Week 1 Matchups

Each week, I will try and give my thoughts on the weekly area games. This is not meant as criticism, just my thoughts after talking to coaches and getting a feel of each team's opponents. Good luck to all our Dogwood Circle teams.

Navasota at Palestine
This is the start of four straight games where we really get to see what Palestine is made of. Starting with Navasota, Palestine plays four very tough teams with Van and Class 4As Jacksonville and Kilgore to follow.
Navasota is the most athletic team Palestine has faced so far including scrimmages against Lindale and Henderson and last week's opener against Rusk. The Wildcat defense is going to get tested and how they handle it could be indicative of what will be seen down the line.

Bullard at Westwood

How is Westwood going to respond a week after missing a win by 1 yard when the Panthers' two-point conversion was stopped short of the goal line with 20 seconds left?
Westwood can show its is over last week by coming out quickly both on offense and defense. We saw the Panthers' come out quickly against Chapel Hill (two touchdowns on the first three plays), but the same could not be said for the defense, which allowed an opening drive touchdown. The best thing for the Westwood defense is to make a couple of early stops against a Bullard team who has not played a game yet and has some questions on offense after players moved around from last year's team.

Elkhart at Huntington
Speaking of rebounding from a loss, Elkhart looks to do the same thing, but will have to do it on the road.
After opening up at Malakoff last week, the Elks travel to Huntington Friday night and that is not a fun place to play. While it has been a couple of years since I have covered a game in Huntington, if nothing has changed, visiting fans won't have much room to sit as it will be tight on the visitors side.
If Elkhart can find a way past a Huntington team that has lost 18 straight, then the will be in good shape heading home for two straight games.

Grand Saline at Cayuga
Despite what you may have heard, the sky is not falling in Cayuga after the Wildcats' loss to Frankston.
Bottom line, Cayuga lost a game. It was only one game and not the end of the world.
The bigger problem for the Wildcats is on the injury front, where several starters are hurt, but the Wildcats still have some time before the start of district.
As for Friday night, expect to see a different Wildcat squad than a team that turned the ball over four times against Frankston.
As the season continued and the new offensive line keeps working together, Cayuga is going to get better and better, which could be very scary.

Brownsboro at Frankston

The biggest injustice from Frankston defeating Cayuga last week was that the Indians did not receive a single point in the AP poll. Frankston defeated the Class A No. 1 team in the state and got no recognition for it from the AP voters in the state. That is all I am going to say about the voters because I could go on and on about the problems with that poll.
But Frankston is not concerned about the poll, just about its next opponent, Class 3A Brownsboro. Are the Indians going to be able to bring the same kind of intensity as they had last week?
Frankston's defense will be tested against a passing attack from Brownsboro. The Bears return both quarterback and running back and like to use a lot of different screen packages, which could foil the attacking style Indian defense.

Grapeland at Grace Community

While Grace Community may be a TAPPS school, don't let that fool you. Grace Community has played our area schools very well over the last few years including a close game against Grapeland last season. Add to the fact that this year, the game is in Tyler at Grace Community's new stadium and the Cougars will have a lot to play for.
And that should be a good thing for Grapeland. The better competition the Sandies see in non-district play will go a long way in helping Grapeland when it comes to district and the likes of Alto, Cayuga and Overton.

Phoenix Greenville at Oakwood

Maybe one of the toughest things for a coach coming into a week is not knowing anything about the team they are playing. That is the case for Oakwood, who does not have any film on Phoenix Greenville, a team who got a new head coach last week.
Therefore, Oakwood is going to just need to go out Friday night, do what they do best and make adjustments during the game if need be. Sounds like what every team does even if they know everything about their opponent.