2024 Football Predictions

beat Tyler 
lose to Longview 
beat Tyler Legacy 
beat Palestine
beat Mount Pleasant
lose to Texas High 
beat Jacksonville 
beat Nacogdoches 
beat Hallsville 
beat Whitehouse

8-2.  Legacy game might be iffy tho.  Whitehouse game iffy too but we can win both

Tyler  LOSS
Longview LOSS
Tyler Legacy WIN
Palestine WIN
Mount Pleasant WIN
Texas High LOSS
Jacksonville WIN
Nacogdoches WIN
Hallsville WIN
Whitehouse WIN

7-3 and we better be ready for Whitehouse because they are mad about the last two seasns.

6-4 or or 5-5. Mavs have been middle of the road for a long time, I see no reason to expect a change.

Who knows.  We haven't won a district championship since 2019 and haven't been to the third round of the playoffs since 2018.  We haven't been competitive with Longview, Carthage, or Texas High in over a decade.  A whole lot of disappointments the last few years.  We shoujld have been quarterfinalists in 2018 but we had a coach that had already checked out and was ready to get back to Desoto.  2019 was one of the biggest choke jobs in history when we lost to a fourth place team in the first round not to mention we lost our starting qb after the first game of the season because of disciplinary issues.  2020 was one of the grossest misuses of talent in Maverick history.  There was no excuse for that team to not be in the playoffs with the talent they had but the coaching was unbearable.  2021 we overachieved and won a playoff game we should have lost and then got beat by a really good team in the playoffs.   In 22 we had one of the biggest chokes of all time and that loss was completely on pisspoor coaching and clock mismanagement.  I'll give some credit for last season because we beat Whitehouse when we should have lost.  We did it again in the first round and won a game we probably should have lost, but then we lost a second round game we should have won.  Now we start this season with no quarterback in mind.  We need an offensive line and most of our defense from last year is gone.  We have to find a way to not lose to teams like Hallsville and mount Pleasant in district.  Maybe beat Texas High on occasion and keep Longview and Carthage within 21 points.  We all want to get excited but there are so many questions about key players, a new coach, and a history of underachieving for the last 5 seasons.

Ummm well for one you don’t need an offensive line you have one. They return basically the whole offensive with the exception of the qb. Haven’t lost to hallsville since Mosley and he’s gone and not coming back plus that was over two years ago. You gripe and complain when but your Mavs finished in 2nd place and hosted a playoff game and won that game. Oh and by the way name one team in our district that can beat Longview right now, spoiler alert You can’t. Don’t worry Carthage would beat most of us too but that game has been removed.
This district always has had weird games and upsets. last year was no different. Marshall lost to MP and pine tree beat Texas high so I mean it happens. How come I can see all of that from
Nac and you can’t ? I’d tell you what there are teams including us that would take a 2nd place finish. Don’t believe me ? ask teams like Lufkin who used to rule the roost and now have missed the postseason once again.
It’s not as bad as you think.
Once again they go 8-2

The game wasn't flashy....we didn't get too cute with things. Very vanilla. But got some good looks at several players.

Some of my observations:

POSITIVES

1. The running game should be pretty dang good.

Semaj Gatson will be back for his senior season...he had 812 yards and 8 TD's last year in spite of the Mavs using s large stable of RB's. He's elusive and quick....lots of finesse.

Landon Jones had 600 yards and 11 TD's last season as a sophomore and he is a MAN-CHILD. He's not finesse....he just runs over you. He's BIGGER and STRONGER than he was last season. Guy should be a BEAST on short yardage.

Isaiah Bush will also be back for his senior season. He had 500 yards last year with a couple of scores. He's just another body a defense has to worry about. Another speedster too. He's put on about 25 lbs from last season.


2. The offensive line is intact and SHOULD be improved

The Mavs have 5 returning on the OL. They have 12 games under their belt from last season....and it looks like we've gained some beef over the offseason. The success of the offense will be directly tied to these guys. They had flashes of brilliance last season in some games....but laid some eggs in a couple too (Mount Pleasant, Texas High)

Eric Perkins will anchor things as he's getting some D1 looks headed into his junior year.


3. WR Corps is young, but has some experience from last season

Raijon Sims will return for his senior season at WR. He was the #1 target last season for Slone with 510 yards and 5 TDs. He will need to step up for a more diverse offense in a WR corps that will be very young this season.

Gatson and Jones...in spite of being primary RB's.... also combined for 300 yards receiving last season. That's likely to increase in 2024 as the Mavs look to spread the ball out a little more.

TONS of potential with at WR with senior Judson Illingworth and Sophomore Tyler Johnigan who lit it up on the Freshman team last year. J. Sparks is back in football after taking last season off. He will be a Sophomore.


4. Most of the defense returns

The Maverick defense was no doubt the strength of the team last year. Most of the squad will return in 2024. They will need another stellar season in the secondary with Texas High, Mount Pleasant, and Whitehouse all expected to be "pass-happy" again this year.

Bryon Williams
Brandon Richardson
Kaden Rogers
Jayden Cooks
Trayvon Tucker

SIZE AND SPEED on the defensive line. Haven't seen the Mavs be this big in many moons (2018-ish).


5. Numbers and depth

The Maverick varsity roster got crazy small in 2022. It rebounded some in 2023...but still wasn't back to normal. Thanks to two freshman teams moving up.... the JV and varsity rosters should be much deeper and it appears Marshall is getting back to normal levels. MJHS participation continues to grow as they field two 8th grade teams and two 7th grade. I've been told they have enough to have a third team in both grades. So the numbers at MHS should continue to increase after a brief dip.

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Points of concern

1. Offensive line

I listed this as a positive...but this knife cuts both ways. The OL was a little inconsistent last season. They would have great games one week....and struggle mightily in others. Poor OL play was the culprit to the shocking loss to MP last season (17-7).... a game in which a porous Tiger defense all but shut the Mavs down most of the game. Another egg was laid against Texas High. The were very good in the first round of the playoffs Vs Denison...but struggled in the second round (particularly in the second half) of the Midlothian Heritage game. They will need to learn consistency.... especially in QB protection, which was a MAJOR struggle last year.


2. QUARTERBACK

Replacing a guy like Collier Slone is really tough. Slone was Mr. Dependable when it came to game management. He was a master at being a field general without being flashy. His games Vs. Whitehouse in 2022 and 2023 were both highlights....but he also put on clinics Vs Pine Tree and Nac when needed.

Who takes his place?

Looks like a three man race


Alton Henderson will be a Junior and has quick release. Short passing game looked pretty sharp in the scrimmage. Struggled with accuracy on long passes. However.... his scrambling ability was very appealing. He is quick and elusive. Having a mobile QB is huge with this offense.

Kyler Thompson will be a Junior. He had a some strong throws in the scrimmage. Not as mobile as Henderson but had more success on the long pass.

Bryce Alexander is an All-District pitcher in baseball so he has arm strength. He had some good passes on the night that were dropped by his WRs.


3. KICKING GAME

Didn't see much action. Only 1 PAT attempt on the night and it was missed. One kickoff on the night too...and it came down at the 10...so no endzone kicks. This area of the game is VERY important. Hope they work it out.

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OVERALL

Defense looked pretty good on the night. Had some great stops Vs the running game. Some very good stops in the secondary. Hard hitting. Fast. BIG.

Offense was inconsistent especially in the passing game. Running game looked solid between Gatson, Jones, Bush, and Hill.

WR's had some drops that should have been caught. but had some nice grabs too.

QB play was inconsistent... but we had a lot of rotating going on. Some strong arms. But Henderson had some great moves with his legs, which is something of a fresh look for the Mavs in a while.

Great spring.

7 on 7 next

GO MAVS GO!!!!

See ya'll in September

We haven't been competitive vs Carthage since 2018. That's not "over a decade". We probably should have beaten them that year, but we can say both teams were very evenly matched.

2nd half last season was very competitive. I felt like we settled in and played unhinged, but it was too little too late.

Maybe we make it happen this season. It could happen.