We got our first up-close-and-personal look at the No. 1 team in the Greater Houston area, The Woodlands Highlanders, last Friday night in Port Arthur against the Port Arthur Memorial Titans. The Highlanders looked solid, but not spectacular, in their 24-7 win over Memorial. They scored two touchdowns, kicked two field goals and posted two safeties in picking up their fifth win of the season.

But perhaps the most impressive thing about the victory was that it came on the road—again. The Highlanders have made more than token trips in their pre-district schedules. They’ve traveled to CFISD’s Pridgeon Stadium (25 miles from campus), Katy ISD’s Rhodes Stadium (55 miles) and Clear Creek ISD’s District Stadium (61 miles). But at 123 miles from their campus, Port Arthur Memorial Stadium was the granddaddy of their road trips—and potentially the one that will be most like any November playoff roadies they’ll have to make.

“We knew that what we did on the road might be the tale of the tape as far as how we would respond during the season,” head coach Mark Schmid told us before the Port Arthur game. “We’re really pleased with what we’ve done and how the kids have responded and it’s going to go a long way in helping us be successful this season.”

Translation: these pre-district road trips are going to be similar to what TWHS will face in the Region II playoffs, and Schmid thinks that his team has benefitted from traveling so much so early.

Port Arthur Memorial acquitted themselves very well against the Highlanders. The PAM defense will be the key to any success they have against North Shore in two weeks. The linebacking corps, anchored by Earl Hines and Ashland Wilson, is solid. The defensive ends, Stanton Smith and Treshod Lewis, are strong and quick off the ball. The secondary caused problems for The Woodlands’ passing game.

The problem with the Titans’ defense on Friday was twofold: they played most of the game on their side of the 50 yard line and they spent more than two-thirds of the game on the field. Memorial’s offense had trouble generating much at all against the Highlander defense.

And if there was one area where the Highlanders unexpectedly impressed, it was on the defensive side of the ball. DE Cody Davis and LB Perry Cooper especially stood out and, overall, the team swarms to the ball and hits hard on every play. They forced Memorial’s QB Corwin Keal to hurry throws and they basically shut down the rushing duo on Ronzell King and Daleon Stinette.

Looking ahead, the Lufkin game for The Woodlands will be interesting, especially since it involves another significant (110 mile) road trip to Abe Martin Stadium in Lufkin. But the Woodlands should cruise into the playoffs well-prepared for that ride. And we now believe that Port Arthur Memorial may actually be no worse than the third best team in District 21-5A.

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It was a weekend of upsets in the Houston area. Maybe none was more surprising than the Dekaney Wildcats’ pounding of the Westfield Mustangs in their District 13-5A opener and Dekaney’s homecoming game. Nobody in their right mind (who isn’t a parent of a Dekaney player) would have ever predicted that.

But thanks to a superb effort by a sophomore named Trey Williams, who rushed for—get this—375 yards in the game, the Wildcats pulled out a 47-39 stunner over a team that, in the pre-district season, looked potentially headed for an undefeated season and a deep playoff run.

The effort by Williams was so inspiring that it prompted one web media member to call in a report to one of the local postgame scoreboard shows on Friday and proclaim the sophomore to be the best running back ever. Ever.

The saddest part of that little episode was the hosts of that scoreboard show didn’t even question or challenge him on that statement.

Now, while we did not see the performance young Mr. Williams gave on Friday and will, from this point forward, watch his box scores with much more interest, we can’t help but think that one game does not a ‘Best-Ever’ tag earn.

Frankly, the statement sent us scurrying to high school record books to find out where Williams’ 375 ranks all-time and, while we have yet to determine the exact ranking, we can tell you it’s not even in the top 10 single-game rushing performances in the history of Texas high school football.

Texas is a state that has produced the likes of Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Billy Sims, Ken ‘The Sugar Land Express’ Hall, Doak Walker, Cedric Benson and so many more great running backs. To suddenly pass the mantle to a high school sophomore seems unwise and unfair—to Williams.

Trey undoubtedly will be—and rightfully so—mentioned across the state as the offensive player of the week for Week 4 of the 2009 season. But let’s allow him to just be a tenth-grader who helped his underdog team to the biggest win in his school’s young football history, at least for now. Maybe in 2011, we can start comparing him to the Tyler Rose.

Until then, we say, ‘Way to go, Trey Williams, for your outstanding performance!’

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Speaking of the greatest individual-game rushing performances by Texas high school players, how many of the names in the all-time top 10 would you recognize?

They are Darryl Ellis (Somerville, 587 yards, 1998); Tyson Thompson (Irving, 525 yards, 1998); Ken Hall (Sugar Land, 520 yards, 1953); Cleon Williams (Boling, 517 yards, 1991); Phillip Graves (Hutto, 517 yards, 2001); Devin Thomas (San Antonio Madison, 483 yards, 2006); Larry Boyd (Union Hill, 481 yards, 1988); Ronnie Ashmore (San Antonio Edgewood, 476 yards, 1985); Eric Bizer (Centerville, 467 yards, 2003); Buddy Hanson (Tom Bean, 467 yards, 2002).

Thanks to the folks at TxPrepsFootball.com for the list.

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Back to the subject of Port Arthur, we are connoisseurs of fine press box cuisine, and the good people at Memorial Stadium—the new and improved Memorial Stadium—quickly put themselves at the top of our list.

Chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes, seasoned green beans and carrots was the fare for the night. And they had people come deliver the meals to us (and then check on us to make sure everything was satisfactory)! This wasn’t your average every-man-for-himself rush to the five Little Caesars’ pizzas on the counter.

Kudos to the folks in Port Arthur for approving some bonds that built a new high school campus for Memorial and funded some very nice improvements to the press box and scoreboard (i.e., video replay board) at the stadium. Their only regret may ultimately be that they didn’t funnel a few of the dollars into some field turf for the surface. But, hey, that’s what school district bond elections every two or three years are for, right?

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Being the complete source for all things related to high school athletics, we get tidbits of info from not only the teams, but also the bands, drill teams, cheerleaders and mascots for those teams.

Here’s one we have to share that proves the point that band directors just don’t get it…

In the first half of a Saturday night game in the Houston area (we won’t tell you which one), a band director was heard to chastise his band members for cheering too wildly and loudly for their football team in the first half of their game. His reasoning? The band needed to save their energy for the halftime show.

That led us to the question: how much energy does a halftime show require and how relevant to performing at halftime is screaming your lungs out for your team? We’ve never seen a marching choir at half…except maybe at that School for the Performing Arts game…

Now we have to watch these band shows with a little more intensity to see who is or isn’t leaving it all on the field at the half.