Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 321.29 Water Temperature:
88  degrees - top
85 degrees - bottom

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Mabank Panther noseguard Denny Smith (center) fights through a double-team block during football practice Monday. The Panthers will host Jacksonville for their first controlled scrimmage at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 14.

Mabank’s freshmen and junior varsity will open Saturday’s scrimmage against the Jacksonville Indians at 9 a.m., with the varsity following.
“We’re looking all right,” Mabank head coach Jimmy Cantrell said Monday.
“Offensively, we didn’t have a whole lot in place, since we have a new coordinator (Jeff Harvey), but they’re picking it up pretty fast,” Cantrell said. “I believe we’re a little ahead of where I thought we’d be.
“Defensively, we need to work on our pursuit and tackling,” he added. “We also need to work on our communication, but that’s to be expected when you have all new people in your secondary.”
A playoff team last year, Jacksonville is a pre-season pick to take the fourth-place playoff spot in District 14-4A, behind loop favorite Tyler John Tyler, Marshall and Whitehouse.
The Indians have last year’s district MVP returning in quarterback Ryan Black and a huge offensive line.
Kemp’s Yellowjackets will travel to Brownsboro to face the Bears in a 9 a.m. controlled scrimmage.
The Bears are a pre-season pick to be one of the three playoff teams out of District 17-3A, along with Tyler Chapel Hill and Athens.
Brownsboro returns seven offensive and six defensive starters from last year’s 8-2 playoff team, which defeated a mistake-prone Kemp team 36-21 in the season opener at Van.
“Brownsboro will be a good test for us,” Kemp head coach Greg Anderson said Monday. “We’ll know where our weaknesses are and what areas we’ll need to work on.”
Anderson said the Yellowjackets started two-a-days in pretty decent shape.
“Our retention level has been good, so we’re moving through the offense fairly quickly,” he added. “I feel good about how we look.”
Eustace’s Bulldogs will host the Scurry-Rosser Wildcats at 9 a.m. Saturday in the opening controlled scrimmage for both clubs.
“Our conditioning is good – better than I thought,” Bulldog head coach Doug Wendel said Monday. “Of course, the attitude and the effort is there. That makes it fun to coach – they do whatever we ask them to do.”
Both the Bulldogs and Wildcats are in District 6-2A, although Eustace is in Division I and Scurry-Rosser is in Division II.
The Wildcats have four starters returning on both sides of the ball from last year’s 3-7 squad. They are picked fourth in the six-team district in pre-season polls, behind loop favorite Lone Oak, Edgewood and Corsicana Mildred.
“Just as I was aware of in January, depth is very much a concern, but we’re improving every day,” Wendel said. “We’ll be looking at specific things on specific plays, evaluating personnel, during our scrimmages.”