First Showdown in the Books

[midcities 6-man fan]

Been looking forward to this game all year long. What appeared to be the best two in the north meeting for the third time in 12 months. With Covenant taking both a year ago. And it was the same Friday night as Covenant rolled to a 52-6 victory.
The Covenant offense looked to have some trouble with the Abilene defense, and still put up 52. The Covenant defense is really good, fly to the ball and 25 Luke Evans is a load. Blocked 2 punts, and I think he also blocked Abilene's 1 PAT. had several huge tfl's.
All roads south to Waco still are going to going to go through Ft. Worth.
From what i watched Friday that still going to be a big task. But then again anyone on any given day is beatable.
Now let's watch the Conroe/Pasadena game this week to see has the upper hand down south.

 

[Panther Grand]

I still believe those two are the best two in the North. However, after watching the game first hand, FWCC is definitely as good as or even better than last year. They are by far the most physical team Abilene has played this year and that includes Benjamin ranked #1 in UIL Division II. Without Rigdon, Benjamin couldn't beat FWCC, IMHO.

I believe this week will see Pasadena prevail vs Conroe, but will be closer than many believe. Have not seen either of these play, though. As believed all year, these 4 teams will play again Thanksgiving weekend in the SemiFinals. Here is hoping all teams stay healthy which will make for an exciting weekend next month.

 

[CoachSanders@ACS]

Been looking forward to this game all year long. What appeared to be the best two in the north meeting for the third time in 12 months. With Covenant taking both a year ago. And it was the same Friday night as Covenant rolled to a 52-6 victory.
The Covenant offense looked to have some trouble with the Abilene defense, and still put up 52. The Covenant defense is really good, fly to the ball and 25 Luke Evans is a load. Blocked 2 punts, and I think he also blocked Abilene's 1 PAT. had several huge tfl's.
All roads south to Waco still are going to going to go through Ft. Worth.
From what i watched Friday that still going to be a big task. But then again anyone on any given day is beatable.
Now let's watch the Conroe/Pasadena game this week to see has the upper hand down south.

Definitely primed and ready to make the transition to 11-man.

 

[midcities 6-man fan]

Don't think that is happening time soon. My understanding they will still be in Division II District 1 in the 24/25 groupings.

 

[Panther Grand]

Per TAPPS website, that is correct. Their numbers fully qualify for 6 man and I think they are positioning themselves to be completely ready when they make the jump. Their growth has allowed them to suit out close to 30 kids for Varsity and from what I understand, they also fielded a JV team that went undefeated this year. It was also announced that their Jr. High team finished undefeated as well. So, looks like they will be a force for as long as they want to in 6 man.

 

[CoachSanders@ACS]

Per TAPPS website, that is correct. Their numbers fully qualify for 6 man and I think they are positioning themselves to be completely ready when they make the jump. Their growth has allowed them to suit out close to 30 kids for Varsity and from what I understand, they also fielded a JV team that went undefeated this year. It was also announced that their Jr. High team finished undefeated as well. So, looks like they will be a force for as long as they want to in 6 man.

Maybe they have aspirations to be the next Emery Weiner. To each their own I guess

 

[midcities 6-man fan]

They don't suit up 30 for varsity, They have 16 varsity players and 5 JV players that dress with the varsity for back-up and special teams. From what I understand their JV team is approximately around the same size. I believe they lost one JV game to Jonesboro. I saw there JH play Abilene prior to the varsity game Friday and they were pretty good won that game 56-6. Don't know what their overall record was though.
Covenant has a good program going that they have built over the last several years. But from what I see they are still quite away from having the depth to go to 11 man. Talking with people at the games they will not consider that move until they are certain it will be permanent. They don't want to be going up and down like so many small schools do.
So, until they are Division I for one are two cycles I wouldn't plan on seeing them moving to 11 man for awhile. But that is just an outsiders speculation.

 

[CoachSanders@ACS]

They don't suit up 30 for varsity, They have 16 varsity players and 5 JV players that dress with the varsity for back-up and special teams. From what I understand their JV team is approximately around the same size. I believe they lost one JV game to Jonesboro. I saw there JH play Abilene prior to the varsity game Friday and they were pretty good won that game 56-6. Don't know what their overall record was though.
Covenant has a good program going that they have built over the last several years. But from what I see they are still quite away from having the depth to go to 11 man. Talking with people at the games they will not consider that move until they are certain it will be permanent. They don't want to be going up and down like so many small schools do.
So, until they are Division I for one are two cycles I wouldn't plan on seeing them moving to 11 man for awhile. But that is just an outsiders speculation.

That's smart. The back and forth is tough on a program.

I do wonder if TAPPS will ever implement a cutoff for 6 man, like the UIL does. If they were to, they would definitely have to make 6 man just one division, possibly two tops.

 

[Panther Grand]

So, Coach Sanders, are you saying that a TAPPS program can continue to play 6-Man as long as they want to regardless of school size? i just am not familiar with the rules. I do remember back in the '90s, when Midland Christian was playing 6-Man and won about 6 straight State titles, but was not into the game enough then to know why they jumped to 11 man, other than perhaps because of their huge jump in enrollment. But, could they have stayed 6-Man indefinitely?

 

[CoachSanders@ACS]

So, Coach Sanders, are you saying that a TAPPS program can continue to play 6-Man as long as they want to regardless of school size? i just am not familiar with the rules. I do remember back in the '90s, when Midland Christian was playing 6-Man and won about 6 straight State titles, but was not into the game enough then to know why they jumped to 11 man, other than perhaps because of their huge jump in enrollment. But, could they have stayed 6-Man indefinitely?

Yes. For example, Emery Weiner has a HS enrollment of 348 students and chooses to remain in 6-man. FWCC has a HS enrollment of 128, which would place them in a 2A UIL (11man) district.

However, TAPPS doesn't do that.

The above two schools are just examples, as there are many other schools with the same or larger enrollment numbers than FWCC. Emery Weiner is by far the largest of the 6-man schools.

 

[Panther Grand]

Thanks for the information Coach. I did not know that. Thinking out loud, maybe TAPPS feels they would not have enough 6-Man schools for competitive competition to fill out playoff brackets, if they enforced UIL guidelines. Interesting though.

 

[CoachSanders@ACS]

Thanks for the information Coach. I did not know that. Thinking out loud, maybe TAPPS feels they would not have enough 6-Man schools for competitive competition to fill out playoff brackets, if they enforced UIL guidelines. Interesting though.

That's kind of my thoughts as well. If they were to implement a cutoff, I'm pretty sure we would end up having just one division of 6-man, which would be kind of cool. I'm not advocating either way, it's just baffling to me why a school with an enrollment of 348 kids wouldn't want to go 11-man. However, I understand FWCC's plan of attack. Quick example, Sacred Heart has a HS enrollment of upper 70's and they opt to play Tapps Div 4 (smallest 11-man division). As great of a job as they do out that way, I think they struggle with numbers quite a bit, which is a nightmare in 6-man...but can be catastrophic in 11-man.

 

[Panther Grand]

Plus, I am sure most small schools never know for sure from year to year what their enrollment is going to do. If you declare 11-Man one year and then the next several years enrollment decreases to 6 man levels, you are probably going to regret it. FWCC's philosophy is probably well founded, although they do seem to be positioned in a growth area of Ft. Worth, between western Ft. Worth and Aledo. In the meantime, Division I and II better get used to success coming out of west Ft. Worth.

 

[walksports]

My guess is that also TAPPS doesn't want schools jumping ship to other organizations. So if you had a hard cutoff and teams still wanted to play six-man, and TAPPS didn't offer a championship (that counted toward the Henderson Cup), they would just play "outlaw football" - or go to another organization for that sport only to play "for something". So if you have enough schools to create that separate division, so it is not just two schools playing another game, then make a division to keep all of those schools in the fold.

 

[CoachAnderson]

It’s is due to such sporadic Participation numbers. Many kids that attend private schools don’t play sports, and it becomes hard to keep fielding sports football especially.

 

[midcities 6-man fan]

Also my understanding football alignment is based just on the number of boys in a school. Not the total HS enrollement.

 

[midcities 6-man fan]

Congrats to Pasadena 1st Baptist on the win over Conroe Covenant. To take District 5.

 

[walksports]

Going to the TAPPS by-laws for more information ...

Section 162 – 6-man Qualifications​

1. SCHOOLS. Only those schools approved by the TAPPS Executive Board shall be eligible to compete in Six Man Football.
   1. Schools aligned in 4A or above shall compete for the Division I championship.
   2. Schools aligned in 3A or below shall compete for the Division II or III championship

So the current Division I on the TAPPS website ...

I - District 1
Hill Country Christian High School-Austin - 4A
Prince of Peace Christian School-Carrollton - 4A
Texas School for the Deaf-Austin - 4A
Veritas Academy-Austin - 4A

I - District 2
Giddings State School / Lone Star High School Southeast
Logos Preparatory Academy-Sugar Land 9th-12th - 4A
Saint Mary's Hall-San Antonio - 5A
St. Augustine-Laredo - 5A
The Emery/Weiner School-Houston - 5A

I - District Independent
Incarnate Word Academy-Corpus Christi - 4A

I've never been aware of "boys enrollment" determining football placement, nor is it codified in the TAPPS by-laws. However, I expect to see Bryan Monday in Waco. I'll ask him.