Thursdays with Jamie 9/29

• First up today, I want to put the spot light on another coach who has reached 300 wins for his career this month. Larry "Bud" Wright of Sheridan (Ind.) became the fifth Hoosier State coach to achieve the mark with his team's 47-14 rout of Delphi last Friday. Wright, who is the father of No. 4 Warren Central (Indianapolis) coach Kevin Wright, has led the Blackhawks to six state championships since becoming head coach in 1966. Among the great players Wright has coached are Chicago Bears punter Brad Maynard and former Indiana University running back Brett Law, whose 55 touchdowns in 1988 set a national record. Congratulations to one of the all-time greats.
• Please keep me informed of other coaching milestones, top performances, and other news and, of course, your views by emailing me at PrepNation@aol.com .

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National Prep Football Poll Top 25 predictions:

UPSET ALERT: No. 2 Southlake Carroll 37, Colleyville Heritage 28
No. 3 Lakeland 41, Lake Gibson 15
No. 4 Warren Central 42, Center Grove 10
No. 5 Bellevue 48, Mount Si 20
No. 6 Springdale 31, Fayetteville 17
UPSET ALERT: No. 7 Byrnes 39, Greenwood 18
UPSET ALERT: No. 8 Independence 28, Providence 20
No. 9 Longview 47, Mesquite Horn 21
No. 10 Camden County 40, Windsor Forest 3
No. 11 Glenville 70, East 0
No. 12 Landstown 36, Frank Cox 8
No. 13 Long Beach Poly 41, Dominguez 22
No. 14 Joliet Catholic 24, Carmel 6
No. 16 South Panola 37, Biloxi 12
No. 17 Hamilton 31, Desert Vista 10
No. 18 Bishop McDevitt 28, Carlisle 16
No. 19 Cincinnati St. Xavier 20, Elder 7
No. 20 Gilman 42, Archbishop Curley 0
No. 21 Lincoln-Way East 33, Lockport 17
No. 22. Riverdale 25, Wilson Central 13
No. 23 Eden Prairie 20, Chaska 6
No. 24 North Penn 27, Pennsbury 14
No. 25 Miami Central 32, Hialeah American 6

THIS WEEK'S MAILBAG

Assistant Coach Jeff Curtis (John Curtis HS, River Ridge, La.): We're back safe and sound at school. We werescheduled to play against Ferriday High School last Friday night, butsome girl named Rita ruined that. So, our season opener will be this Friday nightagainst a highly touted East St. John team at their stadium. Luckily I have a home togo home to that is basically in order and our life is somewhat back tonormal. It has been a hectic month to say the least though. We went through some roughmoments, but were and are blessed by God to have the things that westill have. This is the first opportunity I have had to sit at mycomputer at school and give an update to everybody. I hope all is wellwith everyone as our prayers go out to those many, many unfortunatepeople who lost a heck of a lot more than we did. It feels good tostart getting back to some sense of normalcy. UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS POST: In this excerpt from Coach Curtis' email, I previously posted that John Curtis HS lost 80 kids but had 60 new kids in from other schools. Some mis-read that to mean that JC's football team lost 80 players but picked up 60 new ones. To clarify, the ENTIRE SCHOOL had 80 students displaced by the hurricane, but had 60 new students enter the school from other schools. Again, this refers to general student population and has nothing to do with the football team specifically.

JD: It's music to my ears to hear that enough normalcy is resuming along the hurricane-ravaged areas of the gulf coast to know that things like football games are again important enough to talk about and prepare for. We wish John Curtis HS and all coaches, players and families affected by the hurricanes all the best as they continue to restore their lives.

Mr. Clean: Don't forget to keep an eye out for some of our teamsin Louisiana that are just now getting on the fielddue to the Hurricane. Previously-ranked John Curtisbegins its season this weekend against an East St.John team that has already played twice (1-1. Coupleof teams to keep an eye on...4A Ouachita (4-0,averaging 42 points per game) - I've seen this teamonce already in person and I'll do it again tomorrow. One of the best offenses that I've ever seen inLouisiana; almost up there with the Brock Berlin-ledEvangel teams. Ouachita dropped down from 5A thisyear and added a young new coach that was an offensivecoordinator at a Mississippi JUCO. The results havebeen amazing. Also, 2A St. James (Vacherie, Louisiana). That'sright, a 2A public school that is in John Curtis'district may be the best team in Louisiana. Undefeated right now at 3-0, including two dominantperformances over 5A teams, the Wildcats will trytheir hand against unbeaten and ranked 5A Destrehanthis week. St. James also defeated Hahnville atHahnville in a jamboree. Hahnville, for the record,beat East St. John in the opener for both teams.

JD: Thanks, as always, for the update, Clean. As I wrote before, it's a great sign to see HS football returning to the folks in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. I know how much it means to you all, and this season has felt pretty empty to me knowing that so many folks have been missing out because of the tragic storms.

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Please, whatever you do, DON'T keep your opinions to yourself. Email them to me at PrepNation@aol.com. I will include a mailbag feature on this blog as the emails come to me. You don't have to write me a book, just a short comment, question or suggestion and I will be happy to share your thoughts and my reply to the world. Thank you!