Seguin running-back Marques Washington is Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine’s choice as Preseason Offensive MVP in District 12-5A-Division I. Photo by Dustin Wyatt.
(Guadalupe County) – Each of the football programs in the KWED/ Seguin Daily News coverage area receives high pre-season grades in the 2020 edition of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine, the publication affectionately referred to as “The Bible of Texas high school football.”
Seguin – The Matadors, coming off a 5-6 season that ended with a bi-district playoff loss to Hutto, are picked to finish third in District 12-5A-Division I and make their third straight post-season appearance in Travis Bush’s fifth year as head coach.
The publication tabs Seguin’s senior All-District running-back Marques Washington as the district’s Preseason Offensive MVP after a junior season that produced 1,212 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns.
The magazine predicts that Dripping Springs will win the district championship, with San Antonio-Veterans Memorial finishing second and New Braunfels-Canyon grabbing the fourth and final playoff spot. Veterans Memorial defensive back Simeon Woodard is tabbed as the Preseason Defensive MVP.
Harlandale, Kyle-Lehman, San Antonio-McCollum, and Buda-Johnson round out the standings forecast, in that order.
Dripping Springs is the only 12-5A-Division I team to show up in the state rankings at No. 21.
Navarro – The Panthers, led by third-year head coach Rod Blount, are tabbed to finish second behind defending Region IV champion and state finalist Wimberley in District 14-4A-Division II a year after finishing 13-1 with a district title and fourth-round playoff loss to the Texans.
Incoming senior safety Mark Wozniak, an All-State performer who piled up 157 tackles in 2019, is the magazine’s choice as Preseason Defensive MVP. Wimberley receiver Christian Marshall is the choice for Preseason Offensive MVP.
The Panthers and Texans are ranked among the top 4A Division II teams in the state, with Navarro checking in at No. 9 and Wimberley at No. 4.
Manor-New Tech and Austin-Eastside Memorial are picked to grab the district’s third and fourth playoff spots, with San Antonio-YMLA and Austin-Achieve finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
Marion – DCTF predicts that Ryne Miller’s third season as the Bulldogs’ head coach will yield a second-place finish behind Jourdanton in District 14-3A-Division I after shaing a district title and advancing to the area playoffs to finish 8-4 in 2019.
Marion’s senior linebacker Jayden Williams, a first-team All-District honoree last year, is recognized as the district’s Preseason Defensive MVP. Jourdanton’s All-State quarterback Cole Andrus is the pick for Preseason Offensive MVP.
The magazine projects Randolph and Poteet as the district’s third and fourth playoff seeds, respectively, with Cotulla, San Antonio-Cole, and Lytle rounding out the standings in that order.
Jourdanton appears in the 3A Division I state rankings at No. 10.
Lifegate – The publication predicts the Falcons to claim their third straight TCAL Six-Man state championship under second-year head coach John Stout.
Lifegate sits at the top of the DCTF TCAL Six-Man pre-season rankings, ahead of No. 2 Corpus Christi-Arlington Heights. Grayson Christian, El Paso Faith Christian, and Granbury North Central Texas Academy round out the top five.
Texas Lutheran – In addition to previewing more than 1,400 high school teams, the magazine looks at every college program in the state, and predicts that TLU will finish third in the American Southwest Conference of NCAA Division III under first-year head coach Ricky Matt. The Bulldogs went 8-2 and finished second last season under previous coach Carl Gustafson.
The Bulldogs’ junior quarterback Wade Freeman is listed fourth on the DCTF list of the conference’s top five impact players. Freeman threw for 1,554 yards, ran for 622, and produced 21 total touchdowns to earn All-ASC recognition in 2019.
Defending conference champion Mary Hardin-Baylor is picked to win the ASC again, with Hardin Simmons projected to finish second. Behind TLU, the standings forecast lines up in the following order: Howard Payne, East Texas Baptist, Southwestern, Sul Ross State, Louisiana College, Belhaven, and McMurry.