July 14, 2016 - August 1st will mark the first day for non-contact practices for high school football teams in Texas. Teams will begin contact practices no sooner than August 5th. Texas teams can conduct their first scrimmages starting August 12th.
All five Shelby County teams will be taking the field soon to prepare their players bodies and game plans to compete in both district, and non-district, competition.
The Center Roughriders will compete in District 9 4A. Head Football Coach Barry Bowman will be taking the ‘Riders to the field for his second season after the team posted a much improved 10-3 season. CHS went to the regional semifinals last season but lost to the Gilmer Buckeyes by a 36-21 score.
This season Center will move from Division II classification up to Division I. Their new conference opponents will be Carthage, Kilgore, Henderson, Bullard, Chapel Hill and Palestine.
The ‘Riders will face Kirbyville for their first scrimmage. Other non-conference games will include Rusk, Gilmer, Gladewater and Diboll.
CHS is projected by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine to place fourth in the district behind Carthage, Kilgore and Henderson.
The Joaquin Rams will be competing in Division I District 11 2A. They will be taking the field for the second season under Head Football Coach Wade Lawson. Joaquin went 5-5 last season and went 1-4 in conference play.
The Rams will face Alto, Shelbyville, San Augustine, Price Carlisle and Cushing in district action. They are projected to finish fifth by DCTF, behind Alto, Shelbyville, San Augustine and Carlisle.
The Shelbyville Dragons will compete in Division I District 11 2A and are projected to place second. This will be Head Coach Jason Fergusons third season at SHS. Last season SHS went 12-1 and were 5-0 in district play. The Dragons fell to Lovelady by a 14-7 score in the regional playoffs. Their 2016 district competitors will include Alto, San Augustine, Joaquin, Carlisle and Cushing. They are picked to finish second, behind Alto, by Dave Campbell’s Magazine.
The Tenaha Tigers will compete in Division II District 11 2A. Head Coach Craig Horn will start his second season with the Tigers. Tenaha is projected to finish first in the conference which includes Grapeland, Timpson, Overton, Mount Enterprise and Wortham. The Tigers went 8-6 last year and were 4-0 in league play. They suffered a 33-16 loss to Muenster last year at the state quarterfinals. The Tigers first scrimmage will be at Maud on Aug. 12. Their other non-district opponents will be Joaquin, Kerens, Dallas Gateway, Clarksville and West Sabine.
The Timpson Bears will welcome new Head Football Coach Kerry Therwanger. Timpson went 2-8 last season and went 2-2 in Div. II District 11 2A play. They lost 27-0 to Iola High School in the first round of the 2015 playoffs. They are picked to finish third this season behind Tenaha and Grapeland. Other conference opponents include Overton, Mount Enterprise and Wortham.
