griff

Lol...good one, Mike.

LOL...Always gotta get in that dig at Silsbee.

A portion of my original post was editted by one of the moderators, not me. I've got no problem with him doing that. The comment made was accurate and true. There is nothing to walk back. I'm not confident that you know what "reasonable" is by inserting "protesting at military funerals".

Good grief...what a STRETCH. Asking to have this moved to a more appropriate thread and you equivocate that to protesting military funerals? Your thought process shows how shallow your mind is. Total absence of rationalization. You are WAAAYYY off base with that stupid assumption.

There is nothing to applaud here. I hope the moderators remove this thread. It belongs in the "political and social commentary section" (if there is one), but not here in the high school sports forum.

In the last few years, I have made this exact point on this message board about more than a few teams being unwilling (downright DECLINING) to play WO-S, while they had the opportunity to agree to play. Several posters did not believe me, but now we see the information has gone public. Coach T has never been one to toot his own horn or try to get public attention for himself. But since the Bmt Enterprise decided to do this article, now everyone knows what at least a few of us have known for years. This same problem has existed for WO-S since the Dan Hooks years, but the difficulty to schedule teams has never been higher than it is now.

Why does anyone from the Golden Triangle/SETX buy into the "east of the Trinity" and "west of the Trinity" nonsense? It's only a fantasy dividing line from a few folks in BH and Crosby. Spend any amount of time around local sports fans in the Houston area, even the east side, and NO ONE will mention the magical Trinity marker. They will mostly refer to "the Beaumont area". The Trinity doesn't even come to mind.

He's not retiring.

If the only game you watched from WO-S was the SC game, then I can see how you would think that. That was an anomaly because of decent defensive play by Sweetwater, two turnovers deep in the red zone, and our QB having an off day with his throwing. The offense averaged about 50 points per game. You also have to consider our excellent special teams play. It's all part of the game. Again, I don't believe WO-S could have won 5A, but to say they didn't have the offense to hang with them is short-sighted.

My source came straight from the horse's mouth. The Kilgore HC changed his mind after talking to Surrat. THIS year, yeah WO-S would have gone undefeated in your district, especially seeing how Carthage squeaked by Silsbee. This year's east Texas playoff reps were underwhelming.

It's funny you say this because Coach Thompson has recently tried to schedule preseason games with Carthage, Kigore, Gilmer, and a few other yearly playoff teams. With all of the trouble we've had to find opponents, Coach Thompson had to start looking outside not only our area, but our region. That is why the Kennedale match up was made. When Coach Thompson made contact with the Kilgore HC, he was open to the idea. Shortly afterward,the Kilgore HC had a chat with Coach Surrat who told him that WO-S was the hardest hitting team he had ever played. The next time Kilgore's coach spoke with Coach Thompson, he declined the invitation. Interesting, isn't it? That "week in and week out" and "takes a toll" works both ways. WO-S would have gone undefeated in your district this year and last year, too.

The only legitimate competition WO-S faced was in the state championship game. If WO-S had played in the local 5A district, I believe they would have won every game. They would not have pulled starters in some of them, but same results nonetheless. We saw glimpses of what would have been based on the game against Nederland and the scrimmages against Vidor and PNG. Concerning the loss to Richmond Foster...that wasn't just any 5A team. Foster lost to last year's state champion by only 7 points and they made it to the 5th round in this year's playoffs. They were one of the best in all of 5A for the last two seasons and would have whipped everyone in 22-5A. I'm not one to say WO-S could win 5A (or 6A, which is silly), but I do think they would at least make a strong run in the 5A playoffs and probably lose in the late rounds. The point being made about WO-S' depth would not be the reason - not THIS year. WO-S had 39 kids on the roster. Only one of them saw significant playing time on offense and defense. There were 3-4 others who played on one side and saw occasional spot duty on the other side of the ball. Depth on THIS year's team was a strength. After watching the state championship games over the weekend, I can conclude with confidence there is no way WO-S could beat DeSoto and would get blown out by Lake Travis. They would make a competitive opponent for Highland Park and Temple. Probably lose to The Woodlands and Cibolo Steele. But, in the end, who cares. We are assigned to 4AD2 for good reason and all of this 5A conjecture is just fantasy football. A cool compliment was made by Rick Renner saying WO-S was "the best pound-for-pound high school football team in Texas." It's an honor to be thought of in that way.

But Coach Thompson's workout regimen and practices have NOT changed since the 80's.

Agreed, and WO-S definitely would have scored more against Gilmer than Sweetwater, even with JD having an off day as he did.

I saw you on the jumbotron. Can't miss you with that Vidor T-shirt.

Absolutely right!

There should be one or two Mustangs on the offense list, but I have no beef with the Jeff Matthews pick (Surprised Robanadana?). Vidor wins (a share of) disctrict for the first time in 30+ years beating Memorial in the process. Nice job, Pirates and Coach Matthews.

Much easier said than done.

THIS is the reason WO-S can play a smaller defensive front line. Some people think this is like the NCAA or NFL where you have to have a defensive front that is just as big or comparable in size to compete with a big offensive line. Not true in the way WO-S plays. Navarro had two huge 300+ pounders at tackle, big guards and a center with good size, too. WO-S whipped those boys at the line of scrimmage. It was the same way against Celina last year. This is all accomplished because the players are taught good technique in the use of their hands and feet, as well as an uncompromising demand on all 11 players to pursue the ball carrier. In a nutshell, that is the secret to WO-S's defensive success spanning all of the years Cornel Thompson has been here.

Watching on TV? Now you have a real reason to sit on our side. Find some blue and silver wear in your closet and come root for us. BTW...the WO-S fans (NOT speaking for the players) were hoping for a Gilmer rematch. One day it will happen. We will be ready for Sweetwater.

I do know this to be a fact. Coach Matthews has declined to play WO-S multiple times in recent two-year scheduling cycles. I've mentioned this more than once in the past. I thought you would have asked ole Jeff by now. He simply doesn't want to schedule WO-S in a real game. When a coach turns down that opportunity over and over, it's obvious. It takes both coaches to agree to play. As it stands, only one is willing.

Why do that when Vidor could play WO-S? Did you ever ask Jeff why he keeps declining to play us in a real game? Scheduling a team from out of state when you have an available opponent in neighboring Orange County is ridiculous.

WO-S fans are truly grateful for the support of other schools for this game, especially those in our own district and throughout the Golden Triangle. I have one request for these other schools - wear your team's colors and/or jackets so we can identify you. We want to thank you when you are spotted at the game. We want to pack our side of the stadium and make more noise than the Navarro side. Again, the support is much appreciated.

You missed my point. I said 1) it is rare for a SLOT-T offensive team to win state, not a running based team. Also, this kind of offense has to have dominant lineman to win the whole thing...dominant lineman, not good linemen. 2) Everyone is not hooked on the spread. For goodness sake...it seems like half the teams in setx run that archaic offense (slot-T) and they almost never make a deep playoff run. What makes this scenario even sillier is that I think some of the coaches who run this offense would do so even if they had Earl Thomas or Deion Beasley on the team. It's all they know.

Those are the exceptions. It is quite uncommon now to see a slot-T team win it all, especially 4A - 6A.