New season full of promise everywhere

Last year in the football preview, I wrote an excerpt from Credence Clearwater Revival's "Up Around The Bend."

Lo and behold, as I stood on the field following Kilgore High School's playoff loss to Highland Park at Rose Stadium in Tyler, waiting on coach Mike Vallery to finish speaking with his team, what should play over the stadium's sound system but CCR's "Up Around the Bend"?

Normally, I'm not that good at prognosticating. And I didn't pay off the Rose Stadium sound crew. I did, however, feel closure with the season somehow. I thought Kilgore had a great year, and I was sad to see it come to an end, as many of you were.

On plenty of other occasions, though, it's been our hometown teams' turn. And who knows? That might be the case again, in several instances, this year.

This football preview is designed to do just that: focus on the high school players and coaches, the teams in our area, and to give you as best we can a glimpse at what to expect throughout the 20 weeks or so that follow. I know there are some of you that think I tell you what you want to hear. I've been here for seven years, though, and I've always tried to give you my honest opinion.

Photo by Lester Murray RUN HARD, YOUNG MAN — Kilgore coaches Les Loper (foreground) and Chad Loper put a Bulldog through the grind during a recent practice. The Bulldogs have a chance to have another special season, writes sports editor Mitch Lucas, and so do a lot of area teams, including Kilgore College and West Rusk. Just like "Up Around the Bend," I've just been fortunate to be right.

Kilgore, for instance, is looked at by many as the favorite to win another district championship this year. I think that's an accurate prediction. The Bulldogs' offensive line returns intact, and the defensive line has had a few losses to graduation, but should still be very, very good. The last time both of Kilgore's lines were this good was 2004, then 2005, when Kilgore won the state championship one season and went deep into the playoffs the next.

I definitely can see KHS playing until Thanksgiving, if not longer, and if the passing game is equally complimentary to the running game, the Bulldogs could hit double-digit wins again, with a little bit of gold thrown in for good measure.

Kilgore College is loaded at most positions, but doesn't have a single quarterback on the roster that has taken a snap at the junior college level. That's got to drive an offensive mind like head coach J.J. Eckert crazy. But it's not like he doesn't have talent there.

KC is quite talented at receiver, tight end and tailback, is deep on defensive line, and has good coaching. If the Rangers' offensive line, also a bit inexperienced, can get some confidence, if they get a few good bounces and if the quarterback play is good, I definitely can see the Rangers making it to the conference title game and winning this time. A bowl trip to Mount Pleasant and live TV appearance on Fox Sports Southwest would be a great way for the Rangers to showcase their program and this community.

No one needs a fresh start like the Sabine High School Cardinals, who seem to drive down Trouble Street and hit every pothole every single year. There's a new head football coach in town this year, and while I'm not going to predict a win total, I will guarantee Sabine will win a game before district play this season.

About five years ago, the administration at Leverett's Chapel began toying with the idea of bringing back a football program. Once they made the commitment to do so, they made Matt Everett the program's coach. That was a good decision. The Lions have been good and not so good at times since they resumed playing football, but this year, it'll count — they begin a district schedule midway through the season.

At Overton, they've had moderate success in just about every athletic program, including football, in the 21st century. After a couple of seasons where they faltered down the stretch, new head coach Ty Robinson would like to get Overton on the winning track out of the gate. Unlike a lot of first-year head coaches, many of whom are happy just to be able to remember the players' names without masking tape on the helmets by the end of the season, Robinson believes his team can contend this year. With talent like Telvin Darden and Jacoba Gardner returning, it's hard to doubt him.

John Frazier helped give West Rusk football fans a taste of winning last year and would like to serve up a seven-course meal this time out. The Raiders have a two-tight-end tandem, a seniorheavy offensive line, a talented secondary and a running back eager to hit over the 1,000-yard mark again. Their district load has been reduced a bit (they're down to a six-team district) and they've been favored in the state's main football publication to make the Class 2A playoffs this season. Frazier said he thinks they can legitimately compete for a district championship. I agree.

You'll see how I think the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans will fare on page 6C, the very last page, of the football preview, and I hope you'll understand my decision to dedicate the majority of the back section to Kilgore College. Major college football, the Cowboys and the Texans can be followed on "SportsCenter" — KC doesn't have that TV time. I wanted to give the Rangers as much coverage as I could. I did put a box on page 5C listing every former Kilgore High School football player currently enrolled in a college football program, so you can at least follow their progress along the way this year.

I'm about to begin my seventh football season as Kilgore News Herald sports editor. Putting this football section together is kind of hard work. It'll be good to get the preview behind me, take a deep breath, and get life (and my church-going) back to regular again. I am so excited about this football season, and I promise you, I'm going to do my very best to bring you the best coverage of high school varsity football and Kilgore College football that I can.

Thanks for reading, and I hope God blesses each and every one of you in 2008 and beyond. Hope you enjoy the preview.