TYLER, Texas — Palestine Westwood was the center of the high school football news cycle on Monday, not just in East Texas but across the state.
The District 9-3A Division I District Executive Committee recommended that Westwood head football coach Richard Bishop be suspended for the remainder of the season following a ruling Monday regarding allegations that he orchestrated and executed a plan to videotape opponents’ signals while scouting. The committee also recommended that Westwood forfeit all of its district games for the 2024 season.
Westwood is appealing the ruling to the UIL and that meeting is set for 11:15 a.m. Thursday.
As a result, the Panthers — currently 7-0 — dropped one spot in this week’s #bEASTTexas Fabulous 15 in Class 3A/2A/TAPPS as some voters dropped the Panthers or removed them from their ballots following Monday’s announcement.
Westwood still received 171 points and is No. 4 in the small-school rankings behind unanimous No. 1 Malakoff, New Diana and Jefferson — all 7-0. The Panthers are one spot ahead of Winnsboro (7-1).
No new teams joined the 3A/2A/TAPPS rankings this week.
In Class 6A/5A/4A, Quinlan Ford (6-1) joined the rankings as Athens dropped out. The top five of Texas High, Carthage, Kilgore, Pine Tree and Longview remained the same.
Texas High received 10 first-place votes, Carthage four and Longview one.
Notable games this week are No. 4 Pine Tree at No. 8 Chapel Hill, No. 6 Gilmer at No. 10 Pleasant Grove, No. 6 Grand Saline at No. 13 Lone Oak, No. 10 Tatum at Atlanta, Mount Enterprise at No. 9 Lovelady, No. 12 Waskom at Big Sandy, No. 7 Lufkin at Port Arthur Memorial, Hawkins at No. 8 Beckville, and Teague at No. 4 Westwood.
Voters in the poll were Phil Hicks and Brandon Ogden of the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Jack Stallard and Thomas Bingham of the Longview News-Journal, Ryan Silapan of the Panola Watchman, Lauren Rosenberg of the Marshall News Messenger, Nathan Hague and John Krueger of the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, Edwin Quarles of the Lufkin Daily News, Jay Neal of the Jacksonville Progress, Serenity Douglas and Reagan Roy-Young of CBS19, Harlen the Sports Guy of the Friday Night Scoreboard Show, Bret Swinney of the Northeast Texas Sports Network/NETSN and Conrad Bahr of 99.9 KMOO FM.
#bEASTTexas Fabulous 15
6A/5A/4A
Team Pts. Rec. LW
1. Texas High (10) 217 8-0 1
2. Carthage (4) 213 6-1 2
3. Kilgore 184 6-2 3
4. Pine Tree 171 6-1 4
5. Longview (1) 169 5-2 5
6. Gilmer 152 5-2 6
7. Lufkin 145 6-1 7
8. Chapel Hill 110 6-2 11
9. Center 88 6-1 12
10. Pleasant Grove 87 5-2 13
11. Henderson 78 6-2 8
12. Van 73 5-2 9
13. Sulphur Springs 35 6-1 15
14. Canton 28 6-1 10
15. Quinlan Ford 20 6-1 NR
Others receiving votes: Marshall 18; Athens 7; Lindale 4.
Dropped out: No. 14 Athens.
3A/2A/TAPPS
Team Pts. Rec. LW
1. Malakoff (15) 225 7-0 1
2. New Diana 204 7-0 2
3. Jefferson 186 7-0 4
4. Westwood 171 7-0 3
5. Winnsboro 159 7-1 5
6. Grand Saline 150 7-0 6
7. Liberty-Eylau 131 6-1 7
8. Beckville 105 6-1 8
9. Lovelady 100 5-2 9
10. Tatum 83 5-2 10
11. Shelbyville 72 6-1 12
12. Waskom 57 5-2 11
13. Lone Oak 56 7-0 13
14. Honey Grove 31 7-1 15
15. Garrison 24 5-2 14
Others receiving votes: DeKalb 11; Mildred 10; Grapeland 7; Atlanta 5; Elysian Fields 4; Mount Enterprise 4; Grace Community 2; Brook Hill 1; Joaquin 1; Troup 1.
Dropped out: None.
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