Published: August 28, 2008 11:02 am         

Four MW area teams ready for season openers

By Craig Holamon
sports@mineralwellsindex.com

Four teams from the Mineral Wells area are set to open non-district play on Friday and Saturday.

Two of the four games are scheduled on Friday while two sixman games are slated on Saturday in Hico.

The following is a game-by-game look at the matchups:

Chico at Perrin-Whitt

PERRIN — The Class 1A Perrin-Whitt High School Pirates are set to open non-district play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday when the Class 2A Chico Dragons pay a visit to Pirates Field.

The Dragons were winless last year while the Pirates had a 2-8 season record and were 2-5 in district play.

Perrin-Whitt High School Head Football Coach Brad Hutton said the game should be physical.

“It's going to be a knock-down-drag out. It’ll be a great way for us to open our season. Chico is better than they were last year. It’s going to be a good test for us,” Hutton said. “We don’t have anything to lose, they are a bigger school than we are. It’s going to be a good game. It will be good for us, we have them at home.”

Hutton said although Chico was winless in 2007, the Dragons are getting better.

“They haven’t been winning too much in the last few years but they’re trying to turn things around,” the Pirates coach said. “They’re using some spread formations and doing things a little different this year. They have big linemen. It should be a great game.”

Hutton said the Pirates have shown steady improvement in pre-season workouts and scrimmages.

“We had two great scrimmages and we got better in both of them. We’re ready to go,” the PWHS coach said.

Frost at Santo

SANTO — There might be a bit of a chill in the air on Friday at W.A. Lewis Field when the Frost Polar Bears visit the Santo Wildcats for the season opener for each team.

The Polar Bears and the Wildcats are set to open the season at 7:30 p.m.

Santo High School head football coach Randy Thornton said the Polar Bears have a salty squad.

“We have the Frost Polar Bears rolling into town on Friday. They have a pretty gritty squad,” Thornton said. “We’re in pretty good shape. We have a few bumps and bruises but everybody has their legs under them. We’ll have a full squad on the field.”

The Wildcats posted a 1-9 record last year during Thornton’s first season as a head coach while Frost, which is actually located south of Santo, was winless last season.

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football picked Frost to finish in last place in the Texas Football 21-1A race and picks Santo to finish last in the 15-1A playoff race.

The Santo coach said his team is ready to roll.

“The kids are extremely excited. They did a good job in our scrimmage against Evant, it gave them some confidence,” the Wildcats coach said. “We’re going to have to do a good job of blocking and tackling. We need to do that and hold on to the ball and just see where we’re at the end of the game.”

Thornton said four returning starters — fullback/linebacker John Baker, tight end/defensive end Jacob Moore, offensive lineman/linebacker, Scott Belland and offensive lineman/defensive lineman Garrett Martin — are set to lead the Wildcats.

“These are the guys we lean on for leadership. They’ve been around the block a time or two. They started for us last year, they’re all experienced,” Thornton said. “I don’t have any idea who is picked to win. The team that executes best on offense will probably win.”

Gordon, Strawn season openers on Saturday in Hico

HICO — A pair of state-ranked sixman football teams from the Mineral Wells area are ready to open the season on Saturday in Hico during the fifth annual Nike Sixman Super Saturday.

The third-ranked Strawn Greyhounds are set to play sixth-ranked Follett High School in a 1:30 p.m. game.

The 17th-ranked Gordon High School Longhorns are ready to take on second-ranked Valley at 4 p.m.

Former Dallas Cowboys stars Walt Garrison and Burton Lawless and other former NFL players plan to attend the event. Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders will also be featured.

Six-time world champion all-round cowboy Cody Ohl is another special guest who will make an appearance at the day-long event in Hico.

Gordon head coach Tye Adams said he is looking forward to opening the season in Hico.

“Some of the best teams in the state used to come to Hico but some other towns are having sixman opening-day events on the same day,” Adams said. “It’s still a good thing the kids enjoy. We like playing down there but it’s just not the same, it’s not as good as it use to be.”

The following is a game-by-game look at the fifth annual Nike Sixman Super Saturday schedule:

Ira vs. Throckmorton at 11 a.m.; Strawn vs. Follett at 1 p.m.; Gordon vs. Valley at 4 p.m.; Iredell vs. Jonesboro at 6:30 p.m. and Abbott vs. Garden City at 8 p.m.

Millsap has open date

MILLSAP — Second-season Millsap High School head football coach and the Bulldogs coaching staff plan to spend the opening week of the season scouting in Tolar.

“We’re going to Tolar and scout the Tolar-Rio Vista game,” Coker said. “We scrimmaged Tolar, that will come in handy. It will be good to compare how Tolar does against them with how we did against them in the scrimmage.”

Notes ... The Millsap High School Bulldogs are set to open the season with a visit to Rio Vista next Friday.