Sports Roundup

Evant Comes Up Just Short Against Waco Christian

The Evant football team had a strong effort against Waco Christian on Friday night but came up a little short losing by a score of 62-55.

Coach Brandon Young said he is seeing progress from his young squad.

“I thought the team played with a lot of heart,” Brandon said. “We have a young team that is having to develop very rapidly in order to compete, but they are handling it well. We just need to fix the small things like holding on to the ball or not breaking coverage and leaving zones open. 

“But those are mistakes I expect them to make at this juncture. The key is do we learn from those mistakes and fix them before district play.”

Young said he had a couple of standout performances in the game.

“I thought that Austin Price... made some key tackles for us on defense that kept us in the game,” Young said. “Cam McGilvray started in his first game since his injury last year and ran the ball extremely well.”

Evant will play at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, at Blanket.

Lady Elks Defeat Zephyr in Three

The Evant volleyball team defeated Zephyr 25-18. 25-22, 25-16 in a game that coach JoAnna Vaden said her team demonstrated excellent team chemistry.

“They worked well as a team,” Vaden said. “One of their biggest attributes is that they pull together as a team. Their success is in their teamwork.”

Harley Weeks stepped up with 34 assists to the hitters and 11 digs, and Vaden said she had a couple of other players come through in big ways as well.

“Jolyce Acosta also contributed to the defense and hustled for 15 digs,” Vaden said. “Bree Ramirez served up 12 points and Izzy Gandy served up 9. Molly Waldrum and Luwi Rodriguez added 19 and 12 kills to today's efforts.”

May Too Much for Oglesby

The Tigers lost to May on Friday night by a score of 66-45 and moved to 0-2 for the season.

Despite the slow start to the non-district season, coach Jeb Dixon said his team has faced stiff competition and continues to show signs of improvement.

“We played another really good football team,” Dixon said. “We are getting better every week. Half of our roster are freshmen and sophomores, and I expect improvement every week. Jack Hendricks had a good night receiving. We have some growing up to do and we are still searching for an identity.”

Hendricks finished the game against May with 122 yards receiving and a touchdown.

He also had 11 tackles in the game.

Kyler Fossett rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown and passed for 153 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Oglesby will host Gholson at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13.

Gatesville Boys Finish Fourth

The Gatesville boys cross-country team finished fourth at the Midway Hewitt Kiwanis Invitational this past week.

Jastin Muegge (17:03.50), Jack Armstrong (17:04.40), Malachi Olvera (17:20.30) and Cameron Thompson (17:25.10) all finished in the top 25 runners at the meet.

The field included 19 teams in Gatesville's division.

In the girls competition, Gatesville finished fifth overall as a team.

Vania Martinez was the top runner on the girls side with a time of 12:38.70 and right on her heels was teammate Riley Higginbotham with a time of 12:45.00.

Jonesboro Beats Meridian

The Jonesboro volleyball team beat Meridian by a score of 3-0 on Friday night.

Coach Tori Smith said that she was happy with the win but saw room for improvement.

“We honestly didn’t play our best against Meridian,” Smith said. “We’ve had several out sick and trying to get back to 100 percent health has been difficult, but we still easily came out on top winning all three sets.”

Smith said she had a few standout performances in the game.

“Julie Henderson and Emily Turner really helped us out at the net with tips and blocks, and our Libero, Lynlee Deats had some great serves against Meridian,” Smith said.

Eagles Fall Short Against Westbrook

The Jonesboro football team came up short against Westbrook by a score of 68-36 on Friday night to move to 1-1 on the season.

Coach Eddie Gallegos said he knew his team would have its hands full heading into the game.

“This was a game circled on our calendar,” Gallegos said. “We felt like we missed a couple of opportunities in the first half to finish drives. Our kids played extremely hard and extremely physical.  We'll learn from this and get better.”

Gallegos said it was an important game for several of his upperclassmen.

“All of our juniors played in their first heavyweight fight,” Gallegos said. “But senior Eric Thorman made some big plays in a big game.”