     |
Hays Rebels footballPosted September 21, 2007, 3:20 p.m.
|
Hays Highway Editor
BUDA – A little string of oddities comes to the Hays Rebels with their game tonight in Bastrop. Among the oddest of the oddities is that the Rebels are playing at all, considering how high school teams schedule these days, and it's odd that should be an oddity.
San Marcos isn't playing this week, Westlake isn't playing this week, Lehman isn't playing this week and most of District 26-4A isn't playing this week. Neither is most of District 25-5A. Increasingly, schools in eight-team districts are taking the third week of the season off after beginning their seasons during that odd time colloquially known as "zero week," which is the week before the first week.
In the late 1990s, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) began allowing teams to schedule games a week before the season was supposed to start. By now, the usefulness of playing during that week has turned it into a common practice.
The extra week is a blessing for teams in districts with odd numbers of schools, because some team is idle each week during the district schedule and it's impossible to find a game when all the near-by public school teams are busy in their own districts. The extra week grants those teams the flexibility to schedule all their non-district games.
Back when the UIL insisted that teams play their ten games in ten weeks, teams in districts with odd numbers of schools sometimes couldn't schedule ten games. That happened to Hays in 1996, the year it went to the state championship game. The Rebels played in a seven-team district. When the ninth week came around, the other six teams played each other and Hays was idle. Because the other local schools were occupied in their own districts, Hays couldn't find a game and ended up playing only nine during the regular season.
Judging by the number of teams that are off this week, it might not be a complete coincidence that Hays took that week off so close to the playoffs in 1996, then tore through the playoffs. By scheduling for zero week and taking off the third week, teams give themselves a little extra time to prepare before launching into district games.
"I'd kind of like to be off this week to give your injured a chance to heal up before district," Hays Coach Bob Shelton said. "Last year, it worked out pretty well for us to play all the way through."
There are trade-offs. Teams opening in week one can scrimmage three times before the season, while teams scheduling zero week wind up with two scrimmages. It could be, though, that the week of tuning before the district schedule is worth giving up a scrimmage.
"I think I would be open to that," Shelton said. "It also goes back to whether you have spring training. If you don't have spring training, then you can have two scrimmages if you play zero week. We kind of felt like, this year, the third scrimmage (against Round Rock) was not that good for us. But we might do it again, depending on if we have a zero week game scheduled."
First, the Rebels will have to find out how they're situated when the UIL runs its biennial redistricting in February. The Rebels are a lock to be back in Class 4A, but only the UIL's command will tell which and how many other schools will be in their district.
If it's not odd enough that the Rebels are playing at all, they also chance the teeth of an energetic situation in Bastrop, where anticipation is running very high. Bastrop is opening at home behind a savior, new Head Coach Ron Schroeder, who brought Westlake to power and glory, then dropped out for four years to watch his son Chad play at Texas A&M.
The Bastrop administration and business community see an identity builder in Schroeder, who won a Class 5A state title at Westlake in 1996 and went to the championship game five times in 12 years there from 1990 through 2001. If Schroeder can even approach that at Bastrop, he'll put a jolt in the town.
The first surge comes tonight, when Erhard Stadium opens its gates for 2007. Based on Bastrop's early 0-2 performance, the community probably shouldn't expect too much right away, but this will be a night when the town feels the start of something big.
All that aside, the Rebels are concerned with their own history against Bastrop. Though the Rebels win when they play Bastrop, the Bears have made it tough the last couple years.
In 2005, Bastrop gave the Rebels the toughest test of their nine straight wins before a last-minute loss to Westlake ended the regular season. The Rebels needed triple-overtime to beat Bastrop, 47-44, on a strange hurricane make-up Saturday night at Bob Shelton Stadium.
Last year, Bastrop pounded the Rebels for 288 rushing yards and reached the Hays 20 or closer six times. But Hays stopped two of those drives on downs and made one interception, while Bastrop scored one touchdown, kicked one field goal and missed one field goal. In all, Bastrop committed five turnovers in a 28-10 Hays win.
While most eyes are on the new sheriff in Bastrop, the Rebels stand to be very interested in a holdover, running back Oseas Sanchez, who rushed for 134 yards against them last year. His running mate, Bubba Washington, leads the Bears this season with 145 rushing yards in two games.
Despite talent in the running game, Schroeder will always be able to say he started at Bastrop from the bottom. The Bears opened their season two weeks ago with a 28-10 loss to Belton, which finished 0-10 last year. Belton, by the way, beat Boerne a week earlier, 24-23, and Hays later beat Boerne, 20-12.
Last week, Round Rock scored seven touchdowns in seven first-half possessions on its way to a 49-19 win against Bastrop. Like Bastrop, Hays played a District 14-5A team last week, and Hays also suffered a big loss, 35-7 to Cedar Park. But the Rebels were much more competitive in their game, staying in the hunt through three quarters.
The 1-1 Rebels moved the ball against Cedar Park, but they don't stand accused of maximizing their touchdown opportunities. Last week, the Rebels lost one touchdown to a dropped pass, lost another one to a close out-of-bounds call on an end zone catch, and lost yet a third to a motion penalty. Against Boerne a week earlier, the Rebels scored only one touchdown in three chances from the red zone.
"We had four drives where we ran ten plays," Shelton said about the Cedar Park game. "We ran 65 offensive plays, which is a lot of plays. We controlled the clock. But we didn't keep them out of the end zone."
Hays allowed 360 rushing yards against Cedar Park after a game defensive performance a week earlier against Boerne. The Hays defense, therefore, becomes a point of curiosity against Bastrop.
"We'll hopefully do things better," Shelton said. "You'd like to be on all cylinders when the district starts."
Many teams are trying to accomplish that by taking this week off. Instead, Hays is walking into an energized situation. Which is better? We'll see.
The Hays Highway privacy policy
The Hays Highway disclaimer and terms of use]
.
