H-D BOBCAT 55

I believe you speak the truth about the improvements. Still not gonna be enough IMO. Hardin goes winless again in District, just to tough a District. 

Kountze got pretty much their whole team back and they were really young last season. I expect Kountze to be much improved and to win by 14+ . I'll actually be in town visiting family so I'll be attending this game. I have a lot of respect for coach Hodges. Maybe a Hardin fan has a little more insight on Kountze from their scrimmage? 

HD to host Kountze from Bobcat Stadium. Last year the game ended in exciting fashion, as Kountze scored as time expired to win by one. The Bobcats graduated and lost some top producers, a few HD studs moved out of the District. Does Kountze have their normal track speed? Will this be a high scoring game or a defensive battle? HD's QB Fregia has looked sharp throwing and running, the HD O-line blocking looked good at times. HD's defense appeared to be a salty bunch last week, causing several turnovers. The defensive play calling last week was spot on. I look for HD's #99 and #55 to team up opening holes up front. HD will need to cause more defensive turnovers, as well as continue their physical ground game to beat the larger school Friday.

The HD defense played good, they got even better as the game went on. HD's defense was very aggressive, caused some turnovers. HD's offensive line did a good job run blocking, very dominate at times. The HD OT #55 Downs, made some holes up front, kid is a giant. WH had some decent speed this year, they played hard at home. I was very impressed with the HD QB Fregia's deep ball accuracy. Good ole salty rivalry game! 

Peterson went for 155 yards on 22 carries according to the chronicle. He's a pretty good athlete.
Wooley went for 148 on 16 carries for Lee
Lee had 18 carries for negative 16 yards outside of those 148 by wooley.
 

The HD defense played good, they got even better as the game went on. HD's defense was very aggressive, caused some turnovers. HD's offensive line did a good job run blocking, very dominate at times. The HD OT #55 Downs, made some holes up front, kid is a giant. WH had some decent speed this year, they played hard at home. I was very impressed with the HD QB Fregia's deep ball accuracy. Good ole salty rivalry game! 

Bj Peterson with his 2nd TD 
 
GCM 21
Lee 7

Should be a good game I was just trying to stir the pot with my cuz HD 55 when I said 39-6. Both squads return several starters both offensively and defensively. This is two small towns version of mid county madness. Stands should be packed but I'll have to go with HD to win tonight. 

Yeah I was implying that the series gets less and less one sided the more recent you get.  And the matchup is happening less and less.  Don't get me wrong...that should be the case.  HD continues dropping in enrollment so they should lose to a school with twice as many kids.  But..Hardin is still one of worst teams in the land in their classification.  Either way...I stand firm that Hardin probably would've gotten this year.  I guess we'll never know.

Majority of the time HD was a smaller classification as well...

From 1988-present, H-D leads the series 13-5.
From 1988-97: HD 7, Hardin 0
From 1998-2007: HD 3, Hardin 3
From 2008-present: HD 3, Hardin 2

Oh Huntington by 6... 
 
 

Give me HD in a blowout 

I'm going with HD by 2 TD's. Good ole snot bubbles, smash mouth game! 
28-14 HD Nation! 

HD 34
WH 18

Prayers sent for all the high school football players, starting practice today in the Texas heat. Hydrate up! Water, Gatorade, Water and pickle juice! Heat index of 105 today!

Prayers sent for all the high school football players, starting practice today in the Texas heat. Hydrate up! Water, Gatorade, Water and pickle juice! Heat index of 105 today!

Prayers sent for all the high school football players, starting practice today in the Texas heat. Hydrate up! Water, Gatorade, Water and pickle juice! Heat index of 105 today!

Prayers sent for all the high school football players, starting practice today in the Texas heat. Hydrate up! Water, Gatorade, Water and pickle juice! Heat index of 105 today!

Just bring the usual, excuses and tissues.

Mackey played lol, HD's Dalton Robinett played  a good game against him, picking off a deep pass to Mackey at the end of the game. Mackey was a beast! 

Again, if you truly have a passion for something, you will let nothing stand between you and that goal. My son once had a coach that told him he was slow footed and wasn't going to make it. My son didn't listen. Today he plays college football. 

Why do the kids refuse to play for Coach Hodges?  Is he too tough on them or do they just not like discipline?  When my son played ball he could've cared less who the coach was, he just truly loves and enjoys the game and he still does. 

Trust me, I absolutely hate agreeing with OldSchool, especially in matters involving HD, but he is right. I was a part of the first of those Barbay teams, and while we had a big turnout for 2-a-days, we ended the season with 16 players on varsity. I was also a part of a senior class that had 50 people in it, which means that we almost double the amount of senior boys you are saying are available today. That alone makes his point. Barbay and Slack also coached at HD when our enrollment made us a 2A (new 3A) school, and we were able to compete at that level. Slack ushered us into 1A (new 2A) when we were one of the biggest 1A schools in the state of Texas. Frankly, if there was a chance to return to glory, that was our chance. Those teams Slack had in our first two years of 1A were loaded, and we just missed our chance. I do not know how to verify your Finney summer numbers, but I find it hard to believe that Finney turned out 50 kids in his first year at the helm. Maybe the second year because the excitement over the close playoff game with Alto had grabbed a few outliers, but not that first year. Apart from the transfer of the Lavallais boys, that first year team was in deep trouble. Finney did a great job, but I also remember him dealing with several undisciplined knuckleheads that I believe Hodges would not allow to play for him. I have a cousin who was a JV player during the Finney years, and I remember him not having a game that often. The reason wasn't that we didn't have a team, it was because the other schools we were competing with didn't have a team. The Sabine Passes, High Islands, and Colmesneil's of the world couldn't get the numbers together to have a team. Truth is, the enrollment of those schools in 2012-2013 is close to what we are fielding now.
My question now shifts to your comment that there is and always will be interest in coaching at HD. I agree with you, there are always guys looking for that first head coaching job and they will apply. I ask you to go back in time with me to the resignation of Russell Roberts. We are talking 1997 (or somewhere in there). I was finishing up my freshman year, and I was very interested in who they were going to bring in to steer the rest of my high school career. They hired a defensive coordinator from Alto named Randy Copeland, and that was an excellent hire. He was a great coach, a better man, and led the only team out of HD to win a playoff game in recent history. He also hired Darrell Barbay to be on his staff, and that proved profitable because after two years when Copeland took the job at Arp, his predecessor was waiting and willing to take the reins. Barbay was the coach my senior year, and it was great. Barbay was there for several years before leaving for Anahuac, and the powers that be hired home town boy Joe Slack. This was a very anticipated hire and most everyone was excited about it. It didn't go as well as planned and he eventually moved on allowing for the hiring of Josh Finney. Finney came to HD because of his relationship with the Huckaby family and because, by most accounts, he had worn out his welcome in East Texas and needed a fresh start. He was/is a great coach and brought instant credibility to the program, but due to family tragedy (which only expedited the exit because everyone is aware he was trying to get back to ETX), after two years he was gone. After that there was a groundswell of support drummed up for the returning Coach Hodges and after missing out on the job when Finney was hired, he was handed the keys to the vehicle, and we are now two years in.
This is why I recounted all of that. You have to go all the way back to the exit of Russell Roberts to find the last time that someone with no ties applied and made the conscious decision to move their family to HD to pursue coaching football here. That guy was Copeland (although some could argue that he might have been persuaded by Lucky Gamble to accept the HD job that Gamble accepted, then turned down for Alto, when Roberts was hired) and since then it has been a slow progression to get to the place we find ourselves now. When both Finney and Hodges were hired, the finalists were not guys with pedigrees, they were guys looking for that first shot any way they could get it.
My point is, if Hodges leaves, what is our plan to get a better coach? This is a guy who was been a head coach before, been a coordinator at high level schools in the triangle. A guy who has history with the town and really desires to be invested in the kids and community. Who replaces that? There are no Randy Copelands or Darrell Barbays knocking on this door anymore. We will start from scratch with the next guy and just pray he is better. Giving Hodges the time he needs is what I truly feel is the answer, not running him out of town for the next guy.
Also, I hear there is an old coach from the 80's talking about coming back if this job opens. I know that some people truly love him, but he is not a better option than Hodges. These are just my opinions and I do not mean to be offensive or upset anyone but I just think that the approach being taken against Hodges is not fruitful, and this petition could really be something that comes back to bite the entire community and the football program.

This actually may be the best post I've read in a while.