SPORTS UPDATE #103

WELCOME

*** Friday – November 23, 2007 ***

• Snyder back grows into leader after tough start in life

• Sparks fly when North Shore and Pearland collide — Tonight, for the fourth consecutive season, the North Shore and Pearland will meet in a win-or-go home scenario as they square off in the Class 5A Division I Region III area round at 7 p.m. in Deer Park’s Abshire Stadium.

• Top-rated talent will be on hand at Texas High School Jamboree

• No. 9 Cove prepares for another dual-threat quarterback

• HIGH SCHOOLS
  Two Browns help power Steele’s run game

• QB Factory: A look at Alamo Heights’ run of QBs

• San Antonio Football playoffs: Five things to watch | Area capsules
    Region IV pairings | Statewide pairings

• Air Raid Coming: Pirates ready for Apaches
  HIDALGO — When the Hidalgo Pirates step on the field tonight against Gonzales, they will be…

• Wylie can extend season with win over Burkburnett

• Alto, Tenaha looking to continue playoff runs 

• Del Valle ready for tough test  -  Conquistadores like underdog role
  Now everyone knows the secret to the success of the Del Valle High School football team — peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

• Mathis’ tough-love coaching paying dividends for LBJ  (Austin)

• Staff picks for Central Texas playoff games

• High school football notebook (Central Texas)

• CHS ex Hammock brings Klein Forest to Moorhead  -  This week’s schoolboy football news and notes from high atop the press box: If you haven’t gotten your fill of holiday football by Friday evening, there’s a Class 5A Division II area round doubleheader at Buddy Moorhead Memorial Stadium Saturday worth watching. Pflugerville (8-3) and Klein Forest (9-2) kick off the action at 2 p.m., while Cypress Falls (9-2) and Stratford (8-3) follow at 7 p.m.

• DMN staff picks (11/23) 

• Quarterback Alves directs McKinney Boyd in first playoff run 

• Elysian Fields looks to stop running Mustangs 

• Harleton, Arp overcome different types of adversities 

• Tigers open with 62-45 loss to Smithville  -  Sealy has only one basketball practice prior to Monday night’s match up with visiting Smithville at Sealy High School. Due to the Tigers bi-district playoff berth in football all but three of Sealy’s varsity basketball players were busy on the gridiron instead of the hardwood. Considering then a lack of practice and time to gel the Tigers 62-45 loss to Smithville actually looks pretty good.

• Kilgore takes on unbeaten, top-ranked Highland Park 

• ET playoff capsules 

• Mustangs-Buffs: Round 3  -  Two of the state’s finest will duke it out tonight in what will be a “rubber match” game in the Class 3A Region III Division II area round when the seventh-ranked West Orange-Stark Mustangs (10-1) lock up with the top-ranked Giddings Buffaloes (11-0) at 7:30 p.m. at Pearland High School’s Oiler Stadium.….more>>

• Myers named MVP of All-Orange Leader Volleyball Team   -  The 2007 volleyball season saw quite a few accomplishments for the Orange Leader teams.

• MEETING OLD FRIENDS
  Monty Stumbaugh will see a lot of familiar faces on the other side of the field….

• 32-5A notes: Falcons getting used to holiday footballThe Los Fresnos Falcons are starting to get used to this ‘Thanksgiving football’ thing….

• Keillor Classic tips offs todayHARLINGEN — There’s one thing for sure about this year’s Dr. Keillor Classic basketball tournament —…

• Rattlers place 13 on All-District 25-5A list  -  The San Marcos Rattlers were well-represented in the All-District 25-5A team, with 13 players receiving recognition for their solid play throughout the season. ….more>>

• Granger’s next test is dengerous Normangee
  COLLEGE STATION – One down, four to go.
  That was the attitude No. 6-ranked Granger (10-1) expressed after the Lions disposed of Johnson City LBJ handily in their opening-round playoff game last week.

• Fiesty Dawgs: Resilient Cove battles Dallas Samuell
  WACO – Copperas Cove football coach Jack Welch long has preached that players respond as the coaching staff responds.

• Milano hoping to upset solid Bremond squad -  CAMERON – The Milano Eagles aren’t ready for their remarkable run to end quite yet.

• PN-G has D

• Fred Williams event tips off today (Beaumont)

• Benson is back to full speed
  LA MARQUE — After sitting out two games with an injury, Gaston Benson is looking to lead the Coogs’ defense once again.

• Game Times for November 23, 2007
  Here’s a breakdown of this week’s high school football match-ups (Galveston area)

• Marion makes fewer mistakes in 41-30 win
  SAN ANTONIO — In games like these, little things like free throws and turnovers can make or break a team.

• Panthers win season opener, 58-40
  LULING — The Navarro boys varsity basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat the Luling Eagles 58-40 on Tuesday at Luling.

• Unicorns, Mules in huge rematch
  Tonight’s 4A-I regional playoff could spawn winner to title game.

• Rangers seeking to sting Hornets
  Smithson Valley coach Larry Hill isn’t focusing on his past with East Central, only on beating his alma mater.

• TODAY’S GAME CAPSULES
  A brief look at today’s football playoff contests (Central Texas)

• WHITEHOUSE, SKYLINE HIGHLIGHT BK CLASSIC

• LIONS BATTLE TERRELL FRIDAY (John Tyler)

• KILGORE BULLDOGS VS. HP SCOTTIES

• PITTSBURG PIRATES VS. CANTON EAGLES

• CHAPEL HILL BULLDOGS VS. PLEASANT GROVE HAWKS

• Sandcrabs facing stern test from Calallen

• Cuero’s Arndt calling right signals

• CHAD CONINE’S HIGH SCHOOL PREVIEW  -  Unexpected guests arrive at Round 2

• Eskew leads Cougars to coveted gold ball   (China Spring)

• Munday, Seymour open playoffs at Memorial   -  Munday and Seymour didn’t open the postseason last week because of byes, so instead they waited to see who their opponents would be.

• Rider hopes to send Jackets packing  (Stephenville – WF Rider)

• Both Eagles, Tigers have improved since first meeting  (Tatum – Daingerfield)

• Commentary: Panthers have made record-breaking look easy
  Once again, the Permian Panthers are rendering the record book all but useless….

• Del Valle players like their chances today
  Del Valle senior fullback Julian Johnson summed up today’s Class 4A regional playoff game against Wolfforth Frenship best. 

• Dragons hold off Diboll  (Nacogdoches)

• D-line first line of defense for Eagles  -  Injuries robbed Josh Hardcastle and Brandon Rogers of a portion of their 2007 football season. (Abilene)

• Local teams still in title hunt as football playoffs press on  (Brazos Valley)

• Stampede Heads West
  EARLY — The Early Longhorns’ third consecutive bi-district championship proved to be one of their most convincing victories of the season. With the Longhorns rolling in all three phases of the game, the Kermit Yellowjackets are the latest team to draw the task of slowing down a stampede.

• Coyotes, Tigers tangle for third straight postseason
  The No. 2 Richland Springs Coyotes are aiming for a third state championship in four years, while the May Tigers are trying to avoid a third straight season-ending loss to the defending state champions.

• Zephyr looks to continue roll against Iredell
  ZEPHYR — Thanks to their six-game win streak, the Zephyr Bulldogs clinched a second straight district championship and climbed to No. 9 in the sixmanfootball.com Division II poll. Being No. 1, however, is where the Bulldogs want to find themselves when the postseason is over.

• Healthy Blanket draws Calvert
  BLANKET — Following a one-year hiatus, the Blanket Tigers are back in the playoffs. Sticking around, however, will prove to be quite the challenge.

• LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFF CAPSULES
  Class 2A, DIVISION II Region I Area Playoff (Brownwood)

• ‘Cats prove they’re deep as well as dominant  -  REFUGIO — Noticeably missing from Refugio’s game stats last week was the name Carl Swain. An ankle sprain kept the standout senior running back on the sidelines of the team’s 42-21 Class 2A Division II bi-district victory over Banquete. Although

• Dayton must weather Texas City to advance in playoffs — A storm will be brewing Friday night in La Porte, and if Dayton coach Jerry Stewart’s team can weather it, the Broncos’ playoff forecast will be bright and sunny for at least another week.

• HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Bay Area Christian ready to make amends for ‘06

• Eisenhower to focus on repelling attack of Cy Ridge offense

• Coach responds to South Oak Cliff grade-changing probe

• What went wrong for 9-5A?

• LBJ grabs win; Lady Wolves feast on Hawks in 56-32 victory  -  The Lady Wolves of Lyndon Baines Johnson High School captured their first win of the season Wednesday afternoon thanks to a dominant performance against Zapata at the LBJ gym. Full Story

• United loses to Judson at the AT&T center  SAN ANTONIO – The United Longhorns first trip to the AT&T Center, where Tim Duncan and Tony Parker have led the Spurs to four championships, was a game that they would like to put behind them.  Full Story

• Ralls fans have plenty to be thankful for this holiday
  Justin Velez said he and his family will spend this Thanksgiving like they do every year: eating a lot of turkey and watching the Dallas Cowboys.

• HIGH SCHOOLS
  O’Connor sophomore finds stability in foster family

• Girls Sports Insider: Marion, Navarro savor spotlight

• Notebook: Reagan’s Wright nears rushing mark (SA)

• Football: Montwood strives to raise profile of El Paso football

• Football: Padilla gets a kick out of his role for Crane

• Football: Updated Region I playoff pairings

• HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS, SCHEDULES Thursday, November 22  BOYS BASKETBALL (Ft. Worth)

• Milano’s Mr. Everything: Quarterback/safety Burgess paces Eagles’ playoff charge   MILANO – Chad Burgess is getting the ball. He knows it. His teammates know it. Opposing players and coaches know it.

• Stings turn to polls for motivation
  TEXAS CITY — The latest edition of the Padilla Poll has Texas City ranked fourth in the region behind La Marque, Lamar Consolidated and Dayton.

• Brotherly love is key to Stings’ success
  With Blake Apffel serving as the starting quarterback, his brother Kaleb has taken on a larger role to help the Stings’ leader stay focused.

• No rebuilding for Creek under Simonds
  LEAGUE CITY — Scott Simonds named coach of the year after the Wildcats made a surprising run to the regional finals.

• Seguin keeps high flying Lanier grounded
  SEGUIN — Jim Weaver knew Lanier would be a test for his Seguin boys basketball team on Tuesday.

• Lady Mats still in search of a win
  SAN ANTONIO — The Seguin girls basketball team fell to 0-8 after a 43-30 loss to MacArthur Monday at Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio.

• Buckeyes face Mabank  (Gilmer)

• ATHENS 58, ROBERT E. LEE 55, OT

• WILLIAMS WELCOMES CHALLENGES ON FIELD, IN CLASSROOM

• Injury bug continues to bite Sandcrabs

• Advocate-area high school basketball boxscores  (Victoria)

• Nov. 22, 2007: Girls High School Basketball (West Texas)

• Nov. 22, 2007: Rebel linebackers play key role in winning streak

• BOYS BASKETBALL: Youthful Bellaire toys with Milby