James Madison Sports Blog

A few years ago and the Lee game was considered a bye week. Over the winter Lee was actually relegate to 4A before the NEISD stepped in a striated out some numbers for the UIL. 2006 has shown that Lee is here and ready to play 26-5A ball. This Lee team is not deep but has stayed healthy this season and brings to the table a D-I Running Back, a fast and smart QB and a one of the tallest, sure handed WR in the area. Lee lost their district opener to Roosevelt last week and even though it’s early the Vols will have their back to the wall as any team that starts 0-2 in this district can start looking to next year.

Vols Offence: After years of no size and no speed the Lee volunteers now have their triplets. Leading the way is the explosive and extremely fast running back Travis Lewis. Lewis who broke on the scene at last years Army All-American Bowl Combine where he ran the fastest 40 for a running back. What is even more exciting about Lewis is his size; at just over 6’2” and is hard to bring down. The Maverick Defense who has been stellar this year will have their hands full in this contest for when Lewis does not have the ball Junior QB Jerome Tiller runs the show. Lee likes to run the QB in the red zone when opponents are keying in on Lewis. Tiller has a nice arm and brings a district 26-5A best Qb rating of 135.09 to the contest. Tiller has not been picked off this year and has thrown 5 TDs. If that’s not enough to worry about Lee also has a big time WR in Molcolm Lindsey. While Lindsey was held in check against Roosevelt last week he averages 24 yards per reception and has 2 TD on the year. The rest of the offence is good and the line is large but a bit slow. Lee will hand the ball off to Lewis at least 25 times during the contest and will try to ride their three horses to victory.

Vols Defense: When you have a team with little depth you end up forcing your players to play both ways and Lee does that with several linemen and backs. The Vols keep their size and talent on the field as long as they can but if they get into a dog fight like they did last week they run into a fatigue problem. The defense has some size but is not a quick as other defenses the Mavs have seen. The Mavericks will be the first team that Lee has faced that brings multiple athletes to the offensive side of the ball and will be the biggest O-line Lee has seen also. The D-backs for the Vols have picked off three passes all against Highlands and returned one for a TD.

Vols Special Teams: The Vols have not been tested this year with an explosive return team but they seem to have good coverage on punts and kick returns. Lee’s punter is averaging 39 yards on punts and Lee has several place kickers all of whom are perfect on PATs and have not tried any FGs.

Vols Coaching and Extras: Head Coach Ramos is one of the best young coaches in the area and has always gotten the most out of what little talent he has. He has built the program up from being the door mat of 26-5A to a team that will give teams fits and could make a run as a contender for a playoff spot. Last year Madison played Lee in the rain and it was RB Lewis’s first game of the season coming off an injury. Lewis had a big game and gave Madison all they could handle before Madison pulled out the victory.


Go Mavs!