What does that say about the quality of Louisiana football?
Regardless, the Bearcats are again dipping their paws into Texas’ talent pool this year, with two more wins over Longview (38-35) and Legacy (49-21). Stephenville is up next in a neutral site game in Longview this Friday and Ruston (4-0) is again loaded, with at least six DI players, including 6-foot-6, 235-pound blue chip tight end Deejay Drain.
The good news for Stephenville, is this week’s game may give the Yellow Jackets a better opportunity to be competitive than a year ago. The Yellow Jackets have improved defensively, they have better overall speed than they did in 2024 and of course, they’ve had a first-hand look at Ruston from a year ago and last year’s game film to study.
Even if the ‘Jackets (5-0) suffer another lopsided loss, they are likely to benefit from any matchup that exposes where they can be attacked and Ruston is almost certainly going to provide that.
“We definitely benefitted last year from it,” Stephenville coach Sterling Doty said of last year’s blowout loss. “We’re not going to see anyone any better from a full roster standpoint than (Ruston) in district or in the playoffs.
“There were some bright spots in last year’s game. We made it 28-17 with 1:20 left in the half. …Then they scored 14 points in the last minute which kind of crushed us. I felt that if we could have kept it at 28-17 at the half, who knows what could have happened?”
GLEN ROSE WILL GROW FROM CURRENT ADVERSITY
Through five games, the Tigers are 0-5, they are beaten up with multiple key players injured, four of their five losses are by two scores or less and they’ve lost three straight games by a combined total of 12 points.
“The last three games we had the ball at the end with (a chance) to win the game and just didn’t do it,” Glen Rose coach Cliff Watkins said. “The last two games we threw the ball into the end zone to (try to) win the game.”
If that’s not adversity, I don’t know what is. In the meantime, Watkins has been patiently working to maintain team confidence and grab any momentum to help the Tigers turn the corner.
I say they’re about to get there.
Having fallen to 4-1 Grandview (28-14), 5-0 Gatesville (30-7), 2-3 Brownwood (34-28), 4-1 Waco Robinson (41-40) and 4-0 Alvarado (55-50), the progression isn’t hard to spot.
“Alvarado is Top-10 in 4A DI and hadn’t played a close game yet,” Watkins said. “And we go over there and have a nine-point lead at the half, but just couldn’t finish.
“We’ve seen a lot of progress, but it just hasn’t been good enough yet. We’ve got to put it all together and we have to find a way to finish and win games.”
Now, with an open date to help the team heal and district play about to open on Oct. 10 at home against 2-3 Godley, the Tigers are looking (at worst), to be a No. 3 seed and at best a district champion.
After an 0-5 start? A team that might play 12 games?
That’s why high school athletics exists.
Stay tuned.
BALLINGER QUIETLY SNEAKING BACK INTO THE PICTURE
That, however, has quietly changed as the Bearcats have won three of their last four games to improve to 3-2 heading into the midseason break.
A team that seemed forgotten or even written off, has quietly reemerged as a respectable playoff contender. And that Merkel team that tripped them up in Week 1? The Badgers are now 4-1 with the look of a playoff team.
“I’m just so proud of these guys for overcoming all of the adversity that we’ve had to overcome,” Ballinger coach Bryan Gayoso said. “We’ve already played several games where we’ve been (missing) six starters.
“So I’m proud of these guys for their resilience. All the players are stepping up in the injured players’ spots and they just keep fighting every week.”
This sets up an interesting matchup with another 3-2 team, Bangs, in the District 5-2A DI opener for both clubs on Oct. 10.
Both teams have momentum, both understand the importance of this matchup and both want it bad.
It should be a good one.
JIM NED WIN AT HOLLIDAY SERVES NOTICE TO THE AREA
The Indians followed that defeat with a 23-13 win over a 1-4 but very underrated Jacksboro team. This was followed by a stunning 48-20 win over previously unbeaten Holliday on the road last Friday.
The bottom line is, the Indians are 4-1 against five opponents with a combined 16-9 record (15-5 excluding Jacksboro). And get this: they have yet to allow more than 24 points to anyone.
At this point, they are the logical pick to win District 3-3A DI, and if they can win at Clyde on Halloween night, I believe they’ll do exactly that.
In other words, I see that as the district title game. Yes, I said it, more than a month in advance.
REMEMBER SAN SABA? THEY JUST SENT A REMINDER
On the subject of teams not to sleep on, it may have been tempting to take a snooze on the Armadillos of San Saba in the wake of their 49-34 loss to archrival Goldthwaite on Sept. 12.
That has quickly changed.
In the two weeks since that loss, the ‘Dillos have crushed Katy St. John (56-7) and pulled off a shocking 17-14 upset as a 16-point underdog at Hamilton.
Is San Saba capable of winning District 14-2A DI? What do you think?