Home > Varsity News > Archives > 2005 > August
August 2005
HUSTON STREET
The legend of Huston Street continues to grow in Oakland.
The former Westlake High and University of Texas star punctuated the most important game of the season to date, Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.
Street struck out two batters in the 11th inning and, with runners on first and second, got reigning American League MVP Vladimir Guerrero to hit into a game-ending grounder to second. The victory gave Oakland a two-game lead over its division rival in the AL West.
It marked Street’s 18th save of the season in 22 chances and lowered his ERA to 1.23.
Permalink | |
HIGH SCHOOL MASCOTS
Lehman High School announced this summer that its mascot will be the Lobos. Pretty cool name for this part of the country. It fits.
There are other Central Texas high schools whose mascots are appropriate for the area. San Marcos Rattlers, for example. Manor Mustangs. Westlake Chaparrals. Wimberley Texans.
Other schools, though, make you wonder what they were thinking about.
Why anyone south of Minnesota would call themselves the Vikings (Lanier, Lago Vista, Bryan) is beyond me. Anyone seen a Unicorn (New Braunfels) in Central Texas lately? How ‘bout a Trojan (Anderson)?
Although some people get real sensitive about it, Austin High’s Maroons is the worst of the bunch. Being the oldest school in the Austin area, there has been plenty of time to change it.
So, how about it, everyone. What would be an appropriate mascot that would make Austin High proud? It needs something unique. Bulldogs and Eagles are off limits.
Here’s one suggestion: the Austin High Armadillos. Everyone has seen an armadillo, although many lie upside-down on the side of the highway. Think about it, though. Armadillos represent Texas well, they are strong creatures you would not want to mess with, and it’s safe to say they would make Austin High fairly unique among state schools (there’s only one other team out there with a mascot of Armadillos).
Permalink | |
The difference between scoring and almost scoring
You would think every football player knows that you don’t score until you score. That means until you cross the goal line. That means until the official raises two arms over his head.
If Leon Lett taught us anything, this was it. Finish the play. Score first. Celebrate second. Or, perhaps, don’t even celebrate at all.
But players still haven’t learned.
Two examples of this came Saturday night.
First, there was Pflugerville fullback Marlon Williams finishing off his 58-yard touchdown run against Kerrville Tivy by diving into the end zone — for no reason.
The touchdown counted, but the result of the dive was a 15-yard penalty and the Pflugerville coaches sitting in the press box screaming expletive after expletive.
But the bigger faux pas came from Tivy quarterback Anthony Sivils.
Sivils was starting to give Panthers fans a late scare when he scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick and proceeded to break free for an apparent touchdown run.
This was going to be IT, the big play the Antlers struggled to accomplish all game. Sivils ran past the Pflugerville secondary and had covered 48 of the 49 yards he needed to reach the goal line. He was one step ahead of the only defender in sight, Pflugerville’s Garrett Lindholm, and one step away from his second touchdown of the game when Sivils, a senior, forgot to keep the ball secure.
He took the ball out from its nice, cozy, tucked position and was cradling it with his forearm when Lingholm knocked it from his hand
Both players went after the ball, which bounced and rolled its way out the back of the end zone.
Pflugerville ball. Game over.
Permalink | |
Big injury for Lake Travis
Lake Travis running back Luke Lagera left the Cavaliers’ scrimmage against Lampasas on Thursday with a right knee injury.
Lagera, who ran for 1,303 yards and 19 touchdowns last year to help the Cavaliers claim the school’s first district title (27-4A), is awaiting results of a Friday morning MRI.
“I don’t really want to talk about it until I find out what the verdict is,” Lagera said. “Once I know how serious it is, I’ll be able to talk.”
The Cavaliers, who do not play tonight and are ranked No. 3 in the Austin American-Statesman Central Texas preseason poll, are highly regarded because of their explosive offense. Quarterback Todd Reesing, last year’s Class 4A offensive player of the year, said the injury occurred as Lagera was trying to make a cut on a screen play and was tackled around his knees.
“It was a screen pass, and I dropped back and I dumped it off to him,” Reesing said. “He turned around, and he made a cut, and I think he got hit on the knee right away. It wasn’t a hard hit. I didn’t hear anything from the knee, but I could here him screaming after.”
The Cavaliers — ranked No. 10 in Class 4A — are hoping for the best. Losing Lagara would be a huge hit to their district and state title aspirations.
“You can’t replace Luke. He’s such a vital part of our offense,” Reesing said. “I’ve been blessed to have a running back like that every day because defenses focus on him so much. Everybody out here is praying that we get some good news in the next couple of hours.”
Permalink | |
Practice helmets?
All the helmets are white?
Why are they all white?
Doesn’t that get confusing during games?
Practice after practice, team after team, I kept wondering why everybody had white helmets. Then it hit me: these high schools actually have practice helmets.
Are you kidding? High school teams with practice helmets? That’s not normal.
Just to make sure, I called up the athletic director at Bettendorf (Iowa) High School, one of the wealthiest high schools in Iowa, and asked if they used practice helmets.
“As expensive as those helmets are, no way,” he said. “Those things run like $130, $140 each. It’s hard enough to get helmets that fit everybody. Once you find one helmet that fits you, it’s yours for practices and games.
“We do buy new helmets about every 10 years. The manufacturer says that the helmets will last longer than that, but we think 10 years is long enough. Those schools must have a lot of money down there to buy practice helmets.”
Oh, sure, Texas highs schools are overflowing with money. That must be why legislators are taking so long — just too much money to distribute.
Permalink | |
Quarterbacks falling at Dripping Springs
Dripping Springs has had a tough offseason when it comes to signal callers.
Coach Howard Ballard thought he was going into the season with two good quarterbacks, Travis Mosty and Jordan Moore. But both have gone down with injuries and neither will be available when the Tigers open their season against Wimberley on Sept. 2.
So Ballard will open the season with Ben Seaton behind center. Seaton, a senior, had been playing strong safety.
The move is not permanent, as Ballard expects both Mosty and Moore to be back at some point this season.
“Yes, they’ll both be back,” Ballard said. “I think people have blown this situation a little out of proportion. I’m not going to discuss the injuries or how long they’ll be out because the injuries occurred in the preseason. I’ll just say we hope to get them back. In the meantime, I know other kids will step up and play.”
Permalink | |
What’s in a name?
By my count, there are 1,027 public high schools in Texas that will field varsity football teams during the 2005 campaign. A few schools, like the newly-opened Lehman HS in Kyle, will play only on the JV and freshman levels this year.
Over the summer, I spent some time making sure we here at the Statesman had all the information we need to cover the upcoming season. As I was compiling our list of all the schools in the state, I couldn’t help but notice that certain mascots seemed to be popping up. Everywhere.
And that got me to thinking: what are the most popular mascots for high schools in Texas? And what are some of the most unique?
Turns out that the state’s 1,027 varsity football teams use a total of 198 mascots.
The most popular choices? Bulldogs (76 schools), Eagles (75), Tigers (57), Panthers (52), Wildcats (46) and Mustangs (42); more than a third of our state’s varsity football squads uses one of those six mascots.
Closer to home, “Eagles” was the most popular choice, claimed by eight schools in the Central Texas area.
At the other end of the spectrum are the following nine Central Texas teams, each of which is the only one in the state with its particular moniker:
- Academy Bumblebees
- Austin High Maroons
- Cameron Yoe Yoemen
- Fredericksburg Battlin’ Billies
- Hutto Hippos
- Lake Travis Cavaliers
- New Braunfels Unicorns
- Shoemaker Grey Wolves
- Taylor Ducks
In fact, Taylor claims to be the only high school in the nation whose fans root for the Ducks, while Hutto boosters have a careless carny zookeeper to thank for their school’s distinctive handle.
Overall, 109 varsity football teams in Texas have a mascot they can truly call their own. From that group, here’s a list of 10 of the funniest and most unique names:
- Frost Polar Bears
- Itasca Wampus Cats
- Mason Cowpunchers
- Mesquite Skeeters
- Port Isabel Fighting Tarpons
- Robstown Cotton Pickers
- Texas City Stingarees
- Van Vandals
- Winters Blizzards
and, my personal favorite, from District 9-A, the Pied Pipers of Hamlin.
Prep football heats up
With the beginning of football season less than two weeks away, optimism blankets Central Texas high school teams.
No one has lost a game, and, as one coach in El Paso once told me, “Everybody thinks they can beat the Chicago Bears in the summer.�
Reagan, LBJ and Westwood are among several Central Texas teams with new head coaches.
Who’s the best team around? It’s too early to tell, but the Westlake-Leander game on opening night, Aug. 26, will go a long way in determining early bragging rights.
Back up the hype, Texas
I always laugh at high school football movies. Well, I laugh at the first line, which inevitably is something like, “In (insert state or region), high school football is a way of life.” That’s how “Friday Night Lights,” “Remember the Titans” and “Varsity Blues” begin.
I’ve always thought that line was a bunch of pigskin. I’ve experienced high school football in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois, I’ve reported on high school football everywhere from big cities with big schools to rural towns that lack a single traffic light. And here’s the thing: High school football is big everywhere, but it’s never come close to being a “way of life.”
Now I’m here, Texas, a state with inhabitants who love to boast about their prominent, over-the-top prep football traditions. Where everything is bigger and more extravagant. The pep rallies. The parties. The crowds. The stadiums. The athletes. The television shows. The radio shows. The fund-raisers. The hype.
I want to see the hype before believing it. My question is, where do I go? What Central Texas schools have the big pep rallies? Which ones have the cool traditions? Which have extreme fans? Extreme stadiums? Extreme halftime shows? Extreme postgame parties? Which towns or cities shut down for three hours every Friday night? Which eat, sleep and breath football?
Tell me. I want to see these places. Every place I’ve been boasts about how serious, how big, how gargantuan high school football is in it’s area. So far, they’ve all failed. It’s Texas’ turn to try and back up the hype.
