It’s week three of Texas high school football and the Brownfield Cubs bring their 2-0 record to Cubs Stadium to take on the 1-1 Roosevelt Eagles Friday night Sept. 8. Although the Cubs had their way with Tulia last Friday winning 40-14, this game will not be an easy one. There’s a saying “success breeds success”.
The Roosevelt Eagles went all the way to the Class 3A DII State Semifinals in 2021 finishing 14-1 and although last season they went 4-7, there were three games that could’ve made them 7-4 and a district runner-up. But that was not the case as they finished fourth in the district and got Canadian in the first round, who ended up in the same place as the Eagles had the previous season.
The first two games for Roosevelt have been a tale of two tales. In week one the Eagles hosted River Road and won pretty handily 42-6. In week two, the Eagles got to stay home again, this time taking on last season’s Class 2A DI State Championship team Hawley. The #5 Bearcats had their hands full with eagle feathers as they scraped by with a 14-6 win. The Eagles had a total of 234 yards, 153 on the ground, and 81 through the air. Hawley was the polar opposite with 81 yards on the ground and 168 through the air. Obviously, the Eagles defense held their line and the secondary didn’t get caught off guard too much.
Of course, this leads us to Friday night’s game. Coach Brantley said, “We’ve been talking about them all week. It is a tough game to prepare for just based on the offense they run.” According to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football (DCTF), the Eagles run a “flexbone” attack, which makes them one of the toughest teams to prepare for here in West Texas, and that makes them very dangerous. Knowing that Coach Brantley went on to say, “We gotta be disciplined… we gotta be fired on all cylinders and everybody has to do their job. That’s the mantra going into this week… do your job. If you do your job, take care of what you’re supposed to do then your brother can do his job, take care of what he’s supposed to do… we’ll have a chance to stop their offense.”
Roosevelt is coming in also to avenge a loss to Brownfield last season when the Cubs beat the Eagles 49-34 on their homecoming night. The Eagle’s offense is high-powered and physical, plus they run the ball with precision. On the defensive side of the ball, Roosevelt becomes very energetic and pesky, flying around making plays. “It’s gonna be a hard tough nose game… if we are gonna win, we’ve got to be on our A-game,” said Coach Brantley.
Running the flexbone means the Eagles will play “spread”. When a team runs a spread offense whether they are passing or running, it gives the defense a different look and makes it hard to prepare for on a weekly basis according to Coach Brantley. The ball is moving around all through the backfield and it’s something that the defense doesn’t get to see and it’s hard to simulate in practice.
When asked if he, Coach Brantley, feels that the game will be a shootout, he said, “I don’t know if it’ll necessarily be a shootout per se, but we are prepared for it to be a tough game.”
Look for Jo Jo Carrillo, George Rivera, Austin Martinez, & Q Busby to find passes needed to get many first downs and into the endzone. JJ Martinez will need to stay confident and take care of the ball. Gage McPherson could have a solid breakout night if Roosevelt shuts down the passing game. DCTF has Brownfield as an 11-point favorite coming in Friday, but just remember, it’s homecoming.
Brownfield over Roosevelt
Brownfield Cubs vs LBK Roosevelt Eagles at home Friday night Sept. 8 with a 7:30 kickoff.
Current District 1-3A DI Standings
| BROWNFIELD CUBS | 2-0 |
| DENVER CITY MUSTANGS | 1-1 |
| KERMIT | 1-1 |
| LAMESA | 0-2 |
| SLATON | 0-2 |
