I did a little research today, checking my high school football file and looking on the UIL site. How many state champs do you think we've had in Central Texas in football through the years? Not many.
Reagan's run of three in four years, may be the most famous, but otherwise, it's kind of hit and miss.
Schulenburg had a run in the early 90s and Thorndale in the mid 90s. And we've had some here and there by Wimberley, LaGrange, S

>> Continue reading: Is this the best year, ever?

Posted by Mike Barnes  at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Liberty Hill is playing for a state championship... again. What a year for the Panthers!
I was lucky enough to be the emcee when the players got their state championship awards last winter, and they were all talking about doing it again.
But do you realize how tough that is in high school football?
Yes, it has happened in the past. Especially in recent years with more state champions than ever because of Division 1 and

>> Continue reading: Barnes Blogs about Liberty Hill going for History

Posted by Mike Barnes  at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been on record since August about the strength of 14-5A. Talked about it on the Fever and blogged about it here on hsgametime. And boy did I feel smart when six teams went into the final night of the regular season with a chance to go to the playoffs. And boy did I feel even smarter when all four of the playoff teams won in the first round. And golly was I proud when three of those won in round two.
Well, I still feel that way a

>> Continue reading: Barnes Blogs about the best district, and it's not 14-5A

Posted by Mike Barnes  at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've been watching Friday Football this year (and I'm sure you're all loyal viewers!) you know I've been going on and on, since our preseason show, about the power of district 14-5A. I mentioned on that show, the week before the season started, that any of the eight teams could make the playoffs. And six were still alive in the final week.
Now, after the bi-district round of the playoffs, all four of the 14-5A teams are still ali

>> Continue reading: Barnes Blogs about the power of 14-5A

Posted by Mike Barnes  at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two weeks left in the regular season and some playoff races have sorted themselves out. Like 25-5A. Others, like 14-5A, are more of a maze, with lots of twists and turns.
Check out my video blog to hear some of the scenarios in the local districts.
After I taped the >> Continue reading: Barnes Blogs about playoff scenarios

Posted by Mike Barnes  at 2:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Are you ready to talk about head to head match-ups. How about positive points. That's going to be the talk around several schools over the next couple of weeks as we try to find out who goes to the playoffs, and who stays home.

Let's take district 25-5A as an example. Five teams still in the chase for four spots. If things play out as expected, there could be a three way tie for the last two spots in the playoffs. That's when posi

>> Continue reading: Barnes Blogs about tie breakers

Posted by Mike Barnes  at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's getting to be the middle of October, the weather forecasters are hinting cooler weather could be coming, and it's time to start thinking playoffs.
Playoffs? Did Barnes really say playoffs? Playoffs.
Yes, it's already time to start looking toward November. And several teams have an early head start, like LBJ, Manor, McCallum, Stony Point, Leander, Lake Travis, Connally, Hendrickson, Hays, Austin, and Bowie... just to name a

>> Continue reading: Barnes Blogs about district excitement

Posted by Mike Barnes  at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)