Melissa Gaona photo Top: Bear Charlie Stringer dodges the opponents offense and gets the Bears a first down The Brownsboro Bears will play the first district 20-3A game, Friday, October 10, against Westwood in the Panther Stadium. Kickoff will begin at 7:30p.m.

Westwood is currently 2-3. Their losses came up against Chapel Hill, Bullard and Arp. They defeated Madisonville and Groesbeck. Quarterback Tevin Watson is leading the Panthers in rushing yards with 275 and 6 touchdowns. Watson has completed 613 yards passing for five touchdowns. Runningback D.J. Morrow was said to be one of the players to watch out for. Even though Morrow has set out for the past three games he is expected to play in the district opener Bears vs. Panthers game Friday night. Still, defensive end Sam Dunnam and Rodney Watson are just some of the powerhouse players. They combined for nine sacks in their last game against Groesbeck.

The Bears have five games left to play, that is of course, unless they take it to the playoffs. The five teams the Bears will go up against are the Westwood Panthers, the Fairfield Eagles, the Palestine Wildcats, Crockett's Bulldogs and the Athens Hornets. Out of these teams Brownsboro and Athens have the winning records so far. Brownsboro with 4-1 and Athens at 3-2.

The records so far really don't matter and that was evident in the game Bears vs. Wildcats two weeks ago, when Brownsboro fell to Rains. Rains went into that game winless with a record of 0-3 and the Bears were 4-0.

The Bears look prepared in both the passing and running game. Bailey has already passed for 1,081 yards with the help and protection of offensive linemen like, Colton Croley, Matt Bouchillon, Glen Devlin and Chance Parks. The Bears have rushed for a total of 1,158. Currently leading in rushing yards is Bear Runningback Cameron Warren.

Last year Quarterback Zach Bailey passed for 1,935 yards, completed 154 of 294, with 14 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions.

Defensively, the Bears make their opponents work for the touchdown. For example, Bear Jared Bray, who thrives on pressuring the quarterbacks and if not watched carefully, he will get the sack. Defensive players Michael House, Tyler Rogers, Charlie Stringer, Daniel Suggs, Will Jones, Peyton Williams, Dustin Lackey, Jose Herandez and Adam Dingler like to simply drill into the offensive line and at times have allowed no yardage on a series.

The Bears are scheduled to host the Fairfield Eagles on October 17, at the Bears Stadium. The Eagles are currently 2-2. The losses were to China Spring and Gatesville, while the wins were against Ferris and Crandall. The team has a new coach this year; Coach Darrell Piske. Fairfield's Quarterback Dalton Piske has thrown for 476 yards and four touchdowns. Piske is also leading the Panthers in rushing yards with 319 and three touchdowns.

The third district game, Brownsboro vs. Palestine, will take place Friday, October 24, at the Wildcat Stadium. Palestine has won only one game against Rusk and fell to Navasota, Van, Jacksonville and Kilgore, giving them good preparation for district play and a current record of 1-4.

Crockett, who was ranked the highest coming into the 2008 season, will visit Brownsboro on Halloween night. The Bulldogs are currently 2-2 with victories over Coldspring and Mexia and losses against Corrigan Camden and Waco LaVega. Crockett will be absent of Runningback Tyler Tabor who was injured in the Bulldogs first game against Coldspring. Players to watch for are linebacker Mark Leediker and free safety Jagared Davis.

The Bears will then travel to Athens to take on the Hornets, Friday, November 7. Athens has won against Wills Point, Mabank and Bullard. The losses came up against Mexia and Chapel Hill making them 3-2. The Hornets district opener will be against Crockett. With Athens at a non-district winning record and Crockett going into the season ranked the highest, this should give Brownsboro fans something to observe before the Bears play both of these teams. Linebacker Stephen Blackmore and Defensive back Randall Gamble have led the Hornets running game. Blackmore has rushed for 307 yards and five touchdowns, while Gamble has rushed 306 yards and one touchdown.

So, forget the non-district game records because each of these teams has something to bring to the table. It's all fair game from here.