WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ | Gilmer’s D-line recognized; 7-on-7 preview coming; Rangers slipping back; Classic ’70’s Friday
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! Friday edition is always a happy time, for obvious reasons. Yes, a lot of us still have to work tomorrow. But many of you get to sleep in, don’t have to worry about the alarm, can be leisurely on Saturday – wow, I’m a day ahead. Still gotta get through Friday first. Get by Cozy Coffee Station. They’ll help you do that. If you’re in Kilgore, they’re at 110 Midtown Plaza; if you’re in Gilmer, they’re at 755 Highway 271 North. And if you need a little guidance on what you want before you get there, check this out: Home | Cozy Coffee Station.
The Buckeyes!
Speaking of Gilmer, man, the folks at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football are high on the Buckeyes’ defensive front for the 2025 season.
They’re SO high on ‘em, in fact, that they are not only listed among the top five defensive lines in the state in Classes 4A and 3A this year – they’re listed No. 1 in 4A!
Now, DCTF is a subscription site, and I love it. I’m a subscriber, and I’m on there every day. I don’t often plug a site with a paywall, and ETBlitz.com HAS no paywall. It’s not our business model. I don’t believe we could survive that way. You guys can go and come around here as you please.
So you’ll need a subscription to read it. But here’s the story: Top Defensive Lines in 4A and 3A for 2025.
No way can I spoil it, but the writer, Carter Yates, is one of DCTF’s best writers, and he mentions the Buckeyes’ line up and down, like Tyler Hagler, obviously, and Jet Bates, and Davion King, and others.
I’ll give you one quote and that’s as much as I can do: you’ll have to just read the story. “Coach Alan Metzel has nine guys he feels comfortable playing on the defensive line this year, a plus for a program that likes to have certain players alternate between the offensive and defensive lines.”
The rest of the top five lines that Yates names? You’ll be very familiar with them, too, and even though technically none of them are in the ETBlitz.com coverage area, one of them is AWFULLY close to it.
Check out the story, and if you are on the fence about subscribing to DCTF, let me tell you, if you’re a high school sports fan, especially a football fan, it’s probably worth it. They do a great job.
Our 7-on-7 preview
Kilgore’s 7-on-7 football team is headed to the Texas State 7-on-7 Tournament at Veterans Park in College Station next week, specifically Thursday and Friday, and we’ll have our preview this weekend.
We’ve had the information SEVERAL times here, ad nauseum, actually, but we haven’t ran it in a few days, so here it is again, in case you missed it and are making plans to go.
Veterans Park, first off, is located at 3101 Harvey Road, College Station, TX, 77845.
Admission to the state tournament is free. There are like 13, 14, 15 fields, but there is little to no seating, and there is a lot of walking involved for spectators. You’ll want to bring your own chairs. Unless there’s some rain, it’ll be very hot.
There were concessions last year, so I’m sure there will be this year, and there’s a convenience store located right off the campus.
Kilgore’s portion of that will be the first two days. Kilgore competes in Division II in 7-on-7, which is the UIL equivalent of Class 4A and 3A. The final day and a half is the Division I tournament.
Pool play begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, and just like the local qualifying tournaments, there will be four teams in each pool, so that means three pool games for each team on Thursday.
All teams advance to bracket play on Friday morning, and everyone will play at least one game on Friday. On Friday, the first round starts at 8:45 a.m.
And we’ll have more, including a refresher course on 7-on-7, this weekend.
Rangers update
The Rangers went down, 4-1, at ol’ Globe Life Park Thursday night to the Kansas City Royals.
Kansas City pitcher Michael Wacha went six innings and only allowed two hits; he and teammate Carlos Estevez combined to keep Texas to just three on the night, and the one run, which the Rangers managed to score in the sixth inning. Wyatt Langford scored when Marcus Semien doubled to left field.
Langford and Sam Haggerty had the Rangers’ other two hits, both singles.
Shawn Armstrong took the loss for Texas and only pitched one inning: he allowed one hit, but both runs (both were earned), had one strikeout, and one walk.
So, the Rangers lost all three home games to the Royals, and that means they’ve lost three straight. They’ve fallen to fourth place, now, in the American League West Division, as the Los Angeles Angels have overtaken them for third.
Texas is 36-39, and seven games behind AL West-leading Houston (43-32). If the playoffs were to begin today – which is a ridiculous statement – the Rangers would be 2 ½ games out of the wild card. None of that matters much, because we’re still a couple of weeks away from the all-star break. But they don’t want to get much farther out of striking distance in the West.
Let’s rock
A lot of y’all know our classic song today from when it was featured in the movie “Remember the Titans.” Don’t get me wrong, I love that film. But this song deserves to be remembered on its own merit! Here’s the Hollies, “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress).” Tell me this is not a cool song.
And have a great Friday.