THE ROUNDUP | White Oak wins; Arp tops Harleton; how Gladewater stunned D’field

You might have heard that there were a few “upsets” this weekend in high school football around here.

And three ETBlitz.com-area teams were the ones making everybody “upset.”

It all started Thursday, when Winnsboro – ranked No. 12 in the state in 3A-Division I by the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football poll – couldn’t escape coach Whitney Keeling and the Tatum Eagles. The lightning-delayed game was only a half, but Tatum pulled away late in the second quarter, including a 100-yard kick return off a missed field goal by the appropriately-named Cayden Tatum, and the Eagles had themselves a 29-14 win.

It was equally lightning’d-up at Jack V. Murphy Stadium in Gladewater, where coach Jonny Louvier and the Gladewater Bears played host to the No. 2-ranked Daingerfield Tigers (in the 3A-DII Dave Campbell’s poll).

That didn’t go well for the visitors, either.

After a frustrating lightning delay, it was Daingerfield – not Gladewater – that got took to the woodshed. The final score might have been 21-13, but Gladewater’s lines on both sides of the ball completely took control of that football game. Daingerfield quarterback Chase Johnson, he of the 51 touchdowns a year ago, was held in check – one of the Tigers’ touchdowns came very late in the game.

And you also might have heard about a quiet little game in Carthage Friday night (THEY DID IT! | Kilgore takes down top-ranked Carthage, 20-15, in season opener, at Carthage (etblitz.com)) where the Kilgore Bulldogs got a measure of revenge in recent years, dealing Carthage a season-opening loss in which Carthage did not look good: five total turnovers, four of them interceptions, and a passing game that yielded only 51 yards.

Of course, Kilgore’s defense and game-planning had a lot to do with that.

So, what else happened in high school football Friday night?

Let’s go around the horn and find out.

In scores from the ETB coverage area, in addition to the three mentioned above, Alba-Golden got out of Overton with a 17-12 win; Sabine held off Spring Hill late, 50-48, in a knock-down, drag-out (THE 5-TD MAN | Sabine’s Sparks gets five of ’em, as Cardinals win wild-west 50-48 shootout at Spring Hill (etblitz.com)); White Oak is in the win column, as coach Mike Ludlow and the Roughnecks thrashed Eustace, 50-13; Arp beat Harleton by two touchdowns, 20-7; Henderson was 10 points better than Athens Friday night at Henderson ISD Lion Stadium, 45-35; Troup couldn’t hold off Shelbyville, as the Tigers dropped their opener, 53-40; Malakoff flexed its muscle against West Rusk, unfortunately, 49-0 (a prediction: West Rusk will bounce back from that, guaranteed); Leverett’s Chapel, in its six-man game, beat Trinity School of Texas down, 60-14; and in a game the ETB crew viewed as a big surprise, Pine Tree escaped Gilmer with a 22-15 win.

Gladewater 21, Daingerfield 13: Our correspondent – and others – on Thursday thought the game might be off, but no, sadly for Daingerfield, it was indeed played after a lightning delay.

Gladewater quarterback Luke Brown found Kayson Harris for a 22-yard pass on what would be the first scoring drive of the game. Bears running back Carsin Cooper did the honors with just over three minutes left in the first quarter, on a 4-yard run.

The Bears went for a two-point conversion, and were successful, but were flagged, and moved back. After the penalty, they elected to kick the extra point, but it was missed, leaving them in front, 6-0.

Daingerfield, stymied all night by the Bears’ defense, went for a fourth-down conversion in the early moments of the second quarter and were stuffed – Gladewater made them pay, a 46-yard touchdown connection between Brown and Harris. This time, the two-point conversion was successful, and the Bears were up by two scores (14-0).

The Tigers did get a first-half score: Johnson, on a 1-yard run to cap a drive, with 3:23 left in the half, a 14-6 deficit for Daingerfield that wound up being the halftime score – and the score going into the fourth quarter.

Johnson threw a pass that was intercepted by Gladewater’s Maddox Vasquez, and the Bears turned that into points, a 1-yard run by Grafton Morgan with 5:16 left. That put the Bears up by two touchdowns (21-6).

The Tigers would scare the home crowd with a Johnson 3-yard touchdown run with three minutes left, but on Gladewater’s next possession, the Bears would eat up what was left of the clock – ballgame, 21-13.

Defensively, Gladewater was all over Johnson, and befuddled Daingerfield’s running game all night. Johnson had a hard first half, sacked or tackled for loss on five occasions.

Next Friday, Gladewater visits New Diana; Daingerfield hosts Tatum this coming Thursday night.

Arp 20, Harleton 7: Coach Wes Schminkey has his entire offensive line that started from a year ago, plus his son Jaxon, the Tigers’ starting tight end, all up front and experience makes a difference.

Ask Harleton.

The Tigers were able to roll up 250 rush yards, exactly, in the two-touchdown home win to open the season.

Zane Borque, a receiver for the Tigers who can just about do it all, actually led the way in the multi-pronged running game, as well: five carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Josh Smith had five carries for 63 yards and a score. Casen Burgins had eight carries for 62 yards, and quarterback Thomas Mckelvey had 59 yards and a touchdown on the ground, on seven carries.

Arp is off next week, an early-season bye, and then hosts Mineola on Friday, Sept. 13.

Harleton will host Queen City next Friday, Sept. 6.

White Oak 50, Eustace 13: Can 18 starters back for the Roughnecks off a winless season help them make a complete turnaround?

You bet they can.

White Oak got off to a great start with a huge win over visiting Eustace on Friday night. The ‘Necks will play at Paul Pewitt next Friday night, Sept. 6; Eustace will host Buffalo that same night.

After giving up the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown, White Oak straightened up. They got a bit of good fortune when Eustace missed the extra point, and then the offense kicked into gear.

Quarterback Jaxson Ludlow found Braydon Bratcher for a touchdown pass that would tie the game, and then the ‘Necks got the two-point conversion for an early 8-6 lead (10 minutes left in the first quarter).

The White Oak defense recovered a fumble by Eustace, and gave the ball right back to Ludlow and the offense. The regional track qualifier didn’t disappoint, scooting into the end zone for a score, and with the extra point, a 15-6 lead.

Eustace was officially in trouble at this point – and trailed 29-6 by the end of the first quarter.

Malakoff 49, West Rusk 0: The Malakoff Tigers, who went 16-0 and won a 3A, Division I championship a year ago, don’t look like the same team.

They look better. And most of their starters are back.

It made for a long night to open the season for the visiting West Rusk Raiders, who have won four of the last five district championships in football, including last year. The Raiders will bounce back.

Malakoff had six first-half touchdowns (a 42-0 lead) at the halftime break, and scored once in the second half.

West Rusk will play at home, at Bruce Bradshaw Stadium, next Friday against Diboll. Malakoff will visit Lorena, also on Friday.