Friday night at Wildcat Stadium: LHHS takes on Duncanville
The Wildcats face their toughest opponent of the season Friday night, and they’ll do it without two of their biggest weapons – captains Jonathan Barrows and Jack Hutton.
Hutton, a middle linebacker, has an ankle sprain likely to keep him out another week, and Barrows, who plays safety, got the cast off his broken ankle Monday but needs time for rehab and won’t play against Duncanville.
The undefeated Panthers are ranked 6th in the state, and USA Today puts them 22nd nationally. They’ve allowed just 4.8 points per game this season and outscored their opponents 208 to 19.
Sports Day has Duncanville’s coach, Reginald Samples, on their short list for Coach of the Year honors, but accolades for Samples are nothing new. A year ago he became the all-time winningest black football coach in UIL history, and he’s won more than 250 games since his career began in 1983. Samples graduated from South Oak Cliff, and he was assistant coach at Madison then head coach at Lincoln and Skyline before taking over Duncanville’s program in 2015.
Of course, the Wildcats have some pretty powerful weapons of their own.
Quarterback Jakson Thomson has received offers to play at Akron, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State and New Mexico State. Wide receiver Mitch Coulson scored 3 touchdowns against Berkner and 3 against Skyline. Running back Khamondre Phillips is a workhorse, and Teaff Nickle (you guessed it, his parents are Baylor alums) is reliable serving up field goals. And, of course, our own Lonnie Jordan was last year’s RISD Coach of the Year.
You can see the athleticism and drama unfold for yourself under Friday night lights at Wildcat Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:30. LHHS is the only RISD school to sell out all its season tickets, but you can buy general admission seats at the ticket window. Go Cats.
