The Cooldown- Week Three

The Cooldown- 2020 Week Three

We are three weeks into the season for smaller schools while kickoff for 5A and 6A is still 11 days away. That’s right! If everything goes well, this will be the last weekend without 5A and 6A football until January! As for last weekend’s games, Argyle continued to roll with a win over Celina and has a big matchup with Waco La Vega scheduled for this weekend. There are two other games I want to get to as well, and I will also release my top ten teams to watch in 6A.

Midlothian Heritage outlasts Decatur

Midlothian Heritage jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the 2^nd quarter in this one and appeared to have the game in hand. Then Decatur reeled off 25 straight points to take a four-point lead in the 4^th quarter. Cullen Stone would score the go-ahead touchdown for Heritage in the fourth quarter, but Decatur wouldn’t go away. It would take a goal-line stand on the one yard-line on the last play of the game for Midlothian Heritage to secure the victory. It’s an impressive 3-0 start for Midlothian Heritage.

Kennedale defeats Sunnyvale

Kennedale was in trouble for much of the night and trailed the majority of the game. Sunnyvale jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter before taking a 17-13 advantage into halftime. Kennedale trailed 27-25 before Aidan Birr kicked the game winning field goal to give Kennedale a 28-27 victory. The styles of play were completely different between the two teams. Kennedale completed just one pass while Sunnyvale used three quarterbacks to pass for 298 yards. Kennedale got it done on the ground with 315 rushing yards. I will have my eyes on Kennedale moving forward starting this Thursday with Carter-Riverside.

6A Top Ten

1. Duncanville Panthers
2. Southlake Carroll Dragons
3. Denton Guyer Wildcats
4. DeSoto Eagles
5. Allen Eagles
6. Arlington Martin Warriors
7. Cedar Hill Longhorns
8. Flower Mound Marcus Marauders
9.  Rockwall Yellow Jackets
10.  Prosper Eagles
11.  Lewisville Fighting Farmers
12.  Arlington Colts
13.  Euless Trinity Trojans
14.  Arlington Lamar Vikings
15.  Hebron Hawks

Duncanville has dominated DFW area teams in the playoffs over the last two years and the Panthers look poised to do it again this season, earning them the top spot in my 6A rankings. The one team who pushed Duncanville in the playoffs last year was Southlake Carroll. The Dragons fell to Duncanville 49-35 in quarterback Quinn Ewers first season at the helm. Ewers is the top ranked player in the junior class and should challenge Duncanville once again this season.

I would like to point out that three teams from District 11-6A are ranked in my top seven. Duncanville will have plenty of competition from DeSoto (No. 4) and Cedar Hill (No. 7) and will likely face other teams on this list in the playoffs.

There are also three teams from District 5-6A ranked in the top ten. Denton Guyer (No. 3) will attempt to keep Allen (No. 5) from winning another district championship. Prosper (No. 10) is another team that shouldn’t be slept on with so much returning talent.

The key theme among every team in the top ten is a returning quarterback. Duncanville brought in a transfer from a private school in three-star recruit Grayson James. It may take a couple weeks for James to adjust, but Duncanville should be fine in the long run.

Southlake Carroll and Rockwall both return junior quarterbacks in Ewers and Braedyn Locke, both of whom had an excellent sophomore campaign. Ewers and Locke both lost to Duncanville in the playoffs last season and will try to find a way to beat the Panthers in the playoffs this year.

Denton Guyer will need Texas A&M commit Eli Stowers to remain healthy this season if the Wildcats are to beat Allen and win District 5-6A. Allen also has two quarterbacks who have starting experience that transferred in. General Booty and Parker Wells could both play at quarterback for the Eagles this season. Prosper quarterback Jackson Berry had an excellent junior season and will be depended on heavily if Prosper is going to compete with Allen and Denton Guyer in district play.

The Battle for Beltline will be lively as always with Tennessee commit Kaidon Salter leading the way for Cedar Hill and Illinois commit Samari Collier returning at quarterback for DeSoto. Salter will lead Cedar Hill through the Division II playoffs while DeSoto will be in Division I.

Arlington Martin returns a lesser known but just as talented quarterback in Zach Mundell. The dual-threat QB passed for 20 touchdowns last season while rushing for 16 more. The Warriors could go on a deep playoff run behind Mundell and the always stout Arlington Martin defense.

That leaves Flower Mound Marcus quarterback and LSU commit Garrett Nussmeier. Being the son of a quarterback coach certainly has its perks. Nussmeier has not only emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the DFW area but in the entire nation. I talked a lot about how much I love Kaidon Salter’s game over the summer, but Nussmeier is right there with him. Marcus should have high playoff expectations behind Nussmeier this season.

I decided to extend my rankings to fifteen teams because I couldn’t keep Lewisville out of the rankings. The Fighting Farmers are another team with a talented quarterback in Boise State commit Taylen Green. The defense has some questions, but I think it could be a big year for Lewisville. Arlington and Arlington Lamar both return talent from teams that were good last season and will challenge Arlington Martin. Euless Trinity will be good as always. Deciding between Hebron and Jesuit was tough as both teams have a few questions, but I went with Hebron for the last spot.