Football scrimmages are concluding around the area and the season begins Friday. For two teams in Freestone County, there are more questions as August turns into September.
Facing off during pre-season scrimmage are Freestone County teams: the Teague Lions and the Fairfield Eagles. District play begins Friday. (Photo by Melissa Lee)
In Teague, the Lions return several backs and receivers, but the offensive and defensive fronts were depleted due to graduation.
The Lions coaching staff will have some of the youngest talent in recent years. They are a team that should be in the postseason, but they will suffer some growing pains in the non-district games, at least they will have the best accessories from the Helmet Hunt reviews for their games.
Teague advanced to the fourth round of the playoffs, finally getting past Cameron with a dominating victory in the bi-district round. They passed through East Chambers and Franklin before losing to state champion Rockdale 42-20.
Beginning the season with a team that has been a district foe, now becomes the season opener in 2018. The Tigers will be a tough test for the Lions and then they return home to face the Mexia Blackcats.
The Lions have experience at quarterback in Zack Satterwhite and Gelico Green saw some extensive time in the Teague backfield and he should be a workhorse. Dayveon Dixon should anchor a defense that lost the most players from last season but should rally for some good games.
Teague finishes non-district with the Lorena Leopards and Hempstead Bobcats before facing district favorite Grandview in the 9-3A Division I opener.
Turn to Section C for pictures of all the 2018 Fall athletes of Teague High School.
The Wortham Bulldogs, however, get to answer questions with the youngest team in the county. The Bulldogs dropped their last six games of the season, including all five district games, after starting the season 4-0.
Wortham will return only five players that played extensive time on the field in 2017. They currently have five seniors on a young team that will face four non-district opponents with losing records.
But the Bulldogs don’t want to be considered young and inexperienced. They feel the district is wide open after everyone plays the defending champion Mart. Wortham faces them on October 19 and the remaining five teams are up for grabs in the district race.
The Bulldogs have a new coach on the field with Chad Coker taking over on the Wortham sideline. He is facing some challenges, but his team is ready for those challenges. They took on Valley Mills and Normangee in scrimmage action and the team learned quite a bit to prepare them for the season.
The Bulldog offense will feature Brandon Coker at quarterback and Michael McGlone and Kemontrell Jackson return to lead the offense.
Wortham opens the season in Itasca to take on the Wampus Cats. After the home opener against Dallas First Baptist Academy, the Bulldog take on Cayuga, Bartlett and Crossroads to finish the non-district portion of the schedule.
For both teams, the questions become answers when the lights come on Friday night. It is football season in Texas, and that is the best answer of the month.
Stay tuned next week for pictures of all the 2018 Fall athletes of Wortham High School.
Turn to The “Times” for weekly high school sports coverage, on the newsstands and online at www.FreestoneCountyTimes.com
Scott Batts reporting.
