AirPlay

Sept. 19, 2005

Rita’s Not Invited To The OC

          I’m having a hard time focusing on this weeks match ups with Rita dancing around the Gulf of Mexico.  There’s never a good time to tango with a hurricane but she sure picked the wrong weekend to call “Ladies Choice.”

          Orange County has two homecoming games and the biggest match up in the state on hold until we know a direct path which will probably come on Wednesday.

          “We’ll just have to wait and see,” said West Orange-Stark coach Dan Hooks.  “Until we know for sure, we’re going to practice like we’re going to play.”

          The (4-0) Mustangs host the (3-0) Newton Eagles Friday night in KOGT’s Game of the Week.  Apparently Mother Nature is the only one that doesn’t want to watch this one because she cancelled it last year with about seven inches of rain at Singletary Stadium.

            The Orangefield Bobcats grab our “Team of the Week” title after their 22-0 shutout win over East Chambers in Winnie.

          The Bobcats, now 2-1, have a homecoming date against Buna, a team that beat them 13-12 last year in a downpour.

          OF matched their point total from the first two games and they did it without running back Jeremy Shoemaker who broke his hand against Little Cypress-Mauriceville.

          But Shoemaker was able to make a contribution defensively with a cast on his hand.  “He’ll be unable to carry the ball for several weeks,” head coach Blake Morrison said.

          Morrison said the Cats upset win can be attributed to a great week of practice.  Plus they changed the defense a little after the LCM loss and it paid off against EC.

          Asked about his team’s turnaround in one week, Morrison said that it also had to do with just playing a game.  “I’ll do my best to never schedule an off week.”  The Bobcats played LCM after a bye week.  “To me rhythm and routine is important and having that week off just didn’t help us.”

          The only local team that will have to battle an opponent on the field as well as the possibility of Rita is the LCM Bears.

          While the other games can be cancelled without being rescheduled, LCM’s homecoming game against Lumberton is a district game and will have to be played at some point if they can’t play Friday.

          The Bears, riding a two game winning streak going into Friday’s game at Bridge City, did not look anything like the team that beat Orangefield the week before.

          Down 31-0, the Bears scrambled against the Cardinals second team to score two fourth quarter touchdowns.  But a lot of that can be forgotten with a victory over a Lumberton team that seems to be in disarray.

          The Raiders (0-4) lost to Gulf Shores 20-7 and as far back as I can remember that is the first time they’ve ever beaten a public school in football.

          Part of the reason the Bears looked different was the play of the Cardinals.  That was the most dominant victory we’ve seen this year.

          BC played well on both sides of the ball even though their head coach was not happy after the game.

          In our post game interview, fourth year head coach Claude Tarver was not pleased with his team’s performance.  “Too many penalties, too many turnovers, and too many attitudes,” Tarver said.

          Those things are easier to admit after a victory, but Tarver was serious, and correct about his observations.

          Seven fumbles, losing four, and an interception.  Plus they had more penalty yards than the Bears.  Reports from the field had both teams talking smack which is to be expected from cross town rivals.  BC’s impressive performance crossed out many of those mistakes to the fans, but not the coaches.

          There’s a fine line between confidence and “attitude” and Tarver knows that going into Jasper’s Bone Yard Friday with an attitude could mean a trip home with one in the loss column.

          Back to the Bears, offensive lineman Josh Bell, who plays along side his twin brother Jordan, suffered a concussion in the game and had to be taken off by stretcher.  It was a scary moment because he was able to stand up for a brief moment before crashing back to the turf after the play was over.

          After tests were run he’ll be out of action for the rest of the year and will have a neck brace on for at least two weeks.

SHOW YOUR LOVE

          Lots of love to show this week and we start with Deweyville Coach Dwight Bickham. 

          The former LCM coach didn’t get that job until late in the summer and has the Pirates (3-1) off to one of their best starts in years.

          Matt Bryant kicked another 40 yard field goal Sunday for Tampa Bay and the Bucs are now 2-0.

          John Patterson pitched the second complete game of his career in a win over San Diego on Friday that pushed his season record to 9-5.

          As we told you earlier this year, LCM grad and Baylor senior Mel Hamerly hasn’t left the court in Waco just because basketball season is over.  Hamerly joined the volleyball team and is third in kills per game this season as the Lady Bears finished second at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament last weekend.

          And I have to finish by telling you this story about a public relations firm in San Antonio called Dublin and Associates.  We’ve only had a few dealings with them over the years but the other morning I walked into the office to find some 230 plus pages on our fax machine.

          Someone pushed the wrong button at Dublin and proceeded to fax their entire 230 plus customer list to all 230 plus customers.

          In just a couple of days, we received an express mailed box from Dublin, along with their other 230 plus customers, containing two reams of paper, two boxes of homemade cookies, and a letter apologizing for the mistake.  That’s just good business, so we show some love for that, and especially the chocolate chip cookies!

Also printed in the County Record Newspaper