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This is the third of The Athlete's Connection 30 football previews in 30 days leading up to the season-opening games beginning Thursday, Aug. 28. Today, Athlete's Connection sportswriter Dave Purpura takes a look at District 13-5A.
DeKANEY
Nickname: Wildcats.
Colors: Kentucky blue, silver, white and black.
Enrollment: 2,850.
2007 record: First-year varsity program.
Coach: Willie Amendola.
No cushion here – DeKaney, Spring ISD’s third high school – gets to jump straight into 5A unlike the likes of Seven Lakes and Pearland Dawson, who matured and will mature, respectively, in 4A first. The Wildcats and Amendola were dealt another raw hand when many students reassigned to DeKaney from Spring and Westfield petitioned to remain at their original schools.
Nearly 70 percent of those were granted.
QB Keenan Attile will guide a multiple-I offense also featuring RBs David Torrence and Cordarrel Sweeney, WR Herbert Frazier and TE James Jackson. The defense will start in a 4-3 scheme.
DeKaney opens against another new school, Clear Springs, creating the rare situation of a game without seniors. Then the Wildcats play Willis and College Park before their first two district games against Westfield and Spring.
KLEIN
Nickname: Bearkats.
Colors: Gold and blue.
Enrollment: 3,268.
2007 record: 7-5 overall (Division I area finalists, lost 35-13 to Round Rock), 4-3 district.
Coach: Sam Labay.
Returning lettermen: 14.
After a middling district season, the Bearkats know they may have a tough road to go this year – there are noticeable voids at nearly every position, especially running back and the lines. Gone are, among others, offensive line stud J.B. Shugarts to Ohio State and defensive end John Youboty to Marshall.
Receiver/safety Tyler Boss will be counted on heavily early. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior, who runs a 4.6 40, had an outstanding 7-on-7 state tournament and might be the frequent target of quarterback Jamie Peebles, a transfer from St. Pius who is being sought after by Texas and Texas A&M among others.
Boss caught only one touchdown last year but had three interceptions and 54 tackles on defense.
Other targets will include TE Brandon Laubach and RB Dekota Barnes.
KLEIN COLLINS
Nickname: Tigers.
Colors: Blue, gold, red.
Enrollment: 3,235.
2007 record: 1-9, 1-6.
Coach: Drew Svoboda.
Returning lettermen: 20.
You have to think matters will improve at Collins for a few reasons. Certainly things can’t get worse than last year, when after a one-win season the Tigers lost coach Mike Konicki to cancer. The new coach, Svoboda, was Konicki’s co-head coach from 2002-05 and spent 2006 and 2007 as Bob Barrett’s offensive coordinator at Oak Ridge. At least some of the hope in hiring Svoboda was maintaining continuity from Konicki’s regime.
Then, Collins probably won’t finish last because DeKaney is in the field. Sorry, just being honest.
Junior RB JaMichael Rozier, considered by most the team’s best underclassman after a 500-yard, three-touchdown season a year ago, should pace the offense next to promising QB Ross Peters. Peters set the school record for rushing yards in a game with 217 despite starting only twice.
Svoboda hopes LBs Jesse Beauchamp and Malcom Johnson blossom; they combined for more than 150 tackles and 10 sacks last year.
KLEIN FOREST
Nickname: Golden Eagles.
Colors: Green and gold.
Enrollment: 3,478.
2007 record: 9-3 (Division II area finalists, lost 18-7 to Pflugerville), 5-2.
Coach: Ken Hammock.
Even with only seven starters returning – four on offense and three on defense – Hammock swears the Golden Eagles will remain a factor in 13-5A and possibly beyond. Their last appearance was promising; those seven starters played roles in a 11-point loss to the eventual state runners-up who gave Katy a run for their money in the final.
The offense seems stacked with RB Dominic Wilkins, a fleet-of-foot senior who ran for 1,900 yards and 19 touchdowns a year ago. Vernell Caldwell moves to quarterback from receiver, where he played the past two years. The offensive line is loaded with prospects in whom Hammock has immense confidence.
The linebackers should be solid – junior Cameron Nwoso had 90 tackles last year and senior Tronte Robinson added another 70.
They’ll get an early test against Langham Creek, then a trip to Ohio for the Herbstreit Challenge and a matchup with Aldine follow before 13-5A play begins against Klein Oak.
KLEIN OAK
Nickname: Panthers.
Colors: Black and gold.
Enrollment: 3,172.
2007 record: 10-2 (Division II area finalists, lost 27-24 to Leander), 6-1.
Coach: David Smith.
Returning lettermen: 22.
Not to slight defending district champion Westfield, but 13-5A may be Klein Oak’s district to lose. The Panthers bid farewell to fast phenoms DeSean Hales (Texas) and Terrence Robinson (Michigan) – will anyone who saw Hales’ 70-yard weaving touchdown on TV against Klein Forest ever forget it? – but Smith is adamant the team is deep enough to win anyway.
Short RB Ossam Cook, 5-9 and 180, is expected to have a huge year behind a mammoth offensive line headed by tight end Jordan Navjar (a Stanford commitment who also is a receiving threat), 315-pound Texas A&M commit Clint Naron and 300-pounder Kevin Forsch.
Wide receiver Troy Waites, a sophomore, may burst onto the scene this year.
The non-district schedule of Mandeville, Cypress Creek and Cypress Woods looks favorable. The expected showdown with Westfield is in Week Nine.
SPRING
Nickname: Lions.
Colors: Green, black and white.
Enrollment: 3,183.
2007 record: 5-5, 2-4.
Coach: Sonny Karas.
Returning lettermen: 20.
On the surface, Texas A&M-bound QB Kenric McNeal isn’t surrounded by a plethora of experience. Yes, McNeal – who threw for 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for another 400 yards and five scores a year ago – is flanked by WR Dakota Dill. But after that, beyond promising junior RB Darel Haynes the Lions appear to be searching for the perfect fit.
Dill made 34 catches in 2007 for 493 yards and five touchdowns.
McNeal and the Lions struggled in 7-on-7 – he threw four interceptions against Langham Creek in a consolation game – but there’s no guarantee that means anything.
Many are saying DE Tahare Ray could have a stellar year. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior has grown from a safety into a defensive lineman but remains versatile.
Spring has a good chance to get off to a fast start. They open with Langham Creek, Humble and Stratford before opening 13-5A play against likely weak teams Tomball, DeKaney and Klein Collins.
TOMBALL
Nickname: Cougars.
Colors: Red and white.
Enrollment: 2,720.
2007 record: 1-9, 1-5.
Coach: Tommy Kaiser.
Returning lettermen: 19.
Just to get back to 7-on-7 – Tomball reached the state tournament and grabbed a few wins. But 11-man football is a different game, and in that respect the Cougars are 3-17 the past two seasons. They have seven starters back on each side, including the exciting quarterback-receiver tandem of senior Chad Tarhini and junior Jordan Leslie.
Tarhini threw for 1,367 yards and eight touchdowns last year, with Leslie his main target at 770 yards and four touchdowns.
The running game has to come along.
The defense, led by 6-7, 240-pound DT Will Garrett, seems versatile. DB Kyle McKenzie had nearly 70 tackles last year and the team got well more than 200 tackles combined from DB Brad Lambert, 5-9 MLB Jonathan Erment and DEs Garrett Peltier and James Ponder.
If the Cougars get the wins they must against the lower tier, they feasibly could contend for a playoff spot.
WESTFIELD
Nickname: Mustangs.
Colors: Red, white and black.
Enrollment: 3,390.
2007 record: 10-3 (Division I regional semifinalists, lost 31-19 to Plano), 7-0.
Coach: Corby Meekins.
Returning lettermen: 26.
So what’s the next step for Westfield?
Maybe another big-time year from QB Jacoby Walker, who last year as a sophomore threw for 1,286 yards and 20 touchdowns against six interceptions. A dropoff would be a profound disappointment, considering his top three receivers – Ja-Mes Logan, Adam Watson and Barry Ford – all return. Each had comparable yardage and Ford led the pack with nine touchdowns.
It should be noted that Meekins is in search of solid running backs.
Then there’s the defense. If this year’s edition can surpass last year’s, look out. The Mustangs never allowed more than 17 points in a district game and recorded three shutouts. Five starters are back, including DE Aaron Harris, LB Terre’ Camille and S Denerick Demby.
The Mustangs will have a tough road to hoe, with games against high-powered Cypress Falls and Beaumont West Brook in the preseason. The biggest games both are at Klein Memorial Stadium, against Klein Forest (Oct. 4) and Oak (Oct. 31).
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