District 1-4A and District 2-4A high school football resumes this Thursday night, Sept 24th, when Irvin meets Chapin at 7 p.m. at Burges High School’s new artificial turf field. District 1-5A action returns on Friday, Sept 25th with four games on the slate.
After two weeks of District 1-5A play, the usual suspects sport 2-0 records against the league. Defending champion, Montwood, and perennial playoff combatants, Franklin and Coronado, own perfect district records.
There are two surprise teams in District 1-5A so far this year. El Dorado is 2-0 and Hanks is 1-1. Jim Althoff’s El Dorado Aztecs, 2-0/ 3-1, are a real load for any opponent. Althoff has been the coach at El Dorado since its inception and has already compiled a 12-12 record which is excellent for a new school.
Hanks has put together a 3-1/ 1-1 record suffering its first district loss to Montwood 35-14. Hank’s new QB, Matt Reyes, has already passed for 1021 yards in four games. He has completed 69 passes out of 108 attempts with 14 touchdowns. Reyes has suffered 6 interceptions including 4 picks against Montwood this past week.
As long as Reyes can throw the football, Hanks is a playoff threat, but Reyes was taken by ambulance to the hospital on Thursday night after colliding with a Montwood player’s helmet. Reyes spent a lot of time in the emergency room of the hospital before being released .Head Coach, Jeff Cleveland did not return my phone calls to check on Reyes’ condition on Friday not wishing to discuss the severity of his quarterback’s condition. Unofficially, it is believed that Reyes suffered a concussion. Hanks plays El Dorado this Friday night and the Knights will need Reyes if they have any chance of winning. Late word: Hank’s coach, Jeff Cleveland assured KDBC-TV Sports Director, John Engleman, that QB Matt Reyes was ok and would play against El Dorado on Friday night.
Motwood visits Bel Air this Friday night in the 17th meeting between the Rams and Highlanders. Coronado and Eastwood will battle for the 37th time over at Trooper Stadium and Franklin journeys crosstown to play Socorro rounding out District 1-5A action.
Yours truly has picked 8 winners in District 1-5A play against no losses. Overall, I own a 10-2 mark predicting wins for an 83.3 winning percentage.
This week, I believe Montwood, Franklin, Coronado, and El Dorado will hit the winner’s circle.
In District 1-4A, Ruben Batista and his Austin Panthers will begin their defense of last year’s league championship when they host the always tough Andress Eagles. The unbeaten Panthers have won 14 out of their last 15 games. Allan Sepkowitz has had two weeks to correct his 1-2 team’s mistakes so this ought to be a dynamite game. I’ll take the Panthers until they are whipped. Chapin should handle Irvin, while Burges takes on Bowie at Burges and Jefferson travels to El Paso High. Burges should defeat Bowie and Jefferson should stop EPHS.
Canutillo travels across the mountain to battle Parkland to start District 2-4A play. The Co-champion Eagles of 2007 have played well in 2008 only losing to Austin 28-23. Co-champion Del Valle invades Ysleta, while winless and luckless Riverside welcomes San Elizario to Riverfront Stadium. The pre-season favorite to win District 2-4A faces a must win situation against San Elizario. Mt. View buses to Horizon rounding out District 2-4A play.
In District 2-4A, yours truly will take Canutillo, Del Valle, Riverside, and Mt. View to be victorious this week.
This will be a long Friday night because there are at least six homecoming dates on the schedule.