WAKE UP! Henderson, Overton in action tonight; previewing those games, and a schedule for Friday
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! is presented by Cozy Coffee Station, with two locations in East Texas: in Kilgore at 110 Midtown Plaza and in Gilmer at 755 Highway 271 North, both inside Credit Union of Texas branches. And see CCS online at cozycoffeestation.com. They’re all over social media. On Facebook, it’s simply Cozy Coffee Station-Kilgore, and Cozy Coffee Station-Gilmer. On Instagram: @cozycoffeestation_Kilgore and @cozycoffeestation_Gilmer. The main thing: go by and try their menu. It’s great!
So, Thursday night football…
A pair of high school football programs in the ETBlitz.com coverage area are in action tonight.
One of them is at a neutral site. That’d be Henderson (2-1), led by coach Ricky Meeks. The Lions, who have won back-to-back games after losing a 56-49 shootout in Athens to open the year, are headed to Kaufman tonight to face Gainesville (0-3). And Gainesville fans, if I called you “Greenville” earlier this week, my apologies — but both Gainesville AND Greenville are 0-3. Gainesville comes into tonight’s game against Henderson having lost to Paradise (71-0), Vernon (7-0) and last week, Ponder (82-7). So the Leopards have had a combined score of 160-7. And facing Henderson’s offense. Hmmm. I don’t like their chances. Henderson already skinned some Leopards, the Liberty-Eylau kind,a few weeks ago, scoring 52 points in the process.
Our picks list will hit the site after lunch, but here’s a pretty strong prediction: Henderson BIG in this one. The Lions have scored 151 points this year. And they’ll light the scoreboard up just plenty tonight, I’m betting. They beat Gainesville 62-6 last year when this game was played on a Thursday night in Commerce.
This game, by the way, is being played at Homer Norville Field, (3205 S. Houston, Kaufman, TX, 75142, for those of you plugging it into navigation apps). And it kicks off at 7 p.m.
Henderson opens District 9-4A play next week at Palestine. And as my friend Paul Heyman likes to say, this isn’t a prediction: it’s a spoiler. Palestine is in trouble just like Gainesville is tonight.
Also tonight, the Overton Mustangs (2-1) — fresh off of a 34-0 beatdown of Simms-Bowie last week — will hit the road to take on Maud (0-3).
Coach Scotty Laymance’s Mustangs do have the one loss to Carlisle, but have looked very good in both wins. Overton has scored 86 points this year.
Maud, meanwhile, hasn’t allowed less than 41 points in any of its three games. They’ve played and lost to Hawkins (41-34), Elysian Fields (42-26) and to Mount Enterprise (58-30). Apparently though, they can put up points: they’re averaging 30 points a game.
Overton-Maud also kicks off at 7 tonight.
If you can’t get to these, see both games streaming online live with our friends, NETSN Live. Simply go to YouTube.com and search the NETSN Live channel, and click on the link for the game you want to hear.
Also, our good friend Mark McLain will have the call of Henderson-Gainesville on KWRD 98.5-FM, and online here: https://network1sports.com/station/kwrd
Friday night’s games
Here is Friday night’s schedule. And Joe Hale’s preview of Kilgore at Pleasant Grove is coming shortly. That’ll be KHS coach Clint Fuller’s return to the program where he coached as defensive coordinator in two state title games, and won a state championship to face good friend Josh Gipson and the Hawks.
Leverett’s Chapel at Trinity School, 7 p.m.
Harleton at Beckville, 7 p.m.
Sabine at Arp, 7 p.m.
Queen City at White Oak, 7 p.m.
Rusk at Troup, 7:30 p.m.
Tatum at West Rusk, 7:30 p.m. (This game will also be on NETSN Live)
Pine Tree at Hallsville, 7:30 p.m.
Chapel Hill at Carthage, 7:30 p.m.
Lindale at Gilmer, 7:30 p.m.
Kilgore at Pleasant Grove, 7:30 p.m.