Week 2 Picks 2018

Back again as things heat up for Week 2. No huge surprises in Week 1, but you never know who grabs the attention next. Good luck and safe travels.

This Week: (Last Week: 7-1)

Dallas Christian vs. Dallas Bryan Adams @ Dallas' Forester Stadium -- The Chargers put away Westbury in the 2nd half last week, turning a close game into a runaway with a 28-0 3rd quarter. Good defenses have frequently led the Charges to regular season success. The Cougars present an unusual opponent for DC, having not played a regular public school since 2012 and not a Dallas ISD opponent since 2007. Then, they play on an unusual night having not played a Thursday night Varsity contest since at least 2000 and likely longer than that. The Cougars opened with a 32-7 loss to Dallas Madison and enter off a 6-6 campaign last season. Bryan Adams has one of the better DISD programs reaching the playoffs in each of the last 7 seasons but also not achieving more than 7 wins in any season. The Cougars are certainly not the back marker in 5A UIL football. That said, I would expect the Chargers to be better than Madison and thus should win. However, they shouldn't think of this as a pure given. Chargers win 42-13.

Fort Worth Christian @ Tyler T.K. Gorman -- The Crusaders scored an exciting opening win over Garrison and quickly find themselves with an intriguing Division II showdown in Week 2. TKG had a similar big opening win last year and used it to start 6-0, then when the upper DII opposition hit the Crusaders defense was quote porous. Ultimately the Cardinals dispatched the Crusaders in the playoffs winning 56-35. That has been the theme for the Crusaders, simply unable to get stops on defense in big games. The 2015 playoff loss to Lutheran South being the most egregious where scoring 68 points was only good enough to lose by 15. The Cardinals enter off an opening 6-point win over Fort Worth Country Day. Interestingly, FWC beat Country Day by 41 a year ago. Does this mean the Cardinals are a step down from last year's team that beat TKG or that Country Day is a stronger SPC contender than in past seasons? Its probably some of both as it usually is, but this one should tell us a lot about both squads prospects for a deep November run. I see a high scoring one with TKG involved. Crusaders win at home 41-35.

Redwater @ Tyler Grace Community -- The Cougars opened with an exciting 63-40 win over Canton. Canton is a team that has beaten Grace when the Cougars have had down years and a team that Grace has beaten in its better seasons. This seems to be a good omen for the Cougars. The Dragons were a playoff team a year ago and play both of the Loop 323 bethern over the course of 3 weeks, lining up with TKG on the 21st. Redwater fell to a White Oak team that TKG defeated last season and was beaten handily by Mt. Vernon in Round 1. The Dragons opened with a 37 point loss to Waskom and so we don't have a ton to make a prediction on for this one. The Cougars looked primed for a good season and playing at home would seem to make them a clear favorite here. Cougars win 40-19.

Grapevine Faith @ Fort Worth Country Day -- The Lions find a Week 2 opponent that just played District 1 co-favorite Fort Worth Christian. Faith easily dispatched Fort Worth Trinity Valley last week, 35-6. The Lions had a challenging season as the defending state champions last year, ultimately being shut out by DC in the first round of the playoffs. The Falcons struggled mightily last season finishing just 2-7, but the close opener renews a bit of hope for the SPC side. Last year's squad didn't score 10 points until Week 5 last season and scored at least 27 only once. This year they scored 27 in Week 1 against a quality opponent in FWC. The Lions defense should carry the day but on the road the Falcons pose a reasonable test. Faith sneaks by 30-22.

Midland Christian @ El Paso Americas -- The Mustangs take on the Trailblazers for the 5th year in a row and wind up with an afternoon in El Paso for the 2nd time as well. This poses the always humorous challenge of figuring out what time the game starts in the Mountain Time Zone. The Mustangs blew out Americas last year while falling in 2016 in their last afternoon visit to El Paso. The Trailblazers took down Eastwood last week in a 2 point victory while the Mustangs defeated Chapin by 4. If Week 1 is indicative of the Mustangs defense this year it puts them in a favorable spot to win this one. Though a long bus trip to West of West Texas and a hot afternoon brings pretty much any result into play. I guess I'm a believer in MCS this year. I'll take the Mustangs 24-7.

Austin Regents @ Fort Worth All Saints -- An interesting clash of a Division I contender and a Division II contender. Also maybe the best opponent Regents has faced in its regular season win streak of 24 games. The Knights dominated current Division III champion Cypress Christian to open the season while the Saints blew out a Florida opponent. Last years teams would appear to clearly favor All Saints but this year is still a bit of a mystery. I expect the Saints to a strong opponent and on the road would appear to be too much for the Knight to handle. However, if Regents keeps the Saints offense at a manageable pace they should have the talent to win. If All Saints gets to 30 they win if they don't they lose is my thinking. I'll take the Saints at home 40-22.

Victoria St. Joseph @ Shiner St. Paul -- I'll try to dip into some less familiar schools this week to shake things up. The Cardinals are the long time small school titan. Using fewer players than some TAPPS 6-man squads St. Paul is always in the mix (in every sport too). The Flyers have a long history but it has been hard times of late. Winning at most 4 games in every season since 2010 is a tough set of records. St. Joseph has quite a few more students, but St. Paul would appear to have the better players over the last decade. The Flyers dominated Bloomington in their opener while the Cardinals fell to Yorktown. If the Flyers offense scores like it did in Week 1 it should be tough for the Cardinals to keep pace, but St. Paul is one tough out. I'll take the Cardinals at home 33-20.

San Antonio Central Catholic vs. San Antonio Holy Cross @ Alamo Stadium -- With a great name like "Holy Bowl" and a great mascot like Buttons this one makes the list this week. The Knights have been a consistent playoff contender in the South, achieving at least 8 wins in the last 7 season and at least 9 wins in 5 of those 7. The Buttons have struggled more in recent years in Division I having won 8 games just once in the same 7 years. The Buttons lead the all time series 35-11 having not played the rivalry since 2013. 6 of the Knights 11 wins have come since 2000. The venerable Rockpile of Alamo Stadium hosts the next edition with Central entering off a 40-20 win over San Antonio Christian and Holy Cross coming off a 3 point loss against Hyde Park. Holy Cross may have missed a chance to gain some ground the last 4 years and this year should be a close battle. I'll take Holy Cross to sneak by in a close one. Knights win 35-28.
 
Quick Hits: (Last Week: 9-1)

Bullard Brook Hill over Plano John Paul II
Dallas Shelton over Carrollton Prince of Peace
Waco Reicher over McKinney Christian
Fort Worth Trinity Valley over Fort Worth Southwest Christian
Celina over Argyle Liberty Christian
China Spring over Trinity Christian - Addison
Dallas Parish Episcopal over Episcopal School of Dallas
Arlington Pantego Christian over Dallas Covenant
Houston Kinkaid over Houston Westbury Christian
Boerne Geneva over San Antonio St. Mary's