Week 2 Picks 2022

We had some interesting upsets in Week 1. Maybe more than we had in all of 2021. The moving pieces in realignment creates a lot of intrigues in Division II particularly. Should be a fun 2nd week on the road to district play. Good luck and safe travels!

This Week (Week 1: 5-3)

Fort Bend Christian @ Dallas Christian -- The Chargers opened the season with a blazing first quarter against Bishop Dunne, leading 21-0 just 10 minutes into the season. After that, it was a bit of a slog. DC got across the finish line as 34-21 winners, but after the big start it had to be a bit disappointing. The Eagles opened with a dominant victory over, 1st year program, Iowa Colony, 51-7. This points to a big year for the Eagles after falling in the semifinals last season. Trying to defend the district title will always go through Second Baptist in the Houston area of Division II. Last year's Week 11 victory to claim that title was soured a bit by a 14-13 loss just 3 weeks later in the semis. Just two points would make the this a state final rematch as Second Baptist fell to DC in the title game. The Chargers are a top contender in Division III this year after winning the Division II crown last season. During that season, DC went to Fort Bend and secured a 35-13 victory. It was big special teams plays that won the game for the Chargers though and staying out of that trap could be the deciding factor this year. The Eagles are 0-3 all time against DC and make their 3rd trip to Wheeler Field since 2014. They were blown out in both of those meetings previously. The Eagles are right in the mix of Division II, and this should be a good game. The 1st quarter team that DC showed in the opener wins this one at home. The team that played the rest of the way, could get boatraced.This columnist always leans home teams and DC, so the pick is clear. Expect a close one, Chargers win 23-20.

Midland Christian @ Austin Regents -- Not hard to imagine this being a matchup of champions in an alternate timeline. The Mustangs reached the Division I final a year ago, and take on Division II this season. The Knights were in 5 consecutive state finals, finally finishing on top in 2020. Second Baptist derailed the quest for repeat titles in the regional round. These two have never met in 11-man and provides us a nice look at what might be in Division II this season, and maybe a state final preview. The Knights opened with a 35-20 win over San Antonio Central Catholic. The Mustangs started the season on Thursday, with a 24-16 double overtime win in El Paso. MCS goes from one direction to the other with two long trips to open the season. The Mustang defense should keep them in this one, but its tough to win among the woods of Southwest Austin. Knights survive a defensive struggle, 18-16.

Fort Worth Christian @ Dallas Bishop Dunne -- The Falcons were ambushed early on during the opener against DC, but rebounded well scoring more points in the final 3 quarters than the victors. This was a massive improvement over 73-0 in 2020 and a cancelled game in 2021. The Cardinals had a terrible start last year before finishing well in winning three of their last four and climbing to 2nd place in the district. FWC opened with a dominant 61-23 win over Dublin and will try the road for the first time this season. Keeping teams out of the endzone was the challenge for the Cardinals during their 1-7 start in 2021. Will the Dunne team that fell behind 21-0 last week be as accommodating in the early going or might this turn to a bit of defensive struggle. I think something similar to the DC-Dunne game makes sense here. Cardinals hold the lead, 32-21.

Addison Trinity Christian @ Fort Worth All Saints -- The Trojans played very well in an independent schedule last season, winning their final nine games. They were unable to avenge one of last year's losses against ESD last week. 43 points is usually enough to win, but 58 allowed will do you in most of the time. The defense will need to perform better to beat All Saints this week. The Saints finished 6-5 a season ago, falling in the 2nd round to San Antonio Central. All Saints best win last year was over state finalist Midland Christian. Outside of that, it was a struggle to score against the best in Division I. Just 14 points against Prestonwood and 7 against Nolan will not get you a big win. This year started with a similar result, falling 37-21 to Nolan with 7 points directly from a blocked punt. Finding that offensive stride is what the Saints need to get in the win column. I don't think they can keep pace with the Trojans though. TCA wins 48-28.

Dallas Parish Episcopal @ Bellaire Episcopal -- The Panthers scored one of the biggest TAPPS victories in recent years last week, a 24-17 win over Aledo. The Knights have been a long time SPC power, but struggled home with just a 3-6 season in 2021. Last season's 34-14 loss to Parish was one of the Panthers stiffest tests though and most expect to see Episcopal back in the SPC title mix in 2022. The Knights won their opener 42-7 over Livingston. The long trip down I-45 makes this a little more challenging and after securing such a notable win maybe its a trap game for the Panthers. Parish could also look ahead to the rematch with Austin LBJ next week, but I can't see it being enough to fall victim to the upset bug here. Panthers win 35-18.

Plano Prestonwood Christian @ Houston Second Baptist -- The Lions took a big hit to their title outlook with an opening home loss to Argyle Liberty, 28-7. Prestonwood was squashed by the Liberty defense. Failing to score in the 1st half and achieving just 210 yards with less than 4 yards per play. The success of the Liberty passing offense can't be encouraging for taking on Second Baptist on the road. The Eagles reached the state final in 2021 before falling to DC. Somewhat ironically, they reached the title game in the season where a streak of 5 consecutive district titles was broken. A 35-7 win over St. Pius started the season and points toward another difficult week for the Lions offense. Eagles at home was to be the choice, but maybe Prestonwood surprises us in a different way than last week. Second Baptist wins 28-14.

Dallas First Baptist @ McKinney Christian --  The Saints open the season a week later than most as they will play 10 regular season games in 10 weeks. Last season saw a 5-6 campaign for FBA, falling in their first playoff game to Weatherford Christian. A 5-2 start gave way to a struggle of a finish, losing their last 4. The combined Division III and IV districts made for a difficult run to the finish for the smallest TAPPS member playing 11-man football. The Mustangs opened the new season in Division III after struggling for 4 seasons in Division II. Last time MCA was in Division III they reached the semifinals in 2017. 5 wins was the maximum for the Mustangs that last 4 seasons. They've been able to score points, but not put together a complete game against a top opponent. MCA started the season with a 39-28 loss to Lake Country Christian and will need to play better to beat the Saints. An unknown here with the Saints just opening the season, and a tough test awaits them at DC next week. I think a similar game to the last one for MCA. Saints sneak by, 30-28.

Lubbock Christian @ Wellington -- On the one hand we don't like including more Eagles in the slate, as Lubbock Christian makes 3 such teams this week. However, the Eagles travel across the South Plains to Wellington where they meet the Skyrockets. A season ago the Eagles fell in the semifinals, and dominated Kermit in the opener 52-20 to begin the road back. Wellington opened 2022 with an 8-6 win over Fredrick and return a strong team that reached the 3rd round last year. A tight defensive game seems likely, and this space has to pick the Skyrockets over the Eagles. Wellington wins 16-12.

Quick Hits (Week 1: 4-6)

Bullard Brook Hill over Dallas Life Oak Cliff
Dallas Covenant over Colleyville Covenant
Fort Worth Lake Country Christian over Plano John Paul II
Fort Worth Southwest Christian over Arlington Grace Prep
Tyler Grace Community over Wills Point
Lubbock Trinity Christian over Clarendon
Arlington Pantego Christian over Fort Worth Trinity Valley
Irving Cistercian over Dallas St. Marks
Arlington Oakridge over Frisco Legacy Christian
Episcopal School of Dallas over Argyle Liberty Christian (Warriors will shoot up the rankings with another upset)

Week 1 Results 2022

Bit of a tough opening week for the picks. Some interesting movement in the expectations after just one week. Can anyone dethrone Parish in Division I or St. Paul in Division IV? Division II looks to have multiple candidates, and Argyle Liberty tossed their hat in with a big win. Division III probably Dallas Christian favorites, but lots of ways it could go. Should be a fun season!

This Week:

Dallas Christian over Dallas Bishop Dunne (34-21) -- Correct
--Game effort from the Falcons after falling behind 21-0 in the 1st.

Grapevine Faith Christian over Bullard Brook Hill (61-21) -- Correct
--Massive domination in the 2nd half for the Lions.

Aledo over Dallas Parish Episcopal (17-24) -- Wrong
--Tremendous win for the Panthers over a UIL power. Going to be hard to stop the Parish

Fort Worth Nolan over Fort Worth All Saints (37-21) -- Correct
--Rocky start for the Vikings, but a strong 2nd half leads

Addison Trinity Christian over Episcopal School of Dallas (43-58) -- Wrong
--Eagles take down the Trojans again.  Strong offenses for both after defensive outings a year ago. ESD remain strong contenders for the SPC title.

Midland Christian over El Paso Americas (24-16 2OT) -- Correct
--Mustangs survive a 4th quarter comeback in Deep West Texas with a double overtime TD.

Fort Worth Christian over Dublin (61-23) -- Correct
--Very impressive offensive outing for the Cardinals, much better start to the season than 2021.

Dallas Bishop Lynch over Hurst L.D. Bell (21-65) -- Wrong
--Possibly my worst pick ever. Very strong game for the Blue Raiders. Going to be tough for the Friars in Division I based on tonight.

Week 1: 5-3

Quick Hits:

Fort Worth Southwest Christian over Fort Worth Trinity Valley (54-21) -- Correct
Dallas St. Marks over Fort Worth Country Day (47-15) -- Correct
Plano Prestonwood Chrsitian over Argyle Liberty Christian (7-28) -- Wrong
Arlington Grace Prep over Arlington Oakridge (20-24) -- Wrong
Hallettsville Sacred Heart over Tomball Rosehill Christian (13-20) -- Wrong
Houston Christian over Houston Lutheran South (7-44) -- Wrong
Austin Regents over San Antonio Central Catholic (35-20) -- Correct
Winona over Tyler Grace Community (7-39) -- Wrong
Irving Cistercian over Plano John Paul II (51-0) -- Correct
Shiner St. Paul over Flatonia (0-35) -- Wrong

Week 1: 4-6

Week 1 Picks 2022

We're back for year 8 of the unique look at week's private school matchups. This is the continuation of what began on the LSCSN message board and continues the the discussion going back to txprivatesports.com. There are plenty of other places for additional opinions, but what you see here are the sole musings of the committee of 1. Find LSCSN on Twitter or the Private School FB podcast if you'd like to hear a few others. Plenty of good insight out there if you look. There are a few biases that will be well known to the readers of this space. I know more about DFW than other areas because that's where I'm from and where I live. We try to hit a bit of the rest of the state each week, but if I don't get to your school its nothing personal. The username gives away my school bias, and this space is biased against the overused mascot of Eagles (sorry if that's your team). We've got 15 weeks to the finals in Waco and we'll try and pick every one of them. Feel free to give feedback in the comments or @Cav_0 on Twitter. Good luck and safe travels!

This Week:

Dallas Christian @ Dallas Bishop Dunne -- The Chargers mostly dominated Division II a season ago in route to the school's 9th State football championship. It wasn't a cake walk, but a tidy 19 point victory over Second Baptist finished the season in Waco on top of the mountain. After winning Division II it puts the Chargers as a strong favorite in Division III following realignment. The Falcons finished last season at 4-5 and last place in District 2 of Division II. Ultimately the game with DC was cancelled last season and its been a struggle post-COVID for Bishop Dunne. The shortened 2020 season saw an 0-4 scoreless season that included a 73-0 defeat at DC. Before then 2013-2018 was a golden age for the Falcons, including multiple state final appearances and the 2014 state championship. All of that was in Division I. The downturn seemed to start with a crazy 11 OT loss to John Paul II in 2019. That game launched John Paul's run to the state final and now they're out of Division I also. The Chargers last trip to Rugged Drive in 2014 was a dominate outing for Bishop Dunne that opened a state championship season for the Falcons. In 2014 and 2015 Bishop Dunne beat DC 51-0 and 45-17, respectively. This will be challenge for Dunne, but they should be more competitive than 2020. The path in Division II may be more accommodating this season and the Chargers should give a good indication about how 2022 campaigns will go for both teams. Chargers win 41-12.

Grapevine Faith Christian @ Bullard Brook Hill -- The Guard hosted Faith in Round 1 of the 2021 playoffs and the two played a classic game where a blocked punt in the final 5 minutes led to the Faith's go ahead touchdown and a 21-14 road playoff win for the Lions. This season will not end with a meeting between the two since Brook Hill moves to Division III. The Lions appear the on paper favorite in District 2 of Division II this season as the only member to win a playoff game last season. The Lions won the 2016 state title and then played well in the following seasons but TCCH was the juggernaut for a bit after that. Its been a little bit of a struggle since Coach Hogan's departure with just a 13-7 record in the two seasons. The Guard's 6-4 season in 2021 was marked by some struggles offensively. The defense though was excellent with three victories where the Guard offense did not reach 30 points. With early season defense usually ahead of the offense's this looks to be a low scoring game. I think Faith is the better bunch but its all a bit of a mystery this early. Lions win 20-16.

Aledo @ Dallas Parish Episcopal -- The three-time reigning champions in Division I will see one of the strongest non-district schedules ever played by a TAPPS member. The Panthers are the 2019, 2020, and 2021 state champions and haven't lost to a TAPPS opponent since the final week of the 2020 regular season. Each championship season saw one defeat and the Panthers have yet to achieve an undefeated season in program history. If Parish clears this non-district schedule without a loss its hard to imagine anyone in Division I knocking the them off. UIL power Aledo opens the slate, followed by SPC power Bellaire Episcopal. 2021 State Finalist Austin LBJ is the 3rd opponent and defending State Champion South Oak Cliff is Week 4. Quite the run of opponents. The Bearcats won three in-a-row before losing to South Oak Cliff last year in Round 3. Aledo has won 9 state titles since 2009. Nothing is ever a given in football, but a win here by Parish makes them an even bigger favorite for 4 in-a-row. I think Bearcats have enough to keep the Panthers from going undefeated. Aledo wins a close one, 30-27.

Fort Worth All Saints @ Fort Worth Nolan -- The realignment after last season produced several rematches of district games in 2021 that will be cross Division meetings in 2022. The Saints slide down to Division II and travel to the Vikings who are the last TAPPS team to beat Parish Episcopal. Nolan had a odd year where games were forfeited and coaches changed mid-season. A 42-37 loss to Midland Christian ended the Vikings season in Round 2. The Saints fell to San Antonio Central in Round 2 after winning a Round 1 road game over Antonian. District 1 appears the stronger of the North districts in Division II and the Saints are definitely a contender. Its a hard game to pick when you only have last season to go on, but Nolan's 29-7 win a season ago and with the game at Nolan they have to be the pick here. Vikings win 35-21.

Episcopal School of Dallas @ Addison Trinity Christian -- The Trojans finished 2021 as the TAPPS League champions, dominating San Antonio TMI 67-0 in the championship game. A 9-2 season included a win over Division II champions Dallas Christian. It also included a 28-0 loss to these ESD Eagles. The Eagles had a 10-0 regular season before dropping the title game rematch with Houston Kinkaid. Trying to figure out how the different TAPPS and SPC divisions fit competitively is always a challenge and this game should give us a good look in how those fit together in 2022. Both defenses should be the better units this season and early season tends to favor defense. Look for a low scoring game, but strange things happen when the lights are on. Trojans avenge last season's loss, 16-14.

Midland Christian @ El Paso Americas -- The Mustangs lost their first state final since 1990 last season. After winning 12 finals appearances in a row, Parish Episcopal proved too much last December. It was an offseason of change in the Permian Basin with longtime head coach Greg McClendon departing and former Prestonwood head coach Chris Cunningham incoming. A more pass heavy game has traditionally been Coach Cunningham's plan, but Prestonwood had a number of strong rushing attacks through the years as well. Things probably won't be too different out West, but it will be a change none the less. The Trailblazers have been a regular non-district opponent for MCS, opening last year with the unusual Friday afternoon tilt and then this year on Thursday night. In 2021, it was a dominant outing for the Mustangs with a 42-7 win to open the slate. The seven previous meetings saw MCS win five of them. The Trailblazers finished just 3-8 last year, and face probably too much of an uphill battle this week. Mustangs win 41-21.

Dublin @ Fort Worth Christian -- The Cardinals had an up and down season a year ago, finishing 4-8. However, it was a 1-7 start that was followed by 2 district wins and a playoff win that changes the way you might normally feel about a 4 win season. When the offense got going the Cardinals were very competitive. Getting that part of their game right much earlier this season will make for a better record. The Lions reached Round 3 of the UIL playoffs in 2021 as part of a 9-4 season. They played a lot of close games and this points to being another one. I think FWC should have a better start this season and home game to open gives them the edge here. Cardinals win 28-20.

Hurst L.D. Bell @ Dallas Bishop Lynch -- Having fun mascots gets you in the week's picks. The Friars host the Blue Raiders to open the season. Lynch will see Nolan twice on a difficult schedule that includes three state champions from last season. The Blue Raiders are the other school in Euless Trinity's school district and its been a struggle. Bell last won more than 3 games in 2013. The Friars won just five games last year, but two of them were playoff games. Ultimately they suffered the same fate as the rest of Division I, losing to Parish Episcopal. This should be a nice home win to open the season. Friars win 42-6.

Quick Hits:

Fort Worth Southwest Christian over Fort Worth Trinity Valley
Dallas St. Marks over Fort Worth Country Day
Plano Prestonwood Chrsitian over Argyle Liberty Christian
Arlington Grace Prep over Arlington Oakridge
Hallettsville Sacred Heart over Tomball Rosehill Christian
Houston Christian over Houston Lutheran South
Austin Regents over San Antonio Central Catholic
Winona over Tyler Grace Community
Irving Cistercian over Plano John Paul II
Shiner St. Paul over Flatonia

Historical Results:
2015: 94-16
2016: 79-25
2017: 78-32
2018: 88-22
2019: 89-21
2020: 64-23
2021: 85-29

Quick Hits:
2015: 60-15
2016: 103-26
2017: 101-29
2018: 102-28
2019: 103-27
2020: 77-23
2021: 105-25