By Rob Tate
SportCast Media
When you’re playing in the ‘SEC of Houston high school football’, it’s really no secret that if you have playoff aspirations and you aren’t among the state-ranked powerhouses, there’s certain games on the schedule that should be considered ‘must win’.
Three teams in District 23-6A are ranked in the top-eight in this week’s Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Class 6A state poll. Humble saw No. 2 North Shore, the Division I state runner-up in 2023, last week and fell 42-0. Down the line, the Wildcats will meet No. 5 Summer Creek, the Division II state runner-up last year, as well as No. 8 Atascocita in the coming weeks.
This Saturday under the lights at Turner Stadium, the Wildcats (3-1, 0-1) play a team in Channelview (0-4, 0-1), who on the surface has a winless record so far this fall. But that record is very deceptive.
The first home game in three weeks for Humble kicks off 6 p.m.
“Playoffs start for us this week,” Humble head coach Robert Murphy said Wednesday night as his team wrapped up an intense practice in their home stadium. “We’ve got some games that we know on our calendar that we have to win to get in. We have a map to the playoffs and that starts with getting a win this week and getting some momentum into the following week.”
Channelview is coached by Averion Hurts, the father of Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts, and has three one-point losses on the year.
Talk about unlucky.
In Week 1, the Falcons fell 43-43 to Pasadena Memorial. That followed with a 14-13 loss to Aldine MacArthur and then a 26-25 overtime loss to Clear Creek a week later. Last week and after its bye, Channelview opened district play against one of the toughest defenses in the state in Summer Creek. The Falcons became the Bulldogs’ fourth shutout victim of the season in a 56-0 final.
The Falcons went 5-6 last year, but made the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
“Coach Hurts does an excellent job over there,” Murphy said. “If you watch those guys, a lot of their games have been one-point games besides the last one. They’ve been battling. They’ve been putting up numbers offensively. Those guys do a great job with those kids.”
Peeling back the layers beyond their win-loss record, the Falcons, a new member of the district this season, can’t and won’t be slept on.
“For us (in) this district, you have to approach every game with a certain level of respect and a certain level of pride,” Murphy said. “It doesn’t matter who’s on the schedule, it doesn’t matter who it is. We approach the game the same way and want to make sure that we take care of business.”
There wasn’t a ton to reflect on for Humble in its district opener last Thursday on the road. The offense struggled against one of the best teams in the state in North Shore and the defense had their backs against the wall much of the game.
Murphy described the opening drive on defense where Humble stood up to North Shore, but just couldn’t get that stop to get off the field as it fell behind early after 11 plays.
“Our defense understands that they’ve got some improving to do and they also understand that in order to be good in this district, in order to compete in this district, that we have to have a certain level of intensity, a certain level of pride,” Murphy said. “Our defense is excited about the opportunity to bounce back. They know that we’re a lot better than we showed last week.”
Patrick Long comes into the week the leading tackler for Humble with 36 total. Juan Lolesio has 33 while Demoy Carr has 31. The Wildcats have 30 tackles for loss as a team and seven sacks with Lolesio, Carr and Tymir Askew with two each. Humble also has six takeaways through four games.
Without kicker/punter Ernesto Avila, who was injured on the final punt of the George Ranch game two weeks back, the Mustangs had great field position often as Humble had to employ a punters by committee approach.
“The biggest thing for our defense is to get our punter and our kicker back,” Murphy said. “Hats off to North Shore, first and foremost. But it’s difficult putting your defense in those positions where you’re only punting the ball 10-15 yards. You’ve got a team like North Shore, who is already good, and you’re putting them in position on a short field and you’re not going to win those battles.”
Humble should be considered the favorite this week.
Channelview comes in on a five-game losing streak dating back to its playoff loss to C.E. King last November.
Humble has played Channelview in non-district play four years in-a-row, including its most recent shutout in a 21-0 Week 1 game last August.
This is the 12th meeting between the two schools since 2006 with Humble winning seven times.
“We’ve played them for the last three years – since I’ve been here – and they’ve always been competitive games,” Murphy said. “We know they are going to play us hard, but we embrace that. We want to go out and put on a show.”
Having been on the road twice the past two games – sandwiched around the bye in Week 4 – Humble is eager to perform Saturday night at home, where they are 1-0 this year after beating Klein Forest in Week 2.
“We want to show up and give our fans something to be proud of on homecoming and just get our offense ticking and going,” Murphy said. “We just want to suit up and go play those guys.”
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