Texas

Texas high school football living up to hype for some of state’s top newcomers this season

Published

2 months ago

October 31, 2024

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Texas high school football living up to hype for some of state’s top newcomers this season

The Texas heat didn’t phase Waxahachie quarterback Jerry Meyer III, a newcomer to the Lone Star State this year.

“I could come out here in some sweats and a sweatshirt and I’d be fine,” the sophomore said.

Meyer transferred to Waxahachie from Lake Mead Christian Academy in the Las Vegas area, where as a freshman in 2023 he won a 2A state championship and set the Nevada single-season record for touchdowns with 58.

Las Vegas, located in the Mojave Desert, experiences high temperatures rivaling even the most miserable Texas summers.

“It doesn’t compare at all,” Meyer said. “Vegas is hot.”

But Meyer admits Texas has the hotter high school football scene.

To Texans, large stadiums, pageantry and top-tier talent are typical aspects of high school football. But to outsiders, the frenzy is quite unique.

Dallas-Fort Worth grew by more than 152,000 residents, the size of a large suburb, last year. The migration to North Texas has continued, introducing fresh faces to the area’s booming high school sports landscape. Meyer and other out-of-state newcomers are playing their first Texas high school football seasons, and so far, the experience has lived up to the hype.

“It’s been a blessing playing with the top talent in America,” said Meyer, who has passed for 2,092 yards and 15 touchdowns this season and holds 10 college offers, among them Ole Miss, Nebraska and UNLV.

Meyer and Waxahachie compete in District 11-6A, also known as the “District of Doom.” It includes two defending state champions in Duncanville and DeSoto, a storied program in Cedar Hill and an area power in Lancaster, which Waxahachie must beat Friday to clinch 11-6A’s final playoff spot.

Duncanville and DeSoto, in particular, are nationally ranked and brimming with four- and five-star talent. A combined 32 players from Duncanville and DeSoto have made it to the NFL.

“Texas football is the talk across the country. It’s the biggest stage to play on,” Meyer said. “It’s just so highly talked about. They back it up. It’s highly competitive over here in this district and Texas in general.”

Melissa quarterback Noah Schuback (10) throws a touchdown pass to wide receiver Brett Pool during the first half of a District 4-5A Division II high school football game against Anna on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Melissa.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

Melissa quarterback Noah Schuback, a three-star junior from Alabama, is also getting a taste of competitive Texas high school football in District 4-5AII with Anna, Frisco Emerson, Lovejoy and Prosper Walnut Grove, all teams ranked in The Dallas Morning News’ Dallas-area 5A poll.

Only one team in the district, Lovejoy, has clinched a playoff berth, in part because of the high degree of parity.

“Our district’s really hard and we play a top playoff team each week, so it’s almost like the playoffs in our district, which is really good,” said Schuback, who has passed for 1,788 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushed for 282 yards and five scores this season.

But facing talented football teams isn’t new to Schuback, who played for Hoover High School, which competes in Alabama’s Class 7A.

“It’s very well-known throughout the country,” Schuback said. “The district that we were in was really hard, and we played a top team every week.”

Although Hoover played its games at the 11,000-seat Hoover Met, where the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament is held, Schuback was still impressed with how fans fill Melissa’s $35 million Coach Kenny Deel Stadium, which opened last season and has a capacity of 10,000.

“They say high school football is life here, and now I really see it,” Schuback said. “[The stadium] almost gets packed every game, even if we’re not playing a top opponent.”

In Vegas, Meyer went to a smaller school that didn’t have a band or compete against quite the level of talent he faces now, but “people sleep on Nevada,” he said. “There’s some players down there.”

He echoed Schuback’s sentiment about the impressive Texas crowds.

“There’s so many people that show up to the games and it makes you feel special,” Meyer said.

And the stadiums are sights to behold.

“It feels like you’re in a small college out here,” Meyer said. “It’s completely different.”

Before becoming Waxahachie’s QB1, Meyer had been to Texas previously for football camps and 7 on 7 tournaments.

“It’s huge,” Meyer said of his impressions of Texas in general. “And it’s a football state.”

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Texas

Las Vegas Bowl Collapse A Microcosm of Texas A&M Aggies’ Season

Published

3 hours ago

December 29, 2024

Press Room

Las Vegas Bowl Collapse A Microcosm of Texas A&M Aggies’ Season

The Texas A&M Aggies’ season ended in bitter disappointment on Friday, falling to the USC Trojans 35-31 and blowing a 17-point lead in the second half.

If the story of collapsing down the stretch sounds familiar, then it should, because that’s basically the story of the Aggies’ 2024 season.

It feels like a lifetime ago now, but the Aggies entered November ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll with a 7-1 record, having just beaten the LSU Tigers 38-23 at home in a pivotal SEC game. They were all alone atop the SEC standings with a 5-0 record in conference play, and essentially controlled their destiny in the College Football Playoff race.

Then the collapse began, as A&M went 1-3 in its final four regular season games. First came a 44-20 drubbing against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Nov. 2, then a 43-41 heartbreaker in four overtimes against the Auburn Tigers on Nov. 23, and finally a 17-7 dud where the offense could do nothing against the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 30. A&M’s lone win in this stretch came on Nov. 16 against the New Mexico State Aggies, a Conference USA team that finished the season 3-9.

Now with the loss to USC, A&M’s late-season collapse is now complete. The worst part? This is nothing new.

There have been far too many instances in recent history, particularly during the Kevin Sumlin era, of the Aggies starting a season hot and utterly falling apart by the end. In 2014 and 2015, they started 5-0 and finished 8-5. In 2016, they started 6-0 and finished 8-5. Last year, they started 4-1 and finished 7-6. You get the idea by now.

First-year head coach Mike Elko showed promise this season but ended up falling into the same trap as his predecessors. Going forward, he knows he must do a better job of finishing, both individual games and the season as a whole.

“We are just not good enough right now,” Elko said. “The challenge is, when we get back here in January, everything has to get turned up. We are now where we need to be from a cultural standpoint. Now we have to become a good football program. That is the next step that we have to take.”

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MORE TEXAS A&M AGGIES NEWS:

MORE: Mike Elko Ready For Texas A&M Aggies To Take ‘Next Step’ As Program

MORE: 5 Takeaways From Texas A&M’s Heartbreaking Las Vegas Bowl Collapse vs. USC Trojans

MORE: Mike Elko Doesn’t Hold Back Against Texas A&M Defense After USC Loss: ‘Can’t Cover!’

MORE: Texas A&M Aggies Blow 3-Score Second Half Lead to USC Trojans to Lose Las Vegas Bowl

MORE: Noah Thomas Makes Texas A&M Aggies History vs. USC in Las Vegas Bowl

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Tornadoes touch down in Texas and Mississippi, killing two and injuring six others

Published

11 hours ago

December 28, 2024

Press Room

Tornadoes touch down in Texas and Mississippi, killing two and injuring six others

At least two people have died and six more are injured after several tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi, damaging homes and flipping vehicles.

HOUSTON (AP) — At least two people were killed and six more injured as several tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi on Saturday, damaging homes and flipping vehicles.

One person died in the Liverpool area, located south of Houston, and four people suffered injuries that weren’t considered critical, said Madison Polston, spokesperson for the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.

Polston said there were “multiple touchdown points” in the county between Liverpool and Hillcrest Village and Alvin. She said that so far officials knew of around 10 damaged homes but were still working to determine the extent of the damage.

In Mississippi, one person died in Adams County and two people were injured in Franklin County, according to a spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

“These storms are probably going to get a lot worse this evening and overnight the further east you go,” said Josh Lichter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

It appeared that at least six tornadoes touched down in the Houston area, though they may discover there were more when crews go out to survey the damage, Litcher said. He said there was damage in the area from both tornadoes and straight-line winds.

North of Houston, mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Katy and Porter Heights, where the doors of a fire station were blown in, the weather service said.

The storms also caused departure delays of over an hour Saturday afternoon at Houston’s two main airports — Bush Intercontinental and Hobby — according to the website FlightAware.

About 71,000 utility customers were without power in Mississippi, and that number was expected to rise, said Malary White, chief communications officer for the state’s Emergency Management Agency.

The agency did not have any official damage reports but expected them to come in later. First responders were focused on ensuring people’s safety and making sure everyone was accounted for, according to White.

“We do anticipate more thorough damage assessments starting in the early morning hours,” she said.

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Ex Texas Longhorns 5-Star Johntay Cook Announces Transfer Commitment

Published

19 hours ago

December 28, 2024

Press Room

Ex Texas Longhorns 5-Star Johntay Cook Announces Transfer Commitment

Former Texas Longhorns wide receiver Johntay Cook has found his next home.

And it is with a familiar foe.

According to reports from On3’s Hayes Fawcett, Cook has committed to the Washington Huskies, picking the Big Ten team over pursuit from Florida.

The Longhorns, of course, fell to the Huskies in the 2023 College Football Playoff semi-finals, coming up just short of a national title appearance as a result.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound speedster had originally been predicted to stay in the SEC and sign with the Florida Gators. That said, with the Huskies, he should have a tremendous opportunity to be the No. 1 receiver in the program.

Texas Longhorns receiver Johntay Cook II (1) makes a touchdown catch over UTSA safety Elijah Newell (22) during the game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cook II, a five-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, had just eight catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns this season. He had three catches for 35 yards and two scores in the win over UTSA on Sept. 14.

There was an expectation entering the 2024 season that Cook II would see an increased role after minimal usage as a freshman but has instead become buried on a depth chart that features Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, DeAndre Moore Jr., Silas Bolden, and true freshman standout Ryan Wingo.

Cook ranked as the No. 31 player in the nation, No. 3 wide receiver and No. 5 player in the state of Texas for his class. As a transfer, he ranks as the No. 44 player available in the portal and the No. 14 wide receiver.

Cook ends his Longhorns career with just 16 catches for 273 yards and two touchdowns across two seasons.

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