This weekend in the Metroplex was truly one for the record books. State records fell in Fort Worth as Southwest defeated Arlington Heights 66-21 and QB Wesley Harris broke the state record by throwing for nine touchdowns in the game. Nine TD's, that is one better than Denton Ryan's Scotty Young, Birdville's Josh Dorman, and several other players going back to Turkey Valley's Kirk Saul were ever able to do. Harris' favorite target, Robbie Rhodes, wrote his name in the record book with 390 yards receiving and eight touchdown receptions, besting the state record in both categories. This all comes just a couple of weeks after Wichita Falls QB Dylan Sheffield set the state record for passing yards in a game with 683 and seven touchdowns against Denton High. Throw in the history being made by Aledo's Jonathan Gray and they guys at Texas Football magazine are going to be very busy updating their records section during the off-season.
300 for the Fedora
Another milestone was reached on Friday night as Highland Park Coach Randy Allen notched his 300th coaching victory. The Scots defeated Richardson Pearce 41-27 to improve to 7-0 on the year. Coach Allen has been on the Highland Park sideline for 148 of his 300 wins including the 4A D1 State Championship in 2005. I was at Rose Stadium in Tyler that day. Calling the game for the Texas State Network as a quarterback named Matthew Stafford led the Scots to a 59-0 win over Marshall. I first met Coach Allen years earlier, however, when he was coaching at Abilene Cooper. I have always respected Coach Allen and I am very appreciative of the time and attention he gives to me whenever we do a Highland Park game on TXA 21. He is a true gentleman and I congratulate him on becoming the 11th coach in Texas high school football to earn 300 wins. Good Job Coach!
11-5A Action
This week our game of the week was in Mesquite as the Horn Jaguars hosted state ranked Longview in 11-5A. The Lobos outlasted the Jags 38-30 but I came away impressed with both teams. Longview looks like a team that can make a long playoff run with offensive weapons like QB Bivins Caraway, WR Eric Hawkins and RB Tory White. Hawkins in particular was sensational with 4 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns. If the Lobos can learn to shut down the opponents passing game, watch out. Horn put up a great fight and has weapons of their own including Sophomore QB Destri White and TE/WR Vincent Hobbs, but their best playmaker is Oklahoma commit Devante Harris. Harris is a defensive back but hardly ever leave the field, playing wide receiver and returning kicks as well. Harris is blessed with blazing speed and the ability to make players miss in the open field. He also shut down Hawkins when he was covering him. All of Hawkins' big plays came when Harris was not covering the Arkansas bound receiver. Horn may be 2-5, but considering their losses have been close games against Coppell, Hebron, Denton Guyer, Stephenville and Longview, I would not count them out as being a threat to make some noise in the post-season.
The Big Three
Another team out of 11-5A is among my top three teams in the area. The DeSoto Eagles. The Eagles demolished Tyler Lee this week 66 to 13 and posted 623 yards of offense in the process. I have Allen, DeSoto, and Skyline clearly above the pack in the Metroplex right now. In fact, I would take take those three teams and give you every other team in the state of Texas and say that I have just as good a shot as you at predicting a state champion. I am that confident one of those three teams will be hoisting a trophy at Cowboys Stadium at the end of the year.
Undefeated Showdown
Speaking of Allen, the #1 ranked team in the state will be on TXA 21 this week facing unbeaten Flower Mound Marcus. The winner of this game will be the last undefeated team standing in District 8-5A, one of the toughest districts in the state. Allen has a load of D1 talent including QB Alec Morris who has thrown for almost 2,000 yards with 25 TD's and only one INT. Marcus counters with a running game that includes tailback Harvey Giddens who is approaching 1,200 yards rushing and has 18 touchdowns on the ground.
Other big games this week include:
Cedar Hill (5-2, 4-0) at Mansfield (7-0, 4-0) in 5-5A
Sachse (6-1, 3-1) at McKinney Boyd (5-2, 3-1) in 10-5A
Frisco (6-1, 4-0) vs. Frisco Centennial (7-0, 4-0) in 9-4A (Pizza Hut Park)
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