Centex Grid Teams Eye Fall Campaign

Bill Reynolds- Head Feature Writer

- July 19, 2004 -

Donkeys and elephants won't be alone battling it out during the upcoming fall campaign.
    
They'll be joined by Cougars and Lions, Panthers and Mustangs, Tigers and Eagles, Bears and Jaguars---and a whole lot more.
    
Even zebras figure to fit into the mix.
    
That's because Central Texas high school football teams will be keeping as close tabs on polls come autumn as will Democrats and Republicans vying for a host of state, local, and federal offices.
    
Perhaps more than even politics during a presidential election year, nothing quite approaches the passion of prep grid action in the Lone Star State.
    
Yet despite countless classic and often heated rivalries, on one score Central Texas football fans are in unanimous agreement.
    
That being regardless of the state of the economy there remains no greater entertainment value in the fall than prime time Friday Night Lights.
    
This year should be no exception as folks in the Centexfootball.com coverage area invest their emotions and put stock in the fortunes of their favorite teams.
    
Formal workouts are but a couple weeks away with a Super Primary of sorts slated Aug. 26-28 in Waco featuring a slate of four intriguing non-District clashes.
    
The H-E-B Heart O' Texas Kickoff Classic, set for Waco ISD Stadium, will launch the local '04 season with Thursday and Friday night matchups followed by a Saturday doubleheader.
    
Hillsboro and McGregor meet in the Aug. 26 (7:30 p.m.) pairing while host school Waco High entertains Schertz Clemens Aug. 27 in another 7:30 p.m. encounter.
    
Troy and Robinson have drawn the Aug. 28 matinee (2 p.m.) date while LaVega and Marlin wrap up the three-day pigskin extravaganza in Saturday's 8 p.m. nightcap.
    
The event is akin to last year's Texas Football Classic in San Antonio, in which Waco High was a participant.
    
 WHS, which routinely plays a tough pre-District schedule, is revamped this year behind versatile quarterback Carl Sims and linebacker Shon Brown.
    
The 5-9, 165-pound Sims was a speedburner (4.5) a year ago as a defensive back and kick returner, switching to QB late in '03 following a rash of injuries sustained by the Lions at the signal caller slot.
    
Brown (6-0, 220, 4.7) anchored a stingy WHS Stop Dept., breaking the century mark (101) in tackles.
    
In Schertz Clemens, WHS will face a 25-5A club that captured a school record 13 wins last season and reached the Final Four of the State playoffs. The Buffaloes' ground game is keyed by scatback Ben Tedtaotao, who at 5-8 and 165 pounds, rushed for 1,152 yards in '03.
    
Schertz Clemens did lose to graduation Division I defensive line prospect Yaniv Barnet, who ultimately signed with Mike Stoops and his rebuilding effort at Arizona of the PAC-10.
    
The Lions will sport a new look as all-everything cover man Marcus Walker has departed for the University of Oklahoma and two-time All-District receiver Torey DeGrate will now showcase his wares at Texas A&M.
    
With Sims under center, last year's QB starter Anthony Hicks---whose knee injury coincided with the Lions second half slump---moves to wideout opposite LeGerald Betters (6-3, 180, 4.6).
      
The McGregor Bulldogs, one of the top 2A teams in Central Texas the past couple seasons, will resume their marquee non-District rivalry with 8-3A entry Hillsboro in first round H-E-B Heart O' Texas Kickoff Classic play.
    
This will mark the third consecutive season the Bulldogs and Eagles have debuted against each other at WISD Stadium.

McGregor will have to offset the loss to graduation of SMU-bound QB David Haynes, Jr. while making the shift to 12-2A, a loop headed by perennial power Crawford High.
    
All-purpose back Terrance Rollins (5-9, 165) will be asked to fill much of the void created by the absence of the spectacular Haynes.
    
Hillsboro, meanwhile, is also adjusting to some dimming of star power. Gone this season is TCU recruit Donald Massey, the Eagles' brilliant receiver of a year ago. The very capable Justin Brooks (6-2, 195, 4.6), who hauled in 25 passes for more than 500 yards in '03, is being counted upon to help offset the loss of Massey.
    
Saturday's Kickoff Classic bracket gets under way with a headline writer's dream---a matching of the Men of Troy with Robinson's Rockets. Despite the polarity of their monikers, the future is now for both teams.
    
The 17-3A Rockets, coming off a 1-9 rebuilding year, boast a solid group of veteran returnees hoping to secure RHS's first playoff berth in four years. Troy, like McGregor a 12-2A entrant, is looking to rebound from a 1-9 mark last season at the 3A level. The Trojans are banking on strong skills position play to keep history from repeating itself.
    
Maybe the most anticipated Kickoff Classic contest is the Saturday night finale between '03 playoff foes Marlin and LaVega. The Bulldogs downed LaVega 30-14 en route to a trip to the State 3A championship round.
    
Marlin, despite the graduation of such standouts as Red Richardson and D'Nerian Wrighter, should again be a force with which to be reckoned. Explosive junior quarterback Jeremy Sanders returns to run an offense that includes running back Tank Smith (5-10, 210, 4.5), a Centexfootball.com featured player in 2003.
      
LaVega welcomes the return of 6-2, 220-pound quarterback Vincent Williams, sidelined by injury much of last season. Hard-hitting defensive back David Shepherd (5-11, 180, 4.5), who logged 70 solo stops and picked off five passes in '03, is another key Pirate returnee.
    
While the election season traditionally doesn't heat up until sometime after Labor Day, there's little debate Central Texas football fans will get the fever well before then.
    
That thanks in great measure to the new Waco Kickoff Classic format.