High School Sports

By CLINT BUCKLEY
Staff Writer

WHITEHOUSE -- There might not be a better quarterback matchup in the state of Texas tonight than the one taking place at Wildcat Stadium.

The talents of Sulphur Springs' Tyrik Rollison and Brady Attaway of Whitehouse will be on display, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

But it's not their first meeting. Attaway and Whitehouse handed Rollison and Sulphur Springs their only two defeats of the 2007 season, including a come-from-behind thriller in the playoffs.

"I'm not going to have to give them a big pump-up speech for this one," said Sulphur Springs coach Greg Owens. "We've been really focused and ready to play this one for a while.

"For the returning kids, it does mean a lot to them."

Whitehouse coach Randy McFarlin agrees completely.

"This is a bigger game for Sulphur Springs than Whitehouse," he said. "They've been looking at this since November. I'll give them the edge because of the revenge factor."

McFarlin is worried more about his own team and their performance in last week's 52-35 season-opening loss to Garland Naaman Forest.

Attaway threw three interceptions and Whitehouse lost four fumbles, helping Naaman Forest outscore Whitehouse 25-0 in the third quarter.

"I don't think we're a very good football team at this point this week," McFarlin said.

Rollison, meanwhile, was in midseason form last week. The blue-chip recruit completed 20 of 25 passes for 275 yards in Sulphur Springs' 48-20 win over Paris.

"Tyrik's an excellent quarterback," McFarlin said. "He has a strong throwing arm and his new dimension is his ability to take off running. He's a 4.4 speed kid and you have to account for him."

But while all signs might point to Sulphur Springs breaking through against its nemesis, Owens is as cautious as ever concerning Attaway.

"He's a tremendously accurate passer," he said. "He did a great job of bringing them back in the playoff game (last year).

"We've got to get after Brady a little bit; try to get in his face a little bit and get him out of the pocket. We cannot allow him to get into a rhythm."

Elsewhere, Bullard will begin its 29th season at a new home. It will meet Palestine Westwood at the new Panther Stadium, located on the high school campus.

Bullard coach Jim Taylor is ready to start the season, but doesn't believe his players will be fired up more than they are during other weeks.

He expects them to be motivated every week, not just when fresh excitement is in the community.

"The stomach's churning a little bit," Taylor said. "We're excited about (the stadium), but I think good teams play good every week."

This will mark the ninth consecutive meeting between the teams. The last three victories went to Westwood (0-1), which hammered Bullard in last season's opener, 45-14, en route to its third playoff appearance in school history.

It was the worst performance of the season for Bullard, which went on to finish 6-4 and barely miss its first playoff berth in 14 years.

"We feel pretty good right now," said Taylor, in his second season at the helm.

Meanwhile, Chapel Hill (1-0) will hope to start the season 2-0 when it meets Kaufman (0-1) on the road.

Led by senior running back Matthew Tucker, the Bulldogs opened the season with a win against Westwood. On a sloppy night that included 13 fumbles and 16 penalties, Tucker rushed for 260 yards and a touchdown to help the Bulldogs prevail, 16-7.

Chapel Hill, on its new artificial surface for the first time, went scoreless through the first two quarters and entered halftime down 7-0. But the Bulldogs took control during the second half, thanks to touchdowns by DeKerrian Cooper (1-yard run with 1:42 remaining in the third) and Tucker (37-yard run with 5:59 showing in the fourth).

-- Staff writer Shane Stark contributed to this report.

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