Hopkins County Week 2 Previews
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Week 1 of the 2022 Texas High School Football season is in the books. After a long summer, football is back and all three Hopkins County teams are ready to get back to action this Friday night.
Sulphur Springs Wildcats
The Sulphur Springs Wildcats opened their season with a win this past Friday night, winning on opening night for the first time since 2018. The Wildcats got out to an early 12-0 lead and never looked back, winning 21-6 in the most dominating performance in years.
They will be looking to keep that momentum going this week, as they are once again at home, to host the Mt. Pleasant Tigers. Mt. Pleasant also opened their season with a victory, though there’s was by a much closer margin.
The Tigers hosted Pittsburg and found themselves tied up 8-8 at the end of the first quarter. After a big second quarter, Mt. Pleasant was able to coast to a 22-16 win.
Dave Campbell’s has Sulphur Springs as a 10-point underdog, despite the home field advantage. The Wildcats will look to put a stop to the naysayers and look to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2018.
The Wildcats were great on both sides of the ball, with junior running back Malachi Roland leading the offense. Roland had 107 rushing yards and two touchdowns, setting the tone for what could be a great season for him.
The Wildcats didn’t pass the ball a ton, but they were efficient when doing so. Quarterback Brady Driver had 145 passing yards, with one touchdown and no turnovers, giving him a QBR of 97.7. Driver connected with five different receivers, including Cooper Faircloth who led the team in catches (4) and yards (49).
He also found a strong connection with freshman Jackson Haire, who had a pair of catches for 34 yards, including his first career receiving touchdown.
Defensively the Wildcats were great from the very beginning, forcing a number of three-and-outs in the first half. They were led by senior safety Riley Hammons, who had a pair of interceptions, as well as recovered blocked PAT, which led to two points for Sulphur Springs.
What will the Wildcats have to do to pick up another win and improve to 2-0?
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Como-Pickton Eagles
The Como-Pickton Eagles opened their season at home last week, when they hosted Simms Bowie. The two teams played a close game, but the Eagles were unable to come out on top, falling by a score of 14-8.
They will be looking to bounce back and get back to .500 this week, as they hit the road to face Detroit. Like Sulphur Springs, Dave Campbell’s also has Como-Pickton as the underdog, with Detroit being a seven-point favorite.
The Eagles will certainly be looking to prove them wrong, and will be looking to hand Detroit their second loss of the season, after being shutout 55-0 against Alba-Golden in Week One. Though Como-Pickton wasn’t able to score a ton of points in their season opener, their defense was strong, holding Simms Bowie to just 14 points.
If they are able to play that strongly on defense again, they could find themselves in great position to win, facing a team who will be looking for their first points of the season still. Will Como-Pickton once again have a strong showing on defense and pick up their first win?
Cumby Trojans
The Cumby Trojans were the only Hopkins County team to not be able to open their season at home this year. Two weeks into the season, they remain the only team who has yet to play at home, as they travel to Union Grove this time.
The Trojans, much like the Wildcats and the Eagles, also played a very close match in Week One, though they were unable to walk away with the win. The first half was close, though Cumby went into the locker room leading 20-14.
They added to that lead in the third quarter, pushing the score to 28-20. Tom Bean put up an amazing fourth quarter, shutting Cumby out and willing their way back to victory, winning by a final score of 36-28.
What will it take for the Trojans to grab their first win? Much like Sulphur Springs and Como-Pickton, Dave Campbell’s has the Trojans as the underdog, though by the closest margin of the three.
Cumby is just a one-point underdog, and that could very well be because they are the road team. This is very much anybody’s game, and the Trojans will be doing everything they can to see that it is theirs.
The Trojans will be going up against Union Grove who did get a win in Week One, beating Bishop Gorman in a close 28-24 battle.
Cumby has shown they can score points and they have shown they can earn a lead. This week, they will be looking to show that they can hold on to it and walk away with a victory.
All games are set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday. [adning id=”33207″]
