Super Centex high school football podcast

1. We blinked, and here it is. We have two undefeated teams playing for state championships this week in Mart and Oglesby. Yet both are underdogs. Let's start with No. 2 Mart first, who will face No. 1 Albany again, just like last year. It was 41-21 Albany last year, viewed as a big upset. Will payback be the factor that pushes Mart over the hump? 2. Neither team has played a lot of close games th...

1. We asked Santa for an all-Centex matchup in the state semifinals, and we got it under the tree as Mart and Chilton face off in the state semifinals, just the fourth all-time among Central Texas teams. How special does this one have a chance to be? 2. Fill in the blank: Chilton wins if ... 3. Fill in the blank: Mart wins if ... 4. Oglesby is playing for a six-man state title for the first time i...

1. There were no food comas after Thanksgiving for our Centex teams, as six local schools won going away in round 3 of the playoffs. But they won't all be advancing to the state championship game, presumably, so which local team has the earliest expiration date — i.e., who has has the toughest game in round 4? 2. The Lorena-Franklin rematch is one of the most enticing games in the state this week....

1. It is Turkey Week, and let us give thanks because we have some tasty matchups. Every Central Texas team out there has a 9-3 record — all in the same gravy boat. So which of these Round 3 face-offs has the potential to produce the best game? Lorena-Columbus, Whitney-Winnsboro or Chilton-Granger? 2. There's one all-Centex matchup on the slate, with Oglesby vs. Iredell in the regional final in six...

1. As we get to better matchups here in the second round of the playoffs, eight of our Centex teams are playing teams with 10 or more wins this week. But which Centex team with a single-digit win total has the best chance to knock off a double-digit win total team? (That's China Spring at 8-3, La Vega at 7-4, Gatesville at 7-4 or Teague at 8-3.) 2. Flipping this around, we have several Centex team...

1. A whopping 43 teams made the playoffs in Central Texas, and there's certainly a case to be made that too many teams do — nobody wants to watch a 9-1 team play a 2-8 team, after all. But enough negativity: What first-round matchup has you intrigued among our Centex teams? How about West-Teague, La Vega-Dunbar, Midway-Waxahachie, Axtell-Valley Mills or Gatesville Gonzales?  2. Football's a physic...

1. We've reached Week 11 of the regular season, and it's time to talk playoffs. So let's go trick-or-treating: What's one Centex team that we expect to make a sweet run, and one team that could be sneaky trouble for its opponents? 2. Let's do the monster mash: What monster stat line impressed you the most this season? 3. If one of our Centex mascots showed up on your front porch on Halloween, whic...

1. It's Week 10, which means we have some showdowns for district championships, not least among them Pflugerville Weiss at Midway, Madisonville at Connally and Whitney at Grandview. Let's rank those in terms of most likely to win on Friday night. Is Connally an underdog? Is Midway the biggest longshot?  2. Lorena can clinch an outright district championship on Friday after last week's epic 52-49 t...

Special guest David G. Campbell, former sportswriter with the Trib and The Eagle in Bryan, joins Trib sportswriter DJ Ramirez, non-Trib sportswriter Chad Conine and Trib sports editor Brice Cherry are back to talk some Centex football as we head into Week 9.  1. He's cash money: China Spring QB Cash McCollum now has a Centex-leading 2,300 yards passing, 35 TDs and just two picks on the season afte...

1. It's October, so that means we've reached some games of real consequence in the high school football scene, including some district-deciding clashes this week. On top of that list in China Spring at La Vega, the latest chapter in the storied history. China Spring is explosive, as both we and Alvarado know (after the Cougars put up 50 in a quarter against the Indians last week), but let's not sl...

1. Maybe there aren't any huge marquee matchups this week, but there are some low-key ones that are definitely intriguing. Let's start with Connally hosting Gatesville, which opens district play for these teams. They've been heading in opposite directions, with the Cadets now 3-3 after a 3-0 start; meanwhile, the Hornets have won three in a row and have given up fewer points than anyone else in 11...

Trib sportswriter DJ Ramirez, non-Trib sportswriter Chad Conine and Trib sports editor Brice Cherry are back to talk some Centex football as we head into Week 6.  1. We've got several first-year head coaches guiding their squads in the right direction with University at 4-1 (1-0), Lorena 3-2 (1-0) and Robinson also 4-1. Out of these first-year coaches — Kaeron Johnson, Kevin Johnson and Chris Lanc...

Welcome, special guests — All the District 8-2A Div. I coaches join the football conversation this week, with Bosqueville coach Clint Zander, Bruceville-Eddy coach Brian Ramsey, Crawford coach Greg Jacobs, Marlin coach Ruben Torres, Moody coach Matt Hurst, Riesel coach Robert Little, Rosebud-Lott coach Brandon Hicks and Valley Mills coach Bob Featherston on the Zoom to talk about district play get...

Instant reactions from Trib sportswriters and stringers from Friday's #txshfb action including Connally at China Spring, Centerville at Mart, Lorena at La Vega, Midlothian at Waco High, Midway at Rockwall-Heath, Clifton at McGregor as well as University's big Thursday night win. Read our complete #TribFridayNight coverage at https://wacotrib.com/sports/high-school. Support the show: https://wacotr...

Trib sportswriter DJ Ramirez, non-Trib sportswriter Chad Conine and Trib sports editor Brice Cherry are back to talk some Centex football as we head into Week 4.  1. A few of our local districts have already started district play, like Waco High's district in 5A and the West-Whitney district in 3A. Crawford and Marlin's district will begin play next week after taking this one off, and soon we'll h...

Trib sportswriter DJ Ramirez, non-Trib sportswriter Chad Conine and Trib sports editor Brice Cherry are back to talk some Centex football as we head into Week 3.  1. We saw several state-ranked teams in Central Texas lose last week in the likes of China Spring and Crawford, not to mention Bremond and Jonesboro. But, of course, they weren’t exactly playing nobodies. Do you think those teams will st...

1. At long last, we have actual football games happening this week. Let’s talk first about the Game of the Week, China Spring at Lorena. Of course, the Cougars are aiming for a Class 4A state championship three-peat and open the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the state. Lorena, two years removed from its own 3A title, breaks in a new head coach in Kevin Johnson as the No. 6-ranked team in Clas...

1. At long last, we have actual football games happening this week. Let’s talk first about the Game of the Week, China Spring at Lorena. Of course, the Cougars are aiming for a Class 4A state championship three-peat and open the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the state. Lorena, two years removed from its own 3A title, breaks in a new head coach in Kevin Johnson as the No. 6-ranked team in Clas...

• Abbott plays Westbrook for a state championship at 2 p.m. on Wednesday: What has impressed you about Terry Crawford and the Panthers? • The mighty Mart Panthers machine takes on Albany for the crown at 7 p.m. Wednesday: What does Mart need to do to finish this 16-0 season, and does Albany even stand a chance? • On paper, China Spring probably has the best matchup of our three local teams this we...

• Central Texas went 4 for 4 last week in the fourth round of the playoffs, with Abbott advancing to the state title game and China Spring, Crawford and Mart all cruising into the state semifinals. Simple question: How many of those three 11-man squads join the Red-Headed Strangers at Jerryworld next week to play for a state championship?  • China Spring is no stranger to great quarterback play ov...

We've got an impressive Centex Final Four — No. 1 China Spring, No. 3 Crawford,  No. 1 Mart and No. 1 Abbott — playing in round four of the high school football playoffs — and it's finally December football weather, to boot. We want to talk about X-factors this week. Here's a formal definition of that: "A variable in a given situation that could have the most significant impact on the outcome." So...

• Week 1 of the playoffs had some definite surprises: Fourth-seeded Riesel beat district champ Cayuga, along with a similar 4-over-1 win for Hamilton beating Tioga. But then there was also defending state champ Lorena going out in the bi-district round to Columbus with a last-second field goal to lose, 24-21. Which of those, or another game, was most surprising? • Far less surprising were the stea...

• Well, it’s playoff time at last. In bi-district, we’re naturally going to get some of those lopsided scores, especially with the No. 1 vs. No. 4 seed matchups. But what’s a matchup, no matter the seeding, that you think has a chance to produce an exciting, competitive game? What about some of our 3A matchups, like Whitney-Teague or Lorena-Columbus or Cameron Yoe-Yoakum, or University's first-rou...

• It's Week 11, and the intrigue doesn't stop: Playoff seeding and playoff spots are in the balance all over the place. Let's spotlight one very interesting district championship battle: Belton at University, which few would've predicted just 10 week ago. The Trojans were 0-10 last year, so just making the playoffs was already a huge step. But winning a district title is next-level stuff. He's got...

• Week 9 lived up the hype: There was Thomas Barr's epic game-winning field goal winning goal for No. 2 China Spring to beat No. 1 Stephenville; or West's Easton Paxton, who kept the big-play Trojans going with some big plays against Grandview; and Connally's Kiefer Sibley, who posted crazy numbers of 426 yards and 7 TDs against Salado. But who impressed you most last week — one of those guys, or...