Mid-Season Check Up

P

pup

11-man fan
Here we are in week 7 and it's REALLY quiet in here. No posters from the North spouting off about their teams. Not much from the South, either. Looks like a good time to do some soul searching, see strengths and weaknesses and make some guesses at who will be playing in December. Here we go:

#1- Granbury- Seems they've found themselves a bruiser of a running back. Can he play defense? What happens if he gets hurt? Took a big jump in the poll when they dispatched of Notre Dame (was defense played in that game?). Still have two big games coming up in RCC and Longview. I think they are the team to beat in District 2 and are my pick for being a north semi-finalist.

#2- Seguin- Lost one to a very good Veritas team but then stumbled to Capital City????? Troubles in paradise? Still playing stifling defense. Have big games coming up with Freddy and San Marcos. Even though they lost a game they shouldn't have, they are still my pick to be playing in Zephyr in December.

#3- Freddy- Holy cow! What a challenging schedule. The next two weeks will tell us a lot about Freddy- Seguin this Friday and San Marcos next. The boys from Freddy may be young but I look for them to be clicking come playoff time. District 3 will represent well in the playoffs. My crystal ball tells me that three of the four semi-finalists will be from District 3.

#4- Longview- I said it during the summer, Longview will drop off this season. Lost too much to graduation and their head coach is just too much to overcome. Yes they are still winning, but they aren't the powerhouse they were last year. Big games coming up from RCC and Granbury will tell exactly where they are.

#5- San Marcos- Looking at their 5-1 record you would say they are having a very good season. But a closer look says they've played only one quality team (Cedar Park). They are hungry to get out of the Freddy and Seguin shadow. Will this be the season? Weeks 8 & 10 will let us know. Have I said that District 3 is the toughest in Division III? I thought so.....

#6- Wichita Falls Notre Dame- May not have the horsepower of the past. I see them still winning District 1 but not going far in the playoffs. Week 11 with WF Christian will give us a better barometer of where they are.

#7- Richardson Canyon Creek- Lots of chatter about them early in the year only to see it peter-out. Big games with Granbury and Longview still to come. Honestly I don't know much about this team. Anyone????

#8- Athens Prep- Again, I have no clue about this team. They beat Brownwood, but then so are most teams. Looks like they played decently against RCC. Anyone got news on Athens?

#9- WF Christian- LOTS of preseason and early-season chatter about this team. Supposed to have the best tandem of running backs in the State. Then what happened? Injuries? Lack of depth? Faced teams that play defense? I see them being second in District 1 and losing in first round of the playoffs.

#10- Brownwood- I bashed them earlier but must give them props for fielding a team AND staying in TAPPS this season. Thank you, Brownwood, for staying with us. Keep working hard.

Others- Isn't it funny that District 4 hasn't come up yet? Not really....... It'll be Alvin and Bellville battling it out in a no defense score-fest for that district championship only to get beat in the first round of the playoffs. But much like Brownwood, I have to give them props for being on the verge of cancelling the season or coming back from no season at all. Thank you Bellville and Alvin.

Heading into the back half of the season I would have to say my semi-finalists are Granbury and Freddy/San Marcos in the north, Seguin and Freddy/San Marcos in the south. I know, I know......Brackets are a long way off. But, if things pan out like they did last year, I could see TAPPS sending Freddy or San Marcos up north and either of those two will go far up north. Four teams will be in from District 2 and four teams from District 3. Because there will be no district re-matches in the first round there will be some travelling involved, i.e. 20013 with Freddy heading up to Wichita Falls, and 2014 with Granbury going to San Marcos.

I'm really looking forward to the second half of the season and seeing how things settle out. Now it gets interesting.......
 
I'm the Coach for Athens. We are a second year team finding our way. If I had to judge our district I'd say that Canyon Creek, Trinity and us are all on the same playing field talent wise. I know a lot of people over looked us this year. Both of the games with Canyon Creek and Trinity could have gone either way. The play calling was atrocious both games.

I haven't had a chance to go watch Granbury yet, but my boys have risen to the occasion every time we've played a good team. I wouldn't count them out vs Granbury.

I've got great respect for the teams and coaches we've played so far. I'm hoping we can still make it into the playoffs as a wildcard. I think we still have a lot left to prove that we're just getting this program up and rolling down here and that we aren't the whooping boy that the team has been in the past.
 
I guess the "big game" would be Seguin Lifegate vs Fredericksburg Heritage.

This is "Freddy Week," in Lifegate lingo. Sadly, this is the first time I'm going to miss a Lifegate - Heritage game since Lifegate's first game ever in 2003. I'm hearing all sorts of blasphemy that Tim Shipman is doing something really weird -- passing the ball. I probably should make the trip just to see it with my own eyes.
 
I'm very excited to see how district play is for Freddy, Seguin, and San Marcos. Big games...who will step up and be leaders on the field is crucial. May I say it's a battle of defenses in the south (district 3)? Will Seguin be more disciplined than last year (it seems so as of now)? Same goes for San Marcos. Seguin plays Freddy like no other team. They always have their A game come Freddy week. Last year San Marcos played both Seguin and Freddy tougher than they seemingly played granbury in the playoffs..
I'm excited to see some pounding down south in the coming games! As always, I'm rooting for my boys in Freddy!
 
I see NCTA playing in Zephyr in December. Defensively, NCTA is getting it figured out and is only going to get better as the season progresses. Offensively, they can score the points, Evant is the only team to hold them to 60. They are averaging 74 points per game and holding opponents to an average of 45. This weeks game against RCC and the game against Longview later in the season will let us know if they can make the run all the way to Zephyr. But, after last weeks game against WFND it doesn't seem like I'm going too far out on a limb predicting they will be playing in December.
 
Interesting.

District 1- ND has played a decent Bryson team and a solid NCTA team lost. Took two losses but might have the best open field athlete in the state. WCS- played three opponents in Chillicothe, Tioga, and Forestburg who all three can win their districts if healthy. Now the forestburg loss had me stratching my head a little. After seeing a good THESA team put up 20 points versus Tioga last week they are for REAL.

Lefors will be another tough test for the Stars!!! ND has never lost to WCS. Will the Stars get over the hump?
Can Johnson and that staff get them over that mountain?

El Paso- take on ND this Saturday. Should tell where El Paso is at? Now El Paso has put up a few points but gave up a lot as well.

I think some solid coaching in this district.


District 2-

This is a fun district to watch. I hate that they lost Fulton and Covenant. A lot of ball left. NCTA with solid tradition and a coach who has been there a few years they will be ready. Trinity could be dangerous with the Huston kid. Canyon Creek usually has some athletes and has sent players division 1 when 11 man so they are a good group too.

District 3- Best district in the state. Again it will be tough. Heritage with Shipman will have them winning in the postseason. Lifegare with another consistent coach in that program will be dangerous with that speed. San Marcos is a physical football team. This district is solid I promise you that.

District 4- I have no clue but the team that stay healthiest the longest usually plays after Thanksgiving.
 
Interesting.

District 1- ND has played a decent Bryson team and a solid NCTA team lost. Took two losses but might have the best open field athlete in the state. WCS- played three opponents in Chillicothe, Tioga, and Forestburg who all three can win there districts if healthy. Now the forestburg loss had me stratching my head a little. After seeing a good THESA team put up 20 points versus Tioga last week they are for REAL.

Lefors will be another tough test for the Stars!!! ND has never lost to WCS. Will the Stars get over the hump?
Can Johnson and that staff get them over that mountain?

El Paso- take on ND this Saturday. Should tell where El Paso is at? Now El Paso has put up a few points but gave up a lot as well.

I think some solid coaching in this district as well as the other districts.


District 2-

This is a fun district to watch. I hate that they lost Fulton and Covenant. A lot of ball left. NCTA with solid tradition and a coach who has been there a few years they will be ready. Trinity could be dangerous with the Huston kid. Canyon Creek usually has some athletes and has sent players division 1 when 11 man so they are a good group too.

District 3- Best district in the state. Again it will be tough. Heritage with Shipman will have them winning in the postseason. Lifegare with another consistent coach in that program will be dangerous with that speed. San Marcos is a physical football team. This district is solid I promise you that.

District 4- I have no clue but the team that stay healthiest the longest usually plays after Thanksgiving.
 
Here's how I see it:

1) Seguin - Based on their body of work so far, they are the team to beat in all of TAPPS DIII.

2) Freddy - They've still got the title so until somebody knocks them off, they're the man! As far as I am concerned, these two teams are one and two and everybody else is just having conversation.

3) Granbury - Having watched the highlight reel of their 6'2" 215 pound bruiser, they've certainly got something working for them offensively. Any team that gang tackles, runs to the ball and tackles fundamentally well will shut him down. However, no defense they have played this year fits that description. No defense they have left to play in the north does either so they ought to have a straight shot to Zephyr if they ride their "one trick pony." Freddy and Seguin play solid, fundamental defense so that's where it will end.

4) San Marcos - They're the 3rd best team in the district and either the 3rd or 4th best team in the state. In the words of real estate agents everywhere, its all about location, location, location!

5) Wichita Falls Notre Dame - As long as they're not getting run over by Granbury's big boy, they're competitive with the rest of the north.

6) Wichita Christian - I think this team still has the capacity to surprise people. I watched Heath Fulton before Coach Johnson came and after he was there and I'm here to tell you, he coaches his players up!!! He teaches them to do things the right way and they play with great effort and energy. I think that will pay off for them in a big way (maybe this year - definitely next).

7) Longview - The loss of 3 seniors who started on both sides of the ball from last year moves Trinity from a really good team to just a decent team. I'll concede that. But that would generally the case for any team. What I don't like is that they are still low energy and seem to play as if their opponent is going to lay down for them because of last year's record and performance. Doesn't work that way. If they can come together as a team and play with a high level of energy and effort, I think they can do a lot more than they've done so far. Remains to be seen whether that will happen. That's an honest assessment from someone who has supported Trinity strongly for a long time.

For what its worth, I think 5, 6 & 7 are relatively interchangeable.

8) Athens Prep - This team plays hard and they don't give up. Trinity had to come back from 20 points down in the 4th quarter to beat them in overtime. They dropped a few passes and made some mistakes at really inopportune times. I like the way they play and their coach seems to have them playing at a high level for a new program.

Tie - 9) RCC and Brownwood - Brownwood seems to be playing better than last year and Richardson seems to alternate between Jeckyll and Hyde on a weekly basis. Never know which team is going to show up.

After all that... its a two horse race. Bad news is both horses are running in the same heat and only one can advance (maybe - unless playoff bracket doesn't have them both in south half)

Good luck to all the rest of the year.
 
For the record, the way I have the teams listed are NOT how I would rank them. I was simply looking at how we are currently ranked on Granger's list. I need a little more time to let things settle out before my "Playoff Primer" edition comes out.
 
Well, well, well. Lets get real...First off, Athen's isn't a second year program! From my knowledge, they have had a team for a while like since 2009 or 2010. This may be the 2nd year of the current head coach.

Secondly, Canyon Creek being the winner of district 2 is ridiculous. Yes, they were picked preseason by a lot of people and even myself, but they look to be the same team from last year.

Thirdly, DAVE, I too have seen the running back from NCTA and he is legit!
NCTA isn't a "one trick pony". They have some very solid players. Especially that big offensive line! So a quality defense has to get to the running back, but a good offense will keep that ball a long time just grinding it out. I do think the "Quality" defenses are in the south.

Lastly, I believe Notre Dame will get it back on track and could prove some people wrong.

Prickly
 
GT,


You are right. Athens has been around for a while. They use to be really solid back in 2011. They had a coach who kind of got a bad rep with posting stuff on this board. Got let go and quit and brought back and just it was really weird. What ever happened to that guy. Maybe there two years or so. They are new to Tapps. They were in Tcaf and tcal I think and they have playing ball since 2008 at least. That is a long time.
 
WFND. Beats Jesus Chapel.

Sounded like JC put up a fight but #1 was way too much. This kid is legit. Plays wr and rb. You can not stop him. When they score 60 they win. Are they physical or they just real thin? Same staff for the last few or several years. These kids are in that system. Tough to beat system kids especially when they have been doing the same thing for 60 years. Lol. Don't sleep on them but I don't know if they score 60 on WCS.

Freddy loses- I did not see that coming. Shipman will have his guys ready next week. They will have a great week of practice.

NCTA- hammers CCCA who is up and down this year but why. Injuries?

San Marcos- my my. Physical boys I tell you.

Wichita Christian- My shocker!! I expected Lefors to WIN BY 30+ points. Beats Lefors ISD. Lefors is a SOLID team! Can these boys play good defense under Johnson? Are they healthy? Will they go up from here or still be second to ND. Keep in mind these guys never beat ND. His (johnson)teams have always scored points and were okay defensively. Why are they not scoring points? Are they playing Defensive at WCS? I wonder if that is their focus. Do these boys have speed? Sometimes speed contributes to scoring. . Maybe he says We are as good as our defense is.


Trinity- Good win. I still think they are the. team to best in their district. Keep in mind they won district and went to state. Let's not forget that. I understand losing a coach hurts Big time and you could lose your program depending on where you are located. For example in Heath , Rockwall, Dallas, Ft worth you are more likely to lose your program if things are done right keep in mind these schools probably have 50 kids or so in Hs. Amarillo , East Texas, Wichita Falls school won't lose their program if they lose a coach. I think that got good coaching still. Until they lose in district they are the team with the target. Those boys know they can win. They know how to win.

NCTA seems to be getting after you. Play with a swagger and expect to have a chance to win every game. Big a nd physical. It is still really early.


If someone loses two starters that could change the whole dynamics. I think good coaching can get their team ready if a starter is out and maybe two. It is still but fun to talk about it.

Can someone enlighten me with the South? District 4

Thoughts????
 
Just want to chime in here. First thing, I enjoy reading some of the posts and replies. I have watched a couple of the San Marcos games and they are very physical. With the program being 4 years old now and the George boys coaching together these kids are fun to watch. Turnovers got em in the Summit game and the end result was a 3 point loss. However Summit would not have wanted one more minute on the clock, SM won all but the 2nd quarter. Alot was learned and a bunch of growing up has happened since. The defense scores as many points as the offense. The next two weeks should iron out the questions.
 
Thanks for that. I know they are physical. I want to hear from District 4.

How tough are those teams? Strong schedules or weak schedules?


Who has the strongest schedule?
 
Central Texas,

After digging a little I found that Athens was kicked out of their league and went Independent in 2011 for recruiting. There were some articles of public school 11-man coaches that were pretty ticked at them for coming around their practices and talking with their kids. Don't know who or how many they enticed to come over though. Don't know what happened to the coach ( heard he threw a fit and left mid-season after a lose and then came back a week later). All I remember is that I have heard of them for a while.

Freddy losing is huge. But they did lose a good group of kids.

I would love to see a NCTA/ WFND rematch in the playoffs. I think it would be an instant classic.

Trinity is on the right track. No they may not be as dominant as last year. But they are finding ways to win. Will be interesting.

Just how I see it.

Not too Prickly today!
 
Thanks for that digging.

WFND and NCTA would be fun to watch. I'm sure no one is at their peak yet. Freddy losing did surprise me a little, but those boys will ready and playing good ball later this season. I think that QB is still and maybe a JR or SR. I could be wrong but two years they had a very solid freshman or sophomore. Can someone share some light on this?

How is Alvin?

Trinity will be solid with those seniors. They will be tough to beat. Week to week it is tough with kids in and out sometimes. I think this year it is really wide open. Several teams could be playing in December, but I tell you this that teams with real playoff experience usually are playing deep into November. There are some decent teams that just don't have that experience.
 
Probably be NCTA and Sequin in Zephyr. But we will prob need to put a * by the game if NCTA wins.

Sequin is real, destroyed my Freddy.

I am hearing grumbling up north about NCTA maybe in a recruiting scandal. The senior running back that is attending NCTA this year for his first year from Canada played for Team Canada's National Team in February. Some north coaches are saying this is a violation of taps rules. Sure enough went and read and plain as day it's in there.

Am told tapps is trying to keep people quite and sweep it under the rug because it would look bad. Maybe the truth will come out.

Anyway....to me this is what's frustrating and always gives us (private schools) bad names cause everyone thinks we recruit. Especially when we beat uil schools they always say well y'all can recruit. Which is not true. I hope it gets work out or it's not true.

Tapps leadership is horrible.

My semi match up... NCTA v Longview and Freddy v Sequin as of now.
 
Whoo hoo! Now we gettin PRICKLY up in here. My main man the living legend himself is firing on all cylinders today. Personally I don't know about the leadership of any league but Johnny football must have some inside sources.

Now back to you in the news room Johnny....

Mr. P
 

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