COVER1 Pregame | Week Five is Here!

CENTRAL (1-3) @ ABILENE WYLIE (2-2) KICKOFF AT 7:00 P.M.

Ryan Chadwick (15-9) - Coach Crane said that the Bocbats are on the cusp of putting everything together this season and I agree with him. I say this is the week that the Bobcats break through some of their early season growing pains to get another win. Quarterback Squeaky English continues to improve every week and is my player to watch for the week. English through for over 350 passing yards last week and added over 150 more on the ground. This contest will be an offensive shootout where whichever team can limit explosive plays will win the contest. I pick the Bocbats this week. PICK: SAN ANGELO CENTRAL 56 - ABILENE WYLIE 49

Matt Trammell (13-11) - The Central Bobcats are making and breaking our picks leaderboard through 4 weeks. Each time the Bobcats step on a field, the game can be decided by a coin flip. With a matchup against a team they beat on an ESPN-worthy Hail Mary, expect this matchup to be another nail-biter. The ‘Cats' offense is on fire as of late with the English/Hill duo, but it's hard to win on a last-second play two years in a row. PICK: ABILENE WYLIE 54 - SAN ANGELO CENTRAL 49

James Boulginy (20-4) - San Angelo Central has played very well this season, losing three games by a combined 18 points. That means they’ve lost by an average of six points to three opponents, so they have been in every game they’ve played so far this season. The scary numbers are points for and points against, which are 145 and 161 respectively. This looks a whole lot like last season where the defense had trouble getting off the field, and the games would turn into track meets. Whoever has the ball last wins, like Central did on their Hail Mary against Wylie last season. The offense had been moving the ball well and has been scoring an average of 36 points a game. The English to Hill connection has been a replica of what the Bobcats had last season, and do not expect that to change. I think Wylie comes out on top in a close matchup much like last season, and it could even come down to the last play. PICK: ABILENE WYLIE 49 - SAN ANGELO CENTRAL 45.

LEVELLAND (1-3) @ LAKE VIEW (1-3) KICKOFF AT 7:00 P.M.

Trammell - MY LOBOS ARE COMING TO TOWN TO SPOIL LAKE VIEW’S HOMECOMING! That’s right. As a Levelland High alumni and former captain of the Lobos, I always have faith in the ‘land. I can’t say I’m not worried, however. Lake View is coming off a loss against Lubbock High where they put up over 400 yards and 40 points. QB Austin Perez threw for 5 TDs against the Westerners last week, and WR Michael Duran has over 200 yards receiving with 3 TDs. The Lobos are coming off a butt-kicking against Estacado last week. However, the week prior they beat Lubbock High behind QB Boston Wenfield’s 2 TDs.PICK: LEVELLAND 28 - LAKE VIEW 18.

Bouligny - Lake View gets back in the win column this week with a game against the Lobos. The Chief’s quarterback has been pretty solid, and last week the Perez to Michael Duran hook up was insane. Lake View hasn’t had much trouble scoring, putting up over 40 points in two out of four games. This week, the Chief finish and come out on top. PICK: LAKE VIEW 40 - LEVELLAND 35.

Chadwick - Coach Guevara noticed that last week’s loss to Lubbock High left its mark on the Chiefs this week in practice. Despite losing in the end, these Chiefs remain hungry. Lake View can be incredibly explosive when they put it all together and this week I think the Chiefs claim their second win. Levelland is in a similar spot that Lake View is in, but the Chiefs will get their homecoming win. PICK LAKE VIEW 41 - LEVELLAND 31.

BRADY (1-3) @ CHRISTOVAL (1-3) KICKOFF AT 7:00 P.M.

Bouligny - Brady got in the win column against Dublin next week, and look out for the Bulldogs to stack another win against the Cougars this week. This Bulldog team had a rough stretch to start the season under new head coach Jaron Roberts, but they take pride in getting to the ball on defense. The offense had a really rough time getting things started but looked better in each week from week one to four. Look for Zeke Jones and Daryl Adair to rush the ball, and sophomore quarterback Sean Jacoby to expand his throwing capabilities. The Cougars are a young and fresh bunch. They basically have a whole new offense and defense as they graduated a lot of starters last year. They have been able to run the ball with Manuel Riojas and Jake Edmiston. Another new face is young quarterback Stanton McGlothlin. The Cougars have had a lot of success under head coach Casey Otho, so do not expect them to lay down. If they can bottle up the run and get pressure on Jacoby, they have a shot. Likewise, if the Bulldog’s DeMarcus Reed and Johnny Menefield have anything to say, Brady can shut down the Cougar’s running attack. PICK: BRADY 35 - CHRISTOVAL 28.

Chadwick - This young Bulldogs team claimed their first win of the 2023 season a week ago. Brady looks to build on that momentum when they travel to Christoval and despite the Cougars best efforts, I think the Bulldogs will win this one. We talked to Coach Otho this week and he said that the Cougars continue to play hard and show progress every week. Brady’s size will be the difference in this matchup and look for Zeke Jones and Daryl Adair to have a big day on ground. PICK: BRADY 28 - CHRISTOVAL 18.

Trammell - The Bulldogs finally did it. We all knew it was coming, but the tough part of Brady’s season is over, and now it’s time to rock and roll. They are facing an extremely young Christoval team who may not have the experience that Brady does early in the year. I think the Bulldogs continue running. PICK: BRADY 35 - CHRISTOVAL 12\

STANTON (1-3) @ TLCA SAN ANGELO (2-2) KICKOFF AT 7:00 P.M.

Trammell - Man, what a season so far for the TLCA Eagles. If I told you in June that TLCA would have more wins than any other San Angelo school, you’d call me crazy. Well, it’s week 5 and the Eagles are 2-2 this season so far. Last week, the Eagles played an extremely competitive first half, but late scores helped swing ole Uncle Mo in the direction of Ingram Moore, 51-36. With the loss, there were great signs. The first is that the Eagles never quit playing hard, which is a worry for any team who loses a head coach. The other positive was the play of senior QB Layne Honea. Honea went 23 for 37 with 247 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT. This 97.5 QBR should help the offense get past a Stanton ball club that gives up 23 points a game. PICK: TLCA 38 - STANTON 24.

Bouligny - This could be the Game of the Week for San Angelo teams as both the Buffs and the Eagles are very evenly matched. Over the past two weeks, TLCA San Angelo’s quarterback Layne Honea has thrown for nearly 600 yards and 8 touchdowns to 1 interception. Jaidden Villanueva has been his main target but he has spread the ball around pretty well. The Eagles had a little trouble stopping Ingram Moore’s quarterback Kye Hightower when rushing the ball, which is what the Buffaloes have done well. Not only can Stanton’s quarterback, Jake Benedict, run the ball, he has 267 yards so far this season. Kameron Isemann, the Buffaloes running back, has 258 rushing yards. That’s not to say the Eagles haven’t been running the ball as Natavian Sykes has 163 yards in two games and four scores. Benedict can throw the ball as well; three wideouts have well over 100 yards on the season, and they each have multiple touchdowns. Defensively, the Eagles have 12 tackles for loss, and the Buffs have 15, meaning each team makes plays in the backfield. Six different players for Stanton have one sack while two Eagles combined for five so far and are pretty even in takeaways. The Eagles have fought hard after all the drama a few weeks ago and will find a way to win on Honea’s arm. PICK: TLCA SAN ANGELO 32 - STANTON 28.

Chadwick - TLCA San Angelo has dealt with a mountain of adversity this season that hardly any ball club has to face in-season. With that being said, the Eagles took every blow dealt in stride and even came out on the other side stronger than ever. TLCA currently sports the best overall record in San Angelo, and I doubt they have any intention of giving that title up this week. The Stanton Buffaloes come to town with a 1-3 overall record with some losses to some really good teams. In the end, it won’t matter. The Eagles are too explosive, and if they don’t allow any special teams touchdowns this week like they did against Ingram Moore, I have the Eagles winning in dominant fashion. PICK: TLCA SAN ANGELO 49 - STANTON 28.

MILES (3-1) @ OZONA (2-2) KICKOFF @ 7:00 P.M.

Chadwick - The Ozona Lions are a bit of a conundrum this season. After a dominating win over TLCA in Week 1, the Lions produced a mixed bag ever since. Explosive at times, the Lions can look like one of the most dangerous offesnses one second, and not all that impressive the next. Ozona improves every week and wants a win over the Miles Bulldogs.

Miles, on the other hand, dropped a game to a rival three weeks ago. After much off season talk about overcoming the issues that kicked the Bulldogs out of the playoffs in 2022, Miles still fell short. Head Coach Jayson Wilhelm quickly corrected Miles mistakes as Miles beat a very talented Water Valley team and then, last week, the Bulldogs buried the Winters Blizzards. Ozona is a good football team but Miles is on the war path. I pick the Bulldogs in this one. PICK: MILES 42 - OZONA 35.

Trammell - This will be one of the more competitive games of all of our matchups this week. Expect this to be a shootout. The Bulldogs and the Lions both sling the rock with their stub QBs - Havon Book for Miles and Hudson Fowler for Ozona. If I had to pick a game to go to this week, this would be it. PICK: OZONA 49 - MILES 48.

Bouligny - Another revenge game for the Bulldogs as the Lions won this matchup last season, where quarterback Hudson Fowler went 11/11 for 250 yards and three touchdowns. Don’t sleep on this Lions team as they’ve lost to Wink and Mason, who are and were two of the better teams in West Texas this and last season. The Bulldogs have a commander at signal caller in Hayven Book, who has just under 1,000 yards passing and has 13 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. Book has turned in big numbers on the ground and has run for 309 yards and 6 scores. Tevin Meade and Devin Medina have over 600 yards combined and seven scores. Of course, Miles has the receivers to keep up with anyone. Miles will look different this season as they’ve switched up the defensive scheme, where Jaylen Torres had 3 sacks and a forced fumble last game. Combined, the Bulldogs have 15 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, 4 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and 4 fumble recoveries. Like the Stanton/TLCA San Angelo game, this could be one of the better Concho Valley matchups this week. PICK: MILES 35 - OZONA 32.

PANTHER CREEK (3-0) @ VERIBEST (4-0) KICKOFF @ 7:30 P.M.

Bouligny - The Veribest Falcons feature two talented players at quarterback, with the most recent Dave Campbell’s 1A quarterback of the week, Hunter Hallmark, and super sophomore Bryce Martin. While Hallmark is more of the Falcon’s quarterback and Martin has just taken snaps there, they’ve got a combined 413 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 1 interception. On the ground, Martin has rushed for 200 yards, out of the total 739 yards, and seven scores. Junior back Lane Howard has rushed for 316 yards and 2 touchdowns. At receiver, the Falcons have 7 players with at least one touchdown, so they spread the ball around as much as possible. On defense, Hallmark has taken the ball away on three interceptions and one fumble recovery. Veribest has a very talented defense that has 15 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions, 6 forced fumbles, and 7 fumble recoveries. Watch out for this Falcon team to make a huge run this season on the backs of Hallmark and Martin. PICK: VERIBEST 62 - PANTHER CREEK 17.

Trammell - At COVER1 we’re a real Texas High School Football show. Why do I say that? Cause we’re talking 6-man. This game tonight folks will be the test to see if Tom Green County could go to Jerry’s World. The Veribest Falcons are 4-0 and have been rolling teams. Tonight they put the state on Title Watch notice. PICK: VERIBEST 56 - PANTHER CREEK 6.

Chadwick - PICK: Tom Green County’s last unbeaten team looks to continue this week against Panther Creek. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Panther Creek isn’t some slouch team ready to roll over. The Panthers come to town with a 3-0 overall record ready to dethrone the Falcons. However, Veribest has title ambitions this season and will be too much for the Panthers. I’m picking the Falcons in this one. VERIBEST 75 - PANTHER CREEK 56.

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