Pictured: Lone Star v. Wakeland matchup, Week 8. Photo Credit: Suad Bejtovic Photography
Lone Star (6-1, 4-0) VS Centennial (3-4, 3-1)
One of the great things about football is the intangibles that take place in spite of the cold, hard face of wins and losses.
Take the Centennial Titans for example. Their overall record, one game below .500, tells few truths when evaluating them. In many ways, the Titans are far from the tough luck team their overall record seems to indicate; they’re actually quite fortuitous.
At 3-1 heading into their Week 9 showdown, they stand a chance of moving into at least a share of second place, in 13-5A.
Over their first four district games, the Titans have hung, on average, a whopping 45 points per game. On the flip-side however, they have allowed an average of 38.1 ppg. Good fortune—you just can’t scheme against that.
Naturally, some of this is skewed due to the barn-burning fiasco of offense, the ridiculous, 69-66 victory in Week 7 versus the truly tough-luck Wolverines. Hey, hanging just shy of 70 points is impressive, perhaps made more remarkable by allowing just north of 65 points–and still getting the win.
To keep the good fortunes flying, the Titans are going to need to step up on defense to try and do what really no team has been able to do thus far this season—stop M.J. Rivers and company.
The Lone Star Rangers have a very tangible awesomeness that leads to their domination of the district. This isn’t something new; Lone Star has been a downhill wrecking ball of district destruction for several years now.
In their first four district games of the year, they’ve averaged 41.2 points per game, which is quite impressive, but not even close to as awe-inspiring as how their defense has played. In 13-5A play, the Rangers have surrendered an average of just 8.2 ppg. And over their last three games, a teeny-tiny 4.6 ppg.
Whoa boy.
So when it comes to taking down Lone Star you have to do that thing that sounds so simple: keep them from scoring, while putting your own points up by the bushel. No problem, right? Sounds as easy as how a professional bowler makes throwing strikes appear on television.
“Piece of cake!” you think. “All I have to do is just sling it right down the middle—with some gusto!” So you zip down to the local bowling alley, fling on your Velcro shoes, take down some nachos, and select a bowling ball best suited for those sausage fingers. You throw that hefty hunk straight down the middle with plenty of force and…BOOM! 9 of the 10 pins are still standing. It’s just not as easy as it looks.
https://youtu.be/epVuoj4mbxs
However, the Centennial Titans aren’t like you and I… They have plenty of talent. In fact, their formidable offense is led by the district’s top rusher, Hunter William (1,171 yds, 9 TDs) as well as dual-threat QB Weston Symes (1,193 combined yds, 15 TDs).
For the Titans to pick up that fourth district win of the season, it’s going to be an uphill climb. The Lone Star Rangers are easily one of the toughest teams they’ll face all season. But, the Titans have not only talent going for them, but good fortune to boot.
Let’s see if they can step right up to that lane and bowl a perfect strike. It could happen, tonight at Frisco Memorial Stadium, 7pm.
