10-6-24 Red Oak
On paper, the Scots face their strongest district challenge as they head south this Friday to take on the Red Oak Hawks. But since games aren’t played on paper so let’s just say the Scots should fasten their seat belts.
The Hawks were ranked 14th in the state in pre-season polls. They are coming off a 12-1 season (8-0 in district play) and they advanced to the regional semifinals before losing to eventual state champion Aledo. As the season started Red Oak boasted one of the best receiver duos in the state. Taz Williams and Brayden Robinson are both highly-recruited receivers. Last season Williams caught 63 passes for 898 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was predicted by Texas Football magazine as this season’s district Offensive MVP (alongside Defensive MVP Jack Morse). But after catching 15 passes for 151 yards over the first two games, Williams injured his knee and is out for the season. So Robinson remains the last four-star receiver on the team, and now he is sharing ball-catching duties with Charles Taplin, a Michigan State pledge who is putting up impressive numbers.
The Hawks opened the season with a heart-breaking loss to Colleyville Heritage, 32-29, then got run over by a freight train named Arlington Seguin, 50-14. For a team that had deep playoff visions, starting off 0-2 was not on the menu.
But in the last two games the Hawks have looked like they should go ahead and make playoff reservations. After getting their wind knocked out of them when they lost Taz for the season, they have caught their breath. They beat up on Cedar Hill, 41-14, and knocked off Killeen Ellison, 35-7, and look like a team that will give the Scots a serious challenge.
Teams usually don’t dominate Cedar Hill but Red Oak won the total offense battle, 459 to 186. Quarterback Billy Middleton completed 18 of 24 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns. Against Killeen Ellison the Hawks picked up 156 yards in the air and 162 on the ground for a balanced 318 yards of total offense. Middleton has found his rhythm, Taplin has stepped up to help fill the Taz’s WR spot and running back Lorenzo Holmes averaged 12.2 yards per carry on five carries and a touchdown against Ellison.
So this is a very talented Red Oak offense that will give the Scots defense a challenge. The Hawks realize that the district championship goes through Highland Park so this is their Super Bowl. The Scots can anticipate the Hawks’ best effort.
If I were the Scots I’d send a message to the Arlington Seguin football team and ask them how they held Red Oak to 14 points while they lit up the scoreboard with 50 points. And yet Red Oak had more first downs in the game. I wonder if the scoreboard operator made a mistake.
Over the past couple of weeks Highland Park has honored former HP head coach Scott Smith, current head coach Randy Allen, former HP quarterback and current Goff’s spokesman Lance McIlhenny and former Scot and all-state philanthropist Garry Weber. Next week will be a bye week so nobody will be honored.
To fill that vacuum I would like to honor the Highland Park special teams. They don’t get a lot of credit for their standard operating procedures but as a group they are making a huge impact on this Scots team. Focus on them this Friday in Red Oak. You’ll get a kick out of it.