Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 321.71
Water Temperature:
na degrees - top
83 degrees - bottom

Scrimmages set tonight at area schools
Monitor Staff Reports
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–Area football coaches reported seeing the usual mix of good and bad at Saturday’s first scrimmages.
All three area teams will hold their second controlled scrimmages at home Thursday (tonight), as Mabank hosts Canton, Kemp hosts Edgewood and Eustace hosts Elkhart.
Mabank was supposed to hold tonight’s scrimmage in Canton, but work to install artificial turf in Norris Birdwell Stadium remains underway, which may force the Eagles to play their first scheduled home game on the road.
Tonight’s schedule has freshmen opening play on the Panther Stadium turf at 5 p.m., with the junior varsity set to follow at 6 p.m. Varsity players will begin their portion of the scrimmage about 7:15 p.m.
Panther head coach Jimmy Cantrell said he wasn’t disappointed at what he saw in Saturday’s scrimmage against the Mineola Yellowjackets.
“I thought we were a little further along than we are,” he said. “Our kids hadn’t seen a Mineola-type offense, not at full game speed.”
Mineola took advantage of the Panther defense running to the ball by using several counter plays, which proved successful early.
“Our offensive protection looked pretty good, and I think our defense got decent pressure on their quarterback,” Cantrell added.
During the quarter of simulated game conditions, the Panther offense notched three-and-outs on their first two possessions, causing some worry on the Mabank sideline.
“Then, things started clicking, and we scored three quick touchdowns,” Cantrell said. “We need to focus on the defense and be prepared for those situations.”
Cantrell said the high-risk nature of the Panther spread offense may prompt him to rethink kickoffs, punts and returns in terms of field position.
At Kemp, the Yellowjackets are scheduled to host the Edgewood Bulldogs, opening with the junior varsity at 5:30 p.m., followed by the varsity about 6:45 p.m.
Saturday, the ’Jackets traveled to Grand Saline for a controlled scrimmage against the hosting Indians and the White Oak Roughnecks.
“It looked like other first scrimmages,” new head coach Greg Anderson said. “We saw some good things, and we saw a lot of things we’ve got to keep working on.”
During a film session, Anderson pointed out to the team where one player’s breakdown would make the difference between a one-yard gain and a big play.
“I thought our linebacker play was good at times,” Anderson said.
“The best thing was that 99 percent of what (mistakes) we saw are correctable,” he added. “We still need a lot of work up front, in our offensive and defensive lines.”
Tonight’s scrimmage at Eustace against the Elkhart Elks will inaugurate the new artificial turf of Bulldog Stadium. The junior varsity is set to begin at 6 p.m., followed at 7 p.m. by the varsity tilt.
Saturday’s scrimmage at Palestine Westwood showed “we’re just like everybody else – we’ve got a lot to work on,” new head coach Doug Wendel said. “The best thing was that we came out of it healthy.”
Westwood’s Panthers showed outstanding athletic ability by being able to pull away from Bulldog defenders once in the open – and other coaches noted that blazing team speed is something the Panthers will be showing a lot of people this year.
“We’ve got a lot of young players who are not used to game speed,” Wendel said. “The kids responded well. We were a little wide-eyed early, but we bounced back and played every down.”
Wendel noted the play of Josh Lopez at left guard, the play of the fullbacks, and “Chris Compton’s poise at quarterback” as positives during the scrimmage.
 

Eustace goes 2-1 at Van tournament
Monitor Staff Reports
VAN–Whitehouse handed the Eustace Lady Bulldogs their first loss during the Van Invitational tournament last weekend.
Now 3-1 on the season, the Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to host the Athens Lady Hornets and the Ennis Lady Lions in a dual match Tuesday.
Thursday (today), the Lady Bulldogs host the annual Eustace Invitational, with pool play opening at 8 a.m., continuing Friday, Aug. 24, to establish bracket teams for Saturday, Aug. 25 (see related story below).
Tuesday, Aug. 28, the Lady Bulldogs will visit Athens for a rematch, and then will host Malakoff Friday, Aug. 31. Both teams open with 4:30 p.m. freshman matches.
At Van last weekend, Eustace opened with a 2-1 win over the hosting Lady Vandals, but then completely lost focus against Whitehouse after a three-hour wait.
Three minutes after the 2-0 Whitehouse loss, the Lady Bulldogs bounced back to take a 2-1 win over future district foe Kaufman.
In the tournament opener against Van, the Lady Bulldogs got six kills, two blocks and 21 points from Cassie Freeman, along with five blocks and one kill from Camille Rogers and three blocks and one kill from Rebekah Walter.
Jenny McConathy added three blocks and one kill to score nine points, while Nicole McNeel had two kills and seven assists to total 13 points.
Despite the 20-25, 25-21 and 25-17 win, veteran coach Chuck Powers noted the team played sluggishly, with little confidence.
Against Whitehouse, the Lady Bulldogs “flat forgot to play,” Powers said, losing 25-8, 25-9.
Eustace bounced back to knock off Kaufman 25-20, 21-25 and 25-21 behind Freeman’s eight kills and two blocks.
Rogers added six blocks, while Walter had five. McNeel had two kills and five assists, and McConathy had one kill and two blocks in leading the team with 13 points.
Caty DiBari added four assists and scored 10 points.
In sub-varsity games, the Eustace Junior Varsity hosted a tournament, and the Lady Bulldog freshman played in a tournament at Mabank.
The freshmen advanced to the championship game, downing Brownsboro 2-0 and hosting Mabank 2-0, before losing to Mabank, 2-1.
In the championship game, the Lady Bulldog frosh lost to Mabank 2-0.
Allison Cass had several service aces, while Halie Mathis made several excellent passes from the back row.
The junior varsity Lady Bulldogs lost to Scurry-Rosser 2-1, defeated Canton 2-1 and knocked off Fruitvale 2-0 to win the consolation trophy.
Kimberly Austin notched 16 kills, while Tori Bynum had six kills.
Also, Cheyenne Stegall had two kills and eight service points, while Krysta Lowrey had 15 service points.