Tigers take on the herd

The defending-state champion Rockdale Tigers will open their 2018 season on Friday at Giddings against a team that’s being led by a new head coach.

First-year Buffalo head coach Wade Griffin was at Brewer High School in the White Settlement Independent School District, near Fort Worth for four seasons.

“They’ve got a new coach,” said Jeff Miller, athletic director and head football coach at Rockdale High School, “ but (Giddings) always has a lot of talent and you can always expect them to be a good team.”

The Buffaloes were 4-1 in district play last year, before their winning season was cut short after a first round loss in the playoffs to the Fairfield Eagles, 41-2.

Giddings was picked second in district 12-4A Division II by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine after long-time district rival, Bellville.

The Buffaloes have twenty returning varsity members including senior wide receiver Jaylon Joiner, who compiled 688 receiving yards last fall, and is also picked to be the offensive MVP in their district by Texas Football.

Scrimmage–The Rockdale Tigers had their second and final scrimmage against the Mexia Blackcats on Thursday, Aug. 23, at Lion Stadium in Franklin. The soil on Black-cat Field was being re-done. Mexia’s home opener against Cameron High School on Aug. 31 has been moved to Alvarado High School.

“I felt like we did much better against Mexia,” said Miller. “We did well on defense and there was much more intensity this week.”

The Mexia Blackcats would score three times in the scrimmage, including an 85-yard run, a 55-yard run, and a short slant that was caught by a Mexia receiver where he broke free from the Tiger defense to make his way to an open end zone.

The Tigers racked up a lot of yards over the course of the evening, but never made it into the end zone.

Miller said he felt the scrimmage was even for the most part and that Mexia put up more of a challenge for the Tigers, than their opponent last week.

“This was a really good 4-A team,” said Miller, “(Mexia) is going to make a lot of noise this year.”

Miller said the goal of scrimmages and their pre-district schedule is to challenge his players and see what each player can do on the fi eld.

The four-week process gets the team ready for their district opener against Manor New Tech on Oct. 4, according to Miller. The district opener will be the first game at the new Tiger Stadium, which is on schedule to be completed Sept. 15, according to Miller.