Houston's success is largely driven by the creation of the suburban school districts several years back
1. Houston is essentially the old Germantown High (which used to be a really good program).
2. Due to suburban school systems, there are more kids staying in the Germantown public school district than going to play for MUS, CBHS, etc. You see this with other suburban schools (For example, Bartlett had their best season in 2 decades this year).
3. Whitehaven has been impacted by some population shifts and the private schools recruiting that area. They are still good but they are down from their peak 3-5 yrs ago
Yes, some of this I can agree with. More kids are going public because of the Germantown school district.
However, Germantown High School was 12-1 last year.
Houston still beat Central, Arlington, Collierville, Cordova, and White Station this year, all who have had good seasons in the recent past.
Based on the lack of recruits, it appears Houston has found a great coach and staff, who are getting them to play well as a team. If you look at some of Pare’s highlights, the line blocks well. Pare has great vision, and he’s a good athlete.
I talk to Whitehaven’s DC every so often, and it just sounds like they reload every year. He helps coach the middle school team and is always talking about 7th/8th/9th graders coming up.
Houston is my alma mater, and I believe the coach was a year behind me in school. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to a game this year, and the school is a half mile away. I wanted to go last night because I also know the DC at Whitehaven, but I had my own basketball practice.
As stated above, Lincoln Pare is probably their best player and apparently broke the school’s rushing record last night. But he is only getting low major interest. I believe Houston this year is kind of like Maryville- just a great team where everyone does their job. They will certainly get tested next week at Ravenwood.
Lincoln Pare, the state's leading rusher, has visited UT and we've reportedly tracked him a bit. Received his 1st FBS offer this week (Navy) and has a PWO offer from Virginia Tech. Memphis is also watching and I wouldn't be be surprised if they end up offering him a scholarship. They've had recent success with RBs (Darrell Henderson & Kenneth Gainwell) who put up huge numbers in HS but were relatively lightly recruited.
Did I also hear Whitehaven's offense had three turnovers and about as many turnovers on downs?Here the skinny on Houston...
1) Pare is really really good. An inch or two taller and he is a high 3 star maybe 4 star. May have out played Eric Gray last year.
2) HHS is very well coached and a balanced team. Their d was great last night.
3) HHS passed a lot because they had trouble running. Eason for WHS is a beast. Reminds me of AJ Johnson. Eason is such a leader.
4) HHS lost to WHS on the last play or two last year and was up by 3 td’s at half. They have been really good the last two years
5) Their QB is good and quick and can throw. They have legit 5 guys that can catch. Pretty complex and efficient offense.
6) Pare worked out with Saqoun Barkley last year. His line is good but he makes a ton of yards own his own. He is small but tough.
Those Maryville kids are taught to play in that system since playing for the local “Rebels” teams in elementary school. They’ve got an entire infrastructure built lol.Speaking of HS, how does Alcoa and Maryville basically win every year? They rarely have high rated kids and there can't be that much talent in Blount County. Pretty amazing how dominant these two programs have been all these years