Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 320.39 Water Temperature:
87  degrees - top
82 degrees - bottom

Bulldogus interruptus
Edgewood weathers 17-hour delay, crushes Eustace
By Gerald Wheelus
Special to The Monitor
EDGEWOOD–Football games where the second half is completely different from the first half are fairly common.
The Eustace Bulldogs, however, ran into a situation were the second half fell on a different day, and fell to the hosting Edgewood Bulldogs, 37-9 in a Friday night game interrupted by lightning and completed Saturday afternoon at Edgewood’s I.T. James Jr. Memorial Stadium.
“I thought we were fired up and ready to play Friday night,” Eustace coach Doug Wendel said later. “Edgewood was more ready to play Saturday than we were.”
Now 0-3 on the season, Eustace will face a second set of Bulldogs on the road Friday, Sept. 18, when they travel to Quitman for a non-district contest. Quitman lost to Frankston, 17-0, Friday night to also fall to 0-3.
Actually, the teams didn’t get to play anywhere near a full half Friday night, as play was stopped 3:57 into the contest.
Edgewood opened the contest with a sustained drive behind sophomore quarterback Ethan Rutter, who hit 6-of-7 in the opening drive, including a 28-yard touchdown to Clay Haltom. Mario Bustillos added the PAT to give Edgewood a 7-0 lead at the 10:17 mark.
Eustace looked like they would strike back almost as quickly, opening with four straight runs of five yards or better and netting two first downs while moving out to their own 38.
Then the lightening came, followed by a 16½-hour delay to noon Saturday.
After a trip home and back, Eustace would return to a second-and-five situation. Joseph “Jo Jo” Bradburn picked up 19 yards, but a couple of plays later, senior fullback Shawn Baldwin would make his only mistake of the game and fumble the ball at Edgewood’s 44.
Edgewood took advantage of the good field position, as Rutter hit 5-of-6 passes before connecting with Weaver from seven yards out. Bustillos would add the PAT to make it 14-0 with 2:35 left in the first quarter.
On their ensuing possession, Eustace converted a fourth-and-one situation when Baldwin got two yards.
Eustace senior quarterback Chris Compton mishandled the snap, but recovered to hit Bradburn across the middle for 24 yards and set them up at the Edgewood 32.
The next play would put points on the board, as senior halfback Trevan Johnson slipped around the right side of the field for 32 yards and the TD. Zach Bennett added the PAT and it was a one-possession game at 14-7 with 11:26 left in the second quarter.
It looked as though the visiting Bulldogs would close the gap when Eustace forced an Edgewood punt, but Eustace also stalled.
Compton’s punt pinned Edgewood back at their own 12, but Rutter again moved the hosts downfield, hitting 4-of-7 pass attempts and adding two runs for 18 yards.
Rutter’s second run was a three-yard touchdown plunge that put Edgewood up 21-7 with 1:15 left in the first half.
A key play in the march came on third-and-24, when Edgewood’s senior wideout Darrius Rogers outdueled Bradburn for a 42-yard reception to set up the touchdown.
Eustace tried some razzle-dazzle with 39 seconds left, as sophomore Blake Ward threw a halfback option pass, only to see it intercepted by Haltom.
Eustace would have a quick three-and-out to open the second half, but Compton boomed his punt 57 yards to pin Edgewood back at their own 13.
However, Edgewood would promptly turn the field position to their favor with a quick strike from Rutter to Haltom for 43 yards.
Joseph Read would add 14 yards and Levi Weaver would add 15 before Eustace halted the drive with a 10-yard sack of Rutter back to the Eustace 37, and Edgewood stalled on downs.
Eustace got a first down behind a couple of Justin Calhoun runs, but Calhoun fumbled at the Eustace 47.
This time Edgewood would convert the turnover into points via an exciting 41-yard run by Rogers. The PAT kick failed, but Edgewood was up 34-7 with 1:17 left in the third quarter.
A long gain by Johnson got the ball to Edgewood’s 5, but Edgewood’s defense managed to hold Eustace on the 1 to blunt the scoring threat.
Eustace got revenge of a sort when Jacob Petillo and Ward teamed up to stop Edgewood’s Weaver for a safety on second down, making the score 34-9 with 8:59 to go.
Eustace couldn’t convert the opportunity offered by the ensuing free kick, going three-and-out.
Compton’s punt went 35 yards to Haltom. During the return, Haltom moved through the middle and pitched the ball out to Rogers at the 30.
Rogers managed to turn the corner and ran down to the Eustace 32.
With Haltom at quarterback, Edgewood moved down to the Eustace 16. Haltom faked an inside handoff and ran around the right side for an apparent touchdown, but a holding penalty wiped out the score, and the drive stalled at the 16.
Bustillos converted the field goal from 26 yards out, ending the scoring.

Kemp hits the road to Emory
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
KEMP–With Mother Nature wiping out their home opener last Friday, the Kemp Yellowjackets go on the road again this Friday night, when they travel to Emory to face the Rains Wildcats.
Kemp head coach Greg Anderson said both he and Mabank coaches were frustrated time and again by weather conditions.
“We’d set a time to go out (and check), and another bolt would hit. Then it would be another 30 minutes,” Anderson said Monday.
Lightning struck right as officials went out to check the weather at 9:30 p.m., meaning the game had to be delayed at least 30 more minutes, to 10 p.m..
“At that point, both of us were ready to say Mother Nature is not going to let us play,” Anderson said. “Had the weather allowed, we would have been out there in the mud.”
The cancellation of the annual Kemp-Mabank game, one of very few misses in a series dating back 83 years (so we’ve been told), means the ’Jackets won’t have their home opener until the fourth game of the season, when they host the Palmer Bulldogs Friday, Sept. 25.
Anderson said both he and Mabank head coach Jimmy Cantrell were concerned about injuries.
“That (injuries) is a primary factor anytime you’re playing in that kind of weather,” Anderson said. “We’re both in the same boat. We feel good about our front-line players, but one or two injuries would really be detrimental.”
The ’Jackets are 0-2 and the Wildcats are 0-3 coming into Friday’s contest.
Last year’s matchup produced the one play that arguably was the turnaround point for both the season and the Kemp program.
The ’Jackets faced fourth-and-18 with time running down. Then-junior quarterback Jeremy Quick threw deep for now-departed senior James Trim, who weathered a double hit from two defenders for a 32-yard gain.
Kemp went on to score the go-ahead touchdown, marking the team’s first win of the season. They went on to win six of their next eight games, including a bidistrict championship.
“That (throw to Trim) was a new route we added at that time. It’s still in our playbook,” Anderson recalled with a grin. “We went to Palmer the next week and scored 63 points, and kind of got on a roll.”
Rains didn’t make the playoffs last year, finishing at 2-8 and 1-4 in District 13-3A play.
Last Friday night, the Wildcats lost to White Oak, 55-22.
“They lost to (top-ranked) Gilmer the week before, and lost to a much-improved Mt. Vernon team Zero Week,” Anderson said. “They’ve given up a lot of points, but they’ve faced some pretty good teams.”
The Wildcats use a spread offense, one back with the quarterback in the shotgun most of the time, “very similar to what we do offensively,” Anderson said.
Rains has used two quarterbacks, Trevor Vandeventer and Shay Sellers.
“They both played the other night against White Oak,” Anderson said. “They run the ball a lot out of the spread, using quarterback runs, very similar to Mabank, both in formations and plays.
“Defensively, they’re actually pretty good,” Anderson added. “They’ve got size up front and they’re physical.
“They’ve hurt themselves a lot with turnovers,” he said. “I’m sure they’re working to eliminate that.”
The same goes for the ’Jackets, who have been bitten hard by the turnover bug, particularly at Parish Episcopal Sept. 4.
“Holding onto the ball and playing a full four quarters are our keys,” Anderson said. “We haven’t done that yet. We’ve had our moments, but we haven’t been consistent.”
Although the forecast for Friday night is nice, it was still raining Monday and Tuesday.
“That may be the key this week, who will be able to get outside and get some quality work in,” Anderson said.

Panthers to host Van for homecoming contest
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–After a rain-out of the annual grudge match against Kemp last Friday, the Mabank Panthers will host the 2-1 Van Vandals for their annual homecoming contest at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.
Last year, the hosting Vandals and Panthers posted a fan’s delight, a contest of two evenly matched teams that literally went down to the final play – a long field goal – giving Van a 17-16 victory.
“That was a fun game to be involved with,” Mabank head coach Jimmy Cantrell recalled Monday.
The Panthers come into the game at 2-0 following a weekend of rain, including a series of thunderstorms that wiped out Friday’s scheduled contest.
“We wanted to play the game, but I did not want to put our kids in harm’s way,” Cantrell said. “I had already told them, pre-game, that I wasn’t going to go back over there Saturday, because I had seen the weather forecast and I knew it was going to rain all night.
“If the roles were reversed, I’d have to think about (coming to Panther Stadium), too,” Cantrell said. “They have to be thinking about field conditions, and you’ve got to be concerned with injuries.”
After a night of heavy rain, the natural turf at Yellowjacket Stadium would be very soggy at best. A football game would literally tear up the turf, possibly to the point where it couldn’t recover before cool weather sets in and shuts down grass growth.
Neither the Panthers nor the Yellowjackets have a lot of depth at any position, Cantrell pointed out.
“If you lose one or two people, you’ll be in jeopardy,” he said. “I know a lot of people are mad at me, but I’ve got to look out for our kids.”
Friday night’s homecoming matchup with Van pits two very physical teams against each other in what looks to be an instant replay of last year’s contest.
“They sure are good-looking kids on film,” Cantrell said. “They look like the same team.”
Guided by eighth-year coach Brady Pennington, the Vandals return seven starters each way from a team that went 11-2 last year, bowing out in the quarterfinals with a loss to eventual state champion Prosper.
“They can get in a Power I and power you, or they can get in a spread,” Cantrell said. “They’re very hard to defense.”
Senior Tyler Sharpe returns at quarterback. “I’m very impressed by Sharpe,” Cantrell said.
The Vandals feature a trio of good-sized (200 pounds or better), fast running backs – starter Chase Rabe, John Dike and Matt Broadbent.
They also have Amadou Diallo. “They used him a lot in the second half against Palestine (who handed the Vandals their only loss last week, 40-28),” Cantrell said.
“What makes them go is their offensive line,” he added. “They’re not a big unit – their biggest guy is about 240 – and they’ve got several subs who they rotate in there. They’re all looking for someone to hit.
“Defensively, they fly to the ball,” Cantrell said. “They do a lot of zone drops, where they send a linebacker (on a blitz) and drop their defensive lineman off (in pass coverage).
“They try to take out the crossing routes, and that’s our bread and butter,” he noted. “They’re a well-coached football team, and they don’t make mistakes.”
Homecoming festivities are always a distraction, but everybody has to deal with it, Cantrell said.
Friday’s contest looks to be a very physical one, but Cantrell said he thinks his team is ready.
“This is the first team that we’ve had here that we haven’t had to worry about the physical aspects of the game. Our kids are physical,” he said.
“This is going to be a fun game,” he added. “I’m looking forward to Friday night.”