For the second straight week, there is a new No. 1 atop the Galveston County Power Poll.

The top six teams in last week’s poll all won, so there wasn’t a ton of movement. However, the new No. 1 got another big win in dominating fashion. It was impossible to ignore its performance in this week’s poll.

I noticed some comments on last week’s Power Poll about not mentioning Hitchcock. The reason is because the Bulldogs would have no chance at beating any of the eight major high schools in the county. I think the 39-14 loss to Danbury kind of proves that point.

That doesn’t mean that Hitchcock is a bad team. It’s just that it would be unfair to rank it last in the Powel Poll each week.

With that said, here is my Week Two edition of the Power Poll.
1. Clear Creek — The Wildcats have earned this spot. The offense has been explosive and the defense has been equally as good for the second straight week. With the two complete performances in its wins, you can’t say Creek is just star athlete C.J. McElroy. I wondered a few weeks ago if Creek could make the playoffs this year, but if it keeps this up, it has a legit shot at competing for the District 24-5A title.
2. Clear Springs — I was a little surprised to see the Chargers give up 37 points last week, especially after holding a double-digit lead at halftime. The offense and the special teams are rolling, though, so there is no reason to drop them below No. 2.
3. Friendswood — The Mustangs’ near defeat at the hands of a 3A school has them drop a few spots in the Power Poll. It was natural to have a let down after the big Angleton win, though, so I could see Friendswood moving back up to the No. 1 or 2 spot in the coming weeks.
4. La Marque — The Cougars haven’t been challenged yet, which is why they aren’t higher in the poll. Running back Tim Wright continued his impressive start, which is a good sign for success once district begins. La Marque has no chance of moving up in the poll next week since it has a rare bye this week.
5. Santa Fe — Shane Sobnosky who? OK, that may be a bit much, but the Indians defense has been awesome thus far. I certainly feel good about my preseason prediction that Santa Fe WILL NOT finish last in 24-4A. It is too solid of a team.
6. Texas City — I really feel bad that I can’t move the Stings up the poll, but everyone in front of them keeps winning. While it wasn’t a completely dominant performance, Texas City still showed me a lot about its character in a dramatic win over Dickinson. This is a squad no one in 24-4A is going to be excited about playing.
7. Ball High — I wasn’t too surprised to see Atascocita come to The Dump and beat the Tors. Atascocita is a solid squad with a lot of depth. There is still time for Ball to work out the wrinkles before district starts, but it has to have improvement on the road against Beaumont Central this week.
8. Dickinson — Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. The Gators lost their second straight game as a direct result of being careless with the football. They need to correct that problem or they will be at the bottom of the 24-5A standings as well as the Power Poll.

Let’s see how you would rank the county’s team this week.

Join our live in-game chat for high school football coverage in Galveston County. Joshua Buckley will cover Texas City at Dickinson, while Evan Mohl covers Brazosport at Santa Fe. Updates from other area teams will be posted throughout the evening. The room opens at 6:30 p.m. for you to participate in polls and ask questions.



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Our fourth annual Galveston County fantasy football game started last week, and boy, was it an exciting beginning.

We had two players (Creek's C.J. McElroy and Friendswood's Pete Maetzold) score 55 points. Another seven scored more than 20. It was an incredible week of scoring and produced some crazy results - including our resident Limey, Ian White.

Here are the standings:
1. Ian White — 110
2. Jim Levesque — 96
3. Kevin M. Cox — 93
4. Evan Mohl — 90
5. Joshua Buckley — 81

Obviously you can tell from these standings that Ian has had a hard time getting through the door this week, and it has nothing to do with his English-sized teeth. The rest of our league has decided that we need to take down Ian at all costs.

Here are this week's picks. (1) denotes the round that player was selected.

SPORTS EDITOR JOSHUA BUCKLEY
QB: Deven Molis, Hitchcock (2)
RB: Tim Wright, La Marque (1)
WR: Matt Kennemer, Friendswood (3)
D: Santa Fe (5)
WC: Howard Matthews, Springs (4)

BUCKLEY'S TAKE: Well, the defending champ did not have a great start to the season. While 81 points is a big score on most weeks, it wasn't enough in the high-scoring opening week. Thank goodness for Pete Maetzold and his 55 points, or I would be way behind the Limey. As it is, I'm embarrassed to be behind someone that doesn't know what a first down is.

My down week gave me the first pick overall and it was a no-brainer selection for me. Tim Tim rushed for 257 yards and two touchdowns despite not playing most of the second half because of cramps. On Wednesday, Wright was flexing his muscles for a photo for Friday's paper. Hey, if I rushed for 257 yards in one week, I'd flex my muscles for photos too. After watching Wheatley's sorry run defense against Ball High, it's reasonable to think Wright can live up to his numbers from last week.

I wanted a quarterback in the second round and was pleasantly surprised to see Molis last to my pick. The Bulldog offense loves to throw the ball and hapless Danbury has no chance of stopping them.

I feel good about the rest of my team this week as well. Kennemer has potential for 100 yards and a score, Santa Fe's defense will shut down the anemic Brazosport offense, and Matthews can score in a lot of different ways.

So yes, I started off slow, but I have no doubt my squad this week will get me right back where I belong - ahead of Mr. Futball.

SPORTS WRITER EVAN MOHL
QB: Pete Maetzold, Friendswood (1)
RB: Jamarcus McCardell, Hitchcock (3)
WR: DaWaynes Barnes, Hitchcock (2)
D: La Marque (4)
WC: Domingo Morales, Santa Fe (5)

EVAN'S TAKE: After a great week, I end up in fourth place. Just goes to show to amount of talent in Galveston County this year.

The good news for me: I got the second pick. Without hesitation, I chose Pete Maetzold. The guy scored 55 points last week against one of the better opponents. With just one Division I college offer, Maetzold is playing with a chip on his shoulder. I expect big numbers again this week.

For my next two picks, I went back to the old faithful, the Hitchcock Bulldogs. McCardell and Barnes both had great opening weeks. That should continue against Danbury, a team the Bulldogs routed a year ago.

La Marque defense made a lot of sense, especially against a weak Wheatley team that couldn't score against Ball High despite seven turnovers. I snatched Domingo Morales with my final pick. The senior scored twice last week, and I expect him to be involved in the offense again with Brazosport stuffing the box to stop star running back Joseph Walton.

PHOTOGRAPHER KEVIN M. COX
QB: Garet Davidson, Santa Fe (5)
RB: Jonathan Johnson, Friendswood (2)
WR: C.J. McElroy, Creek (1)
D: Springs (3)
WC: Dittrich Bunton, Dickinson (4)

KEVIN'S TAKE: Galveston County looked great last week and put up some amazing fantasy numbers. I'm happy with my third place status and have high hopes for the rest of the season.

I was thrilled to get McElroy with my first pick and stuck with what I know when I took JJ in the second round. Springs defense always has a chance to out preform their opponent and I don't anticipate the road game giving them any issues. Hopefully Bunton will be able to find the end zone behind a Stings defense that provided a shutout last Friday. I'll be at the game and wanted to have at least one player on my team to watch.

I turned some heads by selecting Indians quarterback Garet Davidson over La Marque's Williams in the last round. Davidson's numbers were almost identical to Williams last week, similar yardage and two touchdowns each. I'm confident he is going to come through Friday night as the Brazosport D keeps their eyes on Joseph Walton's ground attack. Although it could be argued the same thing will happen in La Marque with Tim Wright running...

COPY EDITOR JIM LEVESQUE
QB: Dylan Doebler, Springs (1)
RB: Joseph Walton, Santa Fe (2)
WR: Marcus Johnson, Springs (3)
D: Hitchcock (4)
WC: Mandy Williams, La Marque (5)

BIG JIM'S TAKE: I don't think the first week of high school fantasy football could have went any better. I'm not leading the league yet, but after posting a second-place showing, I'm pretty comfortable with the format and already learning more about this year's crop of talented football players in Galveston County. Better yet, the two-time defending champion, sports editor Joshua Buckley, is bringing up the rear. I'm sure he'll be making excuses and write it off as being an unpredictable opening week. I would have said the same thing If I did that bad, too. But I didn't even though I picked last.

And I'm actually happy Ian White jumped into the lead because I finally got a firsthand taste of the arrogance I heard so much about. I already envision him as some kind of a throwback professional wrestling character from the 1980's called The Englishman. He walks around trying to push his country's beliefs on the stupid Americans while holding a serving of fish and chips wrapped in a London Times in one hand. His too tight Union Jack T-shirt reads "The Crown Jewels" above an arrow pointing down to his black and white soccer-ball patterned tights. And his finishing move has to be a type of submission hold he dubbed "The Big Bend." The British Bulldogs were cool. The Englishman, not so much.

As for this week's fantasy picks, I selected fifth and snagged Clear Springs quarterback Dylon Doebler for the second straight week. He had a good first varsity start, and that Charger aerial attack can only get stronger as the year goes on. I took Clear Springs receiver Marcus Johnson in the third round, one of the top targets in the pass-heavy offense. If the pair get together for a few scores, that's double points for me.

I picked up Santa Fe stud rusher Joseph Walton in the second round. This could be a huge pick with the Indians going up against Brazosport. Last year, I thought Santa Fe solidified itself as a playoff contender with its district win against Brazosport. I expect this to be a very physical game, just the way Walton likes it.

I selected a defense in the fourth round instead of waiting until the last pick because I think Hitchcock will have a lot of opportunities to create havoc and turnovers this week against Danbury, a squad with a sophomore starting at quarterback and still learning a new spread offense.

With the next to last pick in the entire draft, La Marque quarterback Mandy Williams was still available. I picked him without hesitation. Sure, the Cougars are going up against a stout Wheatley team, but there is too much upside and breakout potential with Williams to ignore. This was one of the easiest selections of the draft for me and it could give me a big boost in points.

BLEACHER BUZZ COLUMNIST IAN WHITE
QB: Chris Collins, Creek (1)
RB: Colby Davis, Creek (3)
WR: Dimitri Donald, Springs (2)
D: Texas City (4)
WC: Rodney Artmore, Ball (5)

IAN'S TAKE: So, after all the trash talk about me from Josh last week, here we are with me in the lead and him absolutely nowhere. The one problem about taking the lead in this contest, though, is that you go to the end of the picks list — the wrong end — and so everyone nicks your best players from the week before in an effort to play catchup.

Kevin, for example, was utterly predictable in taking C.J. McElroy as his first squad member. That's fine, but I reckon C.J. deserves an easy run this week so he can save his Superhero stuff for next time he's included in Team Britannia. Meanwhile, I reckon I've spotted a rising star in Dimitri Donald and I'm putting my faith in him to fill C.J.'s boots in fine style.

No wide receiver is complete without a cool QB, so I've put my money on Chris Collins again this week. Last week, I voted for Tad Pierce as his running back, but Josh forgot to tell me Tad was injured, so I drew a blank there. If Colby Davis can keep C.J. in the shadows against Kingwood, I should more than make up the points Kevin thinks he's stolen from me.

The Stings defense was another shoo-in after shutting out C.E. King last week, even though I think it will be given a sterner test by Dickinson's offensive line. And my wild card is again Rodney Artmore, who I believe will grow in stature as Ball's season progresses.

Let's see if Josh is still talking trash about the Limey this time next week!

In my Bleacher Buzz column on Friday, I reminded everyone to take the first week's football results with a grain of salt.

The Galveston County Power Poll doesn't follow those guidelines. It's a what have you done for me lately ranking system that is meant to featuring a lot of movement week to week.

Galveston County's eight major schools went 7-1 in Week Zero. They weren't just wins either — they were dominant performances. Notice has definitely been served to the rest of the region that Galveston County is not to be messed with this year.

It was tough to rank the teams this week, because everyone looked so good. I'm sure there will be plenty of people to disagree, so I'd love to see what your GC Power Poll looks like.

Here is my Week One edition of the Power Poll.
1. Friendswood — You go to Angleton and smack around the No. 6 team in the state, then you deserve to be No. 1 in the power poll. That was an impressive win, and has me rethinking my prediction of the Mustangs finishing second in the district. I think Friendswood has become the clear favorite in 24-4A.
2. Clear Springs — The Chargers scored 40 points and beat a state semifinalist in 4A by double-digits, but I still bumped them down a spot. Why? Because really they could have played a lot better. Springs had three turnovers and gave up several big plays that were uncharacteristic of its defense. It is still an impressive team, though.
3. Clear Creek — Friday night's results had Creek on the verge of getting bumped down in the poll. Then C.J. McElroy took over. His five-touchdown performance was as impressive as I have seen at the high school level. The reason the Wildcats didn't jump ahead of Springs is because I felt like Dawson was a much tougher opponent than Pasadena Memorial.
4. La Marque — Gaining more than 500 yards against Terry is an impressive feat. That's why the Cougars jump up two spots in the poll. La Marque has a good shot to move up some more, considering it should destroy Wheatley next week.
5. Santa Fe — I told you last season wasn't a fluke for Santa Fe. The Indians rolled to a big win over a solid Barbers Hill team. This week against Brazosport should be an interesting test, but I still like the Indian's chances.
6. Texas City — I've been pretty critical of Texas City in the preseason, so naturally it opened the season with a shutout. The Stings probably would have moved up higher in the poll this week, but everyone ahead of them won. Still, a solid effort from the Stings.
7. Ball High — The Tors defense was awesome, allowing just 51 total yards on the night. I can't get over Ball's seven fumbles, though. Were that against one of the other teams in this poll, the Tors would have lost by double digits. It has to improve to earn a spot higher in the poll.
8. Dickinson — The only major Galveston County high school to lose, the Gators really shot themselves in the foot all night against Deer Park. Dickinson isn't that bad, though, so for it to be at the bottom of the poll shows how loaded with talent this county really is.

Join our live in-game chat as Clear Creek plays Pasadena at 5 p.m. The room is open for you to participate in polls and ask questions. The chat room opens at 5 p.m.



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ANGLETON — Join our live in-game chat as Angleton hosts Friendswood at 7 p.m. The room is open for you to participate in polls and ask questions. The chat room opens at 6 p.m.



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LEAGUE CITY — Join our first live in-game chat of the 2010 high school football season as Clear Springs hosts Pearland Dawson at 7 p.m. The room is open for you to participate in polls and ask questions. The chat room opens at 6 p.m.



Comments that include profanity, personal attacks, antisocial behavior or other inappropriate material will be removed. You are responsible for the content you post. See our Discussion Guidelines.