Cougar14.2

I don’t know how much pride is really left in Dayton? Small town politics often leads to appeasement, which leads to what you see on the field with Dayton. Sad part is that with the split of the classification Dayton is really set up to be a factor in 5A-D2 region three after a couple more realignments when some teams move up. Instead, they’re going to be a slight underdog when they play Lee for last place.

Man, can you imagine how embarrassing it’s going to be when Dayton plays BH for homecoming and gets abused in Bronco stadium? Good thing there won’t be many people there to see it.

Can’t believe I’m saying it, but I’m going to go ahead and take Lee when they play Dayton for last place.

I think BH’s game with Nederland in a few weeks is going to determine if they get in the playoffs this year. I would say y’all are in good shape because you get to play them at home but BH stadium isn’t really much of a home field advantage.

I was hoping WOS won this one so it would build some drama before they made the long ride to Cougar Stadium next Friday. I’m sure Coach T will have them looking to bounce back.

Figured. Probably effected a lot of natural grass fields around the state tonight.

I know he had 18 carries for 290 yards and 5 tds at the half

Silsbee’s defense came in giving up 52ppg and holds Nederland to 21, interesting? Was it all because the qb was out or did Silsbee’s defense improve during their third week of practice?

KP was down by 50 to Angleton at the end of the third quarter in their opener. Went to the game tonight to see what BH looked like against them. No doubt BH was never in trouble at any point durimg the night but it may be a long season for Eagles.

Pretty surprised by the score in this one. NC should crush everyone else on their schedule except PAM and Porter. Still have a month to improve before they play the Titans at home for the district championship.

Man, I have no idea how y’all read that and got that I don’t think PNG isn’t a good program? I’m just saying without players like RJ that PNG is going to have a hard time producing seasons like the last two, much less beating the upper tier teams. That has zero bearing on whether you deem your season a success. Prep, you highlighted my point. You honestly think PNG beats Crosby last year for no other reason than RJ putting up 10 tds by himself? My entire point is that players like that change your fortune by covering up a lot of deficiencies. Otherwise you look like PNG did against an Angleton team Crosby had shut out 34-0 earlier that year. PNG might technically average going to the state championship every so often but if you really look at the numbers they say something different. They played for a state title in 1999, since then they haven’t even made it past the regional semis. Furthermore, I can name five schools off the top of my head that didn’t even exist and have won regional titles since PNG last played for one. Dawson, Cedar Park, Ridge Point, Manvel and George Ranch which speaks to my other point about the changing demographics. Crosby is more like those new growing schools than the Crosby of a couple decades ago which is what I meant. PNG hasn’t won more than 11 games in a season or for that matter had back to back 10 win seasons without RJ. What are you considering consistently compete, whenever I say that the talk goes to state championships? Again, that has zero to do with being a good program or having good seasons. Rez Ipsa, how does RJ benefit from playing at PNG with less talented players around him and having more thrust upon his shoulders? The kid had over 600 carries from the qb position in two years because that’s how PNG has to win games, at schools where he could actually hand off to a rb he would’ve probably developed more as a passer. I’m sure Faircloth is good with qbs but him teaching RJ the passing game isn’t the reason he’s going to Texas and the last thing he’s done is rapidly develop him. The district isn’t overly strong so I don’t think anybody is throwing dirt on PNG’s season. As far as Crosby having a down year you’re correct, we had one last year. It was only the second time in a decade we lost in the first round. I think people get a little perturbed about hearing RJ is the entire team or they won’t be as good without him but there is very little data that says otherwise. Once again, that has nothing to do with being a good program or having what you deem a good season.

Yeah, I heard BH fans saying the same thing when they hired Westeberg. You still have the same athletes and no Deshawn Washington though. Based on what I've heard about how Crosby feels about WOS after watching film and film I've seen of how Nederland looked against them, I would say Nederland would be doing well to stay within 20 points of this version of Crosby. 4-12 for 53 passing yards and a pick if pretty bad, as is 41 rushing attempts for 127 yards. It doesn't have anything to do with how good or bad Nederland is though, it's about them just not matching up well. You'll understand what I mean when Ned goes to BH in a few weeks. BH has looked subpar to date but watch how much of a matchup issue they are for y'all.

I think you're missing the overall point. You don't have to wait until next year without RJ, you saw a glimpse of what PNG was without him Friday against a decent team. You lost by 17 with him playing most of the game, do you honestly think you don't get beat by 30+ without him? He makes PNG's whole team better because of the way you have to defend him. PNG's defense is still bad, a lot of that gets covered up because RJ can keep the sticks moving with his legs and maximize PNG's time of possession. Thus minimizing the amount of time the Indians defense is on the field with chance of exposure. Do you really feel like PNG is good for any reason other than having RJ at qb? He's literally 90+% of the offense. PNG has a faithful fan base and I'm sure the community will do what it takes to win but much like Westeberg is finding out at BH, it's hard to continuously beat good teams if you don't consistently produce the athletes that give you a chance. I can't remember the last time PNG had one but I think you're underestimating the value of a transcendent player.

They're one of the worst 5A programs in suburbs. They're averaging over 50ppg against two bad opponents but Vidor shouldn't have much trouble with them. Kind of big due to their enrollment but just not very good.

Didn't lose any in '15. None of our opponents in this district are on par with the Summer Creek team in '13 or the C.E. King squad we lost to in '14. It would have to take a '16 and '17 type debacle we had against NCISD in those years. I very confident this defense won't allow it to happen though. Crosby may not make it back to the semifinals but this looks to be Riordan's best team he's had during his tenure.

Tomball Memorial would beat PNG by 30 without RJ. They're one of those new schools with exploding enrollment who have already moved to 6A in their 7th season. Quick refresher on Houston football. Tomball beat region 4 finalist Foster and also beat the Huntsville team y'all just lost to 17-3 in district play last year. Huntsville is good and will finish second in their district this year only because it's putrid once you get past A&M Con., watch how College Station does them this weekend though. Santa Fe isn't as bad as you may think they are either. Probably going get a reality check this weekend as to what PNG is without RJ.

After a thriller with Newton, WOS travels to Crosby to finally get what they've been asking for.

If they had let us kick the extra point we would've had 50 on the best defense in the region which is most likely the second best defense in 5A-D2 behind Aledo. I think Nederland is the second best team in the district but they're probably one of Crosby's easier matchups in terms of the way they play. Crosby is much more likely to lose to Vidor or Barbers Hill than Nederland.

You can expect them to look pretty close to Huntsville minus T'Vondre Sweat. Physical and likes to run downhill on you with Jakobi Holland who's one of the best backs in Houston. Probably a double digit favorite at home and with PNG missing RJ.

This will probably be seen as an arrogant statement but what else is new? Crosby is fully capable of losing to WOS, Dayton, PNG, BH and Ned. If we're being honest though, the only team left on the regular season schedule that concerns me is Vidor. I don't think anybody else has the firepower to score enough on this Crosby defense. Not that Vidor does either but they're the best at limiting Crosby's opportunities and just frustrating the hell out of the Cougars. As far as Vidor getting lucky, don't count on it. You don't get to be overlooked when you come into a district opener undefeated.

Updated forecast: 1. Crosby - no explanation needed 2. Nederland - looking for an undefeated matchup when Crosby comes to town 3. Vidor/BH - BH has Vidor’s number but Vidor has looked better to date 4. BH/Vidor - BH probably backs in by default, would draw Manvel in bi-district 5. Dayton/PNG - just lost AT home to Galena Park . . . 6. PNG/Dayton - losing RJ is probably worse than losing to Galena Park 7. Santa Fe - primed to play spoiler 8. Lee - averaging 41ppg through their first two, might surprise somebody

LB was concussion protocol, I’m not sure with the LT but was told he should be good to go for WOS.

Crosby’s non-district schedule is brutal and so far they’ve performed as only one could hope. Bye week comes at a good time after an emotional win in the Jungle, meaning Crosby still has only one home loss since 2012. I think having the bye at this point in the season actually helps with game-planning for the district opener against Vidor in a few week. It also doesn’t hurt that we get a week to rest while WOS plays a headknocker against Newton before they come to Crosby. Long way to go before that time gets here but the way things have broken, it’s sure looking like there’s going to be a showdown for the district championship in Mid-County. PNG won’t be involved in this one though. Defense is one of the best we’ve seen at Crosby in recent years and the offense just put 50 minus an XP on the best defense they’re likely to see all year. Most impressive position group so far has been the offensive line, who led the way for three different 100+ yard rushers against Manvel. Howard and Simon both rushed for 100+ yards against NC also. Crosby has a chance for this to be a special season if they can stay healthy. Recap of Manvel: [Hidden Content]

This probably isn’t going to be much of a competitive game so I’ll bring up something else. Splitting 5A has done some teams a solid, it has done others a disservice. PAM is one of those squads that has gotten a much tougher road through the playoffs now. NC should be the only regular season contest PAM has left but 1-4 in the bi-district could go 1. Angleton 2. Foster 3. Hightower 4. Friendswood, Shadow Creek and Texas City are also in that district. 2nd round would be a combination of Cedar Park, Hutto and Georgetown. If you survive that you’re back to Angleton and Foster for the 3rd round. Austin Macallum, who was 14-1 last year, and a very good Dripping Springs team are also in the region now. Hands down the toughest 5A-D1 region in the state. With only one more competitive game on the schedule it’s just all about staying as healthy as possible for PAM.

C’mon man, it’s not like y’all were handing us the ball. Manvel had one mishandled exchange which led to a fumble y’all ended up recovering. All those other fumbles were forced. I think Manvel was a little surprised after they bloodied Crosby’s nose that Crosby swung back. In order to make up the talent gap with a team like y’all Crosby was going to have to play physical, force Manvel into some mistakes and capitalize when they did. That’s what happened. Hopefully we get to do it again in December. *Looking at it, that is Manvel’s first regular season loss since Pearland in 2015.