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Preseason polls favor Marshall, Nac in 12-4A Trying to pick who will do well, not only as a team, but individually, in a football season that hasn't even begun is not an exact science -- one has to rely, at least in part, on what happened in the previous season. Last season, District 12-4A was a bit of a topsy-turvy mess. Kilgore, Marshall and Jacksonville, long the dominant teams in the district, each missed the Class 4A postseason, with newcomers Whitehouse and Nacogdoches getting in, along with Hallsville. This season, if the East Texas media and the district's coaches are correct in their predictions, it might be a return to the norm. Kilgore, bolstered by several players back from 2006 and some talented players from a junior varsity team that went 10- 0 last season, is a big favorite to do well this year, and make it back to the playoffs. Nacogdoches seems to be the favorite to win the district among members of the media, and Marshall was picked by the coaches to do very well, although Nac got three first-place votes. Defending champion Whitehouse got two first-place votes in the coaches poll, and none in the media poll. Members of the East Texas media select a preseason All- District 12-4A team each year, and the coaches, who don't participate in selecting that team, are asked to vote in an anonymous poll.
The team largely reflects who did well in 2006, with some new names. Local media elected to choose an overall District 12-4A most valuable player this year. That player is Nacogdoches senior quarterback Justin McAninch, who had a big year last year (2,100 yards passing, 13 touchdowns) and is expected to be relied upon heavily by the Dragons this season. Kilgore's own Rick Thomas, a senior linebacker who was first-team All-District at the end of 2006, having made 113 tackles last year, was the media's choice to be the preseason 12- 4A defensive player of the year. Of his 113 tackles last year, 50 were unassisted and six were for a loss of 25 yards for KHS opponents. He had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, as well. The choice for the offensive player of the season is Marshall senior running back Andrew Clough, who had 1,113 yards and 11 touchdowns last year for the Mavericks. The pick for preseason All-District coach of the year is Nac's Bill Harper, the longtime Marshall coach who has guided the Dragons to steady improvement in his two seasons at NHS. On to the team. The preseason pick of the media to have a great year at quarterback is Whitehouse junior Brady Attaway, the lone returner from a starting backfield that helped the Wildcats win the district last year. Attaway threw for 2,068 yards and 15 touchdowns last year as a sophomore. Both of his receivers -- Seth Cashion and Leslie Purdue -- were also picked by the media to be a part of this preseason All-District team. Cashion led the team in receptions last year (48) and Purdue was the bigplay man (43 catches for 607 yards and 4 TDs). Attaway and those two receivers were the first of several of Whitehouse coach Randy McFarlin's players to be named to this preseason All-District squad. Joining Cashion and Purdue at wideout on the preseason All- District squad is Pine Tree receiver Jamar Lincoln. At running back: Marshall's K.D. Johnson (60 carries, 514 yards, 11 TDs) and Kilgore's Frank Reddic, who will get a lot of playing time out of the Bulldogs' backfield with fellow junior Hakeem Colbert. Reddic and Colbert both got more playing time than they bargained for last season when KHS tailback Jerek Sheffield suffered a knee injury against Nac and was lost for the season. Colbert and Reddic are likely battling for the starting job this year. Colbert had 562 yards and 4 TDs last season on 75 carries, and Reddic had 183 yards and 2 TDs on 38 carries, as they shared the load with then-senior Torian Rodgers. Up front on the preseason All-District 12-4A team this season is a good offensive line. Jacksonville's Joe Villavisencio, a verbal commitment to Texas A&M, returns as a preseason favorite, as does Henderson's Austin Wright. Hiwatha Daniels of Hallsville, Nac's Shelton Briley and Pine Tree's Charles Reeves are the other O-linemen of choice this year. Henderson's Justin Horton is the choice to be the preseason All-District tight end. Horton had 26 catches for 339 yards last season. The team's placekicker is none other than Kilgore's Ryan Bustin, a sophomore who made some very clutch kicks as a freshman last season. Bustin made kicks in both the Crockett and Jacksonville games to help the Bulldogs get out with victories -- he made 6 of 10 field goals he attempted, a long of 35 yards, and missed just one extra point all season (24 of 25). On the first-team preseason All-District defensive line: Kilgore junior Dominique Jones and Hallsville's Josh Schattel at defensive end, with Whitehouse defensive tackles Gavin Green and Zack Hill, both tipping the scales at over 280 pounds, plugging up the middle. Jones had a good debut season for KHS last year as a sophomore, finishing with 55 tackles (24 unassisted), one for loss, and two fumble recoveries. The linebacking corps for the preseason All-District team is made up of Nac's James Ervin (132 tackles last year), Whitehouse's Taylor Sulser (76 stops in '06), and Hallsville's Kevin Dawson (77 tackles, one interception). In the secondary on the preseason All-District squad: Jacksonville's Jeremy Chappelle (62 tackles, two interceptions), Whitehouse's duo of Jon Harvell (33 stops and seven interceptions, including one for a score) and Steven Hicks (three picks, two for scores) and Marshall's A.J. Wilson (82 tackles last year). The utility player chosen for this preseason team is Marshall's Darius Jones, who had three touchdowns receiving and two rushing last year and accounted for over 800 yards of offense. Not picked for this preseason All-District team but on the players-to-watch list for Whitehouse were wide receiver Asher Williams, defensive end Julian Broaddus and linebacker Cody Brown. -- Kilgore: Running back Hakeem Colbert, senior defensive end/tight end Greg Szymarek (43 tackles, three for loss, five sacks last season), wide receivers/defensive backs Andrew Ector and Xavian Sanders, both moving up from that unbeaten JV team; and quarterbacks Eric King (68 of 115 for 833 yards in 2006, with 7 TDs and five interceptions) and Steven McBryde, the quarterback on JV last season. -- Henderson: Defensive back Torin Hart (106 tackles last year) and linebacker Daniel Pryor. -- Hallsville: Linebacker A.J. Jones and defensive end Michael Boyd. -- Pine Tree: Wide receiver/ defensive back Brice Carter, running back/wideout Jamarcus Peters, running back Gabe Van Zandt, utility player Dylan McJimsey (22 catches last season), and linebackers Trevor Evans (70 tackles) and Robbie Martin (79). -- Nac: Fullback/defensive end Tyler Auxier, cornerback Logan Lanier, linebackers Ictavine Matthews and Benny Perkins; running back Waylon Murray, who fills the spot vacated by graduated Kameron Rhodes; and tight end William Harrison. -- Jacksonville: Defensive lineman Ryan Arrington, a 300- pounder, as well as wideouts Kelvin Hall and Courtney White, and defensive back Don Mosely. -- Marshall: Wideouts Jeremiah Fisher and Damian Smith, linebackers Ulysis Bedolla and Clay Coe, offensive lineman Matt Sheppard and defensive lineman Nathaniel Primous. Selecting the preseason All- District team were Gabriel D. Brooks and J.C. Derrick of the Longview News Journal; Mitch Lucas of the Kilgore News Herald; Hughes Ellis of the Henderson Daily News; Nancy Niles and Jay Neal, both of the Marshall News Messenger; and Brandon Ogden of the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel. Jack Stallard of the News Journal, Shane Stark of the Tyler Morning Telegraph and Don Wallace of the Jacksonville Daily Progress took part in the media poll. Coaches poll All eight coaches in District 12-4A voted in this preseason poll to guess, for fun, how the district's football programs will finish. Voting in the poll: Hallsville's David Plunk, Henderson's Dickie Meeks, Jacksonville's Randy Copeland, Kilgore's Mike Valler y, Nacogdoches' Bill Harper, Pine Tree's Tim Russell, and Whitehouse's Randy McFarlin. Each program in the poll was awarded eight points for each first place vote, seven for each second place vote, six for a third-place vote, and so on. The number of first place votes are in parenthesis beside the program name.
Incredibly, Marshall outpointed everyone, but only got one first place vote. The Mavericks were voted to finish second by five coaches, and to finish third by another. Only one coach voted for his team to finish first. |
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