ETSN.fm Preseason Class 6A/5A Poll: No. 6, Whitehouse Wildcats

For years, Whitehouse football was about as irrelevant a program as any in East Texas. Not anymore. When the Wildcats missed the playoffs last season, it came as a genuine shock.

Whitehouse begins the 2015 season ranked No. 6 in ETSN.fm's preseason Class 6A/5A poll, eager to make amends for its string of eight consecutive playoff berths coming to an end last fall.

To be fair, Whitehouse graduated arguably the school's most-accomplished senior class the year before -- a group, headlined by current Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, that went 22-3 in 2012 and 2013.

Whitehouse won its first three games last year, but struggled in District 16-5A, a league that also featured eventual Division II state champion Ennis, Division I semifinalist John Tyler, and traditional power Lufkin -- one of the state's largest schools in the 5A classification.

When the smoke cleared, Whitehouse broke even at 5-5.

But a seasoned 2016 class led by receivers Shemar Smith and Trent Williams, and an impressive junior group highlighted by linebacker Khyree Key and QB/ATH Tanner Roach, should have the Wildcats in good position to return to the postseason.

A challenging non-district slate consisting of Texas High, Chapel Hill, and Sulphur Springs leads right into a daunting gauntlet to begin 16-5A -- at John Tyler, vs. Lufkin, at Ennis.

2015 Whitehouse Wildcats Football Schedule

Date	Opponent	Time/Result
Aug. 28	Texas High	L 48-20
Sept. 3	vs. Chapel Hill (at TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler)	W 51-21
Sept. 11	at Sulphur Springs	W 66-21
Sept. 18	OPEN
Sept. 25	*at John Tyler	L 65-33
Oct. 2	*Lufkin	L 47-3
Oct. 9	*at Ennis	L 43-21
Oct. 16	*Corsicana	L 59-23
Oct. 23	*at Jacksonville	L 29-9
Oct. 30	*Nacogdoches	L 51-21
Nov. 6	*at Lindale	L 41-25