Keller Fossil Ridge was in an excellent place going into district competition. Their only loss was to Rowlett, a team that ended up going 9-2 on the year. They opened up their district schedule with Keller Timber Creek, and got a high scoring win against that explosive Timber Creek offense. After that, the wheels began to fall off, in a way.
After a blowout loss to Abilene and a blowout win over Haltom, the Panthers were doomed by turnovers against Keller Central, a team they had beaten four times in the past five years. It took overtime to beat Weatherford, a team that went 2-8 on the season. After that, it was an early out for Fossil Ridge in the playoffs, as it’s a little bit difficult to stop Kennedy Brooks of Mansfield. The Panthers lost 55-10.
It’s not that Fossil Ridge underperformed in terms of the wins and losses, this was a reasonable record for a team of their talent. However, it was how they lost that raised questions. With the talent Fossil Ridge has, they shouldn’t have been that completely out of any game. Quarterback Max Akin, a playmaker in his own right, had some great weapons to get the ball to this year in Elijah Hicks and Anthony Smith. The pass rushing ability of Tyler Mitchell was seriously underrated as well.
I still don’t think this was a disappointing season for Fossil Ridge. They beat the majority of the teams they were supposed to beat, they just couldn’t stay close in their losses outside of Rowlett, which might be cause for concern if they can’t reload in 2017. However, the Panthers are stacked defensively, and it could blossom into a dominant season.
Key Losses
QB Max Akin, WR Elijah Hicks, RB Anthony Smith, DE Tyler Mitchell, CB Devin Smith
Fossil Ridge is going lose a lot of seniors on the offensive side of the ball, guys that can make plays in space. That alone will hurt them, but nothing will be as big as the loss of Max Akin. The Panthers’ signal caller was criminally underrated the entire year, it’s not easy to make the transition from wide receiver to quarterback, and he preformed excellently given the circumstance.
The Panther defense will lose a little less, but losing Tyler Mitchell will hurt. Mitchell projects as an outside linebacker in college, but his pass rushing skills from his defensive end position will be sorely missed.
Key Returners
WR Stefan Cobbs Jr., QB Cobe Craft, S Immanuel Sutton, CB Cole Crawford, DL Arnold Saidov
As you can see by looking at 3-6A’s All-District list, Fossil Ridge is going to be just fine on defense. They return a bevy of impact players that have the ability to take Fossil Ridge to the top.
On offense, a lot will rest on the development of Cobe Craft. He’s young and raw, but if he can get some protection from an offensive line that will return plenty as well, he should be just fine. Stefan Cobbs will be an absolute problem for opposing teams on the edge.
The Verdict
If Keller Fossil Ridge had lost their games in a close fashion, I would have no problem putting them at the top of 3-6A. They return so many people on the defensive side of the ball that it’s hard not to be high on what the Panthers can accomplish. However, they’ll still have to get past a lot of other teams that have improved as well, in addition to those that beat them soundly in years past.
Let’s be honest though, it’s hard not to see Fossil Ridge competing for the district title this year. They’ll get arguably their toughest opponent, Abilene, at home, and if their defense can improve, it’s had to not see them challenging for a district title. As of the time of writing, I still have Abilene above them, but that prediction could change as early as week one. Keller Fossil Ridge will likely be ignored to start the season, but don’t be surprised if they’re the talk of the state in 2017.
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