Class 3A HS Football

[hotrod]

Class 4A,and 5A is not the only place to find quality football players.

The URL changed this morning. Here is the article is anyone wants to read it.

Thursday, August 08, 2002




Mustangs singing Redemption Song in Madisonville

By Tom Waddill/Sports Editor/Huntsville Item

MADISONVILLE,Tx.-- For the last nine months, the
Madisonville Mustangs have been thinking about what

might've been. The Mustangs say they've been stewing
about their heartbreaking loss to Sealy in the
bi-district round of the Class 3A state playoffs last
year

"We remember last year against Sealy," junior
quarterback Tyrone Coleman said this week during the
first week of summer workouts. "We're not going to
let that happen again.

"That" was a catastrophe. Holding a 31-27 lead with
37 seconds on the clock last November, the Mustangs
let one slip away. Madisonville had powerhouse Sealy
beaten, but when the Tigers returned a kickoff 87
yards for a score it was Sealy who advanced and the
Mustangs who returned home and started basketball
season.
That has eaten at the Mustangs for nine long months.

"That's our motto. We're not going to come up three
points short this year," senior offensive lineman
Weston Savell said. "We've been training for this all
summer. A new UIL rule allowed us to work out with
the coaches for the first nine weeks of the summer.
We had over 50 guys here on any given day, just
working out and staying in shape.

"It's a little more intense this year and there's
more team unity," he added.

"We all got each other's back, no matter what,"
senior Jamin Savell added. "Every day we're out here
we're hugging each other. We're brothers."

Like his players, Mustangs head coach Greg Morgan is
excited about being back on the field.

"Anxious is the right word. Anxiously anticipating,
that's how I would describe it," Morgan said. "We had
a pretty good day Monday, probably one of the better
first days I can recall in recent memory. Part of
that is, this is the third season with the system
here. We've got seniors with three years of
experience. We've got juniors that came up with the
system as they entered high school.

"We're a little ahead of the game as far as
knowledge. With execution, we're still not where we
need to be," the coach added. "But as far as
knowledge and adjusting to the system, we're doing
better."

Morgan believes the Mustangs accomplished a lot
before school let out in May. They used their time
wisely and saw some improvements in the hour allotted
to spring practice.

"We had a pretty good spring," Morgan explained.
"We're not allowed to have spring training so to
speak, but we are able to have our version during our
athletic period, and we got a lot done in the month
of May.

"We did nothing but football. So we came into fall
camp a little ahead of schedule."

This season, Madisonville's huddle will be without
star quarterback Lance Byrd, who is beginning his
first season at Rice University. There is no David
Underwood and no Kevin Ford. Those superstars have
been gone for more than a year now and the Mustangs
have gotten along fine without them.

The 2002 Mustangs realize this is their time to
shine. Byrd, Underwood, Ford and others have moved on
to bigger and better things.

"We're having to step up to the plate. We don't have
those star players like David Underwood and Kevin
Ford this year," Weston Savell said. "We have to work
more as a team because we don't have the Kevin Fords
who can turn a busted play into a touchdown. He could
turn a 15-yard loss into six points."

Morgan said he's seen several possible replacements
for his superstars of the last two seasons.

"I think we've got some young, exciting
skill-position kids," he said. "It's just a matter of
them getting repetitions and experience. We're trying
to rep those young kids at the wideout and running
back as much as we can right now. With the two
scrimmages that we have, hopefully we'll be ready for
the first game."

On Aug. 17, the Mustangs scrimmage at Livingston with
the freshmen starting at 10 a.m. The junior varsity
teams will square off at 11 a.m. and the varsity
squads will begin around noon. Madisonville hits the
road on Aug. 22 for another scrimmage at Centerville.
The sub-varsity teams will start at 5 p.m. and the
varsity teams will kick off at 6 p.m.

Morgan said he'll know a lot more about his team
after it plays those two scrimmages. But, he likes
what he's seen this week and hopes his hunches are
correct.

"We've got a couple of kids we still consider
game-breakers," Morgan said. "Quincy Johnson wasn't
here last year, and he may be the most exciting
players not just in this area, but he may be one of
the most exciting players in the state.

"He's a fantastic athlete. He runs a 4.36-second 40
and is a 6-8 high jumper. And he's only 5-8. The
kid's got tremendous skills and we're going to try to
do some things to get him the ball on offense."

Even if Johnson turns into the big-play guy Morgan is
hoping for, the Mustangs will still rely on every
player on the roster this season. To get the job done
and return to the playoffs, Madisonville must pull
together and minimize mistakes each week.

"It's going to take a team effort this year," Morgan
noted. "The Kevin Fords are gone, the Lance Byrds are
gone, the David Underwoods are gone. But everybody
else's skill has kind of

[Lotus]

That's true. As far as I know, the following SMU signees all came from schools that were in 3A or smaller (including private schools):

Mike Benson
Jamar Bey
Reggie Carrington
Randy Denman
James Elliott
Jamey Harper (or is Atlanta 4A?)
Ryan Kennedy
Ryan Mentzel
Justin Rogers
Chris Urbanus

[hotrod]

I talked to a few recruiters this summer, and they said the level of play in 3A, is really good all across the state of Texas.