One of the things that is noticeable in the overall picture of Class 5A Region III is that the more things change, the more things eventually stay same. In terms of things that have changed, there are two new teams in the middle of the region's party dance floor with the big bullseyes facing squarely at them. As for the things that remain the same, the usual regional suspects are also right in the middle of the party scene. The new teams lurking at the top are La Porte and Alvin Manvel while traditional regional powers Katy, Pearland and North Shore are positioning themselves to reclaim the top prize.
Viewing the overall top teams in La Porte and Alvin Manvel, both went into the deep rounds of December in 2011 with La Porte reaching the Regional Final, where they would lose to Port Arthur Memorial. Alvin Manvel went through the entire season without a blemish on the schedule before running into Johnathan Gray and the Aledo Bearcats in the 4A Division II State Championship. Fast forward into 2012, realignment pushes the Manvel Mavericks into Class 5A as they return their signal caller in Shane McCarley and a talented front led by Travis Romero and Koda Martin. La Porte returns 15 starters off a 12-2 team from a year ago including RB Keith Whitely, DE Alex Jones and LB Hoza Scott.
As for the traditional powers lurking in close proximity, Katy will be looking to wipe off a very bitter finish to its 2011 season against La Porte. A double dose of talented rushers in Adam Taylor and Rodney Anderson along with a defense that includes DE Matt Dimon, LBs Carson Strickler and Jacob Blomstrom and DB Isaiah Brown should be just the Tigers need to make the 2012 season a much more successful one. Pearland, who will have the Manvel Mavericks in the their own district, returns QB Jake Garner and LB Jon Gibberman. And much like its 2010 title team, the Oilers could ave another ride sliding directly under the radar. And speaking of under the radar from a statewide perspective, the North Shore Mustangs could fall right into that category in 2012 as they return just over half the offense and load up with plenty of speedy skill players such as QB Micah Thomas, DB Earnest Thomas and WR Derrick Gillis.
For the teams outside the top five, getting the opportunity to steal the spotlight much like La Porte did in 2011, is one of the things that brings the hunger to compete. The teams that fall in this category includes Alief Taylor, Fort Bend Bush, Clear Springs and Cypress Woods. Alief Taylor very well could one of the state's most dangrous and talented defenses led by DE Torrodney Prevot and Oho Okoronwu up front and DB Jonathan Wiggins and Chris Hardeman. If the Lions can find positive consistency with the offense, the sky is the limit to how far Taylor can go. The Bush Broncos are a wild card in the region with the twin twisters Ronald and Donald Monroe back on offense. If the Broncos rally around wat they have, they have a great chance to create a number of problems for the opposition.
Over the years under David Jones, the one thing that Cypress Woods has been successful at was reloading from year to year and winning consistently. Now Jones is off to Kerrville Tivy and promoted assistant Trent Faith will take the reins to repeating the cycle. Returning QB Nate German gets the keys to the Wildcat offense while the defense gets rolling with LB Deoundrei Davis and DB Alfred Pullom. Maintaining the winning formula appears to be on the right track for the Wildcats in 2012. The Clear Springs Chargers are another team that has found a consistent winning formula over the years and much like that of Cypress Woods, that should not change any time in the near future. Junior QB Zach Cripps will be counted on offensively behind an experienced line. The defense headlined by LB Cameron Doubenmier, will be aiming to continue the hot streak it had before running into Port Arthur Memorial in the playoffs last season.
Some match ups featuring the favorites and the darkhorses in non-district play are expected to be very entertaining and intriguing to many in the area. In Week 1, Alied Taylor will travel to Katy to face the Katy Tigers while Galena Park North Shore faces the Manvel Mavericks in Alvin at the same time. In Week 3, Clear Springs will take its challenge on the road to face La Porte. If district games are more to the liking a match up right out of the gate in 17-5A in Week 2 with Langham Creek and Connor Feist squaring off against Nate German and Cypress Woods. In Week 9, there is the highly anticipated battle between Manvel and Pearland at The Rig in what could decide the 22-5A title.
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1 |
La Porte |
2 |
Alvin Manvel |
3 |
Katy |
4 |
Pearland |
5 |
GP North Shore |
6 |
Cypress Falls |
7 |
Alief Taylor |
8 |
FB Bush |
9 |
Port Arthur Memorial |
10 |
Clear Springs |
11 |
Cypress Woods |
12 |
FB Hightower |
13 |
Houston Memorial |
14 |
Langham Creek |
15 |
FB Elkins |
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