WEEK TEN

WEEK TEN


My emotions are running high this week. Looking at it as the proverbial good news, bad
news point of view, well we are a week away from the playoffs and all the excitement
that comes with that. Good news for certain. Bad news? WEEK TEN will be the end of
the season for lots of teams. Worse news is for seniors on those teams that don't
advance not only does the season end but most likely so does their career as a football
player. Some of those kids have been playing since peewee days.


I remember my high school coach telling our team that playing your last game is hard.
That did not faze me too much then. Later, I knew exactly what he meant. The season is
already over for some. Cherish the memories right now and in the future. I applaud the
effort of everyone of you. Thank your coaches, parents, and fans for being part of your
life and dreams.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

There are a few districts that playoff positions are determined. The other seedings will
be determined with the results of this weekend, some outright others perhaps by tie
breakers. Let the good times roll!!!


RESULTS OF WEEK NINE GAMES OF INTEREST
Ropes at Anton. Ropes won this game by 30 points. Final score of 76 to 46. The ropes
win was legit. In times past, ropes has had some let downs after defeating district rival
Meadow. Not this year.


Knox City at Crowell. KC needed a win bad to make playoffs. Crowell stunned the world
back in WEEK ZERO defeating Borden County 83-60. The Wildcats dropped games
against playoff bound Valley and Petersburg in back to back weeks then suffered a loss
in district play to the defending state champions Throckmorton Greyhounds by a 30
point margin. most likely Crowell will get Ira in the first round of the playoffs. There are
still games to be played before that is for certain.

May at Zephyr. Zephyr wins 38-16.

LANCE MORRIS WATCH
Ira defeated HIghland in a Thursday night game 52-2 as Lance continues to chase Ken
Hall's career mark of 11232 yards. Lance gained 147 yards on seven carries leaving
him at 10984 yards according to my numbers. He needs 249 yards to become the
Texas All-Time Career Leading Rusher. Mr. Hall's record has stood for 59 years. Rotan
won their second district game on Friday night and that sets up the game with Ira for the
district championship this Friday in Rotan. Both schools will advance to the playoffs.


WEEK TEN GAME OF INTEREST
Mötley County at Groom


WEEK TEN S.E.E. SIX-MAN NEWS RANKINGS


D I
1. IRA BULLDOGS
2. Valley
3. Water Valley
4. Throckmorton
5. Abbott
6. Borden County
7. Petersburg
8. Rankin
9. Crowell
10. Oakwood


D II
1. RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES
2. Milford
3. Jonesboro
4. Grandfalls-Royalty
5. Aspermont
6. Robert Lee
7. Motley County
8. Follett
9. Groom
10. Strawn

Come back next week as we break down the playoff games.

Don Hardin
Abilene, Texas
Home of Six-Man Central

WEEK NINE ALL IS FINE

WEEK NINE

Can it possibly be we have toiled through WEEK EIGHT? It is true!

Looking back at the WEEK EIGHT GAMES OF INTEREST………….

Jayton went to Aspermont and got stung. Aspermont 63 Jayton 18.

Nazareth played at Miami and the Warriors beats the Swifts 100 to 70.

Highland went to Rotan and got hammered. Yellowhammers win 76-62

Milford went to Trinidad and beat the Trojans 72-26

New Home went to Wilson and the Leopards went home a 54-8 winner.

WEEK NINE S.E.E. SIX-MAN NEWS RANKINGS

D I

1.       IRA BULLDOGS

2.       Valley

3.       Water Valley

4.       Throckmorton

5.       Borden County

6.       Abbott

7.       Rankin

8.       Petersburg

9.       Oakwood

10.   Ropes

D II

1.       RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES

2.       Milford

3.       Jonesboro

4.       Grandfalls-Royalty

5.       Aspermont

6.       Motley County

7.       Robert Lee

8.       Strawn

9.       Groom

10.   Loop

WEEK NINE GAME OF INTEREST

Ropes at Anton

Knox City at Crowell

May at Zephyr

LANCE MORRIS WATCH

Lance only carried the ball four times against Hermleigh Friday night. He did manage to gain 171 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns. Not a bad night! My totals show he is currently at 10837 yards in his career. Ken Hall of Sugarland in the eleven-man version rushed for 11232 yards. My math says he needs 396 yards to break that record. It MIGHT happen this THURSDAY night in Ira as they host Highland. It seems almost certain that if he does not get the records this week it would fall in Rotan in WEEK TEN.

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don Hardin

Abilene, Texas

Home of Six-Man Central

WEEK EIGHT

WEEK EIGHT

A PEEK BACK AT WEEK SEVEN

Key Games Results

Petersburg at Valley - This was a key D I District 2 contest between two TOP TEN TEAMS. Valley wins 79-44 to gain a foot hold at winning this tough district.

 

Throckmorton at Crowell - This was an early key matchup in D I District 8 between defending State Champions Throckmorton and a strong upstart Crowell team. Throckmorton wins on the road 80-50.

 

Ropes at Meadow -This D I District 3 tilt was not just a district game but a rivalry game to boot. Ropes travels down the road and defeats Meadow 48-37.  

 

Aspermont at Spur- A Top Ten D II team found their way to a tough D I school to do battle. D II Aspermont comes away with a victory over Spur by the score of 56-21. Both teams will now have to prepare for District opponents.

 

McLean at Nazareth- These teams opened D I District 1 play Friday night. This would be Nazareth’s first district game in Six-Man as this is their inaugural season in the sport. They have played a very tough schedule for the most part and it appears the lumps they have taken prepared them well for the games that count. Nazareth gets the win 48-0.

 

WEEK EIGHT S.E.E. SIX-MAN NEWS RANKINGS

D I

1.       IRA BULLDOGS

2.       Valley

3.       Water Valley

4.       Throckmorton

5.       Borden County

6.       Rankin

7.       Abbott

8.       Zephyr

9.       Petersburg

10.   Ropes

 

D II

1.       RICHLAND SPRINGS

2.       Milford

3.       Jonesboro

4.       Grandfalls-Royalty

5.       Motley County

6.       Aspermont

7.       Robert Lee

8.       Follett

9.       Jayton

10.   Strawn

 

WEEK EIGHT GAMES OF INTEREST WITH DISTRICT PLAY IN FULL SWING

 

Jayton at Aspermont D II District 9

Nazareth at Miami D I District 1

Highland at Rotan D I District 7

Milford at Trinidad D II District 16

New Home at Wilson D II District 4

 

LANCE MORRIS WATCH

 

Lance Morris resumes his record rushing march as Ira hosts the Hermleigh Cardinals in a D 1 District 7 contest. He needs 567 yards rushing to break a record set by Ken Hall set in the early 1950’s.

 

Come back for WEEK NINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Don Hardin

Abilene, Texas

Home of Six-Man Central

WEEK SEVEN

FEELING LUCKY? THIS IS WEEK SEVEN!!!!!!!!!

WEEK SEVEN may be better known as OPEN WEEK. Lots of folks not playing this
week. There are some key games never the less.

Petersburg at Valley
Throckmorton at Crowell
Ropes at Meadow
Aspermont at Spur
McLean at Nazareth

Looking sdrawkcab (backwards, backwards) to WEEK SIX Game of the Week
Gordon at RICHLAND SPRINGS
I don't have a favorite team as I follow roughly 135 Six-Man teams. I certainly wish
no harm on any team. I had a gut feeling that Gordon just might beat RICHLAND
SPRINGS and if and I do mean if, RICHLAND SPRINGS got beat on their home field, I wanted to be there.
Nothing against the Coyotes, it was strictly from the historical nature of the event had it
happened. I might be wrong but I think the last time a team beat RICHLAND SPRINGS
at home was back in 2001. 2001!!! That is why I said it would be historical IF they lost at home.
The honest truth is the Coyotes have only been beaten SEVEN time since that home
loss in 2001. They have FIVE UNDEFEATED YEARS since 2001 six if you count their 7
wins against no losses this season.
What the heck. Let' s go back one more time all the way to 2000.
2000 7-3
2001 13-2
2002 12-1
2003 13-1
2004 15-0
2005 13-1
2006 14-0
2007 14-0
2008 10-1
2009 11-2
2010 15-0
2011 15-0
2012 7-0
Just for the record from 2000 through 7 games this season the RICHLAND SPRINGS
COYOTES ARE 159-11. Between 2004 and 2005 they had a 28 game winning streak.
Between 2006 and 2008 they had a 38 game winning streak and between 2010
and now they are working on a 37 game winning streak if my numbers are correct.
Impressive! No, IMPRESSIVE!!!!!!

BTW, RICHLAND SPRINGS defeated Gordon last Friday night by the score of 92-44.
The game was tied 38-38 with 5:19 left in the 2nd Quarter. Gordon entered the game
with a couple of injuries and lost four more during this game. If and buts.......RICHLAND
SPRINGS WON 92-44 with 12 men of steel suited up.

LANCE MORRIS WATCH
WEEK FIVE, as you will recall, Lance rushed 18 times for 252 yards against Paducah giving him the All-Time Career Rushing mark in Six-Man football at 10476 yards.

WEEK SIX in a 52-0 half time win against Fort Davis Lance rushed 9 times for 190
yards adding to his career mark. The record now stands at 10666 yards leaving Lance
567 yards short of breaking the great Ken Hall's Eleven-Man mark, 11232 yards.

Ira and Lance are OPEN for WEEK SEVEN. The Bulldogs return to action October 26th
when they host the Cardinals of Hermleigh at 7:30 PM.


Speaking of WEEK SEVEN, lets get to this week's rankings.

D I
1. IRA BULLDOGS
2. Water Valley
3. Valley
4. Throckmorton
5. Petersburg
6. Borden County
7. Crowell
8. Abbott
9. Rankin
10. Meadow

D II
1. RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES
2. Milford
3. Jonesboro
4. Motley County
5. Grandfalls-Royalty
6. Aspermont
7. Robert Lee
8. Follett
9. Strawn
10. Jayton

SIDEBAR

Had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with my good friend Leman Saunders and his
fiancé this week. Leman gave me a copy of the book Six-Man Football The Streamlined
Game written by Stephen Epler the originator of Six-Man football. It was written in 1938
and is very interesting. Thank you Leman!!

Don Hardin
Abilene, Texas
Home of Six-Man Central

COME BACK NEXT WEEK FOR WEEK EIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK SIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS WEEK SIX (already)!!!!!

Sorry I am late posting this. WORK is a four letter word.

 

Going right to the rankings.

DI

1. IRA BULLDOGS
2. Water Valley
3. Valley
4. Throckmorton
5. Petersburg
6. Abbott
7. Borden County
8. Rankin
9. Crowell
10. Gordon

 

DII

1. RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES

2. Milford
3. Jonesboro
4. Grandfalls-Royalty
5. Motley County
6. Aspermont
7. Follett
8. Strawn
9. Jayton
10. Groom

 

LANCE MORRIS OF IRA

HE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lance Morris is now your ALL TIME LEADER RUSHER IN SIX-MAN FOOTBALL!!!!!!

Last Friday night October 5th, 2012 in Paducah against the Dragons Lance carried the
football 18 times for 252 yards rushing giving him 10476 career rushing yards and eclipsing
the previous record of 10468 yards held by Petey Saliaz of Mullin 1992-95.
Every yard he gains from now own will add to the record.

The rest of the regular season schedule for Ira takes them to Garden City on

SATURDAY OCTOBER 13th against Fort Davis with game time set for 6:00 PM.

Ira has an OPEN DATE in WEEK SEVEN.
Ira will open District play at home on October 26th against Hermleigh
Home again on November 1st against Highland.
The last regular season contest will be played in Rotan on November 9th.

 KEN HALL of then Class B Eleven-Man in Sugarland (1950-1953) owns the Texas High School Career Rushing Record 11232 yards.

 

RECAP OF LAST WEEK's Games of Interest
Throckmorton trailed Windthorst 7-0 at he half played as Eleven- Man. The second half

was played under Six-Man rules and the over all score showed Throckmorton winning

46-21.

 Ira defeated Paducah 56-6 called in the third.

Water Valley defeated Borden County in a tough one 60-52.

Miami defeated Groom 70-64 in OT.

Robert Lee defeated Garden City 32-14

 

WEEK SIX GAME OF INTEREST

 

GORDON AT RICHLAND SPRINGS

If you are so inclined I believe you can listen to this game on the Internet at

www.microplexnews.com

 

I LOVE SIX-MAN! Catch a game this week!!

 

Don Hardin

Abilene, TX

Six-Man Central

Do You Love Six-Man?

Do you know my friend Granger Huntress? I bet you do. He is the Six-Man GURU. He is a very talented guy and wears many hats. As Six-Man fans, you know him best for his web site, sixmanfootball.com  perhaps better known as THE BIBLE OF SIX-MAN FOOTBALL IN TEXAS.

Granger ranks EVERY team in Texas playing the sport we all love. Last count shows a total of 253 schools. Ranking that many schools is unbelievable. He does this with the help of a computer that most of us jokingly refer to as " the toy".  The time spent chasing down schedules, then getting scores for every game, then feeding the information into his computer.....few understand the work and the time he pours into "our" sport.

I love Six-Man and wish that I could see all of the 71 D1 schools and all of the 64 D2  schools play. Impossible! Can't do it. I don't dislike private schools or Independents but I have my hands full with the public schools. Living in Abilene, sixmancentral, is a blessing and a curse.

I usually choose a game based on what I feel has the makings of a great game. It could be two winless teams going at each other. Most likely I choose games with highly ranked teams playing each other. I also consider if I believe there is some kind of historical nature involved. All criteria taken into account, I am often conflicted when deciding. This week I am conflicted. I so want to be in Windthorst Friday night to see them take on Throckmorton. The first half of the game will be played as an eleven-man game. The second half will then be played as a Six-Man game. How often does that happen? On the other hand it is quite possible Lance Morris of Ira will break the career rushing mark in Paducah. Borden County travels to Water Valley in what should be a great game. Decisions, decisions.

Just for fun I put together a ten team watch group. These 10 teams intrigue me for various reasons. Some are playing Six-Man for the 1st time this season while others I am drawn in by their coach.

Anton 3-2
Campbell 1-4
Chester 1-4
High island 3-1
Lingleville 3-2
Marfa 2-3
Mt. Calm 3-2
Nazareth 1-4
Rotan 0-4
Savoy 5-0

All in all, I love Six-Man football.

Don Hardin
Abilene

WEEK FIVE ROLLING RIGHT A LONG

WEEK FIVE WE ARE MOVING RIGHT A LONG

Quickly, looking back to WEEK FOUR, two things immediately jump out at me.

First is the accomplishment of Lance Morris of Ira. To the best of my knowledge, Lance on Friday night became just the second player from the Six-Man ranks to rush for more than 10000 yards in their career. More later in this blog.

Second thing that jumped out at me from WEEK FOUR was the private school Dallas The Covenant taking down yet another highly ranked public school.

RESULTS OF WEEK FOUR GAMES OF INTEREST

Valley at Dallas The Covenant

An extremely talented Valley team that I had ranked #3 in D1 made their way to Dallas on Saturday to take on DALLAS THE COVENANT. If you remember, the Knights of Covenant knocked off then ranked #1 Throckmorton on the Greyhounds home turf a couple of weeks ago raising eyebrows across the state in both the ranks of private schools and public schools. Weather conditions did not do this game justice as it was played in the rain. Thankfully Covenant as a great artificial turf field or it could have been worse. In the end, Covenant’s #2, Colby Boozer proved to be the difference maker as he returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. With just 2 seconds left in the first half, Colby intercepted a pass returning it 77 yards for a touchdown. The final score was a 12 point victory for Covenant 36 to 24.

Crowell at Petersburg

Petersburg remained undefeated beating Crowell in a hard fought game by the score of 33-26. Crowell slips to 3-2. I was anxious to see how Crowell would respond from their lop-sided loss to Valley the week before. There is still some fight in the Wildcats.

Throckmorton at Motley County

This game featured D1 Throckmorton who I had ranked #4 going into the game against #3 D2 Motley County. The game was pretty tightearly. Being tied 6 to 6 then 12 to 12.  Throckmorton eventually won 58-12.

Strawn at Gordon

This yearly matchup is generally regarded as the best rivalry game in Six-Man. It really doesn’t matter what the team’s record are going into this game because they are going to get after each other like it is the state championship. Gordon managed to win this game 36 to 34 though the wild final play could have easily changed the outcome. Leading by 2 facing 4^th down, the snap went over the head of the Gordon played into the end zone. A Gordon player picked up the ball and got outside to the 5 yard line and time expired. It could have been a safety most certainly forcing OT or Strawn could have recovered for the winning touchdown. What it was was a victory for Gordon in yet another classic game between these two fine programs.

Grandfalls at Loop

This game intrigued me because Grandfalls was undefeated and Loop has played some good ball but I just was not sure how good they really might me. Grandfalls knows how to take out the intrigue of this game as they won 50-0.

STATS

Mostly going back to Friday night’s performance of Ira’s Lance Morris against Klondike, I begin dwelling once again about stats. Lance had 338 yards rushing, scored 7 touchdowns and for good measure threw three passes completing all three for an additional 100 yards.

Stat keeping is a must in my opinion. I know not everyone feels that way. To those that put little or no emphasis on stat keeping, we simply will agree to disagree on this subject. Those who are stat keepers let me say thanks because I am sure you don’t hear that often enough. It is not easy. I often times try to keep stats and I will be perfectly honest with you, I stink at stat keeping. For years, stats were kept with paper and pen or pencil. Lots of folks still do it that way. I am good with that. As in everything we do technology has brought new ways of keeping stats.

I can and do make good notes. That is a good thing because my memory is about as long as my hair and I shave my head every day. During the 2011 season I found my way to Gail to watch the Borden County Coyotes take on the Meadow Broncos. So I was sitting in the press box, thanks to the super nice administration at Borden County. The final score was Borden County 76 Meadow 50. It was a good but typical Six-Man contest. I have a pencil and about a ream of paper scattered in front of me and I am furiously working up a sweat on a cool night trying my best to keep up with the action. I am trying to listen to the PA to see if I can hear him tell me what I think I just saw. I am counting on my fingers and toes and scribbling notes and trying to determine who just scored the touchdown. Then all of the sudden, I hear this sweet lady’s voice saying to the public address announcer “that was a 6 play 65 yard drive 42 rushing 23 passing”.  I look up in disbelieve from my mess of paper work and she is just sitting there with this rectangular object in front of her. What are you doing I asked. Who me she says. I am keeping stats. How did you come up with that instantaneous info you just gave the announcer? I just enter the info into this iPad and it does the rest. I was finished stat taking for the night. There was a little more to it. She says you need an app.  I went back home to Abilene that night. I got in bed but I could not go to sleep.

All I could do was lay awake and think about how effortlessly it appeared that Sue Jane Mayes was keeping stats and how insane I was trying to do the same thing with paper and pencil. BTW, She has since retired from keeping stats. She managed to do that job for ONLY 35 YEARS!!! There will be an extra star in her crown!!!

I knew what I had to do. I got up the next morning and was standing at the door when Best Buy opened for business. I bought me an iPad. I took it home and I downloaded the Digital Scout app. I tried to load up a practice game. I soon found out I did not know sic’em from come here about electronic stat keeping apps. I paid lots of money for that app and never once used it that season. I spoke with Josh Applebaum at Digital Scout and others all to no avail. YOU CAN NOT TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS. Paper or electronically, it is hard work. PERIOD.

 

BACK TO LANCE MORRIS.

What a great kid who happens to be a great athlete. When the season opened in 2009, I was in Hico for the Super Six-Man Saturday extravaganza as usual. I have only missed one out of nine, I was down on the field shaking hands with coaches and players before the game between Ira and Gordon. I was talking with Ira’s long time coach Toby Goodwin and his then assistant coach Bubba Edwards. Bubba was nodding his head and pointing to a kid and Toby says “Don, keep your eye on that young man. He is going to be a special player”. That player was then freshman Lance Morris. Ira destroyed Gordon that day 61 to 0. Lance scored a touchdown the first time he touched the ball. Something he has done an additional 150 times including the seven touchdowns he had last Friday night against Klondike. He knows he could not put up the incredible numbers he has by himself and is quick to give thanks to all his teammates.

Some have argued for a while now that he might be the best of all time. I don’t know. There have sure been some great ones during the years. Andy Rivera from Ira was a great one. Valley has had some great backs through the years. Two that come to mind are Jacob Hancock and Alex Espinoza. Trey Richey of Jayton, Dewayne Miles of Amherst, Manuel Beltran of Cherokee, Damien Jackson of Trinidad are other greats from years gone by. There are others.

From the stand point of pure numbers, Petey Saliaz who played at Mullin from 1992 -95 is generally regarded as the Career Rushing Leader with a total of 10468 yards. Lance Morris’s official numbers stand at 10224 career rushing yards. By my math Lance Morris is 244 yards away from tying the Petey Saliaz mark that has stood for the last 17 years.

The break down on the career of Lance is as follows:

Freshman 159 carries 2551 yards 26 TDs
Sophomore 240 carries 3267 yards 56 TDs
Junior 225 carries 3263 yards 53 TDs
Current 88 carries 1143 yards 16 TDs

Totals 712 carries 10224 yards 151 TDs.

Most of the football world says you can’t compare stats between Eleven-Man football and Six-Man football and I agree with that. Just as a point of reference, the great Sugarland Express, Ken Hall who played Eleven-Man Class B Football 1950-53 gained 11232 yards for the Texas Career Rushing Record.  Lance would still need 1008 yards to tie what has long been thought to be an unbreakable record set by Kenneth Hall.

 

GO LANCE GO

The Ira Bulldogs travel to Paducah to take on the Dragons on Friday night October 5th at 7:30 PM.
Thank you to Leman Saunders and Coach Toby Goodwin for working to establish these official numbers on Petey and Lance.

 

 

WEEK FIVE GAMES OF INTEREST

Throckmorton at Windhorst? -----Yep, 1^st  half Eleven-Man, 2^nd half Six-Man Starts at 7:00 PM

Ira at Paducah -----Will Lance set the Six-Man Career mark?

Borden County at Water Valley -----Great match up.

Groom at Miami ------Undefeated Groom against once defeated Miami

Robert Lee at Garden City ------ Still trying to figure out both teams

 

WEEK FIVE RANKINGS

D1

1.    IRA BULLDOGS

2.    Water Valley

3.    Throckmorton

4.    Valley

5.    Petersburg

6.    Rankin

7.    Abbott

8.    Oakwood

9.    Borden County

10.  Crowell

D2

1.    RICHLAND SPRINGS COYOTES

2.    Milford

3.    Motley County

4.    Grandfalls

5.    Follett

6.    Robert Lee

7.    Aspermont

8.    Strawn

9.    Jonesboro

10.  Groom

 

 

POOR ME

This season is moving right along. Time flys when you are having fun. WEEK FIVE is a special week for me as I will be celebrating my 61^st birthday on Friday October 5^th. As I look all around me I begin to realize that while I am not in totally bad health, I certainly am not in good health. The biggest problem I have is a result of being diabetic. I have precious little feeling in my feet. I also have a thing going on with my left leg (drop foot). I fall often. So far I have not broken anything. I guess that is the good news.

People all over the Six-Man community have always been very nice to me and often times they allow me to sit in their press box which is my preference.  Money is tight everywhere now days. Where I go to watch Six-Man games, they should charge an extra dollar or two to everyone that watches me try to negotiate the steps in the stands whether I am going up or down. I add lots of excitement to the Six-Man atmosphere. A few people have helped steady me at times and I appreciate it.

I have been a lifelong football fan. I have no idea how many games I have watched over the years. Ten years ago I dedicated myself to watching Six-Man. By that I mean if I am going to a game, it will be a Six-Man game. Since making that decision including the 14 games I have seen this season, I have been to 209 games. My endurance is fading though.  I am not sure how much longer I will be a road warrior like I have been for years. I have many memories. Speaking of memories, my memory has begun to fade on me as well and more and more I catch myself writing things I have written before or telling stories I have told before. That is life I guess. Forgiveness is accepted if granted. Thank you.

Sorry about the length, this has been more of a novel than a blog. I promise to try to do better.

Don Hardin
Abilene