jake94

All good points again. And, I have no idea who the local is that won this past weekend vs. #94. Who was it? Fact is I do not follow the high school tennis scene much locally. I am 30 now and play age groups, levels, and open mostly. I think much of the problem when thinking of D1 players is that we have a D1 here in our own backyard that isn't really D-1 caliber. I agree with you that Danos was not a legit D-1 candidate, but he could have fit well in the 4,5,6 spot for LU. The LU women's team has made strides and is an average D-1 team now, but the men are still behind the curve. Hopefully with the new coach coming in from Louisville that will change in a few years. As for your question about me knowing Deaver, I met and played with him for the first time yesterday. I am not sure if he aged up or not, but he was a little better than I thought he would be. If we would have played a 3rd set, he would have won because I am out of shape and have not played competitive singles in a long time. I play tennis 3-4 times a week, but always doubles. lol

I think we will get a good indication this week.

42-0 last year makes it hard to pick the Indians here. I don't think PN-G has gotten that much better nor do I feel like LC-M has gotten that much worse. I think LC-M is gonna win this week, but it will be close.

I agree with you garsnare about local tennis being weak. What I do find interesting though is that Deaver is starting to take tennis seriously now in his junior year and has been a state qualifier as a freshman and sophomore. I think he is really going to turn the corner this season. I played with him for the first time yesterday and he is definitely a good kid. Very polite and respectful. He hits a very heavy ball and has a forehand that is top notch. My post was more of a reaction to the locals that feel they are going to hang with him this season. I do not see it happening. I actually think it hurts him in that he has no high school competition locally. He is playing the lower tier LU singles guys close and those are the 5-9 players. LU has some solid singles guys 1-4, but is still a low level D1 program. We do need to remember, however, that he is a junior at Silsbee and is not supposed to be a D1 college player yet. If you look at Danos as an early season junior, there is not much difference in the heaviness and pace of their shots other than Andrew's serve. I played with Andrew twice a week in his prime and Deaver's forehand can be every bit as good in my opinion if he keeps working at it.

Moshier graduated last season. I think you are talking about Sampere. He is out for the season from what I have heard. The soph QB is getting better and better every week and I look for him to be one of Ned's best QB's in a long time over the next two and a half years. He was 18/24 for almost 300 yards vs. Vidor. Very talented athlete, throws a catchable ball, and can really zing it.. He will probably still make a few soph mistakes, but this kid has really stepped up. I could not be happier with his play.

If you guys are planning on competing with Deaver this season, then you better have some weapons. He played Chema a few days ago and split sets with him. He also played against David Wanja(Lamar) who serves 120+ and lost in two tight sets. I played with him this evening and he has a collegiate level forehand and an above average serve. We split sets. I don't see anyone competing with him this season in high school locally and probably not even until state.

At this point, EVERYONE still holds their fate in their own hands.

Both defenses are good. But, it sounds like Ozen struggles on offense. Dayton offense is probably ahead of where Ozen's is. Therefore I will say Dayton by 10!

And some people still don't have respect for us even after making the playoffs for 11 straight years. So, go figure. I could care less what other teams think of us. Maybe the Lumberton folks should adopt that attitude and just go out and continue to win ballgames.

I agree with 40under. And, I think that you could flip flop LC-M/PN-G as wins or losses. I think the Raiders will be in the thick of the playoff race, but not at the tip top of the district.

What is the purpose of this post? We have been ranked this high many times before and that ranking is not going to help us BLOW CENTRAL AWAY by any means. If anything, it puts a big target on us and that target is highlighted even more by posts like these! Friday is going to be a very tough games against a team that has had our number for years now.

Thanks for picking us, but we are about as far from "smash mouth" on offense as a team could possibly be. But, thanks for the vote of confidence.

And a KASHMERE sweater away from being 0-4!! I am just kidding. But, I could not resist. I think LC-M is a solid team and I do not put much emphasis on records now except for the DISTRICT record that matters. The pre-district records are meaningless now. And, yes we are 4-0, but that doesn't put us in the playoffs and we have a lot of tough games ahead.

Great article. I had no idea that Bob West had anything to do with Micah being recruited.

And how far did they go last year?!

Are you kidding me?!?! How'd they do in the playoffs? I thought the Bears had quite a bit coming back, especially their main skill position players?!?! I think the Bears still have a shot at the playoffs this season, but I completely disagree with your comment.

With all of the 4.3 speedsters that were hyped before the season : you'd think they'd average 40 points a game or so. I actually think that PN-G has the tools to be a good offensive football team. I have not seen enough of them this season to know why they aren't. I would think that they will continue to improve and I think they have a shot at the playoffs as well.

I'll say both. Dayton is still a good team, but last year they were a GREAT team that mowed thru the district with only one close game. Losing your top RB from last season and your starting QB this season definitely hurts. So, the question is "are the Broncos good?" The answer is YES(especially on defense)! Are the Broncos overrated? YES, if you take into consideration what they have lost and what people are expecting from them. I think they will fight for a playoff spot, but at this point NOBODY is a shoe in!

I don't see either team winning this ballgame by 17 points or more. This should be a very close game in my opinion. Both teams have solid defenses. Sounds like Nederland is a little ahead on offense right now, but that can change quickly with all the speed that Central has. Should be a great game. Central has owned us the last several years and I hope we can stop that trend come Friday night.

I think the district champ and runner up should make it. No more, no less.

If y'all do not find some semblence of a passing game then you guys will not win a game in district. The defenses in this league are too good to just lineup and run at. The defense is not strong enough to carry y'all if you don't score more than 7 points. Y'all gave up 460 yards to us and we have not been setting the world on fire offensively. I gave Vidor credit for never giving up, but until you make some plays in the vertical passing game.... it will be a TOUGH row to hoe!

I am liking the soph QB more and more every game. He makes good decisions and throws a good ball. I will agree with everyone though that Central's defense will be his toughest test to date.

This reminds me of when Vidor beat Nederland last season. Then, the next week they went into Lumberton and got beat. Only difference here is that I think this Lumberton team is quite a bit better than that Vidor team. Better be focused this week. Nobody cares what happened the week before after the game is over. Time to move forward!

Good post vidorpride. You pretty much summed it up objectively. I was going to respond to Vpiratefan2007, but you pretty much summed it up and accurately. I will say this though, y'all DID get screwed out of a safety. I have no idea how that wasn't a safety.

I think we will enter this game as the underdog even though we are 4-0. Central has had our number and the Central staff has always had a great gameplan against us. But, we are a totally different scheme now so that could make a difference. So, who knows? I think Central is the favorite at home, but I would not be shocked either way. Both teams will be in the hunt all season for playoff spots. Hope it is a good, clean, injury free game.