Hurricane Forces Mandeville to Withdraw from Herbstreit

Mandeville (La.) has withdrawn from its scheduled game Monday in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series because of travel concerns created by Hurricane Gustav.

Klein Oak, which was scheduled to play Mandeville at 2:30 p.m., is left without a game.

"It's not the end of the world," Klein Oak coach David Smith said. "We've been working toward this since February. When you know you're going to play in the Dallas Cowboys' backyard, there's motivation there. There are some kids that haven't been there. It's huge disappointment but a huge learning tool too."

Bruce Bundy, principal of the New Orleans suburban school, said he was worried some of his players' families would have to evacuate their homes.

Monday's other two games at Texas Stadium are unaffected. Euless Trinity meets River Ridge (La.) John Curtis at 11 a.m., and Colleyville Heritage meets Clovis (Calif.)East at 6 p.m.

Klein Oak's open date is in Week 3 (Sept. 18-20). Smith said he would be open to playing a game if he could find an opponent.

Final Event Details for the Herbstreit Classic

Below are the final event details for the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series Presented by Burger King. This release includes the finalized television schedule along with team rankings based on the ESPN Rise Fab 50 rankings.

CINCINNATI and DALLAS (August 26, 2008) – Are you ready for some football? Well, come Labor Day weekend you might not have much of a choice as 36 of the best high school football teams across the nation are set to clash in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series Presented by BURGER KING®. Among the nationally ranked teams (according to the ESPN Rise Fab 50) participating:

#1 Trinity Euless (TX)

#4 St. Thomas Aquinas (FL)

#9 St. Xavier (OH)

#23 John Curtis Academy (LA)

#26 Prattville (AL)

#45 East St. Louis (IL)

This series will showcase 18 elite matchups during a three day period at three renowned stadiums across Ohio and Texas. The Kirk Herbstreit Challenge, which has been held in Ohio for the past three years, expanded this year to include a series of competitions in Texas and, most recently, added an additional three games on Labor Day, including a must-see matchup between #1-ranked Euless Trinity (TX) and traditional national power (#23) River Ridge John Curtis (LA).

Eleven games will take place in Ohio over two days, Saturday, August 30 and Sunday, August 31. The teams will play at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium in Canton and at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Additionally, and in partnership with The National Football Foundation, seven games will take place at Texas Stadium in the City of Irving, Texas on Saturday, August 30 and Monday, September 1.

Chicago-based Intersport has once again partnered with Burger King Corp. and Herbstreit to stage this premiere high school series. Tickets are available now for only $14 for adults ($16 day of event) and $10 for student/youth fans ($12 day of event) for a three or four game session. Tickets can be purchased at local participating high schools, as well as online at Ticketmaster.com or Ticketweb.com.

ESPN is slated to tape and rebroadcast the premiere match up of Cincinnati Elder (OH) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) on Monday, September 1. Additionally, Versus Network will broadcast the duel between Cedar Hill (TX) vs. LaSalle Catholic (OH) live on August 30, as well as carry, on tape delay, the Justin Northwest (TX) vs. Woodland Hills (PA) and Arlington Bowie (TX) vs. Trotwood-Madison (OH) games. CBS College Sports will broadcast all games taking place in Cincinnati on August 31.

In addition, fans can log onto www.wazoosports.com to see live streaming video of all games played in Cincinnati except for St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Elder. These broadcasts will be available free of charge.

All ticket and event information can be found at www.herbstreitfootballseries.com:

What to watch for in 08'

Storylines to watch for in 2008:

Galena Park North Shore brings a 70 game regular season win streak into 2008 and will be looking to break Southlake Carroll's 72 game streak established 86-94'.
Alto seeks to continue the state's longest win streak (28 games).
Highland Park (699 wins) and Amarillo (698 wins) will attempt to become the first Texas high school teams to reach 700 wins.
Arlington Lamar coach Eddie Peach can become the sixth coach to win 300 games in a career with his first win of 08'.
Should he come anywhere close to having another season like the record-breaking year he had in 2007, Lake Travis QB Garrett Gilbert could break into the top ten of several all-time passing lists.
Madisonville RB Chris Whaley has rushed for over 2,000 yards each of the last two seasons. Another big year would catapult him into the top twenty rushers of all-time.

West Brook's Michael in Regular Season Form

Texas high school football scrimmages are winding down and the season kicks off this Thursday night.

One player who looks to be in regular season form is Beaumont West Brook's Christine Michael, who is rated the No. 1 running back in Texas according to Rivals.com. He ripped off huge chunks of yardage against what many are saying should be one of the state's best class 5A defensive lines in the Lufkin Panthers on Friday night.

Alto Player Recovers From Close Call

The class 1A Alto Yellow Jackets own the state's longest winning streak at 28 games and will enter 2008 as our #1 team, however Jacket player Kevin Blakemore came close to losing the opportunity to help Alto win another title.

5A Fans Circle Your Calendars

If you're a 5A Texas HS football fan, circle September 19th on the calendar. Check out the big games that litter the landscape that weekend.

Euless Trinity vs. Allen
Katy vs. Flower Mound Marcus
Plano vs. Temple
Aldine Eisenhower vs. Beaumont West Brook
Lufkin vs. Longview
Dallas Skyline vs. Plano East
Southlake Carroll vs. Mesquite
Abilene vs. Tyler Lee

Roadtrip Through Small Town Texas

Took a roadtrip to Brenham this weekend, where I passed class 3A Robinson, home of the Rockets (just outside of Waco), Rosebud & Lott, home of the class 2A Rosebud-Lott Cougars, class 3A Cameron, home to the Yoemen (gotta love the mascot!) and class 3A Caldwell, home of the Hornets.

What is one of the first things you see when you enter a small town in Texas? A nice welcome sign? A sign bragging about the town's industry, agriculture or area sights? Nope, it's always a sign bragging about the hometown football team; and it doesn't matter if the home team's only state championship occured in 1884 when there were only 2 high schools in the state, you can bet it will be on the sign.

I usually try to snap a few photos on these trips, and this one was no different. Still trying to figure out how the only picture I got in Brenham was of the Blue Bell truck and not of the Cubs home field. Oh well, gotta get back to my Moolenium Crunch before the 100 degree temperatures turn it to a Moolenium shake!

ESPN Releases Broadcast Schedule

High School football TV coverage continues to grow in Texas and across the nation. ESPN released its 2008 broadcast schedule today and several Texas teams are featured as part of the package again.

All-Time Team Member Heading to the Hall

Txprepsfootball.com All-Time HS DB Darrell Green is being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend. The induction of Green underscores the depth at the defensive back position in Texas over the years. Former Kansas City DB Emmitt Thomas, who attended high school in Angleton, and who drew strong consideration for our all-time team, is also being inducted to the Hall.

Txprepsfootball.com All-Time Texas HS Football Team

The Txprepsfootball.com All-Time Texas High School Football Team is dominated by the 50's-60's era, with 14 players on the team from that time period. The number of players from each decade breaks down as follows:
30's-1
40's-3
50's-8
60's-6
70's-5
80's-4
90's-2
00's-1
Total of 30 players.