Central Texas High School Football Tour

This week marks the return of high school football to Texas. As a football junkie, I love spending Fall Friday evenings going to high schools to watch the incredible talent displayed on the field each week. For this year, I plan to attend a game in the Austin/San Antonio area each week and use this blog as a forum to discuss that game and Texas high school football in general. A key piece of this blog's success will be your contributions. If you have scores, comments, photos, videos, or articles relevant to high school football in Central Texas, please post them. *Note: As author of this blog, I reserve the right to remove or block content that I deem inappropriate and/or irrelevant. That being said, the first stop on my tour will be at Vandegrift High School on Friday evening for their showdown with Elgin. If last season is any indication, this game has potential to be a good one. Vandegrift enters the game ranked No. 9 in the AP Texas High School Football Preseason Poll coming off a 12-3 season last year making it all the way to the 5A D1 semifinals before losing to eventual runner-up Temple. Replicating last season's success will not be easy as the Vipers will compete in a loaded District 25-5A which includes fellow Leander ISD rivals and perennial powerhouses Cedar Park (5A D2 runner-up) and Vista Ridge. The Vipers play Cedar Park on October 16 in what could be an instant classic. In addition, the Vipers' non-district schedule includes road trips to Abilene Cooper and Killeen. Elgin, meanwhile, is coming off a 7-5 finish that saw them advance one round into the 5A D2 playoffs before losing a close one to Brenham. Like Vandegrift, Elgin will be competing in a loaded District 17-5A which includes perennial powerhouses Hutto and Temple. Fortunately for the Wildcats, they get to face Hutto, Temple, and local rivals Manor at home.