High School Notebook: news roundup for Sept. 8, 2011

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High School Notebook: news roundup for Sept. 8, 2011

Thursday September 8, 2011

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• Check out news & notes on the football teams from Crawford, Mart, Moody, Reicher and Valley Mills — click here to visit the High School Blog

FOOTBALL

Waco coach preaching mental part of game

Waco High coach Danny Ramsey considers himself a student of the mental side of the game.

There were some concrete mistakes to point to after a 41-31 loss to Copperas Cove last week. The defense was ground down to a nub in the second half. A pair of Darrell Harris fumbles hurt dearly. But the team’s mental response on the field was the key in Ramsey’s mind.

“Our defense has come along,” Ramsey said. “We’re working as a team to understand momentum and how it works for us, and how we have to stick our foot in the ground when it works against us.”

Cove held a 20-17 lead in the third quarter, and Waco High was poised to snatch the lead back when Harris fumbled on the Cove 6. Later, Waco High trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter when Harris fumbled again at midfield. Both miscues led to game-changing touchdowns.

While corralling the obvious mistakes will continue to be a teaching point, mastering the mental side is what Ramsey is really after.

“That took the wind out of our sails,” Ramsey said. “They need to learn that when I’m on the field, it’s my chance to give life to the team that’s not on the field.”

— Will Parchman

Lions’ Harris named 4A player of the week

Waco High running back Darrell Harris was named the Class 4A Build Ford Tough Player of the Week for Weeks 0-1 on Wednesday.

Harris rushed for 346 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-35 Zero Week win over Austin High and finished the game with 516 total yards, one of the top single-game rushing performances in Waco High history.

His 226 yards on 27 carries and two scores in a 41-31 loss to Copperas Cove last week brought his tally to 572 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in a mere two games.

— Parchman

Run aids Clifton QB’s maturation process

Clifton quarterback Zach Thiele isn’t exactly playing the role of the untested sophomore.

Thiele started the first game of his career in Zero Week against Hillsboro, calming his nerves to lead the Cubs to a 21-14 victory. He did it again last week, going 13-of-21 for 163 yards and rushing for 62 to lead Clifton over Rosebud-Lott, 34-21.

The Cubs are now 2-0 and marching closer to their first winning record in five years. After Clifton struggled at the state 7-on-7 tournament on his first stage as the Clifton starter, Thiele has come back with a vengeance.

“Zach’s done a great job,” Clifton coach Brandon Brown said. “He’s really stepped it up.”

It has helped that Clifton’s run game has been successful. Cody Franklin rushed for 173 yards last week, and Thiele handed it off to him 28 times. The split was about 65/35 in favor of the run, which will help get Thiele through the early part of his tenure as the shot-caller under center.

— Parchman

Turnovers dooming Marlin in defeats

Final scores can be deceiving, but they haven’t looked good in two games for Marlin.

The Bulldogs have dropped their first two contests by a combined score of 81-12, but coach Keith Willis isn’t panicking.

“There are no shipwrecks, nobody jumping ship here,” Willis said.

Marlin has been in both of its games at halftime, trailing Salado, 12-0, and Connally, 12-6. Those are the types of deficits the Bulldogs overcame last year, when they were a second-half team.

But they combined for 10 turnovers in those contests, giving their opponents ample opportunities to run away for wins.

“We’re playing decent ball, just turned the ball over (too much),” Willis said. “Against any kind of formidable opponent, that’s going to be tough. ... Against Connally, we had 300 yards of offense and lost, 40-6. We drive the field and fumble, drive the field and fumble. We’re going to be OK, but that’s where we need improvement.”

— Jason Orts

Injury bug forces Axtell to ‘improvise’

In Zero Week, Michael Milburn was the pride of the Axtell Longhorns. Last week, it was Justin Stranacher and Jacob Kubitza.

Following Milburn’s electrifying three special teams returns for touchdowns against Dawson, the Longhorn duo combined for 214 yards and was involved in five of six Axtell touchdowns.

It’s especially impressive for Kubitza, who had to carry most of the load at fullback and linebacker with backfield-mates Ty Saulter (collarbone) and Milburn (neck) out for most of the game.

“By halftime, we ran out of fullbacks,” Axtell coach Mike Cadell said. “We had to improvise. We moved our backup quarterback to fullback and our backup receiver also to the backfield.”

Those injuries allowed Bruceville-Eddy to stay tied with Axtell (2-0) in the first half, but Stranacher and Kubitza led the way to a 21-0 second-half shutout. Stranacher finished just short of the century mark on the ground, and Kubitza had 117 yards.

— Brian Bateman

Reicher honoring former coach Vasek

Reicher will host a banquet to honor former coach John Vasek’s contributions to the school Oct. 1 at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

Vasek was Reicher’s first full-time coach and guided the Cougars to four state championships in his 12-year tenure from 1956 to 1968.

There will be a cash-bar cocktail reception at 5 p.m. with and a program to follow. Reservations and payment of $40 per person must be made by Sept. 16 to John Vasek Celebration, c/o J.P. Davis, 5024 Brooks Drive, Waco, TX 76710. For more information, call Davis at 254-744-9584.

— Orts

Floyd Casey to host Stars this season

The TCA football team will play out the rest of its 2011 home slate at Floyd Casey Stadium.

The sprinkler system at TCA’s field across Bagby Avenue from Waco ISD Stadium broke down in the offseason. The field became chapped and dry in the midst of a withering drought, and the failed sprinkler valves allowed fissures to develop in the field’s parched turf.

“The field is burned up,” TCA coach Darrell Selke said. “It had big cracks in it and we just felt it was unsafe to play on.”

Selke hopes to fix the pricey sprinkler system in the offseason, but in the meantime, TCA had to switch two home games to away games. That leaves the Stars with three home games at Floyd Casey this year: tonight against Frost, Oct. 13 against Richardson Canyon Creek and Oct. 21 against Dallas Lakehill. The latter two are district contests.

Home games against Milano and Valley Mills were already moved to away games. The Stars lost both to start the year 0-2.

— Parchman

VOLLEYBALL

Inconsistency plagues inexperienced Midway

A lack of experience often means inconsistency.

That’s certainly the case for Midway’s volleyball team so far, which is learning with each match despite having eight seniors on the roster.

“We’re just trying to find some good consistency, because there’s bad consistency, too,” Midway coach Janet Angell said.

The Pantherettes can lean on one of the top players in the area in Texas A&M commit Jazzmin Babers up front, and Angell said Shannon Spivey and Angel Summers are also putting in strong hitting work.

It’s been an up-and-down proposition defensively, and that’s where Angell wants to see the most improvement before District 8-4A play begins.

“Even with that, there have been some days when we’ve been just great,” Angell said. “Then some days, we look like we haven’t seen a volleyball before. No, it hasn’t really been that bad, but it wears and tears on us emotionally. We’ve got to keep ourselves up when district starts. That’s the season that matters.”

— Orts

Gatesville living up to top-5 expectations

The Gatesville volleyball team has done nothing to dispel thoughts that the No. 5 Lady Hornets are set to continue their dominance in District 19-3A this year.

The Lady Hornets, 22-2 after Tuesday’s three-set demolition of University, have torched their schedule with the kind of talent that’s led them to a 29-match win streak in district and three straight district titles. Gatesville’s most known threat is still 6-foot-3 middle blocker Glynna Johnson, but things have been surprisingly balanced throughout the season.

Senior outside hitters Skye Truss and Daija Ward have carried their share of the load, and setter Kaitlin Poe has been a bright spot as well.

But as Johnson goes, Gatesville goes. And things are going quite well thus far. With district starting in two weeks against La Vega, the season’s only just heating up.

“She’s been doing what we need her to do,” Gatesville coach Rickey Phillips said of Johnson. “She’s dominant in most games. She’s a big old kid. She looks impressive.”

— Parchman

Whitney rebuilds after losing strong seniors

Whitney has just one returner from last year’s 37-3 regional final team, which has left the team inconsistent so far this season.

“We have definitely improved our skills,” Whitney coach Cheryl Gilchrist said. “I have seen a huge difference from our first scrimmage to now. Hopefully we can fix the mistakes we are having from being young.”

Last year’s Super Centex Newcomer of the Year Kelsey Leech is the lone returner to a team that has just one senior on the roster and will rely heavily on underclassmen when district starts Friday.

Leech blended well with the senior talent the Wildcats possessed a year ago. The junior was a team leader in digs as well being a key contributor in almost every statistic while not missing a match throughout the year. This year Leech will need to add leadership to her list of contributions.

— Ash

Crawford carrying momentum into 16-2A

Crawford coach Jeff Coker would be more than pleased to see his team perform in the district season like it did Tuesday in a three-set win over Robinson in its final nondistrict game of the season.

But it’s not going to be easy, especially with a roster littered with District 16-2A first-timers.

Five sophomores and a freshman highlight the eight-player squad, with seniors Haley Daily and first-team Super Centex performer Kirsten Goodwin as the only upperclassmen.

“We’ve got a lot of kids that are going through their first district experience, so we have to see how they show up and play,” Coker said. “If they keep playing at the level they did (Tuesday), we’ll be really good.”

Franklin dropped a five-set match to the Lady Pirates in a first-place playoff match last season and appears to be Crawford’s main competition again. Bruceville-Eddy will also be in the mix, with the return of district newcomer of the year Shelby Friudenberg.

Marlin and Rosebud-Lott have new coaches and are relative unknowns, Coker said, but he’s fully aware of what Troy’s new coach, Shay Douglas, brings to the table.

“I know she’s really good,” Coker said. “When I was coaching at Azle, (Douglas) was playing at Stephenville, and she killed us every time. They’re going to be getting better and better, and they have good athletes there.”

— Orts

Reicher opens district with 4-set triumph

Reicher started District 2-4A play on the right foot with a four-set win over Dallas First Baptist on Tuesday.

Hayleah Castilleja had 32 digs, Kaila Lancaster had 13 kills and 18 assists, while Chelsea Castilleja had 12 kills of her own.

The Lady Cougars face Dallas Parish Episcopal, a state semifinalist from 2010, in their second game tonight at home, and travel to meet Tyler Grace Community on Tuesday.

— Bateman