Posted: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:45 AM - 12,188 Readers

By: Danny Davis

Good morning everybody.

I know that TCU fans will probably have their attention diverted elsewhere on Friday night. But Horned Frog fans who are stranded in Austin over the weekend might want to make their way up to the Lake Travis campus for an event that I am dubbing the TCU Bowl.

On the home sideline for the Hendrickson/Lake Travis game on Friday night will be wide receiver Griffin Gilbert, who committed to TCU in March. On the opposing sideline will be running back Daje Johnson, who also gave TCU a verbal commitment in March. Friday night’s game will be the first of two times this season - a game between Copperas Cove and Harker Heights game on Nov. 3 that will feature Texas recruits Orlando Thomas and Camrhon Hughes is the other occurrence - that two Central Texas prospects who have committed to the same school will play against each other.

Neither player is expected to play the position they are playing on Friday night in college - Johnson is projected to be a defensive back while Gilbert was recruited as a tight end - but both players will likely have a say in determining the outcome of Friday’s game.

But we can talk more about this game later in the week. In today’s blog, we are going to be keeping up with the Joneses and we’ll talk a little bit about coaching debuts, college quarterbacks and the Manor/LBJ showdown.

Let’s get this party started.

THE LIST

The Central Texas area had 17 head football coaches make debuts with their new teams last week and some coaches fared better than others. The new coaches went 7-10 over the weekend, a slight improvement from the 5-8 record that the area’s batch of new coaches recorded during the first week of last season.

For today’s list, let’s take a look at how the area’s new coaches did in their debuts:

• Anderson’s Bill Ramzinsky beat McCallum 16-10.
• Elgin’s Wade Griffin beat Travis 62-7.
• Hays’ Blake Feldt (above) beat Akins 42-7.
• Lockhart’s Paul Kilby beat La Grange 34-9.
• Giddings’ Chris Jones beat Burnet 35-19.
• Thorndale’s Brent Brevard beat Hamilton 41-8.
• St. Dominic Savio’s Louie Becerra beat Central Texas Christian 20-13.
• Akins’ Humberto Garza lost 42-7 to Hays.
• Leander’s Clint Harper lost to DeSoto 43-3.
• Temple’s Mike Spradlin lost to Connally 52-33.
• Shoemaker’s Channon Hall lost 21-7 to San Angelo Central.
• San Marcos’ James Chase lost 30-16 to Marble Falls.
• Caldwell’s Chance Locklear lost 63-14 to Bellville.
• Fredericksburg’s Lance Moffett lost 46-0 to Kerrville Tivy.
• Jarrell’s Chuck Wyatt lost 46-15 to Crawford.

• Thrall’s Jeff Doege lost 33-0 to Goldthwaite.
• Cedar Park Summit’s Charles Copeland lost 56-21 to Somerville.
  
  

UNDER THE RADAR

By now, you’ve probably heard a thing or two about Austin High wide receiver Cayleb Jones and St. Andrew’s quarterback Preston Dewey. In this space each week, we’ll be introducing you to a player who is making big plays despite not having a big name.

First up: Isaiah Jones, a junior wide receiver who is pictured above defending his older brother Cayleb at a recent Austin High practice.

Cayleb Jones had 10 receptions, 146 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in the Maroons’ 52-35 loss to Waco on Saturday so you may be shocked to hear that the Texas-bound prospect was not Austin High’s leading receiver over the weekend. That honor instead goes to Isaiah Jones, who caught 11 footballs for 145 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was thrown to him by his older brother.

The five-foot-11-inch Isaiah Jones was making his varsity debut on Saturday.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Every Wednesday we will be spotlighting the collegiate accomplishments of a few of our area alums. If you know of somebody who should be featured in this segment, drop me an e-mail at danieldavis@statesman.com.

Today, let’s take a look at a look at the five Central Texas alums who will open the 2011 college football season as the starting quarterback of a Football Bowl Subdivision-level program.

• Garrett Gilbert (Lake Travis Class of 2009) was named the University of Texas’ starting quarterback on Monday. This year, Gilbert will try to bounce back from a 2010 season that saw the former Lake Travis star throw for 2,744 yards, 10 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
  
  
• Lining up against Gilbert on Saturday will be Rice sophomore Taylor McHargue (Vista Ridge Class of 2009). McHargue, whose start in last’s year 34-17 loss to Texas made him the first freshman quarterback to start for Rice since 2000, played in five games during the 2010 season and he threw for 491 yards and six touchdowns.
  
  
• Junior Robert Griffin (Copperas Cove Class of 2008) will lead Baylor when the Bears open their 2011 season against TCU on Friday. Griffin, who received a medical redshirt after playing in three of Baylor’s 2009 games, has started in 27 games for Baylor over the past three seasons and he is the school’s career statistical leader in 14 different categories.
  
  
• Sophomore Tanner Price (Westlake Class of 2010) currently tops Wake Forest’s depth chart as the Demon Deacons prepare to open the season at Syracuse on Thursday. Price started nine games for Wake Forest last year and in addition to being the first Texan to quarterback the Demon Deacons since 1963, he also set freshman school records for completion percentage, passing yards, pass attempts and completions and touchdown passes.
  
  
• Arizona senior Nick Foles (Westlake Class of 2007) will quarterback a Wildcat team that he led to an Alamo Bowl appearance last season. Foles missed two games during the 2010 season but he still passed for 3,191 yards and 20 touchdowns.
  
  

FRIDAY NIGHT BREAKDOWN

Manor (0-1) at LBJ (0-1)

Friday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.

• In last week’s overtime loss to Lampasas, Manor quarterback Jacorey McQueen rushed for two touchdowns and one of his 20 pass completions was for a touchdown. Darius Collins, who led LBJ to a share of the District 26-4A championship during the 2010 season, threw for two touchdowns and nearly 300 yards last week.
  
  
• Reginald Middleton, who was Manor’s leading passer in 2010, had 64 receiving yards against Lampasas. Randon Knotts, who is the younger brother of University of Texas tight end and former LBJ star D.J. Grant, had eight receptions, 126 receiving yards and a touchdown in LBJ’s first game of the 2011 season.
  
  
• Manor, which returned seven defensive starters this season, has lost six straight games and the Mustangs have allowed at least 37 points in each of those contests. LBJ recorded two safeties in a 43-26 loss to Hutto last week.
  
  
• Manor kicker Liobardo Nunez missed two field goals last week but the junior also nailed a 32-yard kick. In its season opener, LBJ missed an extra point kick and failed on a two-point conversion attempt.
• One of Manor’s four wins in 2010 was a 10-7 win over LBJ. This summer, LBJ’s seven-on-seven team won the Red Bull Game Breaker’s Austin-area qualifying tournament.

Who are we picking? Rick and I are both going with the Jaguars.

Thanks for joining me this morning, see you again on Thursday.

Michael Jackson, play us out.

*  Story Contributed by: Danny Davis