Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 320.68
Water Temperature:
na degrees - top
82 degrees - bottom

’Jackets face Farmersville in bidistrict playoffs
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
KEMP–Kemp’s first trip to the playoffs in 11 years won’t be easy – they’re facing last year’s Class 2A state champion Farmersville Farmers in a bidistrict contest at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
For a program that hasn’t seen much success at all in the past few years, last Friday night’s playoff-clinching 34-21 win over the visiting Canton Eagles was a pretty satisfying victory for Yellowjacket head coach Greg Anderson.
“I thought our kids played pretty well,” Anderson said Monday. “We were able to control the line of scrimmage. We only lined up to punt twice, and we didn’t turn the ball over.”
Senior Josh Carr had 165 yards on 30 carries, and passed the 1,000-yard mark for the second year in a row.
Every time the Eagle defense closed down to stop Carr inside, the outside opened up for counter plays from Korey Henderson (13 carries, 87 yards, one TD) and Wesley Kerr (10 carries, 75 yards, one TD).
Having a successful running game makes play-action passes work, and quarterback Jeremy Quick was able to mix the run and pass to keep the Eagles off-balance, Anderson said.
“Of course, it all goes back to those five offensive linemen,” Anderson said. “They were able to create those holes we ran through. It just shows how much we’ve improved up front.
“I can’t say enough about coach (Cord) Wood and the defensive staff and players, holding them to just seven in the second half,” Anderson added.
“Most of their passes are under 10 yards, but what was important was we were able to come up and immediately make the tackle, and not allow any yards after the catch,” he said. “That was our worry going in. The defense did a great job with open-field tackling, and swarming to the ball.”
Farmersville’s multiple offense will provide a serious test for the ’Jacket defense.
“They have some wishbone, and the next play, they’ll be in a shotgun with four wide (receivers),” Anderson said. “Fortunately, at this point, we’ve seen just about everything. That will be the key, being able to recognize it, and get lined up properly.”
The Farmers are led by returning quarterback Austin Brooks, who provides a strong arm and a very elusive running style.
Farmersville’s offensive and defensive lines are centered (literally) around massive Michael Thompson.
“He (Thompson) is probably a Division I (college) recruit. He has the size (6-3, 285), and he also has the skills and technique,” Anderson said. “He plays both sides of the ball very well.”
Anderson recalled he watched the Farmers take a 27-24 overtime win against two-time defending champion Tatum in the championship game last December.
“I was very impressed,” he said. “Tatum had more talent on paper, but Farmersville just outplayed them. That says a lot about the character of their kids.”
The Farmers come into Friday’s bidistrict contest as the undefeated District 13-3A champions, and none of the district games were competitive, Anderson pointed out.
“They do have a different staff, but coach (Ross) Dodson has done a good job,” Anderson said. “We’re certainly going to have to play well.”
The key will be duplicating last week’s control of the line of scrimmage, he added.
“I feel good about the way we’ve played in the last few weeks (winning five of the last seven),” Anderson said. “If the kids play with the same intensity they had Friday night, I feel good about our chances.”
Directions to Standridge Stadium: From Kemp, take U.S. 175 north to Dallas. To reach I-35E north to Denton, one can go through the downtown Dallas Mixmaster and up Stemmons Freeway (I-35E), or take LBJ Freeway (I-635) around north Dallas; travel time may be about the same, depending on traffic conditions and the time of day. Take the I-35E exit north toward Denton, and take Exit 442 left (west) to Valwood Parkway. The stadium will be at 1300 Valwood Parkway. Figure at least 90 minutes travel time.

Bulldogs to face Braves
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
EUSTACE–The Eustace Bulldogs’ first playoff appearance in 11 years will pit them against the Nevada Community Braves in a bidistrict contest at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“They have an explosive offense, maybe the best we’ve seen all year,” Eustace head coach Doug Wendel said Monday.
“I would say this (offense) is comparable to Edgewood’s spread,” Wendel said. “They’ve scored 40, 40 and 60 in the last three weeks.
“It may come down to the first defense to get three stops,” he added.
While they have an explosive offense, the Braves don’t have the defense the Van Vandals showed the Bulldogs in last Friday night’s District 14-3A finale.
“They have run a 50 defense, but they may have had an injury, because last week they ran a 4-3,” Wendel said. “They’re not a Van defense. They have decent size and speed, but they’re not a dominate defense.”
Van’s defense dominated the Bulldogs in last week’s 41-0 victory, holding them to 97 yards and five first downs.
To be fair, the Bulldogs, who trailed Van 28-0 at halftime, stayed with a pure vanilla offense in the second half, trying to avoid more injuries and keep the clock running.
Eustace lost senior fullback Shawn Baldwin to a season-ending knee injury on the third play of the game, but his loss – while significant – didn’t tell the whole story, Wendel said.
“We hadn’t seen that type of speed,” he said. “They looked and played like district champions. They’re a good football team, and looked like a well-oiled machine.
“I hate to say it, but that game the other night was a good learning experience for us,” Wendel added. “Of course, you hate to get to Week 10 and still learn lessons.”
The Bulldogs are spending a lot of time preparing on defense this week, Wendel said.
The Braves are led by a good quarterback, B.J. Dale, who has size (6-3, 230) and quickness, and running back Tim Underwood (6-1, 190), both juniors.
“Those are the guys we need to contain,” Wendel said. “They will try to control the whole field.
“I think our best defense will be controlling the ball and keeping them on the sideline,” he added. “We’re going to have to score some touchdowns, because they’re going to make plays and score points.
“We’re going to try and shorten the game, and make them drive the field,” he said.
Directions to Eagle-Mustang Stadium: From Eustace, take U.S. 175 west to LBJ Freeway (I-635) in Mesquite. Follow 635 north to the U.S. 75 (High Five) interchange, and go north on 75, towards McKinney. Turn left (west) on Belt Line Road, and follow it to Richardson High School, which will be on your right. The stadium is behind RHS. Figure at least one hour travel time, more if you’re traveling close to rush hour.

Lady ’Dogs edge New Boston, 3-1
Eustace advances to regional quarterfinals against Princeton
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
GLADEWATER–In a match that was a lot more difficult than it probably should have been, the Eustace Lady Bulldogs squeaked past the New Boston Lady Lions 3-1 in a volleyball area championship match Saturday.
Now 29-9 on the season, the District 14-3A champion Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to face the District 13-3A runner-up Princeton Lady Panthers in a regional quarterfinals match Tuesday at Quinlan Ford High School.
Princeton knocked off Wills Point (the District 14-3A third-place team) 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs, and advanced to the quarterfinals match with a narrow 3-2 area win over the Texarkana Pleasant Grove Lady Hawks.
New Boston, the District 16-3A third-place team, had a bye in the first round. Pleasant Grove won the district, while Texarkana Liberty-Eylau was the runner-up.
Liberty-Eylau fell to 13-3A winner Lucas Lovejoy in the area round. Lovejoy was scheduled to face the Van Lady Vandals, the District 14-3A runner-up, in a regional quarterfinals match at Rockwall Tuesday.
In the other two quarterfinals matches Tuesday, Bonham, the District 10-3A winner, was scheduled to face Argyle, the 9-3A runner-up, at Plano Senior High School, while District 10-3A runner-up Paris was set to play Prosper, the 9-3A winner, in Gunter.
Playing in front of about 300 fans at Gladewater High School, the Lady Bulldogs never really looked in sync most of the evening, committing several unforced errors on defense, but managed a 25-21, 25-23, 15-25 and 25-22 victory.
“We didn’t have a real good match,” veteran Eustace coach Chuck Powers said afterward. “I felt that tonight was just extremely average for us.”
In the opening game, the Lady Bulldogs showed some playoff jitters early, falling behind 6-1, but eventually crawled back to tie the score at 11-all when the Lady Lions hit long.
New Boston managed to make some incredible returns throughout the match, and forged a three-point lead, 16-13, when the Lady Bulldogs hit long.
A Cassie Freeman kill and a Lady Lion miss pulled the Lady Bulldogs within a point at 16-15, and Freeman provided another critical play with a serving ace to keep Eustace close at 18-17.
Jenny McConathy’s kill and a miss by New Boston gave the Lady Bulldogs a 19-18 lead, but misses by both teams led to a 20-20 tie, and a moving call against New Boston tied the score again at 21-all.
Eustace then took control of the net, recording two blocks and a McConathy kill to close out the contest.
The second game was, if anything, even closer than the first, although the Lady Bulldogs took the early lead, 11-5, on a Lady Lion miss.
Following a McConathy tip and a Camille Rogers block (one of 12), the Lady Lions missed a return to fall behind 14-7, prompting a New Boston time out.
The Lady Lions were unable to make a serious run, however, and a block by Freeman and Arin Rhodes, followed by an ace from Kimberly Austin, gave Eustace a 19-10 lead.
As strong as the Lady Bulldogs had been, they started losing focus, and a missed block and a long hit brought New Boston within four points at 23-19, prompting Powers to call time.
The Lady Lions crept closer, however, and Eustace fans were beginning to worry when the Lady Bulldogs missed to cut the margin to one point, 24-23, but Freeman nailed a kill to end the game.
The lack of focus the Lady Bulldogs showed in the last half of the second game came back to haunt them big-time in the third game, as New Boston took a quick 8-1 lead.
It didn’t get any better, as New Boston took a 13-4 lead before McConathy broke the run with a kill.
The Lady Bulldogs found themselves trailing 20-9, and couldn’t get much closer in the closing minutes. Fittingly, a Eustace net serve ended the game.
“We started out with jitters, and then we went brain-dead,” Powers said later. “They showed a lot of class to come back – they had dug themselves a pretty good hole.”
The fourth game started close and stayed that way for a while, but the Lady Lions began to pull ahead when Molly Kate Echols nailed an ace and the Lady Bulldogs’ next block went out of bounds, giving New Boston an 8-4 lead.
After swapping points, the Lady Bulldogs began to inch back, as the Lady Lions had a net serve and then hit out to pull Eustace within a point at 12-11, and the officials called the Lady Lions for being in the net on a block to tie the game at 12-12.
The game remained tied for two points before the Lady Bulldogs took a 16-14 lead on a Freeman kill and a Chelsea Truitt tip.
New Boston cut the lead to one point on a kill by Bailey McDonald, but the Lady Lions hit out and then missed a return to fall behind 18-15, prompting a time out.
Eustace then missed three straight to tie the score again at 18-all, but another moving call against the Lady Lions gave the Lady Bulldogs a 19-18 lead.
Eustace was called for being in the net and missed a return to give New Boston a 20-19 lead, and Powers called time.
Lady Lion Nikki Chavers gave New Boston a 21-19 lead, but McConathy and Freeman sandwiched kills around a spike by Lady Lion Laura Rainey to keep it a one-point game at 22-21.
New Boston hit out to tie the score at 22, and it was time for the Lady Bulldogs to take over the net.
McConathy nailed back-to-back kills, and Freeman’s spike ended the game and the match.
Freeman wound up with 18 kills, six blocks, one assist, one ace and 23 digs, while McConathy had 10 kills, five blocks, two assists and three digs.
Rogers notched 12 blocks on defense and had one kill, while Allison Cass had two blocks, two kills and three digs.
Rhodes finished with four blocks and two digs, while Jessica McConathy had three blocks and 12 digs, along with one ace.
Truitt had one kill, five digs, one assist and one ace, while Krysta Lowry had six digs.
Setters Kimberly Austin (14) and Nicole McNeel (12) combined for 26 assists, with each adding two digs.