Texas High School Football 2007 Preview: Cedar Hill

The Cedar Hill Longhorns are clearly a program on the rise. Last year, led by William Cole, the Longhorns surprised everyone by tearing up the competition all over the state and doing so in and impressive and dominating fashion. Must of this success has been attributed to the electric performance of William Cole, and left some critics claiming that Cedar Hill was just a one man show. This year they return with considerable talent and both sides of the ball, and are out to prove that their program is one of the nation's best.

In returning eight starters from their unbeaten '06 team, the Longhorns are once again loaded with talent. The most apparent change will be at quarterback. Last year, William Cole electrified the league with his exciting play. This year, James Hamilton, who was a special steams standout, will lead the offense, and is already being talked about as a fiery leader who is more than up for the challenge. Hamilton is a speedy kid who is a very tough runner and is hard to bring down.

In the backfield, Cedar Hill is loaded with talent as Imari Thompson, who is a proven starter, will return to share the load with sophomore Ben Malena. Many are intrigued with Malena since he dominated the junior varsity ranks last year scoring 25 touchdowns before he went down with a pulled hamstring that caused him to miss the playoffs. Malena is fully recovered and is expected to continue his impressive performance as he makes the jump to varsity ball. The backfield will be helped by an impressive offensive line headed by junior Thomas Ashcroft. His performance last year was key to the Longhorns success and is now being recognized as one of the best lineman in the country, and rightfully so. Joining him will be returning starters Osaze Idumwonyi and Michael Washington who will shore up the line and should provide consistent push for the Longhorn's talented tailbacks.

Even though many attributed Cedar Hill's surprising success to one man in the '06 campaign, their speedy defense was an integral part of their winning ways. This year's defensive crop looks to have that same blazing speed. Eight of their eleven projected defensive starter are listed with a with a 40 yard dash time of 4.6 or under.

A talent like William Cole is very hard to replace. That simple fact had many doubting what the Longhorns could do this year. But with impressive defensive speed and many returning starters, Cedar Hill is poised to make another run at the state championship.