There weren’t many people outside of the Highland Park fandom that had them pegged for a title run in 2016. The Scots ended the regular season at 8-2, their two losses coming to Waxahachie and Wylie East. A good regular season, but not as much of a standout regular season as others had. They had a loaded playoff bracket too, in order to win a title they would have to play some combination of Denton Ryan, Temple, Manvel, Richmond Foster, Richland, Colleyville Heritage, and Justin Northwest.
Nevertheless, the Scots prevailed, largely because of one of the best defensive front sevens in Texas. Unfortunately, a lot of those players graduated, so without arguably their biggest strength, where will the Scots end up in the 2017 season?
Key Losses
LB John House, LB Matt Gahm, LB Bennett Brock, DT Turner Coxe, RB Jack Kozmetsky
Yeah, losing that defensive front is going to hurt, especially this star-studded group of linebackers. Out of every single unit at the state title games, this unit performed the best. On the defensive line, Turner Coxe was a huge difference-maker. Kozmetsky was injured during the Scots’ bout with Lake Ridge, his loss will be felt.
Key Returners
QB John Stephen Jones, RB Paxton Alexander, LB Ryan Coxe, S James Herring, WR Cade Saustad
John Stephen Jones will have lots of good targets to throw to with Paxton Alexander in the backfield and Cade Saustad split out wide. On the defense, James Herring, a hard-hitting safety returns, as does Ryan Coxe, whose role will almost definitely expand.
The Verdict
It’s always tough sledding when you have one of the best units in the state completely gutted by graduation. The Highland Park defensive front seven were solid all year long, but truly showed up when it counted the most. Losing that much can’t be good.
However, the Scots are still going to win their fair share of football games. They’ll get a good chunk of their skill position players back, and the emergence of Paxton Alexander in the late playoff rounds was crucial to their success. I’m not fully buying into a title defense until I see the new iteration of the Scots in action, but there’s definite reason for hope there.
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