Houston Dyanmo fall short to Seattle on last home game of season.

A "minor" disagreement occured between the Houston Dynamo
and Seattle Sounders in the second half.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 21, 2018) The 19,000-plus fans at BBVA Compass Stadium was hoping for a comeback late in the game, but their wishes went unanswered as the Houston Dynamo dropped a close 3-2 decision to the Seattle Sounders on Sunday evening. The Sounders went up 2-0 by halftime, courtesy of goals by Chad Marshall and Gustav Svensson, with Houston cutting their lead to 2-1 14 minutes into the second half. Defender Kevin Garcia scored his first goal of the season for Houston, with an assist by Oscar Boniek Garcia. The Honduran posted his seventh assist of 2018. 

Fourteen minutes later, Seattle regained a two-goal lead, in the 87th minute, when Raul Ruidiaz drilled the ball past Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric. The Dynamo added their second goal in the 89th minute, when Mauro Manotas slipped the ball into the goal past Seattle's Stefan Frei, to close out scoring for the evening.

The loss dropped the Dynamo to 9-16-8 on the season and denied head coach Wilmer Cabrera his 32nd victory in Major League Soccer. He talked about the the match after the game:

“I think we played well. We played well against a very good team. It was a good game of soccer, today – where we had the ball, we created options, we attacked. They didn't create too many options to be honest with you, but the difference was set pieces and mistakes. That team didn’t make any mistakes and on the set pieces – we suffered. They had two and we had one. (DF Chad) Marshall is wonderful—for me the best in set pieces in MLS. So, I expect that but in the second half he fixed it, (DF) Kevin (Garcia) fixed that but (MF) (Gustav) Svensson was totally free —that’s concentration and the third goal that’s a sad mistake and an unusual mistake that happened. But that’s why we needed to put (GK) Tyler Deric after one year. ‘What are we going to do. We’re not going to play him?’ We have to play him. He has to go through that. We are not in the playoffs, this is the moment for him just to go and he is back, but it’s going to help him to recover and it’s going to help him to just get that fire in him for the next season.”

In the 38 games this season, Manotas leads the Dynamo with 23 goals. Tomas Martinez and Romell Quioto lead the team in assists, both with 11. Houston currently has a 1-3-0 record in October and dropped their home record to 8-6-3.

The Dynamo close out the season on Sunday, October 28 with a road match against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

HBU falls to SFA, 42-14 in hard-fought Southland Conference contest

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 20, 2018) After battling to a seven-seven tie at the end of the first quarter, the Houston Baptist University Huskies could not maintain their offensive momentum; dropping a 42-14 decision to the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks at Husky Stadium in Houston. In the five seasons the Huskies and SFA have faced off, the Lumberjacks raised their record against the Huskies to 4-1. HBU's lone win over SFA came on November 12, 2016, with a 31-24 final score at Husky Stadium. After HBU tied the score at the 10:10 mark of the first quarter, the Lumberjacks put 21 unanswered points on the scoreboard. With 1:32 left in the third quarter, Quarterback Bailey Zappe connected with Terry Tillmon on an eight-yard pass to cap a three play, 15-yard drive. The touchdown was the third of the season for the junior wide receiver who hails from Dolton, Illinois. The first score for HBU; a 40-yard pass from Zappe to Jerreth Sterns (Waxahachie HS, Midlothhian, Texas) was the his fourth touchdown of the year.

Zappe, who is have a record-setting season, has completed 18 touchdown passes to date, with the 40-yard pass to Sterns being his longest of the year. The sophomore, who played his prep ball at Victoria East (Texas) High School, was 15-of-34 for 143 yards and two touchdowns. LaDarius Dickens caught 20 passes for 95 yards while Sterns caught six passes for 74 yards.

One major highlight of the game was kicker Tyler Blanchard booting an 80-yard punt late in the second quarter. He has punted 21 times in 2018, for 829 yards and averaging 29.5 yards-per-punt. with four of 50 yards or more and seven inside the 20-yard line.

Next up for the Huskies is a October 27 road contest against Northwestern State on Saturday, October 27. The Lumberjacks will take on the Lamar Cardinals at home on the same date. 

Lamar Cardinals send shockwave through Southland Conference

Photo and story courtsey of Lamar Athletics Press Release and Collegiate Atheltic News

BEAUMONT, TEXAS (October 20, 2018) Lamar University rushed for 435 yards, including 168 yards and two touchdowns from sophomore Myles Wanza, to upset No. 14 Sam Houston State, 41-23, Saturday night at Provost Umphrey Stadium. The Cardinals (3-4/2-3 Southland) took the lead with 2:55 remaining in the first half and never looked back.

"I'm very proud of our guys today," said LU head coach Mike Schultz. "This is probably the most complete game we've played since I've been at Lamar. We did a very good job offensively. I must give credit to Dan Dodd and the offensive staff for coming up with a great game plan and executing that plan.

"Sam Houston has a fast group of kids, and I think everyone saw that. You have to give credit to our defensive staff too. Troy Douglass and company did a phenomenal job getting our guys ready to play and they went out and executed. I felt like we played well in all three phases of the game," added Schultz.

The Cardinals finished the day with 566 yards of total offense and were led by two players who rushed for more than 100. In addition to Wanza (who averaged 11.2 yards per carry), junior A.J. Walker added 23 carries for 121 yards. Senior Darrel Colbert, Jr., had 12 carries for 63 yards and two touchdowns, but was pulled from the game late after scrambling for his second score. Junior Jordan Hoy came on in relief completing 2-of-3 passes for 90 yards and carried the ball six times for 33 yards.

"We felt coming into the game that we had a chance to run the football," said Schultz. "Our kids did a really nice job blocking down the field and taking advantage of some opportunities. We know Myles is capable of nights like this, but he just has not been healthy this season. He and A.J. are a good compliment to each other."

Big Red's defense held Sam Houston State to 382 yards of offense and less than 100 rushing (79). The Cardinals' defensive effort was led by senior Davon Jernigan who ended the night with a team-high 16 tackles, including one for a loss. Classmate Rodney Randle ended the night with nine stops and three pass breakups, and last week's hero, Lane Taylor, added eight solo tackles and a PBU.

For the Cardinals, it was their first win over a nationally ranked opponent since 2015 when it also defeated Sam Houston State, who was ranked third that year. It's also the first time LU has won back-to-back games since the 2016 season. For the Bearkat defense, the 41 points that LU hung on the scoreboard Saturday is the most surrendered by SHSU all season.

After giving up the game's first score, the Cardinals rallied to score 17 of the next 24 points. Sophomore Elvin Martinez pulled LU within three with his 26-yard field goal less than two minutes after Sam Houston's game-opening score. Sam Houston pushed it's lead to 10, 13-3, after Colbert was stripped while passing the ball, and recovered by the Bearkats on the LU nine. Two plays later SHSU was in the end zone following a nine-yard pass from Ty Brock to Davion Davis.

The Cardinals closed out the opening quarter with a six-play, 42-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard run from Wanza with 45 seconds remaining in the first. The score pulled LU back within three, 13-10.

The score remained unchanged until under the three-minute mark when Big Red was back on the march. Colbert guided a seven-play 80-yard drive that ended with him scrambling for a 14-yard run for the score. It gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 17-13, which they took into the locker room.

The Cardinals went into halftime with 248 yards of total offense, including 234 on the ground. Big Red's defense held Sam Houston State to 218 yards. Wanza ended the half with seven carries for 86 yards and a touchdown, while Walker had 13 for 79 yards.

The Cardinals didn't waste any time picking up in the second half where it left off in the first. Colbert drove the Cardinals down the field in 2:09 and added to the lead with an eight-yard scoring run. The score pushed Big Red's lead to 11, 24-13. After a Martinez 25-yard field goal gave the Cards a 14-point advantage, Sam Houston surged back with 10-straight to cut the deficit to four, 27-23, with 1:51 remaining in the third.

Hoy, who entered the game following the Cardinals' last score, answered the Bearkat run with another Cardinal drive. Hoy moved the Cardinals 75 yards down the field on three plays and ended with a 35-yard run from Wanza right down the middle of the field. The score gave LU a 34-23 lead with 57 seconds remaining in the third. The TD run was set up by a 38-yard pass to senior Isaiah Howard on the previous play.

The Bearkats moved the ball deep into LU territory midway through the fourth quarter but the LU defense denied Sam on third down. On fourth, the Bearkats tried to quick snap the ball but got flagged for a false start and the Cardinals got the ball back.

The Red and White put the game on ice with another score at the 4:55 mark. Hoy led the Cardinals on a 5-play, 65-yard drive that took 3:05 off the clock and eliminated any ideas of Sam Houston comeback.

The Cardinals will go in search of its third-straight victory Saturday when they travel to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on Stephen F. Austin. It marks the Cardinals first trip to Nacogdoches since the 2012 season. The game against SFA will kick off at 3 p.m. from Homer Bryce Stadium. It can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI. It can also will be televised on ESPN+.

Week Seven Rankings: UIL Class 6A Football

By Robert H Kelly

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

PASADENA-DEER PARK, TEXAS (October 14, 2018) Below is our Week Seven (for games played October 11-13, 2018) Top 10 Rankings for Texas UIL Class 6A Football.  

1. Allen Eagles (6-0) 54-14 WIN over Plano East (Last Week: #1)

2. North Shore Mustangs (6-0) 75-13 WIN over Deer Park (Last Week: #2)

3. Converse Judson Rockets (6-0) 37-11 WIN over New Braunfels (Last Week: #4)

4. Duncanville Panthers (5-0) 76-0 WIN over Richardson Lake Highlands (Last Week: #5)

5. Longview Lobos (6-0) 50-3 WIN over Mesquite Horn (Last Week: #6)

6. Klein Collins Tigers (7-0) 56-14 WIN over Klein Cain (Last Week: #7)

7. Southlake Carroll Dragons (6-0) 41-17 WIN over Byron Nelson (Last Week: #8)

8. Katy Tigers (5-1) 44-7 WIN over Katy Morton Ranch (Last Week: #9)

9. Cypress Ranch Mustangs (7-0) 56-14 WIN over Cypress Springs (Last Week: Not Ranked #11)

     10. Temple Wildcats (6-0) 35-13 WIN over Killeen (Last Week: #10)

North Shore tallies 723 yards of offense in 75-13 rout of Deer Park

North Shore's Roger Hagen (15) dives for
a few extra yards versus Deer Park.
Photo by Darla S Tamulitis,
La Vita Loca Photography,
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 12, 2018) The No. 2 North Shore Mustangs continued their run to an eventual district championship with a 75-13 win over the Deer Park Deer at Galena Park ISD Stadium on Friday evening. Their 75 points was the most this season over any opponent and put them in the driver’s seat of UIL District 21-6A with four regular season games to go. 

The Mustangs have outscored their opponents in their first six games, 302-46; averaging just over 50 points a game. In their past twelve meetings dating back to 2004, North Shore has posted a 12-0 record against Deer Park. Their 75-13 win was the most points scored against the Deer since their 51-10 win on October 21, 2004. 

Against the Deer, Mustang quarterback Dematrius Davis completed 9-of-11 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Zach Evans carried the ball nine times for 141 yards while Shadrach Banks caught four passes for 77 yards and one touchdown. The Mustangs tallied 723 yards of total offense against the Deer, the most of the season; pushing their average-per-game to 456 yards. 

With four games to go in the regular season, Deer Park fell to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in district play. The Mustangs are a perfect 6-0 and facing an October 19 match up against Baytown Sterling (2-4 season, 0-3 district). After playing Sterling, the Deer will close out the regular season against Baytown Sterling (October 19), Beaumont Westbrook (October 26), Beaumont United (November 3), and Channelview (November 9).

Week Six Rankings: UIL Class 6A Football

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

PASADENA-DEER PARK, TEXAS (October 8, 2018) Below 

is our Week Six (for games played October 4-6, 2018) 

Top 10 Rankings for UIL Class 6A Football. Their previous 

rank is listed behind the school's name.

1. Allen Eagles (1)
2. North Shore Mustangs (2)
3. Lake Travis Cavaliers (3)
4. Converse Judson Rockets (4)
5. Duncanville Panthes (5)

6. Longview Lobos (8)

7.  Klein Collins Tigers (6)
8. Southlake Carroll (7)
9. Katy Tigers (10)

10. Temple Wildcats (NR)

1.