Sports and Outdoors

Thursday, November 11, 2010

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 319.56 Water Temperature:
58  degrees - top
64 degrees - bottom

Bulldogs to face Pottsboro in bidistrict contest
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
EUSTACE–The Eustace Bulldogs are in the playoffs for the third straight year, and will face the Pottsboro Cardinals at 7 p.m. Thursday (tonight) at Richardson’s Lake Highlands High School Wildcat Ram Stadium.
With Friday night’s 39-35 loss to Dallas Life Oak Cliff Lions, the Bulldogs dropped into a three-way tie with DLOC and Palmer at 2-3 in District 6-2A play, as Palmer defeated Sunnyvale 13-7 in the season finale.
Had Sunnyvale won, the Bulldogs would have been out, and a bigger DLOC win also would have played a role, but the fact remains the Bulldogs are in the playoffs, despite what The Monitor mistakenly reported in Sunday’s issue.
For fourth-year head coach Doug Wendel, Friday’s loss had some very bright spots in it – particularly the return of backup quarterback John Bradburn and senior starting fullback Jacob Petillo to the lineup.
“I though we played exceptionally hard on offense, and our defense played pretty well,” Wendel said. “We’ll have to do better in all three phases of the game.
“Bradburn did well, and Petillo – this was the first time that I’ve seen him back the way he was in September,” Wendel added. “Raymond Shutak played a fantastic game in the offensive line.”
The District 5-2A Pottsboro Cardinals, headed by coach Matt Poe, have turned completely around from last year’s 1-9 to a sparkling 9-1 record this year.
“(The Cardinals) use a spread offense, and are well-coached, both offensively and defensively,” Wendel said. “They play good technique, and they have size and strength up front.”
Pottsboro’s offensive line reminded Wendel of Maypearl’s front wall. The Cardinal’s skill players don’t have the speed the Bulldogs have faced in their last three games, but they play hard, Wendel said.
“I think playing on Thursday is an advantage for our offense,” Wendel said. “They haven’t played a running team the whole year. They’re well-coached, so they’ll have their assignments down, but it takes time to get ready for the triple option.”
The Cardinals have an outstanding noseguard, and the Bulldogs will have to alter their blocking schemes somewhat to make sure he’s double-teamed, but the Bulldogs should be able to move the ball effectively, Wendel said.
For a change, the Bulldogs will be going into a ballgame at almost full strength, with only two starters (quarterback Jacob McCarter and offensive lineman Caleb Wonhas) out.
“We have two guys not going and everybody else is at full speed in Week 11,” Wendel said. “I don’t know that you could ask for more.”
Despite having a young team wracked by injuries, the Bulldogs have achieved their goal of making the playoffs.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” he said. “The keys for us will be scoring touchdowns on offense, and make a stop or two on defense, maybe get a turnover.”
Directions to Wildcat Ram Stadium: From Eustace, take U.S. Highway 175 northwest to intersect with I-635 (LBJ Freeway) in Mesquite. Follow I-635 north to the Miller Rd/Royal Ln exit. Turn left on Royal Lane about 0.4 miles and turn left again on Audelia Rd. Go 0.6 miles and turn right on Church Rd. The stadium will be about 0.6 miles on your right. Estimated driving time one hour, 15 minutes, depending on traffic.

’Jackets looking foward to next year
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
KEMP–A rash of injuries forced younger players into starting roles, but that means the Kemp Yellowjackets have a good nucleus of players returning for next year.
A disappointing 31-0 loss to the hosting Kaufman Lions ended Kemp’s admittedly slender playoff hopes Friday night, but the ’Jackets were only at full strength the first two games of the season, fourth-year head coach Greg Anderson noted Monday morning.
Going into the final game, Anderson worried about turnovers, and rightly so, as the ’Jackets coughed up the ball six times (four fumbles, two picks) against the Lions.
Kemp’s defense had done a fairly good job holding the Lions to just three points, despite giving them the ball twice deep in Kemp’s territory, but the third fumble – on a punt snap – directly resulted in a Kaufman touchdown.
“That (play) turned the entire game,” Anderson said. “Even though we had been giving them chance after chance, they only had three points to show for it. That turned momentum hugely in their favor, and we were never able to get it back.”
Looking back over the season, injuries played a key role. One could argue junior quarterback Blake Murray, the penciled-in starter, was lost in the second scrimmage and was never at 100 percent the rest of the season.
“We beat Eustace and a pretty good Edgewood team, but we were never at full strength after that,” Anderson said. “We had spurts where we would play well, but we couldn’t offset the injuries and the mistakes we made.
“We knew going in that we weren’t going to be a team with game-breakers, those guys who go for 80 (yards),” he added. “We knew we’d have to go four, five, six yards at a time, and we couldn’t afford to turn it over and stop those drives.”
One of the bright spots during the year was the play of senior linebacker Johnny Kilgore, who proved he was one of the better defensive players in the area.
Also senior running back Brandon Smith topped 1,000 yards in Friday’s final game. “He did it the tough way, four or five yards at a time,” Anderson said.
“Of course, when you have a back go over 1,000 yards, your offensive line has to be doing some good things,” he added.
That was a makeshift offensive line, as split end Colton Gaddis and tight end Ryan Emfinger wound up playing the last three games at the guard positions, Anderson said.
“That says a lot about them being able to do that against kids who usually outweighed them by 70 or 80 pounds,” he pointed out.
Also, both junior tackles, James Forrest and Cody Parker matured a lot this year, he added.
The ’Jackets will be losing 13 seniors, most of them in key positions, but there will be a good nucleus coming back.
“We’re probably more set in the offensive and defensive lines than we are at the skill positions,” Anderson said. “Blake will be back, and Jordan Freeman, who started at corner, probably will be more of a two-way player for us.
“Matt Kinney should be able take some of the load at running back next year,” he added. “By the end of the year, he was our best return guy.”
Still, you can’t just replace a player like Kilgore or a two-way standout like Justin Lawler, who both leave big holes to fill in the Kemp defense.
“We’ve had an up and down year. When we didn’t turn the ball over, we looked like a pretty good football team,” Anderson said. “We’ve got a good group coming back. We’ll need to get in the weight room and find out who those kids are going to be.”