The Herald's 10-best 2017 HS football games: Lewisville at Lamar
Plenty has been written about the two big roadblocks - McBee and Lamar - that Lewisville football needs to bypass to ascend the 1A classification’s football mountain again.
The Lions got closer last fall to beating both than they have in several years, but, alas, still lost. Will Mitchell’s program gets another shot against both this year, with the Oct. 6 game at Lamar looming particularly large.
Lamar
Whooo boy, Lamar football will be a poked hornets nest this coming season after Lake View thumped the previously undefeated Silver Foxes in last year’s 1A state title game. Most had assumed that the title was already Lamar’s to stash in the school’s crammed trophy cabinet, but the Wild Gators had different ideas.
Lewisville’s Mitchell said that Lamar graduated all three starting defensive linemen but that the Silver Foxes should be strong at the skill positions again (as usual). Lamar and coach Corey Fountain should have standout linebacker/fullback Jeblonski Green back, in addition to QB Rashad Coleman and wingback/cornerback Jaquez Lucas, giving the school plenty of firepower as it tries to win another Region 2-A championship.
Lewisville
For six years in a row, Lewisville has opened region play against McBee and Lamar, a nasty scheduling quirk given that McBee and Lamar have been two of the best programs in 1A football the last four years. For Lewisville to bypass those two, they need to knock off at least Lamar (they beat McBee in Mitchell’s first two years in charge of the Lions).
With 16 seniors and several FBS college prospects, this might be the Lions’ best shot for a few years. It’s unlikely that the Lions will move up to 2A in the next realignment, because, as Mitchell pointed out when asked about the Richburg area’s potential growth in the future, the rest of the state is growing as well. And realignment starts from the top and trickles down.
All that to say that Lewisville is unlikely to avoid Lamar in the future; time to deal with the Silver Foxes now.
The series
Lewisville last beat Lamar in 1996, so this series could use a Lions win to kick up the heat. Lamar’s 29-12 win over Lewisville last season was the series’ closest game since Bennie McMurray’s ‘96 Lions won 22-7.
Showdown Countdown so far
Editor’s note: The Herald is counting down to the 2017 high school football season by revealing the 10 most interesting games in York, Chester and Lancaster counties this coming fall. Games will be organized by date and revealed in Monday, Wednesday and Friday newspapers.
This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 4:12 PM with the headline "The Herald's 10-best 2017 HS football games: Lewisville at Lamar."