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Friday, September 29, 2000

Aransas Pass, Odem confound preseason expectations
Favorite is struggling, underdog rolling as area districts begin competition
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times
Before the start of the football season, David Kleinhans and Gary Davenport figured to be at opposite ends of the District 30-3A race. Kleinhans was rebuilding at Odem High School, while Aransas Pass - despite key personnel losses - was expected to vie for the playoffs.
   As district play kicks off tonight, the teams have had contrary results in non-district play; the Owls are unbeaten and Davenport's Panthers winless.
   "Obviously, we would have liked to gone into district play with a win," Davenport said. "Nothing solves problems like winning."
   Aransas Pass and others can start solving problems as district play begins. A total of 14 area teams and three districts begin inter-district play this weekend. In addition to 30-3A, 29-5A begins play, as does 29-3A, which features Goliad.
   It's 30-3A that presents the biggest mystery. In the preseason, as many as five teams that made the 1999 playoffs - AP, George West, Mathis, Sinton and West Oso - were expected to contend this year for the district's three playoff spots.
   Form has held to some extent. Sinton and George West have looked strong in going unbeaten, while Mathis has one loss, that coming to 2A power Refugio.
   But AP, which travels to West Oso tonight, has had a rocky start, while the host Bears, which won at Port Lavaca Calhoun last week, seem to be rebounding from a season-opening beating by Rice Consolidated and an overtime loss to Refugio.
   For the Panthers, it hasn't necessarily been the defeats themselves, but how they've occurred. The offense was stuffed in a season-opening defeat against Refugio, then the Panthers were edged by Rockport-Fulton, followed by a blowout loss at Cuero.
   Don't be fooled by the record, said Terry Avery, West Oso's coach.
   "That's not indicative of the type of team they are," Avery said. "We know they're 0-3, but they'll be hungry to get that first win."
   Still, Davenport has seen some positives to take into district play.
   "We've played an extremely tough schedule," he said. "The most positive aspect is that the kids didn't quit and played hard. We had made some mistakes early on, but those have been corrected."
   On the polar opposite end of the scale is Odem, which has looked impressive in winning its first three games. Kleinhans feels his schedule of Bishop, Skidmore-Tynan and San Diego wasn't as rugged as the one faced by AP, and doesn't believe anything has changed in regards to district favorites.
   "I think you base it not on record, but on who somebody is playing," said Kleinhans, whose team hosts George West. "Right now, Aransas Pass is 0-3 and we're 3-0. But that doesn't put us ahead of them in the district. Look at who they've played and who we've played. They still have to be one of the favorites in this district.
   "I don't know if we're a favorite or not," admitted Kleinhans. "We've probably shown people we're a little stronger than they expected. I still don't know if we have moved ourselves into the top three in the district."
   But in terms of confidence, Odem is at the top.
   "It helps. No doubt, having success early shows them what they're capable of doing," Kleinhans said. "You don't want them to be beaten down and discouraged early. You taste some success and build on that."



Staff writer Lee Goddard can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at goddardl@caller.com

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