Football: Dave Campbell's Texas Football paying close attention to Odessa

No matter the team, no matter the town, one football magazine is required reading every year for high school football coaches and fans all over the state of Texas.

From Amarillo to Corpus Christi, from El Paso to Port Neches Groves, nearly every fan pays attention to Dave Campbell's Texas Football.

For the first time since 2003, though, the magazine decided to make an appearance at Permian Thursday night as part of the Dave Campbell Texas Classic Road Tour.

The staff at the magazine, which prints its 50th edition this year, has been paying plenty of attention to football in Odessa.

"We've got both teams finishing 1-2 in the district," said Adam Hochfelder, the general manager of Dave Campbell's Texas Football. "It should be fun going back to the glory days in this part of the state."

Permian is ranked sixth in Class 5A in this season's edition of the magazine. Odessa High comes in ranked 14th in a poll compiled by Dave Campbell's staffers and Carl Padilla, the creator of the Padilla poll.

For the purposes of the magazine's summer tour, though, Permian became a stop for the bus because the Panthers open their season against Duncanville on August 29 in San Antonio as part of the annual Dave Campbell's Texas Football Classic.

The Ector County Independent School District has been given 3,500 tickets to sell to the season opener in San Antonio. Dave Campbell's Texas Classic Road Tour came to Odessa to promote the Kickoff Classic, but that season opener is a game that shouldn't need any extra hype.

With the return of Gary Gaines to Permian, Duncanville's second year under the guidance of respected coach Jeff Dicus and a pair of talented rosters, Dave Campbell himself thinks he's got a matchup the rest of the state will be dying to see.

"It ought to be a corker," Campbell said. "We try to get matchups that make a lot of sense, that will draw people, that will have bearing on the how the state rankings look, and we think this one will be a real crowd-pleaser."

Playing in the Texas Kickoff Classic will also be an opportunity for Permian to carry the flag for the rest of District 2-5A, a district that the Dave Campbell's Texas Football staff greatly respect.

The magazine ranked 2-5A among the four toughest districts in the entire state.

"If you've looked at the book this year, we talked a little bit about the power shifting to the suburbs along I-35," Hochfelder said. "District 2-5A is the outpost in West Texas that we think could really have an impact on the state playoffs."

Judging by the reaction from fans lined up to get Campbell's signature at Permian Thursday night, Dave Campbell's Texas Football gets the same kind of respect from West Texas.

Gaines picked up his first copy in 1960.

He's gotten another one every year since that first year.

"I think most coaches have one in their midst," Gaines said. "It's a good resource. It's probably the best high school publication we have."

And this year its eyes are focused squarely on Odessa.