DCTF: Westwood projected to finished 5th in District 9-3A
Jul. 21—After coming within a game of making their first playoff appearance under head coach Richard Bishop last season, the Westwood Panthers are projected to once again be on the outside looking in according to Dave Campbell's District 9-3A DI projections.
With a pair of new additions to District 9-3A in the Shepherd Pirates and Woodville Eagles, it will be interesting challenge for Westwood to break their playoff drought.
Woodville makes their way from District 10-3A DI where they finished 7-4 on the year and 5-1 in district. They defeated the Crockett Bulldogs in the bi-district round of the playoffs, 41-6.
Shepherd had much less success but are coming from a bigger classification in District 10-4A DI. They finished 0-5 in district and 2-8 overall. They were 1-9 in 2020. They played both Diboll and Coldspring in 2021 where they were defeated 26-12 by the Lumberjacks and pulled out an 18-14 win over Coldspring.
Still sitting at the top of the heap are the Diboll Lumberjacks — who went undefeated in district last year en route to a regional finals appearance where they were defeated by state champion Lorena, 63-28.
The Lumberjacks return 25 varsity lettermen from their district title team — including projected defensive MVP Elijah Freeman who recorded 76 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and six sacks.
Behind them are newly acquired Woodville. 20 of their starters return from its area finalists team, which includes Darius Bean who is an FBS prospect.
Coldspring-Oakhurst and Shepherd round out the projected playoff teams for the district. Easton Dean — an 1,100-yard rusher that scored 13 touchdowns — leads Coldspring as they look for another playoff berth.
Though they struggled in their prior district, coach Bishop believes Shepherd will bring that 4A feel and mentality to the district which automatically makes them a team to watch this year.
Behind Westwood is Crockett and Huntington. Crockett were bi-district qualifiers last year and return 12 of those starters, but could fall victim to the new additions in district. Huntington is another playoff team that has been pushed out due to the new additions.
Matthew Gomez remains as the leader of the defense for Westwood. Gomez recorded 78 tackles, four tackles for a loss and one sack last season. On offense, sophomore Lamarion Goodwyn looks to fill a void left by graduates Kylance Parish and Tremelle Rhodes.
Goodwyn accounted for 1,500 yards of offense and 20 touchdowns for Westwood in 2021.
