McCollum vs. Somerset features undefeated teams; Which team has the most surprising start?; BGC Road Trip to New Braunfels for Wurst Bowl

Central Catholic vs. Alamo Heights, Southwest Legacy vs. Floresville among games to watch in Week 3

McCollum BGC Newsletter (KSAT)

The intensity is already ramping up! Week 3 of Big Game Coverage (BGC) features several high-profile matchups featuring undefeated teams. Bulldog Stadium, Orem Stadium, Gustafson Stadium and Eschenburg Field are just a few of the sites where teams will put their records on the line as they either begin or build into district play.

As always, the KSAT 12 sports team breaks it all down on the Big Game Coverage Preview show.

Instant Replay producer Daniel P. Villanueva gets Sports Director Greg Simmons and Anchor Larry Ramirez together in studio every Thursday to discuss the week’s matchups, 12′s Top 12 rankings and which players stand out from the rest. A new guest appears this week!

>> WATCH THE BGC PREVIEW SHOW HERE <<


A battle of undefeated teams is our Game of the Week:

(Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)

McCOLLUM VS. SOMERSET

After a couple of down years, the Somerset Bulldogs have once again established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in District 14-4A Division I. An impressive win over a red-hot Southside squad and a resilient victory over Brackenridge prove that head coach Koy Detmer’s squad can win a number of different ways.

The team standing in the way of Somerset’s first 3-0 start since 2018 is McCollum. The Cowboys are experiencing a level of success that they haven’t had in a decade. In four seasons from 2017 to 2020, McCollum only recorded one victory on the football field. They finished 1-35 over that stretch.

One thing is for certain: This is a brand new McCollum team.

Quarterback Sean Tejeda has hit his stride leading a traditional offense, completing 25 passes for 435 yards and nine touchdowns in a pair of dominant victories over South San and Austin Navarro. Running back Isaiah Leffler leads a complementary ground game with 185 rushing yards through the first two games. They will look to match scores with Somerset quarterback Koal Detmer and an impressive rushing attack featuring Jacob Alcorta.

Somerset and McCollum have met four times in the last decade, and the Bulldogs have won every single game. The latest matchup was the closest: a 27-26 Somerset victory in 2019 that was decided by a pair of missed extra points. We’ll see if the Bulldogs can continue their streak of dominance or the Cowboys can improve to 3-0 when the two meet on Friday night. Kickoff at Bulldog Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

There is another huge matchup of undefeated teams on Friday night: Central Catholic vs. Alamo Heights. The Mules earned hard-fought victories over Boerne and Churchill, while the Buttons dominated Southwest and Boerne Geneva. To hear from both squads prior to kickoff on Friday night, click here!


(Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)

Anchor Larry Ramirez and photographer Eddie Latigo venture northeast of the Alamo City for the second consecutive week on our weekly BGC Road Trip, with stops in Spring Branch, New Braunfels and San Marcos!

Here’s the list of games they are covering in order:

  • El Paso Eastwood (2-0) vs. Smithson Valley (2-0) - This marks the first time the Rangers have hosted a team from El Paso since a pair of matchups against Montwood in 2012 and 2013. Smithson Valley won both games by at least 20 points.
  • New Braunfels Canyon (1-1) vs. New Braunfels (2-0) - The Unicorns won the most recent matchup of this historic rivalry, 47-21.
  • East Central (2-0) vs. San Marcos (0-2) - Both of these two squads have split their last six matchups dating back to 2014. Games between these two tend to be back-and-forth, high-scoring affairs. The Hornets own a two-game winning streak in the series heading into Friday night.

(KSAT/Henry Keller)

Be sure keep up with all of the action throughout the weekend with our Scores & Schedules page! There, you can find every game’s date, kickoff time and location. It will be updated with live scores throughout the night so you can track every game in progress.

>> You can find the full Week 3 Schedule and Scores right here! <<

Let’s get the experts to weigh in on Week 3′s schedule!

COVER 2

(KSAT)

I will be interested to see if the schools that have started off 2-0 will still be undefeated after Week 3 of the high school football season. There are at least three games I can think of off the top of my head that are a battle of the early unbeatens.

Taft vs. Holmes at Gustafson stadium, McCollum vs. Somerset and Central Catholic vs. Alamo Heights. This should be fun to see who is left standing.

The Cowboys and Bulldogs are our Big Game Coverage Game of the Week in Somerset in part because of how the Cowboys have dominated their first two opponents and how the Bulldogs scored the biggest upset of the season so far against Southside.

I’m also looking forward to how Judson responds after their blowout loss to Lake Travis when they face A&M Consolidated at Texas State in San Marcos. Should be a fun weekend.

(KSAT)

The Week 3 Big Game Coverage Road Trip will take us to Smithson Valley High school, New Braunfels High school and San Marcos High School.

This will give us a chance to see Smithson Valley offensive lineman Colton Thomasson in person. The junior offensive guard is 6′8″, 320 lb. In January, Colton said he was 403 pounds and knew for his own health he had to lose weight, so he changed his diet and lost 91 pounds. Colton took his slimmer physique to football camps across the country, and he received Power Five offers from Texas A&M, Baylor, Michigan State, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas along with an offer from UTSA. Colton gave his verbal commitment to Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies. He truly is a man among boys and towers over most defensive linemen.

This year marks the return of the Wurst Bowl between the New Braunfels Unicorns and New Braunfels Canyon Cougars. The rivalry game is named after the city’s iconic German festival, Wurstfest, which happens in the fall. The 2020 Wurst Bowl was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Unicorns have won six straight games in this series, with the Cougars last win coming in 2013.


Here’s some of the latest high school sports headlines that you might have missed:


Watch Instant Replay on KSAT 12 Sunday nights at 11

As always, Greg and Larry will recap all of the best highlights from Week 3 in the Best of BGC and unveil the updated rankings in KSAT 12′s Top 12 this Sunday night on Instant Replay. Catch you then!

Andrew Cely, KSAT 12 Sports Producer and Reporter

If you have any questions about this newsletter or story ideas for the season ahead, feel free to reach me via email at acely@ksat.com.