WAKE UP! ON ETB | Big high school games this weekend, and the ‘SWJCFC’ should consider name change with Snow’s addition

EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! is presented by Cozy Coffee Station, whose menu is so vast they even have it divided by seasons! And don’t make the mistake of thinking CCS is “just” a coffee place. Go in to one of their two East Texas locations – at 110 Midtown Plaza in Kilgore and at 755 Highway 271 in Gilmer – and find out first hand. If you’re at work or in class and can’t get there this morning, they’re open in Gilmer every day from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Sundays from 9 ‘till 2. In Kilgore, they’re open the same hours through the week and 8-5 on Saturdays, but closed on Sundays. Their website is killer, and it’s simply www.cozycoffeestation.com, and you can check out their socials, where there’s always something going on. On Facebook, it’s Cozy Coffee Station-Kilgore and Cozy Coffee Station-Gilmer, and on Instagram: @cozycoffeestation_kilgore and @cozycoffeestation_gilmer.

Where will you be for ballgames?

Well, if you’re reading this, you’re likely a fan of one of the ETBlitz.com-area programs, so let’s just do the round-up of where everyone is and a few of the stakes, shall we?

Thursday’s game

White Oak (4-1 overall, 0-1 in district) at Jefferson (3-3, 0-2), 7 p.m. This is a big game tonight, a focal point of this weekend in District 8-3A, Division I. White Oak, with all that firepower, has had a very good season so far. But a run-in with Atlanta in the district opener two weeks ago didn’t go as they’d hoped, and they were on an open date last weekend. So at 0-1, they’re not in bad shape. Moving to 1-1 rather than 0-2 would be HUGE. As for Jefferson: the former state-ranked Bulldogs have slipped to 0-2 after losing back-to-back games. In THIS district, 0-3 won’t be the end, but the end would be just a page or two away. Remember: in UIL football (and in most team sports), the top four teams from each district make the playoffs.

Friday’s games

Waskom (5-1, 3-0) at Beckville (3-3, 2-1) 7 p.m.: Big games are all over the place this weekend, and here’s another. Waskom is one of two teams (Elysian Fields the other) that haven’t lost a game in District 10-2A, Division I; the Wildcats are 3-0. Beckville has lost to district leader EF, and is 2-1. Coach Cody Ross’s Bearcats got off to an 0-2 start to the season, but they’ve bounced back. Last week, quarterback Braxton Bullock went 8-of-8 for 163 yards and four touchdowns at Big Sandy. Now, Big Sandy is a little more than a hop, skip and a jump from the talent that Waskom has. But the Bearcats aren’t chopped liver, and it looks like running back Jorden Prince may have gotten healthy. That may be a BAD thing for opponents.

Pittsburg (4-1, 0-0) at Gilmer, 7 p.m. (1-4, 0-0): Let’s just state the obvious, first off: Nobody on God’s green earth that knew Gilmer’s football history would have believed that the Buckeyes would be 1-4 right now. But if you look at their schedule – I mean, Chapel Hill, Lindale, Kilgore and Brenham? Good grief! All of the 4A programs that we cover – Gilmer, Kilgore, Henderson, Pine Tree and Carthage – have had some tough ones. The Buckeyes may find the waters in District 7-4A, Division II a lot easier than what they’ve played so far. Give me the Buckeyes to make the playoffs in this district against $50, and I’d take that bet right now (not that we gamble here, I’m just sayin’.).

Gladewater (5-1, 2-0) at Liberty-Eylau (2-3, 1-0), 7 p.m.: After getting bounced off the field like a lawn dart by Henderson and by Carthage, here’s another surprise: Liberty-Eylau has managed to win a game or two, and is actually set to do some damage in District 8-3A, Division I. But the field is still open, and first-year coach Jermaine Lewis so far looks like he’s playing chess while – eh, you know the phrase. He’s done really well, one loss by one point to West Rusk (non-district). If the Bears can win this one and get a 3-0 head start in district play, it may be tough for anybody except maybe Atlanta, to catch ‘em.

Lovelady (5-0) at Overton (4-2), 7 p.m.: Overton head coach Scotty Laymance has got to be wondering when this stops, the tough opponent after tough opponent. The answer, unfortunately for the Mustangs this year, is simple: it doesn’t. District 11-2A, Division II is probably the second-toughest district in East Texas, maybe behind 9-4A, with Kilgore, Henderson, Chapel Hill, Lindale and Pine Tree (they let Mabank and Palestine come out and play sometimes). But the Overton district includes Mount Enterprise (undefeated), Grapeland (twice-beaten but not in district), Lovelady (state-ranked) and the Mustangs themselves. It’s killer. And there are no real brakes. Overton can go a long way to earning a playoff spot if the Mustangs can pull this off tomorrow night.

Atlanta (5-1, 2-0) at Sabine (0-6 ,0-2), 7 p.m.: The goals here are vastly different. The Rabbits have one loss all season and have sites set squarely on that 8-3A title. Sabine wants to end this vicious losing streak.

Winona (1-5, 0-2) at Troup (6-0, 2-0) 7:30 p.m.: Who thinks Winona can hold Troup under, say, 42 points? Any takers? Yeah, didn’t think so. Me neither.

New Diana (4-1, 1-0) at West Rusk (5-1, 2-0), 7:30 p.m.: What a difference a year makes. Last season, New Diana was a power player in District 11-3A, Division II. This year, the Eagles are trying to stay with big boys Troup, West Rusk and Arp. It’s going to be a difficult test. And the Raiders plan to change it from multiple choice to fill-in-the-blank Friday night – and then maybe take away ND’s pencils, just for good measure.

Carthage (5-0, 0-0) at Center (1-4, 0-0), 7:30 p.m.: Don’t underestimate Center here – dang it, I can’t do that with a straight face. It is high school football, but the Roughriders will need what I call “a football miracle” to get this done. I mean, we’re talking “The Immaculate Reception”-level miracle here (The Immaculate Reception).

Henderson (4-2, 1-1) at Mabank (2-3, 0-1), 7:30 p.m.: I did the math, and INCLUDING their road trip to Mabank tomorrow, plus all trips that the Henderson Lions have made so far this year, they will have totaled roughly 900 miles, and they still have a game at Chapel Hill and possibly the playoffs to go! Something tells me Mabank is in trouble Friday night.

Chapel Hill (4-2, 1-1) at Kilgore (5-1, 2-0), 7:30 p.m.: Well, year-in and year-out for a half-decade, this matchup always draws a lot of eyes from around the state. This will be the first time since 2022 that the regular season meeting between these two will be played at Kilgore’s R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium. Chapel Hill already has two regular season losses, and that’s not a common thing. But trust me: when 7:30 Friday night hits, records so far won’t matter. It’s on, on Friday night.

By the way, that Carthage-Center game will be live on NETSN Live. To see that, or any game by the NETSN Live crew, just go to YouTube.com, search for NETSN Live, and you’ll get their channel (which is free). You’ll see their game selection, and just pick the game you want. They do a fantastic job. And there might be a joint project or two between NETSN and ETBlitz.com coming one day. But for now, enjoy Carthage-Center Friday night for no cost, streaming live on their YouTube channel.

Might be time for a name change

The Southwest Junior College Football Conference announced Wednesday that longtime member Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, who most of us have referred to as “NEO” for many years, is actually leaving the conference after this season, and joining the Kansas Jayhawk Conference, with the likes of Hutchinson (the No. 1 team in the nation), Butler and those guys.

That would leave a void in the SWJCFC, but conference leaders aren’t letting that happen.

In fact, one of the nation’s strongest junior college football programs is Snow College, in Ephraim, Utah.

The first place I saw this reported was good ol’ Jack Stallard in the Longview News-Journal. Jack does a great job. I think of him as the Mark Scirto of our local sportswriters.

At any rate, the conference is bringing in Snow as a new member, beginning next fall.

Now, I’m all for Snow coming in. The mileage they’re gonna log is going to make those miles of Henderson’s I mentioned look like a trip across town to get groceries. Snow will add SERIOUS miles to their schedule. And we all thought New Mexico Military’s Roswell-based home was a road trip!

And it is.

Here’s my point: it’s time for the SWJCFC – which is a freakin’ mouthful – to consider a name change. I know there’s a lot of history there, but this conference isn’t just Texas anymore. It hasn’t been for quite a while.

The conference now boasts New Mexico Military Institute, which still fits the “southwest” part of its name, but Utah, to me, is not geographically in the Southwest.

College conference alignments have gotten ridiculous, with the most absurd being Stanford in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The SWJCFC can be a major trend-setter in this department. They’ve gone beyond the Southwest now. The addition of Snow is nothing short of a major milestone. Our conference is one of the three most challenging to play in, in all of the U.S., with the other two likely the Jayhawk Conference I mentioned earlier, and the Mississippi conference.

They need a new name to go with these changes, one that really embraces a multi-state roster of programs. A suggestion: the Continental Conference, a good name that doesn’t tie the conference to a region, in the event more programs join that aren’t necessarily in our back door.

Dr. Kevin G. Fegan, President of both Navarro College and of the SWJCFC, this could be the legacy of the current conference leadership.

Just something to think about.