KGKL Pick’em Contest – Playing the Number Game

Six man football is a game of numbers: 80x40, 15, 2, and the obvious number 6.  A few teams around the Concho Valley are struggling to reach that oh so important number. But the reasoning behind the struggle may not me as bad as it sounds.

Take Lohn ISD for example. Their forecast was "stormy and hazardous conditions" when only six young men reported for two-a-days.

"It was little frustrating and nerve racking at first," said Head Coach Michael Luckey.  "We would very seldom have six boys show up for two-a-days, usually three to five. People would show up to practice asking if we would have bodies to fill the uniforms. I assured them we would play football this season."  Coach Luckey stayed true to his word.

Lohn went into week 0 with exactly six boys to field a team.  On the third snap of the game, Lohn lost a player due to a broken wrist. Another injury occurred during the game and Lohn was left with four young men standing on the field facing six when the clock struck zero.

Some people who had written the Lohn football program off, called their season over.  Ironically, that's when the forecast changed to "fair to partly sunny".

Lohn, who started the season with two seniors and one junior on their sixman roster, and lost their lone junior in week 0 (moved), suddenly saw a sudden influx of students moving in.

"We had some kids move in, but due to the parent residency rule, they are not eligible to play for one year", explained Coach Luckey.  "We had a meeting with UIL and asked to play the season as junior varsity squad and the request was granted."

The Lohn football program never missed a week of football.  They played a full varsity schedule against schools who could not field a JV team, and played their first actual JV game last Thursday night against Blackwell. Coach Luckey sat down with other coaches in the district and set a JV schedule into place for Thursday nights allowing the other coaches to scout potential playoff competition on Friday nights.

"We want our district competitors to go as deep into the playoffs as possible", Luckey stated,"I believe our district will be well represented in the state playoffs this season.  We have twelve boys now on the team and next year when when football season rolls around we'll be ready."

Panther Creek was not as fortunate as Lohn to field a junior varsity squad this season.  The Panthers started out with 13 boys when two-a-days rolled around this past August, but losing players to injuries, academic ineligibility, and moving away from the Valera, TX area has Panther Creek ISD looking ahead to next season.

"It is disappointing when everything looks good in August, but then week one rolls around...injuries and things not working out like you would like them too...It kinda gets frustrating," said Panther Creek first year Head Coach John Wood. "We do have some numbers in the junior high and elementary ranks, so we should be ok numbers-wise in the near future."

- Guest Contributor Jeff Jackson

Hopefully all schools can get the numbers they need, so every young man has the opportunity to play the game of football.

Now for Pick ‘Em:

Here’s how it works:

Every week I will post the games to pick. I will choose 3 local games. There will be a favorite and an underdog, based on Max Preps state rankings. To play, you need to submit your picks below along with your name and e-mail address (so that I can contact you when you win your free stuff). For every correct pick you get 1 point. Also. If you correctly pick an underdog to win, you get an additional 1 point. I will also choose one of the games for a tiebreaker. When you submit your picks, also give me your tiebreaker final score. Each week the person who has the most points and the closest final score will win $10 giftcard from Chili’s Bar and Grill and one additional point.

At the end of the season, the person who has the most points will get a Dinner for 4 at the Chili’s Bar and Grill with the option of having KGKL and the Scoreboard Show DJs join you. Don’t worry, we won’t eat your free dinners.

So send in your submissions. Only 1 submission a week! And let’s see if you are the high school football expert…