Sports Year in Review 2020
Last year was one we’d like to forget for obvious reasons.
COVID-19 changed the landscape in which we lived our lives and has changed the dynamic of every life on this planet.
The loss of sports is not comparable in any way to the loss of life that has occurred since this pandemic began.
Whether or not it was here before it was classified to the public, March of 2020 was when everything took a turn for the worse.
From my Sports Year in Review perspective the pandemic took away chances for baseball, softball and track teams to repeat storied success.
Soccer, golf and tennis were affected and the state powerlifting event was canceled completely.
I’m not separating this year’s accomplishments by school or month.
That hinges on the fact sports came to a halt in March and didn’t show signs of life until May.
There are many things to remember about local sports in 2020 albeit a year to forget.
Hall of Honor
A bright spot in the distress of last year was the enshrinement of two legendary Rabbits into the 2020 East Texas Coaches Association (ETCA) Hall of Honor.
Ted Thompson, Atlanta High School graduate of 1971, and Ben Scharnberg, the winningest football coach in Atlanta school history were inducted into the hall for their representation of football over the years.
Thompson was a star athlete for Atlanta in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s who went on to play at SMU and suit up for the Houston Oilers in the NFL.
Thompson lived out his lifelong dream of being the Green Bay Packers’ Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director.
He’s also in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Scharnberg made his way to Atlanta High School from Boling, which is southeast of Houston, in the spring of 1988.
In his first year as Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Scharnberg turned around a 1-9 program from the previous season and took the Rabbs to an 8-2 record.
In his third season at the helm Scharnberg led Atlanta into the playoffs for the first time since the 1983 season, and the very next year in 1990 the Rabbs went 10-0 and undefeated in district play for the first time since 1978.
In 1994 the Rabbits to a tough Sealy team in the 1994, 3A title game but did win it all in the 2003, 3A title game with a 34-0 win over Marlin.
In his Atlanta coaching career Scharnberg was 149-82-2 and overall was 172-90-3.
Daimion Collins
Atlanta senior basketball specialist Daimion Collins never wavered from his Oct. 31, verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky as he signed his national letter of intent to play for the Wildcats Nov. 17, inside the gymnasium at Atlanta High School.
Collins was not short on scholarships as he acquired offers from: Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Houston, Oklahoma, LSU, Hampton, VCU, Baylor, TCU, La Tech, Oklahoma State, SMU, SFA, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa, USC and UCLA.
Collins whittled that list down to his final five in October which included: Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech.
Some of the scouting reports on the Rabbit big man is that he’s an elite shot-blocker and rim protector who has an NBA frame at 6 feet, 10 inches with a 7 foot, 4-plus inch wingspan.
Most experts agree that Collins is one of the more intriguing prospects in the entire class.
He is a freakish athlete who can run the floor and finish strong. Many experts believe he is just scratching the surface of how good he can be offensively.
The five-star big can play on the perimeter some, handling the ball and possessing a decent jump shot for his size, which will only get better. While his offensive post game is still developing, Collins’ rim protection will be some of the best that Kentucky’s program has ever seen.
Alex Hammonds
Alex Hammonds, the golf prodigy and phenom in the making, finished the East Texas Junior Golf Tour by winning all eleven events he entered.
At the championship event, Hammonds shot a record-low score of 29 on day one and 36 on day two for a total of 65, which was 18 strokes better than the second-place finisher.
After the championship, the young golfer had tallied 200 points on the tour which was 80 points better than his second-place opponent.
Coach Kelly Kalinec
Not all sports stories are spectacular.
This story was about a spectacular person gone too soon.
Coach Kelly Kalinec, who was also an educator, passed away last year after sustaining injuries from a tree which fell on him at his home in Upshur County.
In his school biography Coach K stated that his passion is and has always been to serve and help kids in any way. He loved working with kids, whether it’s in the classroom, out of the classroom, on the athletic field, youth league fields, local youth groups and organizations, even Vacation Bible School.
He also said he believes he found a “home” at L-K where he loved his teaching position and the wonderful students of Linden-Kildare HS.
Linden-Kildare Band
The Roaring Band from Tiger Land made a historic run this past year after the program not only notched a spot in the state finals, but they placed second overall in the area marching contest hosted by Lindale High School.
To date no one is sure if the band has ever gone to state and that information is being looked into.
If not The Roaring Band from Tiger Land 2020 will be remembered for more than just pushing through a pandemic, they will have set the bar high for many years to come as they marched through a gauntlet of competition to get there.
The Roaring Band form Tiger Land competed against 17 other bands which are from the school districts of Honey Grove, Sundown, Ganado, Tenaha, Forsan, Thorndale, Falls City, Anson, Post, Rosebud-Lott, Simms, Charlotte, Plains, Thrall, Santo, Harper and Panhandle.
ABN wins national title
Muhammad Ali once said, “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will, but the will must be stronger than the skill.”
That quote perfectly fits the desire, dream and vision Brandon Garner had seven years ago when he organized a football league dubbed Atlanta Bulldog Nation (ABN).
At that time Garner and a host of coaches were literally starting on the ground floor as they coached kids who had never played football before.
Fast forward to the seventh year where Garner, a 2000 Queen City graduate, saw the fruits of his labor and that of his coaches after the 12U team won the 12U National Championship.
Twenty-three teams made it to nationals from several different states which included Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina, Illinois, New York and Georgia.
Being on the national stage pitted them against some of the toughest competition they had faced to date but after the first couple of games you couldn’t tell.
In the first game ABN beat Ormond Beach, Florida 33-0 then dominated the Brooklyn Steelers 41-6.
In the third game ABN squeaked out a 20-13 overtime win against team Sting from Georgia and then beat a solid Plant City, Florida team 20-7 for the national title.
The championship title gave ABN a ranking of eighth nationally and fifth in Texas which is a proud stat for coaches Brandon Garner, Willie “ET” Grundy, Nick Pace, Je’Von Jackson, Dwayne Harris and Josh Walker who helped coach the 12U team to victory.
Garner’s desire, dream and vision has taken shape in the form of a National Championship and that’s just the beginning for ABN.
Ravon Justice
My classmate has been doing big things on the basketball court since high school.
From the sidelines her coaching style has been the turning point for some teams.
The third-biggest turnaround in the country in her first season at the helm of the Sam Houston State University women’s basketball program, Ravon Justice was named Coach of the Year.
After inheriting a team that went 7-48 in the two years before arrival, Justice led the Bearkats to a 16-13 overall record with an 11-7 mark in Southland Conference play.
Despite being picked to finish last in the league’s preseason poll, Sam Houston State ended up with the fifth-best conference record.
The longtime SHSU AD saw her talents firsthand in 2016, when Justice beat the Bearkats as the head coach at Prairie View A&M. He knew instantly that she had the potential for a bright coaching career.
Her biggest priority for year one was to establish a winning culture.
UIL Postponement
By mid-March it was apparent the coronavirus was here for a while which forced the UIL to shut down and suspend many contests, meets, games and workouts. Some dates were pushed back but the more the virus we didn’t know much about raged the more that was completely shut down for good.
The UIL suspended the boys’ basketball tournament in San Antonio for starters and it steamrolled from there.
Steven Lambeth
McLeod’s AD and head boys’ basketball coach Steven Lambeth notched his 300th career win last January. The milestone was a, 73-31, win over James Bowie.
Lambeth has been a cornerstone of the program for some time and looks to add another 300 to that total before he hangs up his whistle.
Hope Thompson
Atlanta’s Hope Thompson followed her heart and is on a pathway to becoming a legend in her desired sport.
Thompson, a 2004 Atlanta High School graduate, recently wrapped up her fourth Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) World Title.
This year was historic for the ladies as the World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) and Professional Bull Riders (PBR) set up a first-of-its-kind world championship which was open to any female athlete in the world competing in breakaway roping, barrel racing and team roping.
Thompson along with teammate Rylie Smith took the top honors in the team roping at the inaugural Women’s Rodeo World Championships.
Breakaway roping was added to the lineup of events in the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo this year for the first time ever, and Thompson became the first competitor to throw her rope which was historic for the ladies.
Thompson knew from an early age that rodeo competition would be her career choice.
Thompson has the grit and determination to succeed and is sure to be the next lady rider younger competitors look to for inspiration.
Wylie Jo Hodges
Going along with the ending of my last review Wylie Jo Hodges is an inspiration to those who know her and to those who have only heard of her. Shas accomplished more in her short lifespan than most have in 50 years or more.
Of course not everyone can be as talented on horseback as the young rodeo star from Bloomburg.
Wylie Jo competes in the Southwest Arkansas High School Rodeo Association (SWAHSRA) which runs its season from September to May.
After a very successful year in different arenas the young equestrian qualified for Junior World Finals.
Usually the finals are held in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, but due to COVID-19 the NFR and Junior World Finals were moved to Ft. Worth.
At finals Wylie Jo competed in the 11U Junior Barrels against more than 60 competitors from all over the United States.
After running a first round time of 14.5 Wylie Jo was in 10th place. She dropped to 15th after the second round in which she turned in an identical time of 14.5.
By averaging both scores together she wound up in the top 10 and advanced to the final run.
In that final run Wylie Jo posted a 14.4 and finished eighth in the world.
This was Wylie Jo’s first time competing in the Junior World Finals which is not easy to qualify for.
NSD 2020
National Signing Day is always a big day for student-athletes across the nation.
It was no different in Atlanta as four kids signed college scholarships.
Dagan Ward signed to run track at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA), Connor Samples signed with Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., to play football for the Warriors, Cade Fant signed to play football at East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) and Clayton Primrose signed with East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) where he will attend on a fishing scholarship. In my eight years of coverage this is the first signee going on a fishing scholarship and also a first for Atlanta AD Matt McClure.
Signings
Bloomburg senior Madison Clayton signed to play tennis for Midway University in Midway, Kentucky.
Madison is the first athlete from Bloomburg to play tennis collegiately and one of the few to receive an athletic scholarship in any sport.
Atlanta hurler Max Ebarb signed to play baseball with Louisiana State University-Shreveport (LSU-S) and Lady Rabbit speedster Keyona Easter signed to run track at Angelina College in Lufkin initially but due to COVID-19 the Lufkin-based college canceled all sporting events for the 2020-2021 calendar year. Easter transferred to Highland Community College in Kansas.
McLeod High School Class of 2020 graduate, Trevor Deel, signed a letter of intent to play basketball for
East Texas Baptist University, and Atlanta baller Cyrah Jones signed her Letter of Intent to play basketball for East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.
Atlanta Track
Although the season was short-lived Atlanta’s varsity boys’ track program placed second and the JV first in the Paul Parr Relays at Liberty-Eylau High School.
The varsity boys placed second behind a strong Texas High team but beat out host L-E, Pleasant Grove and Redwater.
The JV team placed first overall with 190 points, Texas High came in second with 139.5 points, L-E had 106, PG 92 and Redwater 57.5.
The varsity girls placed fifth overall and the JV girls placed third.
QC Track
Queen City’s track program competed in the Sibley Brahma Relays at Pewitt Mar. 6.
The varsity boys placed third overall in a crowded field which included teams from Hughes Springs, host Pewitt, Redwater, DeKalb, Pittsburg, James Bowie, Chapel Hill, Linden-Kildare, New Boston, Hooks and Maud.
The varsity girls placed third overall and the JV boys placed fifth. For both the varsity boys and varsity girls the Bulldogs were just a few points from securing second place finishes.
AMS Football
The Atlanta Middle School football highlights included the 7B and 8B football teams defeating Gilmer this season as well as the 7A team. The 8A team fell to the Buckeyes.
Later on the seventh grade Rabbs beat Liberty-Eylau 36- 14 and the eighth grade squad won 40-8.
The Rabbits’ seventh grade team also torched New Boston 52-20 and Tatum 42-14. The eighth grade team won 44-6 over New Boston and Tatum 56-30.
The Rabbs added a seventh grade 28-0 win over Gladewater and the eighth grade won 26-14 over the Bears.
Atlanta capped off a stellar season with the district crown after topping Jefferson 35-22 in the seventh grade contest and 41-0 in the eighth grade game.
The Rabbs eighth grade finished the year 7–1 overall and 6-0 in district play. The Rabbs have captured the district crown in back-to-back seasons.
McLeod Basketball
McLeod’s varsity boys’ basketball team obtained a perfect district record (12-0) for the first time in school history Feb. 18, as they topped Detroit, 79-37.
The Longhorns (31-2, 12-0) had already clinched a district championship after beating Clarksville but they needed this win to make it an undefeated achievement.
The game was over early as McLeod went up, 20-0, after the first quarter of play and had a, 42-13, lead at the break.
Trevor Deel scorched the nets for 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Kobe Bonner posted 11 points with eight boards, Nathan Parker contributed 10 points, Austin Gilmore recorded eight, Keldyn Schubert seven, Silas Murdock six, Nos Gryder six, Tyler Williams five, Carson Burden three and Casey Smith two.
On top of the varsity boys’ championship the JV team also won a district championship after beating Detroit.
McLeod Basketball Playoffs
The McLeod Longhorns wrapped up a district championship and followed that up with a Bi-District title after beating Beckville, 83-48, Feb. 24.
Trevor Deel poured in 25 points with 15 rebounds, Casey Smith recorded 14 points, Kobe Bonner added 12 points and Keldyn Schubert had 12 points with 16 assists.
In the Area matchup McLeod’s varsity boys’ basketball team picked up where it left off as it dominated Celeste, 73- 33.
The seventh-ranked Longhorns (33-2) led, 17-13, after the first quarter of play and left no doubt as they outscored Celeste, 22-2, in the second frame to take a, 39-15, lead into the break.
Keldyn Schubert was lights out as he racked up 28 points and 10 assists, Casey Smith posted 13 points, Trevor Deel added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kobe Bonner had eight points with eight boards.
Atlanta Basketball
Atlanta’s varsity boys’ basketball team wrapped up another undefeated district schedule (12-0) and championship in consecutive seasons by beating New Boston, 71-45.
Keyshawn Easter posted 17 points, Hunter Allen 15, Daimion Collins 13 points with 14 blocks and 11 rebounds, JJ Fields 11 and Kameron Dickerson 11.
AMS Basketball
Feb. 13, the AMS boys’ basketball programs wrapped up its season against Paul Pewitt.
Both the seventh grade A (13-0) and B (10-0) teams finished the season as undefeated district champions, the eighth grade A (9-4) team finished as district runner-up and the eighth grade B (9-1) team claimed a district championship.
The seventh grade A team topped Pewitt behind Rowe’ 13 points, Batton’s 12, Kinney’s eight and Austin’s seven.
The eighth grade A team beat the Brahmas behind Boston’s 20 points, Dowden’s 12 and Andrews’ seven.
Atlanta Iron
Atlanta Iron claimed first overall at the Atlanta Iron Invitational
Atlanta finished with 54 points, Texas High had 53 and Hughes Springs was third with 22 points.
Carthage, Queen City and Waskom also had lifters present for the meet.
Outstanding Overall Lifters (using the body weight formula) were Logan Shelton on light platforms and Trey Adams on heavy platforms.
Atlanta Iron turned in another solid season and it was evident with Cade Fant and Trey Adams making a return trip to state.
At the Division III, Region III meet in Malakoff Mar. 5, Atlanta Iron placed third overall out of 55 schools from 1A- 3A and only missed first place by two points.
Fant was the overall champion in the 242-pound weight class with a total lift of 1,480 pounds. Fant squatted 570, benched 350 and dead lifted 560.
Adams was the overall champion in the 220’s with a total lift of 1,470 pounds. Adams squatted 560, benched 370 and dead lifted 540.
Jaden Wells received a fifth-place medal after totaling 1,390 in the 275’s, Logan Shelton placed sixth in the 165’s with a total of 1,160 pounds and Avery Whitlow placed 10th in the 114’s with a total of 630 pounds.
The state meet was canceled due to COVID-19.
Deaundrea Mitchell placed 11th at the Girls Region III, Division IIII meet.
Recycling Program
Queen City duo Clare and Vincent Wong, standout tennis players from Queen City, were on a mission this summer to help uniquely clean the environment.
The two teens started a tennis ball recycling program here in Cass County.
The program is hosted by RecycleBalls which is backed by Wilson Sporting Goods.
Nationwide, approximately 125 million used tennis balls wind up in America’s landfills every year. That is 20,000 metric tons of methane-producing, near non-decomposable rubber waste.
With that in mind team, Wong jumped into action.
Each box holds 200 balls and weighs 26 pounds when full and has a preprinted and prepaid UPS shipping label for its return trip to Vermont.
So far the tennis phenoms have filled three boxes.
Drop-offs, so far, are at the Linden City Park courts, Atlanta High School and Queen City Middle School.
Atlanta XC
Atlanta’s boys’ varsity cross country team of Jake Carter, Jack Teale, Caiden Fincher, Kentrell Luckey, Randall Mason, Noah Dowda, Andrew Allen, Landon Moore and Hudson Hale won district for the fourth year in a row Oct. 28.
Jake Carter was the district champ and the team placed seventh at regionals.
The girls’ varsity XC team of Keri Fomby, Kendall Fant, Aurelia Giesler, Kelsey Nash and Lilly Steward placed second at district and eighth in regionals.
That happened to be the best placement for a girls’ team from Atlanta in both races since 2008.
At the district meet Atlanta finished 1-4 with Carter, Fincher, Dowda and Teale crossing the finish line.
For the ladies Keri Fomby placed fourth, freshman Kendall Fant placed fifth and Aurelia Giesler placed seventh.
QC Iron
Queen City powerlifters competed in the Atlanta Iron Invitational Feb. 3.
Austin Terry placed second overall in the 165-pound weight class with a total lift of 1,005 pounds, and Cedric Davis led the competition with 1,475 pounds lifted and set personal bests in squat (610 pounds) and deadlift (530 pounds) in the Super Heavy Weight Class.
L-K Basketball
The Linden Kildare Tigers’ varsity boys’ basketball team has been on a roll since opening the season with back-to-back losses.
L-K opened up the schedule with a 73-61 loss to DeKalb and then fell to New Boston 60-51.
Since that time the Tigers have reeled off eight straight wins.
That hot streak began with a narrow 52-51 win over Hooks on Nov. 23, followed by a 56-45 win over Maud on Nov. 24.
The Tigers rolled Redwater 79-42 on Dec. 1, beat Hughes Springs Dec. 4, 53-25.
L-K topped Ore City 52-34 Dec.5, and then ventured into hostile territory Dec. 8, in northern Cass County taking on a longtime rival, the Queen City Bulldogs.
The Tigers escaped Queen City with a 50-43 victory.
Next up for the Tigers was a solid Paul Pewitt team but L-K breezed by the Brahmas 72-42 on Dec. 11.
L-K then beat Elysian Fields 62-33 Dec. 12.
Atlanta Volleyball
The Lady Rabbits finished up district play by beating both DeKalb and Redwater.
Atlanta topped DeKalb on Oct. 20, in four sets and downed Redwater in four sets just three days later on Oct. 23.
Atlanta finished second in district and played Mt. Pleasant Chapel Hill in the first round of the playoffs.
The Lady Rabbits beat Mt. Pleasant Chapel Hill in the bi-district round of the state playoffs and closed out its first playoff win since 2007.
QC Football
Queen City football opened its football season with three consecutive wins. QC had a good chance at four straight but COVID-19 stepped in and the game was called off.
The Bulldogs opened its 2020 football campaign with a 14-0 win over rival Linden-Kildare in the Cass County Clash and followed that up with an 18-14 win over Union Grove on Homecoming night.
QC ran its record to 3-0 for the first time since 2013 after thumping Quitman 65-13.
Queen City has tossed up 50-plus points several times since the turn of the century, but unless noted elsewhere the last time Queen City lit up the scoreboard for 60-plus was in 2000 when they beat Redwater 67-0.
The Bulldogs also beat New Diana 20-3 and won a forfeited game over Ore City.
L-K Football
The Tigers overcame adversity this season and played hard.
Linden-Kildare did top Big Sandy 56-0 in district play with 453 rushing yards.
Russel Nance recorded 160 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns, Tashawn Patterson added 79 yards with a score, Tawin Patterson had 63 yards with a touchdown, Ja’Kyric Nard had 36 yards with a TD, Jonathon Owens had 31 yards with a score, Jay Birmingham posted 31 yards with a TD, Mason Johnson had seven yards with a TD, Karson Bynum added 34 yards and Colton Anderson had 12.
The Tigers also beat Union Grove 40-30 in the KYKX Game of the week.
The run game was on full display in this contest as the Tigers racked up 339 yards on the ground.
Russel Nance had 208 yards on 15 carries with four touchdowns and a long run of 56 at one point in the contest.
Tae Mitchell posted 96 yards with a score, Mason Johnson added 12 yards with a score, Tawin Patterson had 12 yards rushing and Karson Bynum recorded 11.
Atlanta Football
The Rabbits fought through this season and made the playoffs after a tough pre-district campaign.
The Rabbs beat Sabine 28-14, New Boston 40-20 and needed to beat Jefferson in the final contest to advance to the playoffs.
The Rabbs did just that with a 41-8 win over Jefferson.
Keith Kinney and Caleb Hamilton scored all of the touchdowns for the Rabbs.
Atlanta led 35-0 at the halftime break.
Atlanta had 305 total yards as Kinney racked up 127 yards rushing with three scores and Hamilton added 129 yards with three scores.
Defensively the Rabbs played lights out as Isaiah Henderson led the way with four sacks, two hurries on the QB and two caused fumbles.
Ashton Harper and Trey Adams also contributed one sack each, Matthew Cauley and Warren had a broken up pass apiece and Dickerson had a pass broken up and an interception.
Henderson had 15 total tackles with five of those for a loss, Adams had 13 total tackles with four for loss, and Harper posted nine total tackles.
Other players getting in on the tackling parade were: Cauley, Michael Duckett, Kameron George, Hernandez, Quentin Hill, Zachariah Jefferson, Tyrell King, McClure, Xavier Nash, DK Parker, Logan Shelton, Jordan Stiger, Warren, Austin young and Lakeceion Matthews.
QC XC
Queen City’s cross country teams competed in the 3A-District 14 event Oct. 28.
The Bulldogs placed second overall with top 15 finished from Steven Stone (seventh), Trent Granberry (eighth), Joel Upchurch (13th) and Kenneth Allison (14th). For the Lady Bulldogs Claire Bates and Chloe Philippi placed 13-14.
QC Archers
Queen City archers qualify for state-level competition
Morris Upchurch Middle School and J.K. Hileman Elementary School recently participated in the Morris Upchurch Middle School Archery Tournament in order to qualify to advance to the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) state level competition held in Belton.
QC ISD will have 31 fourth -ninth grade students representing the district at the state competition Mar. 26-27.
The following students will represent Queen City at the State NASP Archery Tournament:
Fourth grade: Anna Leigh Young, Macy Snelgrove, Kingston Boyter, Tanner Lund, Abigale Bickham and
Chris Brown.
Fifth grade: Caleb Kimble, Ryan Raines, Elizabeth Bickham, Hunter Warren, Makenna Hamilton, Aden Bolt, Mason Satterfield, Carson Caver and Gracie Alexander.
Sixth grade: Ty Waldon, Brenna Turbeville, Keeli Mainer and Brayden Wiley.
Seventh grade: Kade Burden, Bri Rivera, Bailey Endsley, Clint Wiley, Jeremiah Henderson, Emily Raines, Micah Whittington, Mason Campbell, Isaac Thomas and Brooklinn Beers.
Eighth grade: Aubrie Kiser and ninth grade: Clay Waldon.
Wild Pigs Program
Texas carries the brunt of the hog dilemma with approximately 2.6 million feral hogs occupying 79 percent of Texas’ landscape.
In fact Texas has the largest estimated population of feral hogs existing in 253 of its 254 counties.
Feral hogs are an invasive, exotic species that cause approximately $52 million in damages to Texas agriculture producers annually. This estimate does not include damage to habitat used by native wildlife or suburban areas.
Extension education directed at landowners focuses on the adoption of best management practices in order to abate wild pig damage.
To accomplish this goal, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension utilized one-on-one contacts, group educational meetings, method and result demonstrations, mass media and websites in order to disseminate research-based information to landowners in particular with a secondary audience of the general public.
Cass County AgriLife Extension Office purchased a BoarBuster trap.
With that in the works Rymel included a bounty program dubbed the Wild Pig Abatement Program which took off in January of last year.
Bloomburg Basketball
Bloomburg’s Lady Wildcats topped Trinity Christian 54-43 Nov. 6, with Haylee Breedlove scoring 22 points, Jacee Glasgow posting a double-double with 12 points, 17 rebounds, seven assist and three blocks, Cassie Glasgow adding 14 points with eight rebounds and four blocks, and Braylee Harrist recording two points and five boards and the Lady Wildcats received buckets from Dai’lynn Gearlds and Kenzie LaDuke.
Bloomburg’ also beat Maud 59-27 Nov. 20, as Haylee Breedlove and Jacee Glasgow scored 14 points apiece and Cassie Glasgow chipped in 12 points of her own.
The Lady Wildcats also thumped Sulphur Bluff, 53-43, Dec. 8, with Cassie Glasgow posting 25 points and both Jacee Glasgow and Haylee Breedlove putting up nine points apiece.
The Lady Wildcats then posted a, 53-25, stomping of Avery Dec. 18, with Cassie Glasgow pouring in 27 and both Jacee Glasgow and Haylee Breedlove recording six points each.
Hall of Fame
Atlanta Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2020 was Randy Jackson, Ted Thompson and Dee Dee Henderson.
Rabbs – ’Horns
Two Cass County basketball powers collided Nov. 20, when the sixth-ranked McLeod Longhorns hosted the eighth-ranked Atlanta Rabbits.
Both teams are ranked in its respective classes and did not disappoint in this contest.
The first quarter of play ended with a 9-all tie, but a 19-12 run for Atlanta in the second frame put the Rabbs up 28-21 at the half.
A close battle of 15-13 in the third stanza gave Atlanta a 43-34 lead going into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter the Longhorns put up a stampede of points as they outscored the Rabbits 28-15 en route to a 62-58 victory.
Keldyn Schubert tossed in 27 points with eighth assists and five boards, Nathan Parker added 13 points, Silas Murdock had 12 points with eight rebounds, Nos Gryder had five points with five rebounds and Casey smith posted four points.
The Longhorns were 22-of-29 from the charity stripe.
For the Rabbs Alex Boston poured in 22 points, Daimion Collins added 18, Caleb Hamilton posted nine and Kameron Dickerson had six.
Let there be light
Bloomburg made school history when it put up lights at its softball field for the first time.
HOCO Royalty
Bloomburg’s Madison Clayton was crowned Homecoming Queen and Rylan Parker was named Basketball Beau for the 2019-2020 school year.
Queen City’s Connor Alexander and Maddy Parker were crowned Homecoming King and Queen.
Atlanta’s Jennifer Esster was crowned Homecoming Queen and Daimion Collins was crowned King during football season.
Linden-Kildare’s Vincent Peters was crowned King and Nancy Pena Castillo was crowned Queen.
McLeod’s Audrey Pena was crowned Homecoming Queen and Trevor Deel was crowned Homecoming King.