Don't get too down — Kilgore will bounce back

Some of my thoughts while on the sidelines of the Kilgore-Marshall game on Friday night — and since...

Photo by Dr. Jeff Davis TIME OUT! — Kilgore High School head coach Mike Vallery (center) signals for a time out during the first half of Friday night's game at Marshall, where the Bulldogs came out on the bad side of a 28-18 decision. But every season can't be a perfect, unbeaten one, sports writer Mitch Lucas writes today. The Ragin' Red has plenty of talent and will still have a good season, Lucas said. The Bulldogs have two non-district games remaining: at home against Gilmer on Friday, and at Palestine. • OK, here's the good news: I know everyone's down about Kilgore falling at Marshall, and I think a lot of that is because, while no one wants to see their team lose, you especially don't want to see it happen to a rival, and in recent years, Marshall is probably the Bulldogs' biggest rival.

The Mavericks were 5A for a while and weren't an opponent for Kilgore for much of the last two decades. But Kilgore has more than held its own since the series resumed in 2002. KHS is 4-3, counting Friday's loss, since then, and a few of those times, as Kilgore fans know, both programs have been among the best in the state.

LUCAS What I'm saying is, one loss doesn't kill the season. We've all been spoiled by this program, because coach Mike Vallery and his staff are very, very good coaches, and we've had a lot of talent. They just do not lose very much. And it's a compliment that we are spoiled, for that very reason. This community is used to seeing its team win. But undefeated seasons can't happen every year. Very rarely does a team capture a championship of any kind with an unbeaten season.

This Kilgore team has talent, and heart. And they are — mark my words — going to win their share of games this year.

• Injury bug: Saw a lot of walking wounded on the Kilgore sideline on Friday night. That was such a physical game. And unlike the Marshall News Messenger, I didn't really think a KHS loss was apparent until the Bulldogs didn't get the onside kick with just over three minutes left. Kilgore has kids that just won't quit, and most every time, the handwriting isn't on the wall until the scoreboard reads triple-zero.

• Can Bustin kick, or what? Ryan Bustin had a 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter at Marshall last week, had two more, including a 41-yarder into a wind, on Friday night at Marshall, and has made quite a few clutch kicks since he's been a varsity Bulldog.

By the way, he's just a junior.

He was standing at the 50-yard-line in pregame warmups, booting punts to Trevor Moon, who was standing in the back of the end zone. And pretty regularly, Moon was having to back up to field the ball.

"Bustin's gonna kick it out of the stadium," someone said, and I laughed. But maybe they weren't joking. He's fun to watch.

• OK, my political comments of the week: I was a political science major in college, which normally doesn't amount to much in the real world, except keeping you up late at night watching CNN and Fox News and all the analysis. But here are my impressions from the information I took in this week...

— Just 143 Senate working days after his election, Barack Obama formed a Presidential election exploratory committee. And as a man, Obama seems like a gentleman. He and I are just at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

— Actor Matt Damon this week said that Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin was like "a really bad Disney move." And believe me, Matt Damon should know about bad movies. Here's a really bad one: "The Talented Mr. Ripley," starring Matt Damon. And here's another: "Oceans 13," starring — well, Matt Damon.

— The media is on a witch-hunt to find as much negative information about Gov. Palin as possible, in an attempt to sabotage her. And it's painfully obvious. The one thing I've heard so much is her lack of foreign policy experience.

To an extent, I agree. But how much foreign policy experience did Obama, a Senator from Illinois, acquire in his brief tenure?

By the way, how much foreign policy experience did Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton have prior to being elected President? His foreign policy experience was driving to the Texas side of Texarkana for a few beers.

• To borrow an expression from coach Val, my hat's off to KLTV weather guru Mark Scirto for his coverage of Hurricane Ike. Watching a lot of weather forecasters on TV, especially on "Good Morning, America," "The Weather Channel" and a few other places, one almost gets the feeling they're actually rooting for storms to get worse. In fact, since the disaster known as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it seems like everyone is in full-blown panic mode, thanks to media coverage. You would think we're all going to be running around digging for food and stealing water, like a scene from "Planet of the Apes."

But Scirto did an excellent job this week. I doubt he cares my opinion, but I appreciate his hard work.

• Great effort by the Bulldogs: My final grade from Kilgore's game with Marshall would be an A-plus for effort, and a B overall. I thought the defense played very well — Marshall quarterback Darius Jones isn't chopped liver. I thought several guys made big plays, including Frank Reddic, Andrew Ector, Dominique Jones and others. And Mishaud Austin is quietly putting together a good year.

• Gilmer's coming. As run-heavy as Marshall was last week, the Buckeyes will be pass-heavy this week. I seriously expect Gilmer to throw it 50 times, maybe more. It should be an interesting homecoming game for Kilgore, who has two more non-district tuneups before starting District 14-4A play here against Lindale Oct. 10.

OK, that's it. I'm going home to hopefully not be without power, watch the weather and maybe some football. Here's hoping each of you has no weather-related problems and a great week. God bless.