A blog devoted to discussing High School Sports in the Texas Panhandle

Go see some. Saw Tascosa and Hereford last night. Going to see Amarillo High and Palo Duro tonight. Excited about seeing some of the original inhabitants of my website – James Castleman of AHS and Ty Hicks and Denzel Everhart of Palo Duro.

Okay, I haven’t bothered with the blogging portion of my website for a long time. I am going to try to give it a go for a while though. I hope that it will be fruitful.

During the week or so preceding the kickoff of the high school season, I managed to catch parts of all of five different scrimmages. Saw Canyon scrimmage Brownwood and Canyon (where I live and where my son plays by the way) left me thinking they may be in for some hard times come the real games. They changed my opinion though when they manhandled Lubbock High last Thursday night. Coach Bryant’s team looked a lot more prepared and seasoned. New QB Travis Cosby showed well, getting off to a quick start connecting with the likes of Bill Bryant and Derek Odell. They were very sharp on defense too, slowing down the big running back from LH, Shaquille Johnson, who was a load when he got his feet moving.

I also saw the two small school heavies get together for a scrimmage. Bushland brought in the Canadian team and it was worth watching. Lots of high powered offense, as Bushland’s Brett Wilhelm, Tate Rhodes and Mason Harris led the way, while Canadian’s potential all-stater Braden Hudson was very effective as well slinging the ball to Jacob Ramirez and Isaac Lewis. Canadian is also the team sporting two probably D1 recruits in Taylor Chappell and Ryan Alexander. Chappell has already verballed to the Missouri Tigers, while Alexander has lots of options developing.

Also caught a little bit of Palo Duro and Perryton, just enough to catch both Ty Hicks and Denzel Everhart both rip off long touchdown runs. You gotta get those two at the line of scrimmage. They are nearly impossible to corral after that point with a little bit of open field in front of them. Incidentally potential all-state basketball guard Michael Patterson of the Dons is the new QB there. He has laid off the game for a couple years so it will be interesting to see how he develops this year. It will be a tough district to prove himself in. Good luck to him.

Another I caught was Amarillo High hosting Abilene Cooper. AHS looked decent to good on both sides of the ball. I think the Sandies will be relying on sophomore Gabe Rodriguez at quarterback this year. He seemed stable and prepared for the job during the scrimmage, making a couple of nice plays on the move. Of course, big James Castleman will be the dominant force on the defense for the Sandies.

The last one I saw was part of the River Road and Caprock scrimmage. Caprock will send out quarterback Gerardo Ruiz in hopes of amassing more yardage through the air. He has some speedy wide receivers to toss it to as well. As for River Road, the looked well in the short time I was there. They of course, will rely on Chris Perez and the Wildcat Formation to get things done there. Unfortunately their first real game was against the aforementioned Canadian team. Very dominant was Canadian, but River Road can go back and work on some of the smaller things and still see some good success this season.

Most of the people I just mentioned are on my website, and some of the ones who aren’t soon will be.

Go check out a game or two this weekend.

Well, basketball is over and baseball is well under way. If you have stumbled on to this page before ever seeing the website, then head on over and see the only place on the web where more than 25 of the Texas panhandle’s best high school football players from this past fall all reside in video form, waiting for you to take a look at their skills. There is a small amount of basketball and the beginning of a baseball section as well. More to come for sure. Including interviews.

If you have some idea of what I am doing then ask yourself if you know of someone who should be on here, or of someone who has good video of someone who should be on here. And contact me if you do.

Thanks to all the young athletes who have let me feature them on my website so far, as well as their parents and coaches. I am excited about doing some interviews with some of these kids, and I have several lined up.

But not Stratford and Canadian in 1A and Bushland in 2A. Stratford will take on Albany Friday night in Wolfforth for the right to play for the state title next weekend. Canadian will play for the 1A Div 1 State title on Saturday at 5 in Lubbock at Jones Stadium. And the Falcons will take on Callisburg at 6 on Saturday in Wichita Falls, looking to gain the right to one more game next week. 3 really good teams who almost round-robbined against each other this year – Stratford took on both, losing two tough games. Bushland has no number but zero in its L column, and the Wildcats suffered only one of those, to Perryton (who might be hard pressed to pull off that feat at this particular point in the well-progressed season – I have seen two of the Canadian playoff games – they’ve been quite juggernaut-ish of late).

Here’s to three of the best the Panhandle of Texas has to offer bringing home state titles this Saturday and next.

Nine out of twenty? You’d be a great baseball hitter for sure. But a lousy passing quarterback. Or Shaquille O’Neal from the free throw line. But if you are a fan of high school volleyball in the Texas panhandle, then check this stat that reads 9 of 20. Of the past four years worth of State Champions in Texas High School Volleyball, 9 out of the 20 total teams (five classifications each year) reside here in the Texas panhandle. And it’s not just one team doing it – although Amarillo High with a remarkable four in a row is, well, remarkable – a total of five programs are represented in those nine spots. It reads as you see below in the screen capture I took from the UIL volleyball website, with the addition of what happened this past weekend, when the Sandies got their fourth and the Lady Raiders from Randall got their first. Add in Bushland’s two, and the always strong Hereford program, along with the Dumas squad from three years ago, and that is an impressive feat. We get a lot of credit around here for our girl’s basketball programs, and no doubt the volleyball programs aren’t exactly unnoticed. But still that is am impressive feat. Yeah, I already said that didn’t I? Bears repeating, I guess.

Congratulations to Amarillo High for doing something that is hardly ever done at all in any sport anywhere in the country. Congratulations to Randall for stepping up and putting the Raider program on the map in a big way, and congratulations to all of the previously mentioned programs for the hard work of their coaches, players, and parents.

Amarillo High just put away Austin Westlake in a close, close, close – CLOSE – match. All five games were necessary, at least three requiring extra points, including the last at 16-14.

Congratulations to Coach Barker. Man, four in a row. Quite an accomplishment!

As I write this, they are up 8-3 in the third game, and up 2-0 in the match against Brenham. I’m going to say take it to the bank. Another Panhandle state champ in volleyball. Hopefully I don’t have to correct myself. By the way, these games were viewable on foxsportssouthwest.com. Amarillo High is next against Austin Westlake, seeking their 4th straight 5A crown. Currently 10-7 as I finish writing this. And Randall won’t give up 3 games in a row.

Edit – Yeah, it happened. Congratulations to Coach Culpepper and his great team. 3 games to zero over Brenham.

A lot more Texas panhandle athletes inked letters of intent during the past few days.

Starting with what may ultimately be one of the bigger names in Texas panhandle basketball history, Michael Cobbins of Palo Duro made it official for Oklahoma State on Saturday night. Before 50 or so friends and family, he made an emotional speech thanking all the people who helped him get to this point. As you would expect, Dennis and Joy, Michael’s parents, sat watching with great pride as their 6’9″ son marked the beginning of what should be a great senior season with a great accomplishment. Assistant Coach Russell Camp read the prepared words of PD Head Coach Jeff Evans, who could not be in attendance. As noted in the typed words of Evans, the talent of Cobbins, combined with the fact that he is a good kid who is trying to do right by those close to him and by his parents and mentors, makes him a sure fire prospect. His recruitment, if I gauged it correctly, was more of a sudden burst, as Cobbins began making a splash on the national scene via the Spring and Summer basketball circuits during the past year. Congratulations to Cowboy Head Coach Travis Ford for being impressive enough to close the deal on a kid that a lot of big time schools wanted.

Two other PD roundballers found time on Monday for the same thing. Jasmine Patterson and Brianna Taylor both have big plans for this season, as the two all-district performers may have what it takes to help Coach A.J. Johnson’s Lady Dons find their way to Austin. And as with Cobbins, they start their senior seasons by signing on the dotted line. The destination of both young ladies will be Albuquerque, as they decided the University of New Mexico was the right place to keep playing ball.

I saw these two play a great game, a Texas panhandle classic if you will, last year against Canyon in Canyon. Having lost on their own home court a month or so earlier, they overcame their own slow start and the Lady Eagles quick start to begin clawing their way back into a tough, tight game in the second half. As Taylor and Patterson lead the way, it culminated in Taylor sinking the game-winner off a deliberate “wait, wait, wait… now drive” move that sunk the home side and sent the visiting Lady Don fans into euphoria. And by the way, I totally recommend catching a Lady Eagle-Lady Don game if you get a chance.

Congratulations to these two young ladies and Cobbins as well.

The Amarillo High commons area was full on Monday night too, as a hundred or so fans and friends gathered to watch seven – that’s right, I said seven – Sandie Volleyball players ink letters to play college volleyball. The list – Sheridan Burgess to Texas Tech, Eden Williams to Oklahoma, Danielle Barker and Emily Klein to Tarleton State, Micah Nolan to Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and Neely Borger and Madelyn Robinett to Abilene Christian.

The Sandies head down to San Marcos this week to see if they can cash in on another state title. I have seen a handful of matches this year, and they never let up, doing whatever it takes to get a point. Good luck to them in their quest. And good luck to the Randall Raiders as they attempt to bring home a state title in volleyball as well.

Dex Kjerstad of Randall, Charlie Curl of Tascosa, Blair Dickey of Amarillo High, and Parker Bridwell of Hereford all signed national letters of intent yesterday with Big 12 baseball programs. No doubt there are some proud coaches in the panhandle of Texas witnessing that. And I’m not just talking about their respective high school coaches. All of the extra baseball those young men have played during their lives has meant a lot of dedication on the part of dads who just want to see their kids have a good time and learn how to put their best foot forward always.

Anyway, Kjerstad inked his letter with the Texas Longhorns, Bridwell has become a Texas Tech Red Raider, and both Curl and Dickey will head to College Station to play ball for the Aggies. Four kids from four panhandle schools sign with Division 1 baseball programs – as Tascosa baseball coach Jason Patrick told the Globe News (or should it be the Glove News in this case?), “This is a great day for the Panhandle.” Lance Lahnert wrote a piece for the paper, and you can read it here. It includes the interesting tidbit that Kjerstad, Curl, and Bridwell all played youth baseball together.

The other big signing was in Canyon, as Jordan Vessels decided that the school down the street was just the right one for her. Coach Krista Gerlich will welcome her as a WTAMU Lady Buff this fall. Jordan will play her senior season as a Canyon Eagle knowing all that recruiting stuff is out of the way.

I’ll comment a little on Jordan, having known her family for several years now. The Vessels moved to Canyon from Dumas several years ago, and Jordan fit right in with what Coach Joe Lombard works so hard to accomplish every year in the Canyon gyms. She’s a bright kid from two great involved parents, and I’ve seen her not just as a basketball player, but as a mature young lady who handles herself well around adults and makes a good role model for the younger Canyon kids who follow that vaunted Lady Eagle basketball program. And for little brother Jace, too, who thinks she’s really the cat’s meow (that should induce a groan from him).

Good luck to Jordan, I know that she will do well.

And good luck to Dex, Parker, Blair and Charlie. Yeah, it was a good day in the panhandle!

This week, I uploaded 12 videos. Chances are you came here from there and know that, but if not, go check out my site, www.texaspanhandlesports.com. The addition of the individual highlight reels of kids like Connor Moore and Denzel Everhart and James Castleman and Parker Bridwell and Mason Harris and all the ones I put up there feels like a huge accomplishment for me. I’m not trying to brag on myself, but those highlight videos are the reason I started the site. So to reach that point, the point where I can say to others, yeah, your kid should be on there too, because look who else is on there, well, that’s a good feeling. And more are certainly on the way. And I am really excited about basketball season being here too. That was the real genesis of this site – basketball, specifically Michael Cobbins of Palo Duro and Jordan Vessels of Canyon.

It’s been a lot of work, but hopefully it will bear out that it was worth it. Feel free to let me know what you think. And if you think it’s good, then let someone else know about it, too.