Kennedale Wildcats vs Wimberley Texans @ Wimberley, 7:30 pm Friday
When FTW Diamond Hill (0-5) canceled their district game with Kennedale this week, Head Coach Richard Barrett wasted no time. The Wildcats needed a game and it needed to be against a strong team.
This season only three of their games have been challenges for the Wildcats. In the other four matchups, Kennedale (6-0-1, 5-0) won by a combined score of 232 to 7. Enough said. (Note: The Diamond Hill game is a forfeit and goes as a win for Kennedale, moving the Wildcat record to 7-0-1, but for stats purposes in this article, games actually played are used).
In short order, a game was set up with Wimberley. This was an open week for the Wimberley Texans but when an earlier game was canceled, they needed to fill out their schedule and Head Coach Doug Warren jumped at the chance.
At first glance, this is a real reach for the Wildcats …
Wimberley is 7-2 overall and 2-1 in district play. The Texans were ranked #7 in Class 4 Division II in the last Lone Star Gridiron poll. They were state runner-ups last year and have an established program that has won two state championships in 2005 and 2011. Wimberley High School reported for UIL reclassification last year was 795. Find out more at the high school @ WHS webpage.
Wimberley has lost two games this season. The first loss was against Lampasas (6-0, 3-0) in the third game of the season by a score of 57-28. (Lampasas is currently ranked #2 in Class 4A Division I by LSG.) The second loss of the season was last week against Navarro (6-2, 4-0) in a battle of the unbeaten in District 14/4A DII. Navarro went home as the district champs with a 24-22 win.
Wimberley High School reported enrollment for UIL reclassification last year was 795. Class 4A Division II is for school schools with numbers ranging from 515 to 879. Find out more about the high school @ WHS webpage. Kennedale High School is a Division I 4A school with a UIL reclassification number of 955 students. Division II/4A high school enrollment numbers range from 880 to 1229.
But on the flip side, this may be more a game of equals …
On the flip side, their schedule is similar to Kennedale. Their district is not strong, only Navarro and Wimberley have winning records. The rest of the teams on the Texans’ full schedule, outside of Lampasas and Navarro, have at best break even records.
This season, Kennedale has played three well-coached discipline teams and has played them on equal terms. The Wildcats won the first by a point, the second was played to a 10-10 and the third game was won by 3 points in overtime.
The Texans are averaging 33 points per game and allowing 11 points against. Kennedale is averaging 38 points per game and has allowed 8 points against. Friday will be the fourth real game of the season.
Stats for the Texans …
Wimberley favors the pass, averaging 235 yards per game and 136 yards on the ground. The Texans have scored 40 touchdowns with 19 through the air and 17 by rushing.
Senior quarterback Matthew Tippie has thrown for 2064 yards on 221 attempts for a .566% completion rate and an average of 16.5 yards per catch. The top receiver is Jaxon Watts (SR) with 30 catches for 585 yards at 19.5 yards per. Ty Pruitt (SR) follows with 495 yards on 23 receptions.
Moses Wray (JR) has 70 carries for 398 yards at 5.7 yards per carry and 5 TDs. Juan Olmedo has 499 yards on 68 carries for a 7.3 yard average with 6 TDs.
Game information …
The game time is 7:30 pm in Wimberley on Friday. Wimberley is approximately 230 miles south of Kennedale and located west of San Marcos with an estimated 3 hours and 40 minutes’ drive time. Directions
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