What's trending in high school football?: Ray off to 2-0 start after winning slugfest

It is hard to find low-scoring games in Texas high school football.

So much so that the definition of a low-scoring game has changed. But last week Ray escaped Tuloso-Midway with a 3-0 win, the second-lowest score a team can win by on the field.

It moved the Texans to 2-0 and head coach Craig Charlton said he'd never been a part of a game like last Friday's win.

"It came down to one big play and once we were able to do that, it was executing in our kicking game," Charlton said. "Those games are stressful, but fun in the end if you are on the winning side."

Derek Hernandez kicked a game-winning field goal in the final minutes to secure a 3-0 win to help the Texans improve to 2-0 on the season.

Ray has yielded seven total points in two games this season, and Charlton said that comes back to familiarity with the defense and praised his defensive staff — defensive coordinator Schuyler Anderson, linebackers coach Orlando Ruiz, secondary coach Colton Garrett and Albert Walker, who leads the defensive line.

"With the number of kids we had coming back on both sides helps out, but defensively we have good leadership especially from Jacob Longoria, Justin Diaz and Javari Ayala," Charlton said. "Getting back to a more normal offseason program after COVID-19 for a couple of years has helped out. We challenged our kids for the first time in really three years.

"We are not where we were before, but we are moving in the right direction."

Dooms debut

Gregory-Portland responded to adversity in Week 1 with a dominant 42-0 win against Carroll in the renewal of the Battle of the Bridge.

G-P head coach Brent Davis was pleased with sophomore Reed Dooms, who made his first start in place of injured senior Brandon Redden at quarterback and said the team's young offensive line made strides from Week 1 to Week 2

"He played really well," Davis said. "He was poised and didn't try to do things that weren't in the game plan. He had a great week of practice. Offensive Coordinator (Greg) Winder did a great job with him. We built our offense to try to do things he is good at. We wanted to be able to lean on the running game and be able to slowly acclimate Reed into the game and get him to where he is comfortable running the offense."

One of the minor changes the Wildcats staff had to deal with was moving back to a right-handed quarterback after building certain roll-outs and schemes to fit the left-handed Redden.

Senior running back Dalvin Batts took the first handoff of the game 64 yards for a score on his way to a 181-yard night on 15 carries with four touchdowns, only playing the first half.

Davis said the most consistent thing has been the outstanding play of the G-P defense through two weeks.

"Everybody stepped up and performed and didn't let the circumstances overwhelm them," Davis said. "We are playing extremely well on defense. When you do that, you give yourself a chance to be in every game.

"The way they have been playing has been great for our football team."

More:Who should be the Sames Caller-Times High School Athlete of the Week?

Beeville's defense getting it done

Beeville is off to a 2-0 start behind two impressive defensive performances. The Trojans needed 52 yards of offense to secure a Week 1 win against Sinton and held Orange Grove to six points in a 41-6 victory.

"Defense won the game for us against Sinton and it kept us in the game early against Orange Grove," Beeville coach Chris Soza said. "We had eight or nine three and outs against Orange Grove and the kids have bought into what we're trying to do defensively. I believe defense wins championships and as long as we stay healthy, the offense will come around and we'll keep getting better every day."

Soza praised the addition of first-year defensive coordinator Kelly Black, who coached alongside Soza during his tenure at Mathis.

Soza said Black has installed a defensive mindset that the players have bought into since his arrival in December. Beeville is allowing just more than 11 points a game in its first two contests.

"Coach Black is like a brother to me," Soza said. "He's knowledgeable and more importantly, he’s a good coach. The Defense has been playing lights out... they work hard, watch film I feel really good about that."

Bishop Badgers off to 2-0 start

Bishop is already halfway to its 2021 win total under first-year coach Rigo Morales as the Badgers are 2-0 with wins against Tomball Christian homeschool and Class 5A Moody.

Bishop quarterback Manny Pelagio and running Damien Jimenez have been a big reason for the Badgers' early success.

Pelagio passed for 290 yards and two touchdowns in Bishop's season opener against Tomball Christian and Jimenez ran for a game-best 132 yards against the Trojans.

The Badgers will clash with another 2-0 team when they face Beeville this Friday.

More:Corpus Christi High School Football Power Rankings: Calallen, Refugio hold spots

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: What is trending in high school football?: Ray off to 2-0 start