As we enter August, Chad Washington and I are merging our brainpower (snickers down, thank you …), narrowing the oh-so-expansive fall sports schedule and listing our dream foootball schedules for the 2008 season.

Here are the 10 games I want to see, based on what we know (and are guessing) at this time:

Week Zero: Katy at North Shore, Aug. 29 at Galena Park ISD Stadium.
I’ve only been looking forward to seeing this since Feb. 1, the date realignment was announced. When I talked to Katy coach Gary Joseph, I noticed his sheet of non-district games included North Shore. He quickly put the sheet out of my sight, to my amusement.

Week One: North Shore at Eisenhower, Sept. 5 at Thorne Stadium.
Eisenhower opens against Fort Bend Hightower, which made a dominating run deep into the playoffs last year, but I think this will be a truer test of whether the Eagles are deserving of all the hype.

And no, we’re not going to list all North Shore’s games.

Week Two: Cypress Ridge vs. Cinco Ranch, Sept. 11 at Rhodes Stadium.
What a Thursday night treat. Everyone knows Cy Ridge should have an outstanding year, but this will be the first huge gutcheck for the Cougars. Should be a grind-it-out affair with the final score somewhere in the 35-28 range. Sorry, not predicting a winner today.

Week Three: Stratford vs. Cypress Woods, Sept. 19 at Pridgeon Stadium.
In a week short on marquee matchups – La Marque-North Shore and Beaumont West Brook-Eisenhower probably will be the headliners – this game is intriguing in a different way. By this point we’ll have a general idea of these teams’ fortunes – the post-Luck Spartans against a Woods team many are saying will challenge for the playoffs in its first varsity season.

Week Four: Memorial at Strake Jesuit, Sept. 26.
This weekend’s headliner is North Shore at Southlake Carroll, but sticking close to home …

Of the districts we cover closely, the race in 18-5A is the most intriguing in my eyes. The Crusaders’ home schedule is favorable; the toughest road game likely will be Alief Taylor at Crump Stadium. These two teams, both of which ran the football well a year ago, should provide an old-fashioned, fun spectacle to see who draws first blood in the district.

Week Five: Memorial vs. Stratford, Oct. 3 at Tully Stadium.
At the risk of spotlighting the same team two weeks in a row, Tully is where it’s at that night. The only drawback to this game? It’s not the last game of the season, when all historic rivalries should be. Let’s hope this is the only year that’s the case.

Week Six: Langham Creek vs. Cypress Falls, Oct. 11 at Pridgeon Stadium.
If Langham Creek has the passing game everyone expects, and that they displayed at state 7-on-7, this could be one of the games of the year in 15-5A. Prepare for three hours-plus in your seats, and set the over-under on pass attempts somewhere around 90.

Week Seven: Cypress Falls vs. Cypress Ridge, Oct. 16 at Berry Center.
As the schedule stands now, Falls gets only four days to prepare for what more than likely will be an ESPN game (or at the least, FSN Houston/Southwest). Plenty of national recruits will be spotlighted. Will anyone be this year’s version of Shane Turner and make this their coming-out party?

Week Eight: Westside vs. Bellaire, Oct. 24 at Butler Stadium.
The Wolves are picked to grab the final playoff spot out of 20-5A, with the Cardinals close behind. Lamar lost a lot of talent and Madison is expected to be improved, so this game could be huge in terms of playoff placement.

The next week will be big, too – Westside plays Chavez and Bellaire gets Lamar.

Week Nine: Kinkaid vs. St. John’s, Oct. 31 at Rice Stadium.
It’s incredibly tough to predict what games will be important by this stage. This one will have no impact whatsoever on the UIL playoff pairings, but it’s a fun rivalry played each year at Rice Stadium. One of my lasting images of 2007-08 was seeing St. John’s students flood the field after defeating Kinkaid to end their season.

Kinkaid leads the all-time series 21-9.

Week Ten: Cinco Ranch vs. Katy, Nov. 8 at Rhodes Stadium.
Will the ninth time be the charm for the Cougars against the Tigers? More than likely, Katy will still have maintained its perfect record since 1995 against Katy ISD schools entering this game. Their first meeting was a 63-3 win for Katy in 2000. Expect this one to be around 50 points closer.

Other games that probably will have meaning in Week Ten include Stratford-Strake Jesuit and Cypress Ridge-Langham Creek.

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