So, you are probably very interested in why this game is called the Hammer Bowl? Well, I will educate you!!! Cory Sears was a former Judson high school football player. His defensive line coach at Judson was Pete Gibbens, who is the head coach for Wagner! Sears played in the NFL for the Rams, the Cardinals, and the Texans. While with the Texans, Sears won the most improved player and he dedicated that award to Judson and Pete Gibbens!!! Cory was at the game on Friday night but had to leave early.
This game is always an absolute blast to work! Seeing 10,000 fans at Rutledge stadium is awesome. There is so much mojo in the air!!!
I missed the 2010 game since I was getting married; good excuse to miss a high school football game!
Last year, Wagner defeated Judson 20-10 and Judson was ranked number 1 in the city and undefeated.
This year, both team have 3 wins and 2 losses. Judson has won 3 games in a row. They are starting to grasp the new offensive scheme of Mark Smith, the new coach at Judson. Wagner lost to Monterrey Tech in Week 4…the Thunderbirds had a 24-0 lead going into the 4th but lost the game 27-24; a devastating loss indeed.
I am glad I arrived early cause man, as the kickoff was approaching, more and more cars were entering the parking lot; there were cars parked on the grass and on the street.
I hung 2 TSRN banners and a KLUP 930am banner before I got settled in the press-box. At the visitor and home entrance, fans were already lining up waiting to get in. I even saw a few tailgaters!! This was around 5:45; kickoff is at 7:30!! Talk about die hard fans!!! The only time I had to wait in line for something to happen was at a Best Buy when the Beatles Anthology was being released!!!
Bobby Stautzenberger setup a wireless mic for crowd noise and after I secured the 3 banners, I walked across the street to a gas station to get new batteries for the mic. When my little journey to the gas station was done, I secured the wireless mic on the film deck….man, it sounded really good!!! Okay, the banners and mic are done, now I can finally arrange my area for stats and setup my laptop!!!
A lot of prep work but definitely worth it!!! My reward….how about a bottle of water and a Texas high school football game!!! I love what I do!!!
The Judson starting quarterback, Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey, was injured in Week 4 and didn’t start on Friday night; although he did play on Friday night in the last series. Making his first start was Jonathan Garcia and for the icing on the cake, it just happens to be against the Wagner Thunderbirds!!! Wow!!! Gosh, Jonathan couldn’t have asked for a better moment and man his performance on Friday night was absolutely astonishing and totally not what I expected out of him. Jonathan better be the talk of Judson High School this week as he was mainly responsible for the huge Judson win over the Thunderbirds; if that doesn’t happen, I will wear a TUTU!!!
My wife told me about a gentlemen who took pictures of himself wearing a pink tutu. His wife was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2003 and he continued the tutu pics which are now published in a book. The proceeds are going to Breast Cancer organizations.
October just happens to be National Breast Cancer awareness month and there is a lot of pink being worn by the fans, the band members, the cheerleaders, the officials, the players, and the coaches. It is a great show of support. I examine my wife’s breasts every day!!!
Now it is time to stop talking about breasts and focus in on the Judson quarterback, Jonathan Garcia.
Garcia was 11 for 19 passing for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns. Seven receivers caught a pass. Jarveon Williams, the running back, had an 80 yard touchdown reception!!! That is a not a typo!!! Andre Wilson had 2 receptions for 43 yards and 1 touchdown. Brandon Sanders, another running back, had a 1 yard touchdown reception.
Now the big question…who starts next week at quarterback? I think Garcia is a better passer and Ramsey is a better runner. Thank god I don’t have to make this decision!!!
Running the ball, Jarveon had 13 carries for 85 yards and Brandon had 14 carries for 64 yards and 1 touchdown.
Defensively, the Rockets or should I say Malik Pryor was all over the quarterback and running backs. Wagner ran the ball 39 times for 117 yards!!! Wow!!! Malik is Chris Pryor’s son (Chris was the running back at Judson in 1982 and 1983).
The only thing the Rockets struggled on was penalties…they had 10 yellow flags for 75 yards and even had a touchdown called because of a stupid penalty.
The Wagner quarterback, Tekoa Bryant-McKinnies, was 10 for 26 passing for 128 yards and 1 interception. Not good at all!! Xavier Lagrant, the wide receiver, led the team with 65 yards on 3 receptions. Terry Alloway, the running back, had 17 carries for 59 yards. Robbie Gardner, the super fast running back, was held to 24 yards of total offense.
At 10:30pm on Friday nights, Bobby hosts a live scoreboard show where he provides the scores from the San Antonio area and the other TSRN crews from San Antonio call in a report of there games. You can hear it on KLUP 930am. A very fast 30 minutes. While this is going on, Bobby and I are masters of packing up the equipment. When the show ends, Bobby and I chit-chat about the game and can finally go home!!!! Friday’s are very long days for me…leave house for full-time job at 7:30am and come home around 11:30 or Midnight. Before I get in my car, I have to take down all the banners. I always talk to myself on the drive home about what I should write about in my blog article.
It is so nice to come home from a game and there is always something to eat in the fridge. I got a wonderful woman.
FINAL SCORE
Judson 30 (4-2,1-0)
Wagner 0 (3-3,0-1)
Next Wednesday, Mark Thomas will be my guest blogger on Inside the Huddle.
Next Thursday, I got a road trip to East Central stadium as the East Central Hornets host the Southwest Dragons. I really like the Hornets running game and am looking forward to finally seeing a healthy Chris Armstrong. It will be my first time seeing Southwest this season and there talented running back, Erin Mack.
Next Friday, the Smithson Valley Rangers visit Rutledge stadium to play Judson and that should be a great game!!! I finally get to see the Rangers; they are undefeated!!! I can’t wait!!!
On Saturday, I am back for UTSA football at the Alamodome as they host San Jose State. The Spanish broadcast can be heard on Radio Formula Network’s K272EK 102.3 FM and KBRN 1500 AM and also online at radioformulasa.com.
