IT ALL STARTS NOW

Still looking for first wins of the season, Class 2A, DI Valley Mills and DII Meridian open district competition this Friday with fresh outlook and renewed enthusiasm

VALLEY MILLS – After playing three non-district games as a tune-up and getting an open date last week, the Class 2A, Division I Valley Mills Eagles head into District 8-2A, DI competition with some questions still left unanswered. But despite playing a tough lineup of district opponents, the Eagles expect to challenge for their first playoff berth in three years.

“We are in a very tough district the next two years, but we were in a tough district the previous two years also,” Valley Mills head coach Bob Featherston said. “I think we have a lot of good football players with experience, and it will be some exciting football throughout the season. Can’t wait to see how the kids respond to the challenge.”

Valley Mills (0-3) opens district on the road to face the Moody Bearcats (2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday before taking on the likes of third-ranked Crawford (3-0), Rosebud-Lott (2-1), Riesel (1-2), Bosqueville (1-2), Bruceville-Eddy (0-3) and Marlin (0-3), who came into the season as Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine’s fourth-ranked team in the state.

“I think the actual placement of teams is going to be very different when the smoke clears,” Featherston said. “We feel that we have the right combination of players to compete with anyone that steps on the field. I think the team to beat in the district is definitely Crawford. They are returning a bunch of good seniors and very sound in all they do. But with our type of offense and physical defensive play, we feel that we are a top four team in the district.”

Both the Valley Mills offensive and defensive units need to find their groove as the Eagles have scored 25.3 points per game while giving up 40.0 points per game. Junior quarterback Cason Johnson has completed 30 of 51 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with senior Brady Whitlock 11 times for 124 yards and two scoring strikes, while senior running back Joe Taylor leads the Eagles with 306 yards rushing and four scores.

“We are really focusing on getting better up front,” Valley Mills head coach Bob Featherston. “A lot of time was spent on O-Line play this last week. Defensively, we have most kids running hard to the ball, but we need all 11. We worked on tackling and pursuit this week and emphasized swarm tackling.”

Defensively, junior Will McDonald lead the Eagles with 53 tackles and a fumble recovery, followed by senior Pecos Dutschmann with 25 tackles and a sack, sophomore Joshua McKain with 24 tackles and Johnson with 20.

With district starting Friday night, the Eagles will be tested early by Moody. The Bearcats lost their season opener on the road at Axtell, 40-21, but rebounded to win back-to-back games at home against Hico, 23-6, and Hubbard, 38-8.

“Moody has some good football players in key positions that allow them to big play you,” Featherston said. “Defensively, they are running well to the ball and putting pressure on offenses. It will be another tough game this Friday.”

Jackets open district hosting state’s second-ranked Mart focused on getting better

MERIDIAN – After suffering back-to-back lopsided losses, the schedule only gets tougher for the Class 2A, Division II Meridian Yellow Jackets this week.

Coming off an overwhelming 53-6 road loss to the Milano Eagles last Friday night, the Jackets open District 10-2A, DII play against the perennial state powerhouse Mart Panthers at 7 p.m. Friday at Jacket Stadium. The Panthers (4-0) entered the season as Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s third-ranked team. Mart has since climbed to No. 2 in the state with wins over Chishum, 54-0, Marlin, 41-6, Italy, 68-7, and Friday night over Centerville, 21-20.

“The Mart Panthers will challenge us as they do everyone that they play with their speed, physicality, and discipline on both sides of the ball,” Meridian head coach Jim Kerbow said. “Our goal this week is to get better fundamentally. Playing great opponents will only make us better.”

The Jackets (0-4) certainly had their hands full against Milano (3-0). Opening the season with a dominating 41-7 victory over Waco Reicher Catholic Aug. 26, the Eagles duplicated that result with a 41-7 win over Central Texas Christian before handing Meridian an equally convincing loss.

Coming into the season, Milano was picked to challenge for a playoff berth in District 13-2A, DII behind ninth-ranked Chilton and 13th-ranked Bremond. By halftime against the Jackets, the Eagles had soared to a commanding 40-0 lead.

“We felt like our kids played hard Friday night,” Kerbow said. “After watching the film, we felt that we were overwhelmed physically on both sides of the ball.”

Struggling to move the ball the entire game, the Jackets finally managed to put points on the board late as sophomore Matty Jones cashed in Meridian’s only touchdown with a 13-yard run. Milano limited the Jackets to only 98 yards of total offense as senior Brady Taylor led Meridian with 25 yards rushing.

“Offensively, we struggled with Milano’s front seven,” Kerbow said. “Consequently, that caused difficulties in the run and passing game.”

With Meridian clearly outmatched physically, Milano rolled on offense despite the hard-fought effort from the Jackets. Defensively, junior Brayden Wehmeyer led Meridian with 11 tackles, followed by junior Noah Alvizo with nine as well as seniors Alejandro Rodriguez and Gauge Chandler with seven each.

“Overall, our kids played hard defensively,” Kerbow said. “However, we struggled with the physical nature of their offense. We do see that our players are making strides in a positive direction.”