From 10 to 1: Ranking Cameron’s 2018 football opponents

Since the 2018 Yoe football schedule has been finalized, I now want to give my thoughts on the opponents and who to look out for. I will say that I believe this schedule, as a whole, could be down as a compared to schedules of the past. That is not to say this schedule will not have its challenges, because it will. But, compared to other years, I would say there are more winnable games.

10. Jarrell (0-10/0-6)

Jarrell is still in the basketball playoffs, and that is simply their bread and butter. The Cougars had pretty solid team back in 2015, but since then they have fallen on hard times. I don’t really expect that to change much this season. The Cougars are only losing 9 seniors but return no all-district players. It should be another uphill battle, but it can’t get any worse.

9. Manor New Tech (0-0/0-0)

Who knows what to expect here as Manor New Tech is a brand new school. Manor High School traditionally has some solid football teams, so maybe some of that talent will flow over to New Tech. For 2018, these guys will not have a senior class will be playing with freshmen through juniors. I expect something similar to what we saw from Bryan Rudder when they initially opened.

8. Katy St. John XXIII (3-5)

These are generally not the games you see on Cameron’s non-district schedule, and games you don’t want to see. This private school in Katy was added after Whitney dropped Cameron late, leaving Tommy Brashear scrambling to find what he could. St. John XXIII has won just a handful of games the past several seasons. It can sometimes be tough to get a gage on these private schools, but this is a game Cameron should dominate from beginning to end.

7. Academy (3-7/1-5)

Next up is the Bees. This is higher than Academy would normally be on this list, but I don’t believe this team will be a legitimate threat to the big boys in the district. Academy will have a new head coach as Mike Nichols will be moving into an AD only role after 8 years in charge of the program. Defensive coordinator Paul Williams now takes over.

6. Troy (3-7/2-4)

Much like Academy, Troy has not quite been able to get over the hump and has traditionally struggled with the better teams in the district. Can that change in 2018? Troy does generally have competitive sub-varsity teams, but they will simply need that to translate that over to the varsity level at some point.

5. Lago Vista (5-5/3-1)

Well, the Vikings are back on the schedule after a short hiatus. The one thing to remember about Lago Vista is that they have a ton of kids that come out for football and have played Cameron tough at times in the past. The teams nowadays are not quite what those were, but expect the Vikings to compete and get into the playoffs out of this district.

4. Gatesville (7-4/2-3)

The Hornets are losing 30 seniors off of their 2017 team that finished 7-4 with a bi-district loss to Canyon Lake, 31-21. Of all the 4A schools on the schedule, I feel this will be the most winnable despite the struggles Cameron has had with this program traditionally. The Hornets appeared to be significantly down on the JV and freshman levels, and will have to rely on that upcoming talent to fill big holes.

3. Mexia (6-6/3-2)

The Blackcats never seem to be the best of the best, but they usually aren’t the worst of the worst either. Mexia did advance to the area round of the 4A DII playoffs last season, losing to eventual state finalist West Orange-Stark in a competitive game, 17-3. This is going to be a very tough season opener on the road.

2. Giddings (5-6/4-1)

The Buffaloes were down in 2017, and it showed in their 41-2 bi-district loss to Fairfield. Chris Jones, which has led the program since 2011, has stepped down to take the head job at Pecos. A new staff will be stepping in, so we will have to wait and see what happens in the transition, but you’re going to get a solid product year in and year out from Giddings.

1. Rockdale (13-3/5-1)

Can the defending state champs make it three in a row over the Yoemen? That is what Coach Miller and crew will be trying to accomplish in 2018. Cameron’s defense has not had many answers to what the Tigers have thrown at them the past two seasons, and that is a big reason why I have them at number one. Now, I do believe that 1-4 on this list could be interchangeable and we are threading needles right now. The Tigers have plenty of question marks themselves heading into this next season, but the talent still appears to be there with all but one win over Cameron in the sub-varsity games in 2017.