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Post by Tom on Aug 27, 2013 7:11:32 GMT -6
Denton Guyer Wildcats at Cedar Hill Longhorns Thursday night at Longhorn Stadium, Cedar Hill Series: Cedar Hill leads, 3-1 Last year: Cedar Hill won, 54-28
For the fourth year in a row, Denton Guyer and Cedar Hill will square off in non-district play; Cedar Hill has won all three early-season matchups, but Guyer beat them when it counted in 2010, getting a win in the area round on their way to the state title game. Last year was the first game in the series that wasn't close: Guyer basically traded scores with the Longhorns in the first half, but couldn't keep up in the second half and wound up losing 54-28.
Two things will be different this year. For one thing, Guyer won't be breaking in new cornerbacks; both Trey Woods and Will Sanders are back after starting last year. Guyer also won't be breaking in an entirely new front seven this year; DE Thomas Ferguson, DT Carl Thompson, and LB Demontrie Taylor are all back after starting last year, and two other D-linemen (Isiah Correa and Derek Watson) also saw playing time last year. Second, Cedar Hill will be breaking in new players at the skill positions on offense. Cedar Hill always has athletes, but this time around it will be an inexperienced Cedar Hill offense against an experienced Guyer defense.
In any case, the Guyer defense doesn't need to completely shut down the Cedar Hill offense. Much like last year, the defensive M.O. against the good teams on the schedule will be to get just enough stops for the offense to do its work. Senior QB and Texas commit Jerrod Heard returns to pilot the offense after throwing and rushing for over 2,000 yards last season. Senior RB D.J. Breedlove, who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, is also back, and Guyer will also get help from junior RB Anthony Taylor as well as senior FB Nate Maki (the latter being more of a blocking back but who will occasionally get the ball in short-yardage situations.) The receiving corps will be inexperienced, but talented, and in a new wrinkle backup QB David Haynes moves out to WR and will also be used as a wildcat QB. The offensive line has to replace a couple of starters but should be fine.
Shorter: look for a shootout, and probably a close game. It's tough to call the game either way, but Guyer comes in on a 14-game winning streak and I'll call it for them 42-38.
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Post by Clemensbuff on Aug 27, 2013 8:09:08 GMT -6
This will be one hell of a game IMO.
I took CH in a close one but think Guyer's great QB may just have enough to get it done.
I think this game is within 7 points one way or the other. Two very high quality teams getting after it to start the year!
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Post by cujo2002 on Aug 27, 2013 8:31:27 GMT -6
CH
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Post by Tom on Aug 27, 2013 8:32:01 GMT -6
This will be one hell of a game IMO. I took CH in a close one but think Guyer's great QB may just have enough to get it done. I think this game is within 7 points one way or the other. Two very high quality teams getting after it to start the year! Yep. I think if Guyer gets this one, we can start talking 10-0. Obviously way early, but Colleyville Heritage is going to be in a rebuilding year and Marcus is beatable. The toughest remaining game after this is the Rider game (which is in Wichita Falls this year) but that's winnable, too... the rest of 5-4A won't be much of a challenge.
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Post by Clemensbuff on Aug 27, 2013 12:22:29 GMT -6
I agree completely Tom. I do not see anybody outside of CH stopping the train in the regular season. This could be the W that puts Guyer into the 16-0 league if things work out.
IMO, CH is one of the only teams athletic enough to match up this year with the Wildcats.
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Post by dtrain on Aug 27, 2013 13:03:17 GMT -6
CH has better talent every year than most schools and this includes Guyer, BUT Guyer returns key positions, while CH is rebuilding and their HC is not great. I'll go with the 4A team to exact revenge this year for the epic beatdown they got last year.
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Post by Clemensbuff on Aug 27, 2013 15:52:43 GMT -6
CH has better talent every year than most schools and this includes Guyer, BUT Guyer returns key positions, while CH is rebuilding and their HC is not great. I'll go with the 4A team to exact revenge this year for the epic beatdown they got last year. I picked CH but I do believe you are probably right. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all to see Guyer beat them. I've a lot of respect for the Guyer program and they play very good football. The more I think about it the more I wished I'd taken Guyer in this game. CH is one of those teams that could beat damn near anybody on a given night and turn around and lose to a fairly avg team the next night. They seem to ride waves of emotion and are like sharks........sometimes docile but when the feeding frenzy is on they are completely badazz!
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Post by Tom on Aug 27, 2013 19:52:45 GMT -6
I agree completely Tom. I do not see anybody outside of CH stopping the train in the regular season. This could be the W that puts Guyer into the 16-0 league if things work out. IMO, CH is one of the only teams athletic enough to match up this year with the Wildcats. You're probably right, but I think there are several other games on the schedule (definitely Rider, maybe Colleyville Heritage, Marcus, Nelson) that Guyer could lose with a few bad breaks. You just never know.
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Post by tomseaver on Aug 27, 2013 21:24:11 GMT -6
Slow down, Tom. Guyer will be without Bryan Barret, their big 6'3", strong as an ox OL (think Patrick Morris). A couple of other guys on the line that are dinged up as well. Alex Honey, 6'3" blazer at WR is in his first varsity season. He's going to be a good one, but there has been drops last spring and this fall. It's nerves, and he'll get it figured out, but I don't know if it's going to happen in the first game on a big stage. Yes, the D should be much better. As you mentioned, all of Heard's to targets are JR's. And yes, David Haynes is the best right now. Heard has taken another step up, if that were even possible, so he might put it on his shoulders, but remember, this is one of the top 5A schools in the state. I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, I'm just tapping the brakes.
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Post by tomseaver on Aug 27, 2013 21:41:02 GMT -6
dtrain, I don't think last year was an epic beatdown, it was pretty even at the half. Guyer just started too many So's and Jr.s on defense. As far as talent goes, there are some years (most) when CH has more D1 talent, and some years (lesser) where Guyer has more D1 talent. I think it's the deeper team that wins this year.
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Post by Tom on Aug 28, 2013 7:30:41 GMT -6
Slow down, Tom. Guyer will be without Bryan Barret, their big 6'3", strong as an ox OL (think Patrick Morris). A couple of other guys on the line that are dinged up as well. Alex Honey, 6'3" blazer at WR is in his first varsity season. He's going to be a good one, but there has been drops last spring and this fall. It's nerves, and he'll get it figured out, but I don't know if it's going to happen in the first game on a big stage. Yes, the D should be much better. As you mentioned, all of Heard's to targets are JR's. And yes, David Haynes is the best right now. Heard has taken another step up, if that were even possible, so he might put it on his shoulders, but remember, this is one of the top 5A schools in the state. I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, I'm just tapping the brakes. Well, yeah, but CH is also going through the same thing -- if I'm not mistaken their QB, RB, and WRs from last year were all seniors. I mean, I'm almost sure the replacements are good athletes, but they'll be working out some kinks too.
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Post by Clemensbuff on Aug 28, 2013 7:39:06 GMT -6
Slow down, Tom. Guyer will be without Bryan Barret, their big 6'3", strong as an ox OL (think Patrick Morris). A couple of other guys on the line that are dinged up as well. Alex Honey, 6'3" blazer at WR is in his first varsity season. He's going to be a good one, but there has been drops last spring and this fall. It's nerves, and he'll get it figured out, but I don't know if it's going to happen in the first game on a big stage. Yes, the D should be much better. As you mentioned, all of Heard's to targets are JR's. And yes, David Haynes is the best right now. Heard has taken another step up, if that were even possible, so he might put it on his shoulders, but remember, this is one of the top 5A schools in the state. I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, I'm just tapping the brakes. Well, yeah, but CH is also going through the same thing -- if I'm not mistaken their QB, RB, and WRs from last year were all seniors. I mean, I'm almost sure the replacements are good athletes, but they'll be working out some kinks too. I agree with this. CH lost some serious talent as well and will have to replace and those replacements will take time to adjust. I think it'll come down to who's D steps up and I thought I remember Guyer having quite a few JRs on that D last year. Hopefully the Wildcats come out strong and get CH down quickly. If so, I really like their chances. Of course if the opposite happens and CH comes out fast it could get their 'swagger' goin and it could be a tough row to hoe. The bottom line is the best player on the field resides on GUyer's side and he'll have the ball in his hands every snap. To me that is just huge.
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Post by Tom on Aug 28, 2013 8:04:02 GMT -6
Well, yeah, but CH is also going through the same thing -- if I'm not mistaken their QB, RB, and WRs from last year were all seniors. I mean, I'm almost sure the replacements are good athletes, but they'll be working out some kinks too. I agree with this. CH lost some serious talent as well and will have to replace and those replacements will take time to adjust. I think it'll come down to who's D steps up and I thought I remember Guyer having quite a few JRs on that D last year. Hopefully the Wildcats come out strong and get CH down quickly. If so, I really like their chances. Of course if the opposite happens and CH comes out fast it could get their 'swagger' goin and it could be a tough row to hoe. The bottom line is the best player on the field resides on GUyer's side and he'll have the ball in his hands every snap. To me that is just huge. Guyer started three juniors and two sophs on D last year. Last year's starting corners were a junior and a soph and both were first-year starters; I think it played a big role against CH that the starting CBs were both starting their first game and that was a problem. Also had a soph DT, Carl Thompson, who's going to be a beast. Listed at 6'3", 240, so he'll have to put on some weight or move to LB to go D1 but he came on strong as the year went on. The good thing about playing a bunch of blowouts last year is that the backups played quite a bit.
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Post by TWolvesFan on Aug 28, 2013 9:19:18 GMT -6
I agree with this. CH lost some serious talent as well and will have to replace and those replacements will take time to adjust. I think it'll come down to who's D steps up and I thought I remember Guyer having quite a few JRs on that D last year. Hopefully the Wildcats come out strong and get CH down quickly. If so, I really like their chances. Of course if the opposite happens and CH comes out fast it could get their 'swagger' goin and it could be a tough row to hoe. The bottom line is the best player on the field resides on GUyer's side and he'll have the ball in his hands every snap. To me that is just huge. Guyer started three juniors and two sophs on D last year. Last year's starting corners were a junior and a soph and both were first-year starters; I think it played a big role against CH that the starting CBs were both starting their first game and that was a problem. Also had a soph DT, Carl Thompson, who's going to be a beast. Listed at 6'3", 240, so he'll have to put on some weight or move to LB to go D1 but he came on strong as the year went on. The good thing about playing a bunch of blowouts last year is that the backups played quite a bit. That makes a big difference when you have newbies starting a season. Those are probably your leaders this year. I agree that when you are fortunate enough to have a few blowouts that it gets reps for those kids waiting in the wings. Just keep reloading! Guyer in a high scoring but close battle!
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