Friday Night Previews: Week 4

It's the final week of non-district play for the six Dogwood Circle schools that play 11-man football, and no one wants to ponder a loss for a single week, let alone two.

That being said, plenty of local squads take on some tremendous opponents this week and, if nothing else, we'll get to see what these teams are truly made of.

On the season, I'm 13-12 picking high school, which shows how much I know I guess.

Without further adieu, let's go:

My plan for the Big 12

It appears that the Big 12 lives, despite varying reports over the past two weeks to the contrary.

From Manhattan and Lawrence, Kansas to Waco earlier this week, college administrators breathed sighs of relief, knowing no one would be left behind...yet.

But, with Texas A&M still poised to hit the door after 2011, the Big 12 is really the medium-sized 9. With Missouri half-way to the SEC already, we're looking at 8.

Don't worry, I've got a way to change that.

The Dogwood Circle Power Rankings (Week 4)

After a week's hiatus, we're back with the latest edition of the Dogwood Circle Power Rankings, where we ranked each football team in the area based not on how they'd match up against one another, but how they match up against their schedule.

For example, Oakwood may be the area's No. 1 team in this week's rankings, but obviously the Panthers wouldn't be Palestine or Westwood. That being said, against the schedule they've played and still have to play, the Panthers could be considered the area's best team.

Now that we've gotten the explanation out of the way, let's get into the rankings.

Friday Night Previews (Week 2)

We're entering the third week of the season, dubiously titled Week 2, and things are beginning to shake themselves out across the local landscape.

There are plenty of teams in need of wins this Friday, all of them really with the possible exceptions of Elkhart and Oakwood, who are both already 2-0.

With that in mind, onward, forward and upward we go.

The Dogwood Circle Power Rankings (Week 2)

Two games are in the books for each of the local teams, and after last week's games there's been a bit of a shakeup in the Power Rankings.

But before we get into this week's rankings, a few thoughts from the first two weeks of the season.

If someone would've told me before the season that there would be two teams that hadn't won a game yet in 2011 after two weeks, I would've said something along the lines of, "sounds about right."

I would not, however, have thought that those two teams would be Frankston and Cayuga. In fact, I'd have been confident that those two teams didn't have losses yet by this point.

In 3A, both Westwood and Palestine are 1-1 — and before I forget, a hardy congrats to the Panthers and Roger Mays, who deserved a W. The Panthers should move to 2-1 on Friday, but more on that in tomorrow's previews.

As for Palestine, the Wildcats should probably be 2-0 and I think everyone around the program knows that. They showed in the second half an ability to both move the football on Pittsburg and stop the Pirate defense, but you can't go back now.

Anyway, on to the rankings.

Friday Night Previews: Week 1

It was an interesting and entertaining first week of games for the Dogwood's Circle seven teams. Some surprised in a good way (Palestine) and a not so good way (Frankston, Cayuga), while others lived up to their expectations.

After last week's picks, I'm 4-3, hoping to do a little bit better this week. The matchups for Week 1 are very interesting across the board, and could provide some really big wins or losses for the home teams.

The Dogwood Circle Power Rankings (Week 1)

Welcome everyone to our new venture, the Dogwood Circle Power Rankings. Every week we'll dive in to how we rank the Dogwood Circle's seven football teams based up their performances so far this season.

But first, some explanation. This is not a poll based on how we think teams would do matched up against one another. Obviously, with Palestine's sheer numbers they could best a lot of the teams in the area. On the other end of the spectrum, Oakwood doesn't even play 11-man football.

What this is is a poll to show how we think each team matches up against their own level of competition and their own schedule. Nothing more.

So with all that said, let's go.

Friday Night Preview: Zero Week

Well, it's finally here. As I said in my column in Thursday's Herald-Press, Friday nights are once again Friday nights.

With the return of football also brings the return of our Friday Night Preview blog post, where I'll break down each local game and give what I think will be the final score. I haven't taken the time to tally last year's totals, so I don't know how I did, but feel free to leave your thoughts down in the comment section.

So, without further adieu, here we go:

We're Back!

After a summer hiatus that — admittedly — started a little bit before summer, The Baseline is back in service. We'll bring you everything you need about game predictions on Friday nights, where your favorite teams rank in the numerous polls released each week and other little nuggets that we find interesting.

I'm happy to be back and happy that it's football season once again here in the Dogwood Circle, so check back here often, and follow the Herald-Press sports department on Twitter (@phpsports) for other updates, including in-game commentary from Palestine's game every week.

Dogwood Circle SuperFan Contest

We've found them, the three biggest football fans in the Dogwood Circle. now, it's up to you to tell us which one you think is the area's SuperFan. Check out their submissions below and then vote at the poll the right. Voting will end Friday at 5 p.m., and the winner will be featured in the upcoming Dogwood Circle football special section. Also, they'll earn the right to pick against the pros in the Herald-Press' weekly Fearless Forecasters football pick'em poll.