Photo by Aaron Sprecher

Just another record-breaking night for the Cougars.

​Check out our slideshow of last night's rainy Bayou Bucket game.

Houston's Tyron Carrier took the opening kickoff 100 yards for the touchdown to quickly put the Cougars up 7-0. Then the rain hit and the Rice Owls came out in the wildcat offense, with Turner Petersen and Tyler Smith running the ball up the middle of the UH offense. Rice was up 17-7 by the time rain stopped, and they appeared to be up by that score when the first quarter ended.

But a pass interference penalty was called on Rice, giving the Cougars one last play in the first quarter. And Case Keenum located Patrick Edwards speeding away from Rice's Bryce Callahan and the score was 17-14 Rice. Rice got one more field goal to lead 20-14. But by the time the half rolled around, the Cougars were up 38-20 and the question wasn't whether the Cougars would hold on to win the game. The question was just how badly the Coogs would kick Rice's ass.

The answer was bad, very badly. In as the Cougars had a record-breaking night. Keenum set the NCAA record for career TD passes on Houston's first possession of the third quarter. Carrier's opening kickoff return tied the NCAA record for TDs on kickoff returns, and Carrier set the team's career record for receptions. Edwards set his career-high with five TD receptions, and he tied the UH record for career-touchdown receptions of 34 (tied Elmo Wright). Keenum set his career record with nine TDs in a game (tying David Klingler for second place). And that was all before the fourth quarter got under way, with the Cougars up 66-34 in a game they would win 73-34.

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​Last week, Derek Sheely, a fullback for Frostburg State University (Maryland), lost consciousness during an ordinary drill in football practice. Less than a week later, the 22-year-old passed away due to head trauma suffered in the sport, according to his father, who spoke to The New York Times.

As explored in our "Knocked Out" cover story, concussions can be much more catastrophic for participants in youth sports compared to adult athletes.

In 2004, Denver-area teen Jake Snakenberg collapsed and died after hitting his head in football twice within a week. In 2008, high school football linebacker Ryne Dougherty fell into a coma and died after sustaining his second blow to the head in a month.

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Daniel Kramer

​Justin Landers, head athletic trainer at Katy High School, leads me to a secret stash of football equipment. The attic-like room, which is only accessible by one skinny wood ladder, is floor to ceiling and wall to wall with hundreds of helmets and shoulder pads.

Landers combs through the well-organized racks of white helmets and pulls out several that were worn by Tiger players in the 1980s and 1990s. Later in a downstairs meeting room, Landers, the son of a helmet salesman, lays out these antiquated brain protectors alongside the just-received Riddell Revolution Speed headgear. The differences are noticeable by look and -- after trying on several -- feel.

I'm here as part of my research for this week's feature "Knocked Out," in which fellow Village Voice Media reporter Gus Garcia-Roberts from Miami and I looked at the effect of concussions on young athletes.

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"Smurf turf" is coming to Canutillo High.

​West Texas's Canutillo Independent School District hasn't been bringing in much green of late, so they've decided to sing the $350,000 blues.

Last week, the CISD Board of Trustees approved the installation of a "smurf turf" field that will replace, for "student safety reasons," a green artificial playing surface.

Located approximately 15 miles northwest of El Paso, the town of Canutillo (with an estimated population of 5,500) and its Eagles, who compete in the large 4A division, will boast the only blue football field in West Texas. (Hidalgo High, located near McAllen, currently boasts a navy surface while New Braunfels's Canyon High competes on a neon red pitch.) Playing on a run-of-the-mill green field, last year's Canutillo team finished with a 7-4 record.

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If you're not a college football fan, you're unaware that today is National Signing Day, when high school seniors sign letters binding them to a college.

If you're a certain type of college football fan -- the type who obsesses over the decision-making process used by 18-year-old pampered jocks, for instance -- you know all too well what today is. It is the day that will make or break your favorite program. Until next year, that is.

Five things that make this day so damn silly for most of us:

5. The Hat Dance
People thought LeBron James overdid it with his self-loving televised declaration of where he'd play this season. They should see all the high schoolers teasing out -- on national TV -- where they will be going, using whatever props come in handy.

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High school football is usually the best provider of trick plays, because hey, it's high school and kids are easily distracted.

Pearland High won the 5A state crown in dramatic fashion over the weekend, knocking off favored Euless Trinity 28-24 in front of 43,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium.

Included in the Oilers' scoring was the trick play embedded above.

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Photo by Chasen Marshall

Yates High '85: the debate continues over whether it was the greatest Texas team ever.

Twenty-five years ago, Houston was home to, arguably, the greatest high school football team ever to take the field in Texas. During that season, Yates High was unstoppable on offense and impenetrable on defense. The team finished a perfect 16-0, racking up a still-record 659 points along the way. In the 5A state championship, in a game the media said Yates could not win, the team dominated the defending champs from Odessa Permian, 37-0.More >>

Let me preface this post by saying that I love my kids, all three of them. They are named James, Judy Anne, and Sammy and they are ages 12, 12, and 11.

They have all played sports since virtually the time they could walk and attending their sporting events -- whether it's soccer, football, baseball, whatever -- is one of my greatest thrills. As a parent, it's fun watching your kids compete. It never gets old.

That's the fun part. Unfortunately, the youth sports experience oftentimes also comes with a side of a douchebaggery, namely the small handful of parents whose scouting report on their kid is about three letter grades higher than it should be and who treats every single call like he has an eight-team parlay riding on the outcome of the game.

Every team seemingly has one, and the bigger the stakes (i.e. travel soccer, state cup) the louder he is. They're as woven into the fabric of youth sports as orange slices at halftime.

So were we really all that surprised when a bench-clearing brawl broke out between coaching staffs of a Pearland pee wee football game this week?

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Photo by Chasen Marshall

One of many Katy High TDs on opening night

​Click here for a slideshow from the Katy/North Shore game Friday night.

The east stands were alive and doused in red, with chants of "Ka-ty! Ka-ty! Ka-ty!" before the team had even taken the field. The number of dancers and cheerleaders rivaled that of the football team. Once the players broke through the massive banner, the roar of the crowd reached a new level. The first kickoff of the first Friday night of the 2010 high school football season was minutes away.

On the opposite sideline, eight members of the North Shore ROTC led the team onto the field, each bearing a flag with a single letter, reading "M-U-S-T-A-N-G-S". Above the packed North Shore stands, the press box was also full -- talk among the media was a close game. On the field, the end line was littered with photographers and their telephoto lenses.

The game between Katy and North Shore was the headline high school event in the region on Friday evening. All that was missing was the military fly-over.

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Sacred grounds

​This evening marks the start of another high school football season. Entire cities and towns will be shuttering their doors and congregating at the central holy ground: the football stadium. Well, that may not be the case in Houston, but certainly in Dillon and West Canaan. (Oh, those are fictional towns? Hollywood, you tricky minx, you!)

It's no secret that football is a big deal across the state of Texas. Some top college and professional talent was born and bred here, and the state continues to produce quality players year after year. By the rankings on MaxPreps.com, heading into the upcoming season, three of the top 25 programs in the nation are from the Lone Star State.

Hollywood really has done its best to capitalize on and bastardize football's place in the high school landscape, especially in Texas. True, there are those towns where football means more than the Virgin Mary, but that's not all of Texas.

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