Time to Get Down to Business as District Play Begins in Week 7
Rest time is over for several districts in our coverage area, as it’s time to get down to business with district play starting up. The next five weekends will determine who moves on, and who starts home.
Currently, a few districts have several teams that are tied with winning records after finishing up their nondistrict schedule. A few teams helped themselves to improve their record with last minute wins over the past several weeks.
In District 11-3A, Rockdale and Troy have the best records at 3-2, heading into district play. Rockdale will take on Little River Academy (2-3) on the road this Friday night, while Troy will have a tough one as they travel to Franklin to face the Lions. This game sounds – with the mascots involved – like a play out of the Roman Coliseum playbook. Sort of a gladiator feel to it.
Anyway, let’s take a look at this week’s game involving the Yoemen and Bulldogs.
Cameron Yoe Yoemen (23) at McGregor Bulldogs (0-5) 7:30 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium
The Cameron Yoe Yoemen come in on the waves of a huge win over the Mexia Blackcats at home in Week 5. Quarterback Jacoby Scott seems to be getting in the grove lately, leading the Yoemen in passing and rushing, while runningback Demarques Lopez-Pinchback been the main back in the Yoe backfield. Jax Aguirre has kept the Cameron defense rolling, with 24 total tackles, three that have gone for losses. Teammates Edgar Velasquez, Traveon Myles, Brody Aguirre, and Kenneth Montgomery have been on top of their game in recent weeks, and are in the Top 20 in team total tackles. This is a team that is heavy laden in underclassmen, so they’re definitely getting in lots of game experience. Never underestimate the Yoemen in any game.
McGregor is not having the best of years thus far. The team finished non-district at 0-5. McGregor’s best chance at a win was in Week 1 when they lost to Hillsboro, 58-56. QB Bubba Zacharias leads the Bulldogs in passing and rushing. Zacharias has thrown for over 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns through the air, while picking up 222 yards on the ground, and eight rushing TDs to boot. Dominic Madron is his goto guy receiver. Madron has hauled in 30 receptions and 662 yards, while scoring two touchdowns. Receiver Braxton Franks is the No. 2 guy with 23 catches for 328 yards and five TDs. Staying in the pack is another receiver, Andrew Fossum, who has 243 yards and a TD.
Cameron will have to keep their eyes and legs to keep up with these three.
In District 13-2A DI, the Rosebud-Lott Cougars and the Crawford Pirates came out ahead in non-district play, with both teams suffering just one loss each, while picking up four wins. The Moody Bearcats have been impressive with their 3-2 record. Bruceville-Eddy, Riesel, and winless Marlin, have put up some good fights, but are still struggling. This week, Marlin will play in Crawford, Bruceville-Eddy visits Moody.
Rosebud-Lott Cougars (4-1) at Riesel Indians (1-4) 7:30 p.m. at Fair Park Field
The Cougars have been outstanding on offense, and defense this season, with the exception of their 35-21 loss to the Bosqueville Bulldogs in Week 4. So far – minus that game – the defense has held their opposition to 20 points, total, with two shutouts. Now factor in the 35 points given Bosqueville, and the total points given up by this Rosebud-Lott defense goes up to 55. Divide that by five games, and it comes out to be 11 points per game. Not too shabby for a team that is scoring an average of 38.8 ppg. This is an offense that utilizes the QB/RB, that has been churning through opponents defenses. Led by QB Pryce Rabroker, and RB Zavion Wells, the dynamic due has just over 2,000 of the Cougars offensive yards combined. Rabroker has been a busy quarterback through the five games, throwing for 681 yards and 10 TDs, while rushing for 416 yards and scoring five rushing touchdowns. Wells leads the team in rushing with 77 carries for 768 yards and nine touchdowns, and is on pace to break the 1,000 yard rushing barrier this season. Kaiden Johnson, and Daniel Rincon are Pabroker’s main two receivers, but he has others he can rely on to catch the ball. Labron Washington leads the defense with 33 total tackles.
Riesel’s only win was a semi-blowout victory over the Blooming Grove Lions. This season the Indians have scored a total of 32 points, while giving up 123. They’ll need to get better in a hurry if they have eyes on a playoff spot this year. Arious Landrum leads the Riesel offense at QB, Taygen Childers is their top RB, and Rhiley Early is their No. 1 receiver. This will be a tough game for Riesel at the beginning of district.
District 14-2A DI showcases four teams that finished non-district with 3-2 records. Those are the Harper Longhorns, Thorndale Bulldogs, San Saba Armadillos, and Johnson City Eagles. Next in line is the Mason Punchers (2-3), and the Holland Hornets (1-4). This could be a five man fight, a royal rumble, or one of those backstreet brawls as to who comes out on top, and who will be the other three teams making the playoffs. Johnson City and Harper have put up the most points against their opponents with 181 in five games, while the Armadillos have allowed the lowest point total, giving up 102. The next several weeks will be interesting, to say the least. This week, Holland gets the nod against Harper, Johnson City battles San Saba on the road, and last, but not very least in showcase games has…
Mason Punchers (2-3) at Thorndale Bulldogs (3-2) 7 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium
The Punchers got out punched early in the season, losing back-to-back games before picking up their first win in Week 3, against Coleman. Since then, they’ve been 1-1, and show signs up making this sixteam district a fight to the finish for the title and a playoff spot. Right now, they’re trying to find the right loop to wrangle in more wins, despite having just five players returning off a team that finished 11-2 overall, and went undefeated in district.
Thorndale knows this will not be an easy task, but the Bulldogs have let it be known that they fight for four quarters, and don’t let up until the final whistle blows. Top players for Thorndale this season have been QB Case McDaniel, RBs Cole Harkins, Hayden Thigpen, Hudson Thigpen, and Ryan Creech. Will Cloud and Jaxon Eschberger are the main receiving duo, but Ethan Schramm and Kohl Palmer have stepped up when needed to give the Bulldog offense plenty of weapons. This will be another big game for Thorndale and they’ll have to be barking on all decibels to come out win a victory.
This district is so mixed up standing-wise, that even MaxPreps, DCTF, school districts, and the milkman down the block can’t seem to collaborate on to make it make sense. That can happen when two teams turn in their resignations in the middle of a football season. For District 13-2A DII, that’s what has happened. So, as it sits – with my own calculations – I have Burton on top with a record of 2-0 in district, and 5-0 overall, followed by the Grangers Lions at 1-0 in district, and 4-0 overall. However, Iola is also 2-0 in district, and are tied with Burton, and Milano (1-1, 1-4) may or may not have picked up a forfeit win over Snook this past weekend. It’s confusing, but we do know that Snook and McDade are 010, and 0-7 in district, or should it be that one of the teams would have been 1-9, and 1-6? Here’s a look at this week’s game between Granger and Milano. P.S. – Despite being down a game on their schedule, the Bartlett Bulldogs added a game, and will play Texas Legacy this Friday night.
Granger Lions (1-0, 4-0) at Milano Eagles (1-1, 1-4) 7 p.m. Pruitt Field
Granger has been unstoppable this season, sprinting out to a 4-0 mark and 1-0 record thus far in district. If you go by DCTF, they have already added the forfeit wins over McDade and Snook in the standings. You do the math. The Lions are hungry for another great district finish, where they had a 6-1 record last season, and finished 2024 as a regional semifinalist with an overall record of 9-4. Coach McDorman has this offense pumping on all cylinders, led by RB/LB Caleb Hobratsch, QB/DB Wyatt Rochner, and OL/DL Grayson Smith (6-5, 295, 5.7). Granger looks to air it out against Milano this week.
Milano has been plagued by injuries throughout this season, but it hasn’t dampened their ability to fight to the very end of each game. Team leaders for the Eagles are Peyton Steinbecker at QB, RB Troy Montoya, and Dylan Magee, and receiver Jesus Reyes. This will be another battle test game for Milano.
In District 10-2A DII, it’s a toss up between three teams, with another looking to bust it all up. The Chilton Pirates, Bremond Tigers, and Frost Polar Bears are all undefeated in both district and overall, while the Goldthwaite Eagles have pulled it together and look to topple someone along their way to making a run for the DT.
For the Eagles, they’ll get their first chance against Frost on the road, Meridian (1-0, 1-4) travel to Bremond, Wortham (0-1, 0-5) visits Mart (0-1, 1-4).
Chilton Pirates (2-0, 5-0) at Hubbard Jaguars (0-1, 2-3) 7 p.m. Jaguar Field
What more can you say about the Pirates, other than they’ve bashed through their competition so far this season, to the tune up giving up a total of 12 points defensively, while recording fourstraight shutouts. It’ll be interesting to see what Coach Bennie Huitt’s team can do the rest of the way. It’ll start with QB Marneko Thomas, Jr. continuing his offensive onslaught against opponents, with a combined 873 yards (passing/rushing), and 14 total TDs. Nathan Wuebker and X’Zavion Taylor fill in any gaps this offense needs filling. The two seniors, Wuebker and Taylor, lead the talented defensive squad in tackles. Wuebker has 24 total tackles, and Taylor leads that category with 34. On paper, this looks like it could be shutout No. 5.
Hubbard has surprised a few folks so far. They shutout McDade 70-0 after getting shutout by Dawson in Week 1, and they beat Colmesnell in another shutout win. The Jags did play a close game with Meridian, though. But turned around and were shutout heavily by Goldthwaite last Friday night. Hubbard is minus 40 this week against Chilton.
District play has yet to begin in 16-1A/Six-Man DII. Last week, Benjamin handed Cherokee their first loss of the season, 68-6; Bryan St. Joseph outlasted Calvert, 90-71, and Evant slipped past Buckholts, 5430. Pawnee was scheduled to play Victoria Home School, but no score has been reported. This week, Cherokee will host San Antonio DaVinci while Buckholts, Calvert, and Pawnee all have byes.