hole in Strawn's offense and defense. It may hurt their depth and defense more than their offense. Strawn has the horses to throw ball as much as they need to, it just won't be as balanced an attack as last year. Might even be better. Strawn tended to have to outscore good teams to win games. It is safe to say that their defense will not be better this year!

[Shad Kline]

I think Strawn will be just fine. They still have a LOT of weapons and a coach that is one of the best at putting players where they need to be to get the most out of them. There is 1 kid in particular that will step out of the shadows and shine like the star that he is.
Don't get me wrong, we are happy that Coach Mallory took the Throck job, and took his kids with him, but it's not like we are just expecting to walk all over Strawn now.

[Blue Bird]

I understand Hornkeeper. How many kids will the longhorns lose to graduation? Will there be any hard to replace? May will graduate 6, 4 starters on each side of the ball. They will not, at least to start the year, be as good as when they started last year. Kids seem to come and go, most are not hard to replace. It just takes a little time and experience.

[Shad Kline]

There are 7 that will be graduating this year. 1, maybe 2 will be a big loss.

I look at things a little differently than most. First off, will the extra year of experience for those returning outweigh the loss of those graduating? I think in this case, the answer is yes. Also, are there any additions besides new fish (key jv players moving up, or kids that were ineligible last year gaining eligibility)? Again, it's a yes. So overall, I think the Longhorns will be better than they were last year. Add to that a coach who will no longer be a first year 6 man coach and has gained important knowledge that he can utilize in his second season.

[Blue Bird]

Did those that are gaining their eligibility play on last years JV?

[Shad Kline]

Yes

[Blue Bird]

Who in this district caught week 11 as their bye week?

[Blue Bird]

I could be patient and wait for this too. But, what week will Strawn and Gordon have their shootout?

[Blue Bird]

Heard a guy call in on talk radio today and say something to the effect: I have tried to grow a crop of patience so that I could have some, .......but it took too long. Both Gordon and Strawn show week 9 and week 11 as a bye week. Of course, everyone shows week 11 as a bye week right now. One week is thier playing date and I'm still not sure which one it is.

[Shad Kline]

I still don't know, or I would help you out.

[Blue Bird]

Hornkeeper, Gordon's schedule is up on the home page.

[Blue Bird]

Looked again at the schedules. Strawn still shows two open dates. The 4 and 7 dates are open. Is Strawn going into the season with two open dates?

[Blue Bird]

Will there be any in this district undefeated starting district play? Strawn probably has the best shot, but won't be a shoo-in. They have two of the better non-UIL in their path with Abilene and Dallas Covenant.

May has a solid team but could easily go 2-4 maybe even 1-5 in non=district. Tough schedule that includes Calvert, Throckmorton and Water Valley.

Gordon has Newcastle right out of the shut. Could cause them trouble.

Lingleville has Rising Star in week 1. Rising Star is still improving so I guess we will see how the younger players in Lingleville has progressed.

Gustine has a non-district schedule that they may be able to compete with. After last year, it would be a shocker. Depending on some improvment, they just might be the one going undefeated in non-distrit.

[Longhorn85]

Strawn scheduled Granbury Cornerstone for week 4, and depending on injuries to a couple key starters, should be able to go undefeated prior to starting district play against May.

If Gordon can run with Newcastle and pull out an upset, they may be able to pull out a good non-district run going in to district play.

May will be hard pressed to get past 3 top ranked teams without dropping a game.

Lingleville and Gustine will have a hard time in non-district play, but I would say Lingleville has more of a chance if they get past Rising Star.