ETBLITZ ROAD SHOW TONIGHT IN TATUM, FRIDAY AT CARTHAGE! | Gladewater hosts D’Field tonight, and here’s where we’ll be this weekend

At long last…

…It’s finally here.

The 2024 season is upon us, and – much like Christmas morning – the crew here at ETBlitz.com is so excited to be able to bring to you a full slate of high school games, all kinds of video and even two kickoff shows, one tonight, and one on Friday night.

So, here’s where we’ll be this weekend (not counting some of our staff actually going to shoot and cover college games out of town on Saturday).

TONIGHT:

• It’s the very first “ETBlitz Road Show,” a kickoff show from Tatum ISD Eagle Stadium prior to Tatum’s game against Winnsboro. And we’re welcoming a new advertising partner, Clower Meat Market in Kilgore.

Our plans are to hit the air LIVE on Facebook (ETBlitz.com), and on our YouTube channel (simply ETBlitz), between 6 and 6:30 p.m. this evening. WiFi problems could change it to a tape-delayed show – that is NOT our plan. We hope to be live, and not coming to you taped.

Note that kickoff for Tatum-Winnsboro is at 7 p.m., not 7:30 p.m.

As for our coverage, we plan a game story by Clayton Fletcher; photos by Alex Nabor; and video of game footage, band, cheerleaders and the Eaglettes by Box.County and Mitch Lucas.

• We’ll also have the game in Gladewater, at Jack V. Murphy Stadium, covered, as the Bears try to shock some people by knocking off Daingerfield, the No. 2-ranked team in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s Class 3A, Division II poll. And we’ll have video of the Gladewater drill team, the HoneyBears, from correspondent Mandie Boyd.

FRIDAY NIGHT:

• We’ll be in Carthage for our second “ETBlitz Road Show,” again LIVE on Facebook and YouTube, and for this one, straight from Carthage ISD Stadium, planning to be live (WiFi permitting, of course) with a special guest (shhhhhh!) that most Kilgore fans will recognize.

Kickoff for the game, matching Kilgore (ranked No. 5 in the 4A-DI poll) against Carthage (ranked first overall in 4A-DII) is Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

And on the Friday game, we’re asking anyone who’d like to be a part of the background of the show to come down and take part. Both versions of the “ETBlitz Road Show” will be on the YouTube channel all next week.

As for coverage of KHS-Carthage, we’ll have the incomparable Joe Hale on the game story; fantastic still shots of the game by Dennis Jacobs and Alex Nabor; video of the game, and of the KHS Hi-Steppers drill team, by Box.County; and video of Kilgore’s band and cheerleaders, as well.

Yeah, it’s quite a production.

And the newest advertising partner of ETBlitz.com is none other than the absolutely fantastic Clower Meat Market, in Kilgore. Clower’s is open 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. every weekday, and 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, just in case you forgot to pick up something for the grill before the game comes on. They’re closed on Sunday.

At Clower’s, not only can you get their famous Oilfield Sausage – made in house and nothing beats it – but fresh jerky every day, summer sausage, cube steak for chicken fried steak, the best cuts of steaks anywhere, premium ground beef – you name it. There’s nowhere else like Clower’s.

They’re located at 2705 State Highway 42 North, not far from the intersection of 42 and 31, there in Kilgore. And you’re gonna want to go see them this week. Kilgore College is off, but there’s a full slate of games on TV. Texas hosts Colorado State, A&M hosts Notre Dame, and LSU plays USC in Vegas. You want to have all that on TV and nothing on the grill? NO WAY!

Other stops for ETBlitz on Friday:

• The one and only Ronnie Sartors will be at Overton’s Coach Chester Roy Stadium for the Mustangs’ season opener against Alba-Golden, a 7 p.m. kickoff.
• Longtime Sabine correspondent Jeremy Newlin is making the short trip over to Longview to Spring Hill ISD Stadium to see how the Cardinals will fare against the Spring Hill Panthers. And we’ll also have video of the Sabine Strutters’ first halftime performance of the season. That’s also a 7 p.m. kickoff.
• Gilmer, the defending Class 4A-DII state champions, officially joins the ETBlitz family this year, and with their season opener at home, at Jeff Traylor Stadium, against Pine Tree. The Pirates are back a classification from what they’ve been for years, a bit smaller enrollment, so Pine Tree is now a 4A school as well (4A-DI, in the district with Henderson and Kilgore).

And none other than Phillip W. Williams himself will be in the press box for ETBlitz for that game. Williams, who has watched Gilmer football for over 50 seasons, is back and ready to roll for the 2024 season of coverage of Buckeye football, as they try to successfully defend their state championship.

And we’ll also have reports from Henderson, where the Lions are taking on former district rival Athens on Friday night to kick off the season; from Malakoff, where the Tigers face our own team of Raiders, from West Rusk; from White Oak, where the Roughnecks try to get a win right off the jump with a home game against Eustace on Friday; from Arp, where coach Wes Schminkey and the boys will host Harleton in their opener; and from Troup, who draws Shelbyville to launch the 2024 season.

We’d like to thank each and every one of you for reading and supporting ETBlitz in our efforts to bring the East Texas region not only the best in sports, but the best in what SURROUNDS sports, which means the bands, the cheerleaders, the drill teams, the fans – the network that, combined with the games, really MAKES “Friday Night Lights” happen. Without all of those moving parts, it does not work, period. And we know that.

Also, thanks to our ad partners: Whataburger, Energy Weldfab, Austin Bank, ETX Electrical, and now, Clower Meat Market. They helped to make our little project here a possibility. Support these folks. They’re good people that love their community and work hard to make sure it’s the best it can be, every day.

Shortly, we’ll have our weekend roundup of previews for all of these games; the Energy Weldfab Scoreboard; our picks grid will be up, so you can see how our staff sees the games discussed here; and then after everything is said and done this weekend, see the wrap-up of it all with Mitch Lucas in his “What’s Causing All This?” column.

See you at the stadium.