GATORS PACK PLENTY OF BITE ATOP AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RANKINGS

THREE WEEKS into the high school football season doesn’t always provide a
clear picture as to where a team is heading. However, it does offer enough of a
glimpse to allow fans to wonder whether looking forward to watching their team
play on Thanksgiving weekend or quietly counting down to the start of boys and
girls basketball season.
With district play beginning next week for most teams, the latest area rankings
from The Post Newspaper delivers with a host of surprises from top to bottom.
1. Dickinson (3-0 overall, vs. Katy Taylor, Friday): Life is good when your
average margin of victory is 35 points. The Gators are averaging over 400 yards
per game on offense and may have unearthed the program’s next gem in junior
receiver Darryl Harris, who has 15 catches for 224 yards and two scores.
2. Friendswood (3-0, open week): Defense has anchored a strong start that
has seen the Mustangs allow just 13 points in their last eight quarters of play.
Sophomore quarterback Luke Grden is already on the radar of major college
programs while seniors Colton Halata and Luke Revere give the O a pair of backs
that have combined for six rushing touchdowns.
3. Galveston Ball (2-0, open week): Mother Nature has been the only thing
that slowed down a Tors offense that is averaging 47 points per game. Coach
Kimble Anders is using a power running game and a rock solid defense — two
longtime foundations of Ball football — to keep Ball focused on another playoff bid.
4. Clear Creek (2-1, vs. Katy Tomkins, Friday): The Wildcats have shown
they can score points at a blistering pace, but until their defense can stop doing
the same, Creek’s fan base will run out of nails to bite at the end of shootouts.
5. Hitchcock (2-1, at Scarborough, Friday): The lasting impression from last
Friday’s win over La Marque is that the Bulldogs have developed a passing game
that can punish opponents who stack the line while trying to slow down coach
Craig Smith’s methodical Slot-T offense.
6. Clear Springs (1-2, vs. Katy, Saturday): A rugged nondistrict schedule
comes to a conclusion against national powerhouse Katy on Saturday night. Even
if the Chargers go into district play with a 1-3 mark, coach Craig Dailey should still
feel good about his team’s chances to make the postseason for a 10th straight
year.
7. Clear Falls (2-1, at Bellaire, Friday): The Knights are averaging 42 points
per game and a road win over the Cardinals would give this young team a dynamic
confidence boost going into their District 24-6A opener against Clear Springs
next Friday.
8. Clear Brook (1-2, vs. CE King, Friday): Losses to Friendswood and Angleton
have stymied the good vibes of the season-opening win over La Porte. For the
Wolverines to compete in 24-6A play, consistency on offense (29 points the last
two weeks) has to be priority number one.
9. Santa Fe (1-2, open week): The Indians are 2-3 plays away from being
3-0. A road win over 6A Brazoswood last week is the kind of victory coach Mark
Kanipes’ squad needs before embarking into a tough 12-5A-2 schedule.
10. Texas City (1-2, open week): Coach Leland Surovik has to feel optimistic
about his team after they dismantled a Clear Lake team regarded as a possible
24-6A contender. Next week’s District 10-5A-1 opener against Friendswood will
give him a more clear vision of where the Stingarees stand.
11. La Marque (0-3, at Columbia, Friday): Cougars fans who have come to
believe state title trips are a birthright had better embrace the reality that coach
Shone Evans and his staff will need time to develop the program. Those jumping
off the bandwagon now will be the same ones back when Evans does turn things around .