Corsicana —
All of the area’s football coaches converged on Tiger Stadium on Thursday morning for the first Golden Circle Media Day.
Some skipped out on painting their fields. Yep, it’s that time of year.
All of the Golden Circle’s football teams — sans Corsicana — will open up two-a-days Monday morning. The Tigers, who had spring workouts, will start the next Monday (Aug. 13).
This is of course when teams start coming together. The first signs that the Tigers and Mildred had teams that could make it to the state semifinals came last August. Hubbard coach Craig Horn started laying the ground work for a district championship season — after 0-10 — by practicing his team in the heat of the afternoon.
What will be the big storylines this August?
For starters, three new coaches will get their first crack at two-a-days with their players. For Rice’s Jerry Baldridge, Frost’s Eric Blenden and Wortham’s Shane Doege, this is a pivotal time.
It’s no surprise that the Tigers and Eagles are picked to return to the playoffs. Even though both teams lost several standout seniors.
The good news for Corsicana’s Phil Castles and Mildred’s Patrick Harvell is they return their quarterbacks. With Devontay Bell for the Tigers and Nic Shimonek for the Eagles, both teams have a leader at the most important position in football to give them a chance at another deep playoff run.
Kerens and Hubbard are also picked to get back in the playoffs, and that’s hardly a surprise. Both teams were young and talented last season. They’ll be even more improved this year.
Don’t forget to mark down on your calendar Oct. 5. That’s when the Bobcats and Jaguars will play each other at Tiger Stadium. Corsicana is off that week. Where else would you want to be?
The most interesting thing about this season? How about Blooming Grove and Frost both being picked to make the postseason by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.
It’s been a while since the west side of the county has been represented in the playoffs — Blooming Grove in 2007 and Frost in 2001.
Gary Grubbs’ Lions started fast last season and sputtered once district play started. Are they ready to take the next step? Running back Travis Whiteside says yes.
“My goal is to get to the first round of the playoffs,” Whiteside said. “We have a chance for a winning season finally.”
Frost has an experienced quarterback, Jake Stroder, and a healthy tailback, Danial Steels, and other experience that should give the Polar Bears’ their best team in a decade. Blenden has been an assistant under Clark Moore, so the transition should go smoothly.
Having veteran players — Frost lost one senior — gives the Polar Bears a legit chance.
“We’re finally old,” Blenden said. “For the first four years I’ve been here, we had more kids dropped off by their parents than were able to drive up here.”
More storylines. Rice’s Ragan Henderson has a chance to be one of the best players in the area — several other area coaches were raving about him in street clothes on Thursday. And Baldridge is an excellent coach who comes into a Rice program where the numbers are up and the desire to win is off the charts.
Wortham and Dawson begin the season knowing this — three of the five teams in 9-1A DII will make the playoffs. Both Bulldogs can make the playoffs.
For Doege, it’s all about setting the right tone. Wortham has the talent to be a playoff team. They just need a different feeling from the one they had last year. So Doege will split up two-a-days, working out in the morning on their new practice field, and at night under the lights at Wortham’s stadium.
“We want to do something a little different,” Doege said.
Dawson is the team everyone should root for starting Aug. 31. Bulldogs coach Scott Hawkins made the playoffs three years in a row, knew he was in for a down season — he said so this time last year — but instead of capitalizing on his success and going somewhere else, he stayed in Dawson and took an 0-10 lump.
Dawson will be better for it this year as a young team becomes an experienced one in 2012.
All in all, it makes for an exciting five months coming up.
It’s football time in the Golden Circle.
Sports
Related Photos
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Daily Sun Sports Editor Todd Wills, addresses area coaches at the Golden Circle Football 12 Media Day Thursday at Tiger Stadium. Daily Sun photo/Michael Kormos
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Daily Sun staff photographer Michael Kormos shoots photos of Travis Whiteside of Blooming Grove as other players wait for thier turn at the Golden Circle Football 12 Media Day Thursday at Tiger Stadium. Daily Sun photo/Todd Wills
Discussion
GC Football: It’s that time of year again
Football coaches meet for Golden Circle Media Day
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