supercentex
09-09-2005, 09:32 AM
Cards fly blind vs. Texas titans
Colerain vs. Tyler Robert E. Lee
By Tom Groeschen
Enquirer staff writer
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Colerain tonight plays the Tyler (Texas) Robert E. Lee Red Raiders. That's a Texas-sized mouthful and a king-sized tension headache for Colerain coach Kerry Coombs, who doesn't know what to expect.
"I don't like the unknown that much," Coombs said. "We'll find out how we stack up against a team we've never seen before."
The game, billed as an Ohio-vs.-Texas match of prep football giants, begins at 9:10 p.m. at Columbus Crew Stadium and will be telecast live nationally on ESPNU. Time Warner Cable will air the game in Cincinnati on basic cable Channel 2, a leased-access station cleared just for this event.
Tyler Lee (2-0) is the defending Texas 5A, Division I state champion - the large-school division in Texas. Colerain (1-1) is the reigning Ohio Division I champion (large schools).
Tyler Lee is ranked No. 2 in its state's Associated Press poll. The Red Raiders have beaten Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna 34-28 and Waco (Texas) 21-7.
Tyler Lee is coached by Mike Owens, who is 80-34 in his 10th year at the school. Owens, like Coombs, is saying all the right things.
"They've got a great defense, and it looks like their offense is coming around," Owens said of Colerain, which lost to St. Xavier 7-0 and then beat Highlands 45-14.
The city of Tyler (pop. 83,500) is in football-crazy East Texas, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas. The ESPNU telecast is blacked out in Texas because of state association rules, but will be carried live on Texas radio stations.
"We'll have a huge audience for it," said David Smoak, sports director for KTBB-ESPN radio in Tyler. "They should have made an exemption to put the game on TV down here, because a lot of people are interested. But we'll be there."
Tyler Lee's star is senior running back Jason Williams (5 foot 11, 205 pounds), who ran for a school-record 259 yards in the season opener. Williams has 388 yards and four touchdowns overall, and has some Division I college offers, including Oklahoma State.
"He's a faster version of Mister Simpson," Coombs said. Simpson was the bruising Colerain fullback who now is a University of Michigan freshman.
Tyler Lee is a power running team that will use multiple formations. The quarterback is 6-1, 201-pound senior Preston Hill, who has thrown for 188 yards and two TDs.
Owens and Coombs aren't taking the Ohio-vs.-Texas bait. This inaugural McDonald's Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge was an idea credited to Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback who's now an ESPN college analyst. The game is part of the Columbus football weekend that features OSU-Texas at Ohio Stadium on Saturday night.
"You can't judge anything based on one game," Owens said. "... The only way you could really settle this is if every team in Ohio played every team in Texas."
Colerain was rated No. 13 in the USA Today preseason poll, while Tyler Lee was not among the Top 25.
Tyler is the home of Earl Campbell, the future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back who played at John Tyler High School. Campbell won the 1977 Heisman Trophy at Texas and was a five-time Pro Bowl player for the Houston Oilers.
Tyler Lee has produced several NFL players itself, including Tampa Bay center Randy Grimes, New England defensive lineman Leonta Rheams, and New Orleans punter Donnie Gibbs.
Colerain vs. Tyler Robert E. Lee
By Tom Groeschen
Enquirer staff writer
ADVERTISEMENT
Colerain tonight plays the Tyler (Texas) Robert E. Lee Red Raiders. That's a Texas-sized mouthful and a king-sized tension headache for Colerain coach Kerry Coombs, who doesn't know what to expect.
"I don't like the unknown that much," Coombs said. "We'll find out how we stack up against a team we've never seen before."
The game, billed as an Ohio-vs.-Texas match of prep football giants, begins at 9:10 p.m. at Columbus Crew Stadium and will be telecast live nationally on ESPNU. Time Warner Cable will air the game in Cincinnati on basic cable Channel 2, a leased-access station cleared just for this event.
Tyler Lee (2-0) is the defending Texas 5A, Division I state champion - the large-school division in Texas. Colerain (1-1) is the reigning Ohio Division I champion (large schools).
Tyler Lee is ranked No. 2 in its state's Associated Press poll. The Red Raiders have beaten Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna 34-28 and Waco (Texas) 21-7.
Tyler Lee is coached by Mike Owens, who is 80-34 in his 10th year at the school. Owens, like Coombs, is saying all the right things.
"They've got a great defense, and it looks like their offense is coming around," Owens said of Colerain, which lost to St. Xavier 7-0 and then beat Highlands 45-14.
The city of Tyler (pop. 83,500) is in football-crazy East Texas, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas. The ESPNU telecast is blacked out in Texas because of state association rules, but will be carried live on Texas radio stations.
"We'll have a huge audience for it," said David Smoak, sports director for KTBB-ESPN radio in Tyler. "They should have made an exemption to put the game on TV down here, because a lot of people are interested. But we'll be there."
Tyler Lee's star is senior running back Jason Williams (5 foot 11, 205 pounds), who ran for a school-record 259 yards in the season opener. Williams has 388 yards and four touchdowns overall, and has some Division I college offers, including Oklahoma State.
"He's a faster version of Mister Simpson," Coombs said. Simpson was the bruising Colerain fullback who now is a University of Michigan freshman.
Tyler Lee is a power running team that will use multiple formations. The quarterback is 6-1, 201-pound senior Preston Hill, who has thrown for 188 yards and two TDs.
Owens and Coombs aren't taking the Ohio-vs.-Texas bait. This inaugural McDonald's Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge was an idea credited to Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback who's now an ESPN college analyst. The game is part of the Columbus football weekend that features OSU-Texas at Ohio Stadium on Saturday night.
"You can't judge anything based on one game," Owens said. "... The only way you could really settle this is if every team in Ohio played every team in Texas."
Colerain was rated No. 13 in the USA Today preseason poll, while Tyler Lee was not among the Top 25.
Tyler is the home of Earl Campbell, the future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back who played at John Tyler High School. Campbell won the 1977 Heisman Trophy at Texas and was a five-time Pro Bowl player for the Houston Oilers.
Tyler Lee has produced several NFL players itself, including Tampa Bay center Randy Grimes, New England defensive lineman Leonta Rheams, and New Orleans punter Donnie Gibbs.