By Neil Robertson
MaxPreps.com
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Amarillo Tascosa Hosts Odessa Permian
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It used to be a season-opener ritual here in the Texas Panhandle: The Rebels of Amarillo Tascosa vs. the Mojo of Odessa Permian - the original version of "Friday Night Lights".
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That home and home schedule ran from both high schools' opening seasons in the late 1950's until the early 1970's. University Interscholastic League (UIL) realignment moved Permian into newly-created big-school 5A and left Tascosa in 4A.
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The Mojo went on to statewide championship fame in the late 1980's under Gary Gaines - immortalized by H.G. Bissinger's novel "Friday Night Lights" - while the Rebels won their district once in 1977 and not again till 1988.
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The Rebels lost to a state finals-bound Permian in bi-district that year and once again in the early 1990's - the last time these two teams have met on the gridiron. The Rebels have not won their district since 1988.
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The old rivalry is once again on. The Rebels of 2-5A Amarillo Tascosa host the 3-5A Odessa Permian Panthers this Thursday night at Amarillo's Dick Bivins Stadium. Some say that the "Mojo" of old is gone from Permian as of late. Lubbock High probably wouldn't agree after being shut out 41-0 by the Mojo last week - albeit in the confines of Odessa Ratliff Stadium.
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Amarillo Tascosa second-year head coach Heath Parker, coming off a narrow save of an offensive showdown with 3-4A Amarillo Palo Duro last week, looks forward to the challenge of facing off with old rival Permian.
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"The sense that I get from our staff and our community and our players is not one of `oh no we're playing Permian,'" Parker said. "It's, `all-right, we're playing Odessa Permian, let's just go out there and find out where we are.'"
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Darren Allman, former player and now head coach of Odessa Permian, looks forward to bringing back the Mojo to his alma mater in his second year there. Look for the Permian running back duo of Melvis Pride and Jarvas Morris to rack up yardage.
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Amarillo Tascosa's dual-threat running back/linebacker Anthony Scott should provide a road block to the Permian ground game while gaining 100-plus yards on offense once again this week.
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One thing for sure - these two teams each have AWESOME web sites, check them out:
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Amarillo Tascosa: http://www.tascosasports.com/football.html
Odessa Permian: http://www.kylgrafx.com/mojo/index.html
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Amarillo Palo Duro Hosts Amarillo
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Hopefully, they'll play this one if the rain doesn't come and the river doesn't rise...again.
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That is the hope of first-year 2-5A Amarillo High coach Brad Thiessen for this Friday night's matchup with cross-town rival, 3-4A Amarillo Palo Duro. He has yet to coach a full quarter at Amarillo High after last Friday's game hosting 3-4A Canyon Randall was called as a "no game" due to lightning and flooding rain at the eight-minute mark in the first quarter.
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"We are essentially a game behind and Palo Duro is a game ahead going into this week's game. I was impressed that Palo Duro had the ability to come back from 31-7 to within three points of winning against Tascosa. They are fast, very fast and can score from anywhere on the field," Thiessen said.
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Amarillo Caprock at Borger
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The Longhorns of 3-4A Amarillo Caprock visit the Bulldogs of 5-3A Borger some 45 miles to the north of Amarillo.
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Caprock is coming off a 36-0 shutout loss to the 5-3A Canyon Eagles last week. Borger and Lubbock Cooper cancelled due to lightning and rain. Essentially, these two teams are both starting from square one this week.
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Childress Hosts Stratford
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The 1-2A Stratford Elks, the reigning 1A UIL 2005 state champions, travel to 3-2A Childress' Fair Park Stadium this Friday evening for what could be a 2A classic in the making.
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These two teams, for reasons mainly related to travel distance and different UIL classifications over the past few decades, have never met. Stratford moved up to 2A with UIL realignment after taking 1A state last fall, while Childress is coming off a trip to the 2005 2A state semifinals. Look for these two foes to possibly meet ÿagain downstate in November.
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All-State candidate Sawyer Vest helms the 2006 Bobcat offense as a senior coming off a spectacular junior season, accounting for 26 combined touchdowns on 110 of 194 passes attempts for 1,407 yards.
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Elk senior offensive lineman/defensive lineman Rudy Portillo - anchor of the 2005 state champ 3-5 lineup - has bulked up to a college-like 315 pounds. A brick wall in the making.
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Look for Stratford vs. Childress to become an annual ritual in West Texas 2A football.
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