OlDawg

NS, Katy, Westlake, Vandegrift, and Highland Park at least some of the highly regarded teams entering the season all losing Game 1. Interesting. Desoto getting shellacked by Creekside, Ga. 70-28.

Dang. Woodville gets so upset, they burn the town down?

The Falcons are kind of a shell of past glory years. Hopefully the new coach can get them turned around again. That's a great offensive explosion for the first game ether way. Impressive win Wildcats!

Quick clip of the effects at the game. [Hidden Content]

About the spread I expected. But, I expected a lower score. LP was sloppy early. All the hype of the new stadium, the heated rivalry, the new DC coming on in June, and a little different O scheme probably all impacted play for the first quarter. Deer Park also looks to have a little better club than what experts predicted. Their Soph QB is a load, and runs the zone read really well behind their big OL. Give them a few games to gel, and Coach Flynn will have them fighting Dickinson for the title in 24-6A. From about the 2nd Quarter on, you could see LP start to settle down and get their act together. Was impressed they could make up the 17 point hole, and just steadily take control of the game. I thought the penalties that caused them to miss the TD at the end of the 2nd Quarter and take a lead at half would be a problem. But, they outscored the Deer 35-14 from the 2nd Quarter on. Defense will need to tighten up on the edge contain. That should work itself out as the new DC gets more in tune with the players, and has a little more time to work with them. Also, too many attempted arm tackles. That needs some work. First game though. I'm sure it will be a focus. Saenz showed his maturity checking down to hit secondary receivers on a couple pass plays for good yards. Ruffin pulled extra duty as the second RB (he used to be a RB) with quickness to burn, and still played his LB spot. I don't know actual yardage, but I estimate he had around 150 yards & 2 TD's. One was a 60 yard TD reception I think. Simon had an early strip fumble as LP was driving on their first series. After that, he 'checked into the game', and was exactly as expected. I estimate he had almost 250 yards rushing and 2 TD's. All-in-all, good game to build off of, and definitely things to work on before another very big test against a Kingwood squad that blanked Clear Creek 38-0. LP needs to enjoy this win, but gear up for a new week against another probable 6A PO contender.

He was at my place watching the Border Battle & eating pulled pork sandwiches. Had the smoker going pregame & prerain. 😁

Same. LP still has to get through a very good 2024 6A Kingwood Mustang State Quarterfinal squad that returns some solid pieces.

Dawg INT! Dawgs win! !!:31/35/F Had to come back from 17 down. Simon with well over 200 yards & 2 TD’s. Ruffin around 150 with 2 TD’s. Peyton Smith with a TD reception. Saenz showed his maturity & played well. You've alerted the ScoreboardBot: Game Over Alert: FINAL - Deer Park(31) @ La Porte(35)

DP driving on LP 22 with 1:13 left.

!!:31/35/4/3/19

!!:31/35/4/3/19 Ashton Ruffin with another TD!

!!:31/28/4/12/00 LP ball on their 32.

DP QB doing really well on the zone read. Looks like a pretty big young man.

!!:31/28/3/0/20

Ashton Ruffin is almost 150 with 1 TD. Saenz has thrown for 1 TD to Payton.

!!:24/28/3/6/36 Simon over 200 yards & two TD’s

LP was down 17-0 right out of the gate before they started settling in.

!!:24/21/H Dawgs get ball to start 2nd half. 2 False starts inside the Deer 5 before half cost them a score. Time expired.

Correct. But, like @tvc184 and I have both said, all it takes is one disgruntled person to raise a stink, and it starts the wheel. The Kennedy vs Bremerton case set new standards that are a little more lenient than some Lemon rules in the past. But, it’s still a hodge podge of rulings. To me, the pregame prayer should be considered ‘enshrined by tradition’ like legislative meetings, and swearing on the Bible. It’s been going on for as long as probably anyone can remember. You have the honor guard with the flag procession/display, the National Anthem, and a prayer. It would take a school district wanting to pay for the fight and hassle of a possible lawsuit—which is a shame that one person could do so much damage to something that’s almost ‘sacred.’ Again, that’s just me. (Not sure how I got this so far away from your original thread topic. I’ll stop. Sorry!)

Fox 26 Houston (Nate Griffin) is at Bulldog this morning. Sure hope the rain holds off tonight.

Agree to your examples and thoughts. Someone can always sue about anything. I also do not endorse—or not—the SCOTUS decisions. I also think with Kennedy vs Bremerton, the standards changed. But, my take is the decisions are based more on if it’s felt the STUDENTS are being coerced in any way. That’s where the current line seems to be drawn. Regardless of who may be doing the perceived coercing. In addition, tradition appears to be taking a more prevalent position in rulings—although not uniform by the courts. Some courts have ruled prayer before a school board meeting is okay. It’s a legislative meeting, and tradition protects prayer at such events. Other courts say no. It’s a mish-mash of rulings. The rulings appear to be more to protect not yet legal age young folks. I believe Gorsuch explicitly referenced no kids being coerced in his majority opinion in Bremerton. (If I remember correctly.) I do not think the Ten Commandments in the classroom will stand. Someone against it will pursue, and Paxton’s move will be negated. I have said that I believe certain things are best left taught at home, or other more appropriate places. I want schools to focus on secular education of reading/‘righting’/‘rithmatic’. But, I wouldn’t be one to sue over the issue either way.

My tradition is that I don’t typically respond to a poster who—without actually knowing other posters—regularly throws around the ‘bigot’ and ‘racist’ cards just because they don’t agree with their viewpoint. That applies whether it’s directed at me or not. In answer to your post…Yes. Well aware. However, a School Board member isn’t a public school employee and isn’t governed by the Establishment clause. Even an employee (like a coach) can pray—voluntarily—at an extracurricular activity. That has been found constitutional in Kennedy vs. Bremerton. I don’t see Texas having a major issue with voluntary prayer before a high school sporting event in most locales. But, having the Ten Commandments (regardless of whether I think they should be followed or not) posted in classrooms is a different matter. Some people (not you) have a very limited understanding of the Establishment Clause and the First Amendment. I would venture to guess that most couldn’t even name the rights included in the First Amendment. They only think of one. Two at most. Talk about the Establishment & Free Exercise Clauses and eyes glaze over.

I think so. One of the cool things I haven’t seen elsewhere at high school stadiums is—between the seating levels—on the concourse on both sides are large ribbon video boards that they programmed in things like ‘big hit!’, growling, and stuff like that with flashing colors & sounds, etc. like you’d see at a professional stadium. As it was getting darker, even with the stadium lights on, the graphics & sound lit up the stadium. I can see it really getting the crowd pumped up. It’s going to be something else again tomorrow night. I asked the Superintendent (Dr. Jackson) to make sure they would announce crowd size when he had to let us out to the elevator. They’ve sold everything they could & still had people wanting more seats. He did say they were going to have some type of temporary block to keep the fan bases apart in the stands for this specific game—if that gives people a clue on if this is a friendly rivalry or not.

Not really sure how I feel about this. I’ve always been one that believed family came first, parents were primary, and religion was best left to be taught by the parents and their belief group. On the other hand, the moral lessons are sorely needed among our youth, and just seeing them—without even discussing formally—may give some pause to think more about how they treat others. Similar to cell phones being taken away is making them have actual face-to-face interactions. Also a good thing to me. I know at the La Porte town pep rally at the new stadium tonight, the School Board President led the entire crowd (probably 5.000 or so) in a prayer before the festivities. Everyone—even the smaller kids—were at least respectful and quiet. Even if they didn’t pray along. So, some schools still do keep those traditions alive.

Okay…Bulldog Stadium is AWESOME! For the Border Battle, the bands & drill teams will sit on the track area. Every single seat has been sold—not counting Press (4 local TV stations & other football sites/publications). A lot bigger than it appears online, the sound system is LOUD, and the video screen is very large & crystal clear. The video board outside on the south side of the stadium already is showing info about the rivalry. Doesn’t look like the ribbon scoreboard around the horseshoe is totally finished yet. But, I was told it will be ready for Friday night. Was worried about the heat with the horseshoe closed in. But, there’s a very nice bay breeze coming in. Only issue I see is parking is a little lacking & spread out. They’re going to have shuttles for the Border Battle between parking lots for the disabled. Wish I could post a movie. But, it wouldn’t do it justice. Go Dawgs!