La Grange vs. Bellville

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Where: La Grange 2021 Records: LG was 7-5. Bellville was 12-1.

Of Note: What a juicy season-opening matchup this is. La Grange is ranked No. 24 in the 4A preseason rankings and Bellville is No. 12. The Brahmas started last season with 12 consecutive victories before falling to West Orange-Stark 36-17 in the third round of the playoffs, but Bellville returns just 13 letterwinners from that team and graduated 28 seniors including Richard Reese (now at Baylor) who ran a whopping 2,261 yards and 35 TDs last year and Robert Briggs (now at Utah State), who ran for 1,381 yards and 22 TDs last year ... This year Bellville returns seven offensive and five defensive starters including QB Reid McCann, who started five games last year and running back Jakob Hranicky (who ran for 490 yards a year ago). Look for lots of misdirection running plays from the Brahmas Slot-T offense. Defensive lineman DJ Sanders is just a sophomore but is already 6-foot-3, 280 pounds and getting college offers ... The Leps return four offensive and eight defensive starters from last year, including running back/ defensive back Bravion Rogers (who has offers from nearly everyone in the country as a DB) and lineman Jaren Woods (a Baylor commit). Other explosive offensive returns for the Leps include running backs CJ Davis and Jakobe Wilkerson, and WR Jaxon Cooper. It gets no easier for the Leps next week as La Grange goes to state ranked 3A Columbus. Last meeting: These two teams were in the same district as recently as 2019. That season the Brahmas won 52-27.