In Week 0, the number 4 team (Smithson Valley) plays the number 3 team (Brandeis Broncos) and the number 2 team (Madison Mavericks) plays the number 1 team (Steele Knights)! Unbelievable!!!!
Before I talk about the 2012 Steele team, I want to share my thoughts on a few Steele games that I worked in the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
On December 18, 2010, the Steele Knights played at Cowboy’s stadium in Arlington for the state championship and they WON!!! It was so cool to be there and an absolutely amazing euphoric high!!! Much thanks to Malcolm Brown (now a Sophomore at UT Austin), Tommy Armstrong (now a Freshman at Nebraska), and Justin Stockton (he was a Freshman at Steele). The picture above and to the left was taken from that game. When else I am going to have the opportunity to be on same field the Dallas Cowboys play on? Exactly!!!
For that game, I drove up with Mark Kusenberger in his car. We took turns driving up and coming home. On the way up, I was driving and I got pulled over by a police officer in Belton which is past Waco on IH-35. I wasn’t speeding, there were no burnt out lights on the car, and I definitely wasn’t drinking. I was confused as to what I did wrong. Supposedly, there is a law for when an emergency vehicle is on the shoulder, you have to either slow down to 20 MPH or merge to the left lane…I didn’t do either cause I had no clue of this stupid little law. Since my driving record was shiny clean and I am also not a wanted criminal, I got away with a warning. The cop wanted a plug on the radio; wow, easy bribe!!! Of course, we plugged him or should I say Mark, Bobby Stautzenberger, Dave Parker, and Ron gray plugged him since they are the voice people and I am the numbers dude.
Man, what is the deal with police officers and me during football season? See my Smithson Valley post for another police story. I got one more police story for you. I worked a Frontier bowl several years ago at Harlandale Memorial stadium. This is a rival game between the Harlandale Indians and the McCullom Cowboys. The stadium is 30 miles from my house and it isn’t in the best area of town. As I left the game that evening, I was on the main street outside the stadium and the car in front of me stopped at a green light. What the fuck!!! I had no options but to rear end her car! The driver of the car that I hit didn’t want to call the police, but I had front end and hood damage so I called the police. And of course, all the people in the car that I hit were complaining of neck pain! When the police arrived, they were taking a long time talking to the other driver; then I saw the driver get handcuffed and placed in the police vehicle. Wow, that was a first for me! So that is probably why she didn’t want to call the police. The cop told me it was for outstanding warrants and they also gave her a ticket for no car insurance, but they drove the car home! Strange!
On September 15, 2011, the Steele Knights were on Thursday Nights Lights playing the Southwest Dragons. In the first 5 minutes, Steele had 3 one play scoring drives. Wow and awesome at the same time!!!
On November 18, 2011, the Steele Knights played the Brandeis Broncos in a playoff game. The Steele defense stepped up big time in that game and came out with a victory.
Mark and I took another road trip on December 10, 2011 to Reliant stadium in Houston for the Steele Knights state semifinal match-up against the Port Arthur Memorial Titans. The poor Astrodome looks like a crumb compared to Reliant. Steele won in a blow-out!!!
I drove myself to Arlington on December 17, 2011 for the state championship. Even though Steele lost that game, it was so awesome to be there. I have a great gig!! I almost forgot, something even better than cops happened at the stadium when the game ended. The players and media were gathered on the field getting interviewed and photographed. I was in the press-box, which at Cowboy’s stadium is so high I thought we were in Jerry Jones heaven-land. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a golf cart…but there was no driver…and it was heading toward the players and the media. I saw a few people get hit and man, it could have been a lot of worse. The Express News’s Lorne Chan was hit and thank god he was OK.
Even though I have been to Reliant stadium and Cowboys stadium, I still and will always love good old Lehnoff stadium in Schertz. I, for one, am glad they haven’t renovated it yet. Cause when they do, I am really gonna miss the vantage point, the closeness of the fans, and the energy of the stadium.
I have some pictures from the two Cowboy’s stadium games and the game at Reliant stadium.
The Steele Knights played in two consecutive state championships in 2010 and 2011 and they bring back some key players from those teams this season. That means, they played 16 games the past two seasons. Talk about experience. Wow!!!
One of them is the running back, Justin Stockton. He was a freshmen in 2010 as the back up to Malcolm Brown. In that role, he had 54 carries for 604 yards with 6 touchdowns. In 2011 as the starter, he had 165 carries for 1,499 yards with 13 touchdowns. Justin is really fast and could end up being better than his predecessor, Malcolm Brown! Justin made his debut on Thursday Night Lights back in 2010 and I was there. Pretty cool!!! And, hey, we get to see him for 2 more years…awesome!!!
Along with Trinton Ynclan from Brandeis, Lawrence Mattison from Smithson Valley, and Marquis Warford from Madison, Justin rounds out the top 4 of the best running backs in the city. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, those 4 teams play each other in Week 0!! Wow!! I really urge you to get out of your little environment and see these running backs play. But, don’t blink cause you may miss some great runs!!!
Another offensive player coming back is Matthew Mayle, a wide receiver. In 2010, his numbers weren’t spectacular and they didn’t need to be cause he had Tommy Armstrong at quarterback and Malcolm Brown and Justin Stockton at running back. Those three players had a combined 63 touchdowns. Last year, Mayle had a break-thru season with 40 receptions for 931 yards with 13 touchdowns. I expect him to get over 1,000 yards this season.
The quarterback for Steele is Breylann McCollom. He was also on both state championship teams. His primary position was wide receiver but he also backed-up Tommy Armstrong, the quarterback. It is really hard to judge how good Breylann was when your team has a huge lead and all you do is toss the ball to the running back and try to run as much clock as possible without turning the ball over.
On defense, they have Erik Huhn and Jordan Sterns, who were also on both state championship teams. Huhn is committed to UT Austin and Sterns is committed to Oklahoma State. Wow! I wouldn’t want to be an offensive player trying to shake Huhn and Sterns off. They are gonna be in a lot of nightmares for opposing opponents and some may only see orange for a week!!!
A lot of the media outlets are picking Steele to go to the state championship again this year and they for sure have the offensive and defensive fire power to make it 3 years in a row. But first they have to survive non district and that will be a challenge as they play Madison, Judson, Kerrville Tivy, and Austin Westlake. I am not at all concerned about district play as they will go undefeated in district.
I really thought that the head coach, Mike Jinks, would leave Steele for Judson. I am glad he didn’t leave. Steele and Jinks are synomous and that is the way it should be.
I am going to write about each game I work this season and they will appear on my BLOG on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. I also added a page called My High School Football schedule and this will be updated throughout the season.
Oh, in the next few weeks, I will be debuting Inside the Huddle, a place for my friends and insiders to share there thoughts on High School football.
Tomorrow, the Express News will publish there High School Football preview. It has a great deal of information and will be a great source for me this season. I can’t wait to pick it up tomorrow.
Please read my previous articles on the Top 9 teams as ranked in the preseason by the Express News.
Number 10 Kerrville Tivy Antlers
Number 9 Brennan Bears
Number 8 Judson Rockets
Number 7 O’Connor Panthers
Number 6 Reagan Rattlers
Number 5 East Central Hornets
Number 4 Brandeis Broncos
Number 3 Smithson Valley Rangers
Number 2 Madison Mavericks