Wednesday, September 26, 2012

WEEK FOUR


WEEK FOUR

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER?

I really enjoy Six-Man and I really enjoy blogging about it. I really enjoy eating and for the most part I really enjoy my work as a field photographer for StreetDelivery. I really enjoy family as well. What I find in all of these things that I enjoy so much is they all take time. This past week I have been overdrawn on time. So goes the life of a 60 very soon to be 61 year old man that lacks time management skills. Enough about poor me.

Lots of people doing rankings now. i like that. I like that a lot! Here are mine.

WEEK FOUR RANKINGS
DI
IRA BULLDOGS
Water Valley
Valley
Throckmorton
Petersburg
Borden County
Oakwood
Abbott
Rankin
Meadow.        

DII
RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES
Milford
Motley County
Aspermont
Grandfalls
Follett
Jayton
Robert Lee
Jonesboro
 Strawn.        

Games of Interest (last week)
Water Valley was Granger's favorite to beat ACHS by 45. ACHS, though not as talented as last season's squad, is a good team. I laughed at the spread and publicly said on more than one occasion " that ain't gonna happen"! Final score: Water Valley 60 ACHS 14. 46 points difference I believe. That is just one more reason Granger is the GURU and I am the grunt!

Valley put it on Crowell by the score of 89-40. Valley is #3 in my poll while Crowell lurks just outside my top ten.
Rankin defeated Meadow 50-36. Lots of people tell me that Meadow is down this year and I have ranked them too high all season. I defend my picks.

WEEK FOUR GAMES OF INTEREST
Crowell at Petersburg
Throckmorton at Mötley County
Strawn at Gordon
Grandfalls at Loop
Valley at Dallas The Covenant (Saturday)

What time is it? SIX-MAN TIME!!!!!!!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Something Old Something New


Something Old Something New.

Old timers will remember the great Calvert comeback in a state championship several years ago. There have been others but Calvert’s is the most famous.

Just this week 0-2 Grady fell behind to 2-0 Sands by the score of 22-0. They still trailed 41-32 at the end of the 3rd Quarter. Grady did not quit and eventually won the game 44-41.

Not every comeback results in a win. In my number one game of interest for WEEK TWO, Oakwood trailed Milford 31-6 Friday night in Milford at the end of the 1st Quarter. Oakwood’s team showed no quit and trailed at the half 31-26. In the third Quarter of play Oakwood kept fighting and led the game 48-43 at the end of the period. The 4th Quarter saw three lead changes before Milford prevailed in the final SCORE 63-54. Both teams played hard throughout the contest as is reflected in the score. I hate to single out one player when there were many in this game but I do so anyways. Milford’s #3, the young man’s name is Jairus Russell, had quite a game. I don’t know what his stats were but he returned a kickoff for a TD that I could never explain to you the moves he made. The young man is fast for sure.

Another game of interest was the Throckmorton and Dallas Covenant game. Throckmorton led 24-20 at the end of the 1st Quarter according to information provided me by the Cowboy Network. The Greyhounds also led 46-28 at half time according to the Cowboy Network. The end of the 3rd Quarter saw Throckmorton still leading with the score 60-48 per the TimesRecordNews out of Wichita Falls. The TAPPS Division 1 #2 ranked  Dallas Covenant, a private school , outscored the UIL Division 1 #1 ranked Throckmorton 32-16 in the 4th and final quarter to win 80-76. Throckmorton had scored with little time left in the game to lead but Dallas Covenant stormed back with Clark Martin’s 3 yard run with only  seconds left to make the final score Dallas Covenant 80 Throckmorton 76.

Borden County Coyotes lost in WEEK ZERO to Crowell in the opening game of the Jayton Gridiron Classic. The loss knocked the Coyotes out of my Top Ten Preseason Poll. They faced the Rankin Red Devils, ranked #4, in a home game for the Coyotes. Borden County showed they are indeed a team to be reckoned with by teams in the West division. The Coyotes defeated the Red Devils of Rankin by the score of 82-54. Welcome back to the Top Ten.

Another game of interest for WEEK TWO was Motley County and Amherst. Motley County prevailed here 74 to 28.

Grandfalls appears to be proving themselves every week. They beat Fort Davis 50 – 0. I thought this would be a much closer game.

Last but not least as we review WEEK TWO games of interest, Water Valley defeated Robert Lee 88-39. This was a inter divisional game featuring ranked teams.

Speaking of ranked teams it is time to show my WEEK THREE RANKINGS.

D1

1.       IRA BULLDOGS

2.       Valley

3.       Water Valley

4.       Throckmorton

5.       Meadow

6.       Rankin

7.       Oakwood

8.       Sterling City

9.       Abbott

10.   Borden County

D2

1.       RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES

2.       Milford

3.       Jonesboro

4.       Motley County

5.       Grandfalls

6.       Aspermont

7.       Follett

8.       Robert Lee

9.       Jayton

10.   Strawn

WEEK THREE GAMES OF INTEREST

Water Valley at Abilene Christian

Valley at Crowell

Rankin at Meadow

 

Go watch a Six-Man game somewhere! You will be glad you did.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Don Hardin

Abilene, Texas

 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

WEEK TWO Here we are!

Well WEEK ZERO and WEEK ONE are just like George Washington. They are HISTORY.

Found my way to Hermleigh on Thursday night and Abilene Christian on Friday night. If it were not for the fact one of the grandbabies had a birthday on Saturday I would have gone to a game somewhwere then. For those scoring at home, I have seen 11 games in the first two weeks of the season.

WEEK TWO looks like a great slate of games. Before we dive in let's look backwards for just a moment at last week's game I deemed as GAMES OF INTEREST.

1.) WOW!!!!!! I picked the Milford and Abbott games as the first of 5 games I thought would be entertaining for various reasons. Each team entered the contest with me having them ranked # 4 in their respective Divisions, I and II. I was correct as Milford won a wild one over Abbott by the score of 44-42.

2.) I ranked Newcastle in my preseason TOP TEN in D II. In fact, I had them #3 then # 6 as they faced Abilene Christian. Abilene Christian while not appearing to be as strong as last year's team is no slouch. They defeated Newcastle 62 -20in Abilene. Now I am wondering if the 0-2 Bobcats of Newcastle are a D II Top 10 team or not.

3.) Aquilla should be a good team this year. I almost had them ranked in the D i Top 10 a week ago but I had a question about them. I watched Dallas Covenant go down in defeat to Abbott in WEEK ZERO at Hico. They looked solid in defeat but I had questions about them too.. The match up between Aquilla and Dallas Covenant caught my eye and I felt would help me reason things out in my own mind. It took Covenant all of two quarters to answer the questions in my mind about both teams. Covenant won 46-0.

4.) D I #1 ranked Throckmorton was taking on D II #8 Follett. I usually go with a D I over a D II team just because. The intrigue here for me was you just never know until the game has been played. Case in point is the first game we discussed in this blog. D II takes down D I. When I was a kid and that was when the earth was still cooling down, the general thought pattern was no private school could stay on the field with a public school. That has changed. It has changed a lot. Please refer to the second game we have talked about. It is a long trip from Throckmorton to Follett but no surprise here as Throckmorton clobbers Follett 56-8.

5.) Ranking teams to me is more than a computer that you feed information into. It requires a human touch. My human touch is no match for a super computer I know. Probably not even a match for a broken computer. Meadow is a perennial powerhouse that I don't often pick against. Paducah defeated a, now I am not so sure about but thought was a solid team, Newcastle last week. I picked Meadow by 12 and was intrigued to see how it would go. Meadow 57 Paducah 30. I am still trying to figure out both teams.

Last but not least was a game between Spur and Ropes. A person that I respect said "a team that is going to surprise you is Spur". I figure Ropes will be a playoff team again. Guess what? Spur wins 59-42. Was it an upset? Jury is still out.

The rankings for WEEK TWO had to change with what happened in WEEK ONE.

Here we go with Don Hardin's S.E.E Six-Man News TOP TENs for WEEK TWO.

DI
1. Throckmorton
2. Ira
3. Valley
4. Rankin
5. Meadow
6. Sterling City
7. Oakwood
8. Water Valley
9. Abbott
10. Gordon

D II
1. Richland Springs
2. Jonesboro
3. Milford
4. Motley County
5. Aspermont
6. Grandfalls
7. Jayton
8. Follett
9. Amherst
10.Strawn

The answer is YES! I have SIX Games of Interest for WEEK TWO.
Oakwood at Milford
Dallas Covenant at Throckmorton
Rankin at Throckmorton
Amherst at Motley County
Grandfalls at Fort Davis
Robert Lee at Water Valley

Get you some Six-Man football this week. IT IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for reading.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

WEEK ZERO REFLECTIONS


STUDS and STEPPERS

You know this to be true but I hit on it anyways. Six-Man Football is a team sport. Win as a team or lose as a team, you are a team. It is difficult for one player to carry a team. I agree every team has a dominant player and when he is on his game he can make a powerful impact. Truthfully speaking, then it must be equally true that if the “stud” is not on his game, that too will produce a huge impact even though it will be negative.

That will happen. When the stud becomes a dud trouble is brewing unless someone “steps up”. I believe I have already said this is a team sport. When another player(s) step up there is still a chance that a win can be salvaged.  Without “steppers”, defeat will surely come. I say all this to say this, know your role on the team young man.

So you are not the stud you can certainly be a stepper. Ok, pay attention to this. If your teams stud studs and the steppers step consistently, you may well have a special season. If your stud studs and your steppers don’t, you will win some and lose some and in the meantime your stud breaks his back trying to carry the team. If your stud doesn’t stud and your steppers don’t step consistently, the proverbial plow gets cleaned.

IMPRESSED

I watched 18 teams this past weekend. The team that impressed me most in WEEK ZERO actually lost their game. It appeared to me that the Gordon Longhorns did not have a stud. Boy! They did have a team. Six steppers or more. They played as a team on offense and defense. I will predict the Longhorns are going to have a great season.

SPECTATOR

I was a spectator at two wonderful events this past weekend. Thursday and Friday I saw five games played in Jayton at their 9th Annual Gridiron Classic. Five games was not enough. On Saturday I found my way to the 9th Annual Hico Six-Man Super Saturday to watch four more games. How do they do it? How can they be so successful year in and year out? Volunteers are a big reason. Another reason, the organizers of these events do not rest on their laurels. They don’t rest period. Jayton and Hico organizers are already working on their TENTH ANNUAL EVENTS!!!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

WOW WHAT A WEEK WEEK ZERO

What do you do? You have set around all off season and griped and moaned about no football to watch and then WEEK ZERO rolls around. I don't know about you but I went to watch FOOTBALL!

Kick Off Classics abounded in WEEK ZERO. I could have gone to the one in Happy, or Zephyr, or McCamey. I would have enjoyed any of those. I chose to go to Jayton and Hico. Both put on their 9th Anuual events. Coach Stanaland and the Jayton group put on a great one. The host could have let my Lueders-Avoca Raiders score. It seems they carried some real hard feelings about LA beating them for the district title last season. The final was 48-0 if you really need to know. Something you definitely need to know is this Jayton team is good. Very good. Can I say they are a team to be reckoned with by D2 as a whole? I know. I know one game does not a season make but trust me on this. Jayton ain't no slackers! They run well, they throw well, and they tackle well. They are going to win lots of games this season.

Thursday night got started with the Crowell Wildcats taking on the Borden County Coyotes. I thought this would be a great game. A friend of mine that has "his toy" he uses to predict the outcome favored BC by 45 points. Sometimes there are folks that "don't get it"'. I guess that might be the case in this game. Crowell with a different head coach from last year fell behind in the first quarter something like 22-6. They continued to trail at the half 44-30. Something clicked during halftime and the Wildcats came out and out scored the Coyotes 38-0 in the third quarter. They would finish off the Coyotes for the night out scoring Borden County 53 to 16 in the second half and taking the game by the score of 83-60. Turnovers and being gassed before half time took a toll on the Coyotes. The Wildcats played rabid defense in the third quarter especially.

The second game on Thursday had the defending state champion Throckmorton Greyhounds taking on what many think are an upcoming Six-Man powerhouse, the Rotan Yellowhammers. Those of us who faithfully read the Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine read the 2012 version that said this Rotan club has speed. It is true. They have some fast cats. The game went the distance with the Greyhounds winning by the score 78-40. Sounds fairly impressive for the simple fact this was Rotan's inaugural game in Six-Man. I will state here and now that Throckmorton enjoyed a lead of 44-8 at the end of the first quarter and played the entire bench.

Friday night I watched a most entertaining game between to good clubs, the D1 Paducah Dragons and the D2 Newcastle Bobcats. When I say good I mean both are meaner than rattlesnakes and tougher than shoe leather. There were lots of lead changes in this one. In the end due to two defensive stops, one in the third quarter and one in the 4th quarter that turned the ball over on downs, Paducah won a hard fought game by the score of 62 to 56.

Friday night game 2 I watch a Highland Hornet team take on Motley County. Coach Shelton's Hornets are looking to better their season record from over the last couple of years. This game though not a win was certainly a learning experience for Highland. Motley County last year's state finalist has not lost any intensity from last year's squad. Mike Bigham, HC for the Motley crew squeezes out all the effort each of his players have inside them. He has done that for years. He keeps those kids fired up to play football if they are in the game or on the sideline. He is a hard man to please even in victory but he is respected by his players and they give all they have week in and week out.

The third game on Friday night involved the home town Jayton Jaybirds hosting last season's Bi-District champions Lueders-Avoca Raiders. This was lots closer to a massacre than a football game. The Raiders boast a squad of predominately sophomores. They are not very big but they have lots of fight in them. They hit hard and they take hard hits. By the time district games roll around the Raiders will be improved.

I found my way to Hico on Saturday to their 9th Annual Six-Man Super Saturday. It appeared that the attendance was down from years gone by but the event was still like a family reunion to me. I was able to meet up with old friends and family and enjoy six-man football all at the same time. It doesn't get better than that. Dr Pepper was this year's sponsor.

The first game was between the Ira Bulldogs and the Gordon Longhorns. Both teams proved they are worthy of being state ranked ball clubs. This day the Ira Bulldogs did not play at the level they intend to and will in later games. Even so, they won a close hard fought game 28-24. The Longhorns played extremely well and could have easily won the game. Lance Morris scored on a 74 yard run with 4 seconds left in the first quarter for the first score of the game. With four seconds left in the game Ira scored to take the lead and the win. Even in the loss, Gordon impressed.

Game two in Hico saw Abbott take the win 44 to 36 over a talented Dallas Covenant. I myself have tabbed Abbott to make their way to the state championship game from the East bracket of D1. Dallas Covenant is one of the top three teams in TAPPS D1. This loss certainly should not hurt their ranking.

Game three in Hico saw the Strawn Greyhounds defeat Walnut Springs by the score of 52-6. Strawn had a terrible season a year ago based on injuries. The Strawn team made the playoffs last season even though they might have been healthy only two weeks out of the season. They were healthy for this game.

The last game of the day was an exciting game featuring two highly ranked teams from their respective D1 and D2 slots. Jonesboro got out big on Valley but the Patriots overcame the Eagles lead and won this contest 37-28. Both of these teams will go deep in the playoffs.

Nine games in three days. WOW! I am blessed.

WEEK ZERO had six games that I was really excited about and were my games of the week.
Ira 28 Gordon 24
Valley 37 Jonesboro 28
Abbott 44 Dallas Covenant 36
Throckmorton 78 Rotan 40
Bulverde Bracken Christian 56 Austin Hill Country 6 SHOCKER

Don Hardin's WEEK ONE Rankings

D1
1. Throckmorton
2. Ira
3. Valley
4. Abbott
5. Gordon
6. Rankin
7. Meadow
8. Water Valley
9. Crowell
10 Sterling City

D2
1. Richland Springs
2. Jonesboro
3. Motley County
4. Milford
5. Aspermont
6. Newcastle
7. Grandfalls
8. Follett
9. Jayton
10. Amherst

WEEK ONE GAMES OF INTEREST
Milford at Abbott
Newcastle @ Abilene Christian
Dallas Covenant @ Aquila
Throckmorton @ Follett
Meadow @ Paducah
Spur @ Ropes

Thanks for reading.