Sports: Local schedules laced with ranked opponents
Oct. 6—Harris Ratings Weekly, a service that has ranked Texas high school football teams for about 60 years shows Henderson County teams facing a bundle of highly regarded teams this season.
Mabank resides in the same district as Anna, which holds down the No. 5 spot in Class 4A Division 1. The Coyotes bring their high scoring offense to Panther stadium Friday night.
Another 8-4A Division 1 team, Sulphur Springs awaits Mabank down the road. The Wildcats are rated 28th in the class. Mabank is slotted at No. 55.
Athens' District 9-4A Division 1 is loaded with Harris slating Kilgore at No. 6 heading into this week's games. This week the Bulldogs travel to meet the Lindale Eagles, who rate 14th after their 63-21 win over Athens.
Kaufman, who defeated Athens on Sept. 16, holds the No. 9 ranking, while Chapel Hill is placed 21st.
Two other district teams are ranked above average in the class. Palestine, who will wrap up the regular season with Athens in November is 40th, while Jacksonville rates 42nd.
This week, Athens is on the road to play Henderson who reside in the 50th spot. Athens is placed at No. 60.
In District 8-4A Division 2, Brownsboro, rated 39th, met the top team in the class according to the Harris Ratings last week in Carthage. This week, Brownsboro meets Bullard who hold down the No. 43 slot. Other district teams, Van, and Rusk, are also highly regarded, The Vandals are 16th this week, while Rusk is 18th.
In Class 3A Division 1, Malakoff comes in 8th, with their only loss to No. 6 Grandview. No other team in their District 8-3A rates higher than Groesbeck at No. 39, This week the Tigers meet No. 48 Teague.
Also in the district, Eustace is 83rd and Kemp 93rd.
