This was also the last Thursday Night Lights TV game and I had an amazing season..I was on TV, my blog was mentioned, and some of my Alamo stadium renovation photos were featured. WOW!!
Thank you to David Ostmo and Chris Kotfas, the producers and Don Harris and Chuck Miketanic, the broadcasters. And, most importantly, thank you to the entire TNL crew. See yall next season. Actually, I will see most of them on January 4th at the Alamodome for the San Antonio High School all-star football game (our game will be after the US Army All American Bowl). Gosh, I can’t wait because I am gonna watch the first game as a fan and work the 2nd game and yes, I will have a BLOG for both!!!
It took 10 Weeks for “football weather” as it was cold on Thursday night and I was prepared as I wore a jacket…unlike the St. Anthony game I attended last week or the St. Anthony game I attended in Week 5. The head basketball coach at St. Anthony is Kevin Smisek and his son is the starting running back for Churchill. When football season ends, I will be attending some St. Anthony basketball games.
I am really curious as to how a team prepares for the last game when they know they aren’t making the playoffs. Well, whatever the head coach, Danny Kloza told his players worked because Lee never gave up (even after losing their starting quarterback to an injury in the 2nd half) and they ALMOST upset the Chargers.
I think the Chargers were thinking about Week 11 and they let off on the gas pedal a little bit and coasted to a not so easy victory.
The final score was Churchill 31 and Lee 18. Yeah, I was surprised…I was expecting total domination by the Chargers.
It’s time for stat confessions!!! Ok, so, I was not it my stat comfort zone as I didn’t have anywhere to hang my stat boards. Ralph Lopez, the cameraman in the booth, and I went on a hunt in the press-box to find a small table and that is what I ended up using. I didn’t even duct tape them…I just placed them on the table and when I felt the presence of Don or Chuck needing a stat, I just picked it up and put it front of my face. When I came home, my back was hurting from bending over…yep, it was a low table!! Next TV game at Heroes, I really got to think of a better way to make me comfortable.
The Lee Volunteers ran 71 plays for 33 yards. I was impressed with the quarterbacks and wide receivers from Lee. The starting quarterback, Freedom Salas (Junior), was 12 of 20 for 148 yards. He got hurt in the 2nd half and didn’t return. The back-up quarterback, Nick Lugo (Sophomore), was 9 of 22 for 97 yards and 1 touchdown. Sergio Solis (Junior) had 9 receptions for 74 yards, Nick Lugo had 4 receptions for 31 yards, Chris Rosado (Junior) had 2 receptions for 64 yards, and Chris Adams had 4 receptions for 50 yards and 1 touchdown. Lee is a young team and I really expect them to be more competitive next season.
The Churchill Chargers ran 46 pays for 355 yards. On Wednesday, Dimitri Flowers, the Churchill Chargers all purpose player (I call him Mr. Do It All Everything), de-committed from Boise State and committed to Oklahoma!! Flowers had 8 carries for 78 yards, 5 receptions for 58 yards and 1 touchdown, and a 40 yard punt return for a touchdown. WOW!!!
The Churchill quarterback, Nate Pearson, was 9 of 14 for 194 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Nico Smisek, the running back, had 15 carries for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Nico and Dimitri were the co-players of the game (that was a first for TNL) and I was so happy for Nico…I know Nico will get more awards and much more recognition next year and as for Dimitri, he probably has a storage unit of awards.
The Churchill Chargers will play the Judson Rockets next Friday @ Comalander stadium. These teams played in Week 2 and the Judson Rockets defeated the Chargers.
And, hey, last night, I was at Unicorn stadium in New Braunfels as the Judson Rockets played the New Braunfels Unicorns.
The Unicorns scored first on a touchdown run late in the first quarter and I think that woke up the Rockets as they scored the next 43 points and when the game finally ended, the final score was Judson 71 and New Braunfels 34.
Combined, the teams ran 144 plays for 1,009 yards and had 51 first downs.
The New Braunfels Unicorns passed for 332 yards and that is by far the most passing yards Judson has allowed this season. The starting quarterback, Parker Bateman (Sophomore), was 25 of 47 for 296 yards with 2 touchdowns 2 interceptions. Corbin Buermann (Junior), the back-up quarterback, was 4 of 10 for 36 yards and 1 interceptions. Austin Oregon (Junior) had 11 receptions for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns, Brock Becker (Junior) had 5 receptions for 76 yards, Eric Smith had 6 receptions for 65 yards, and John Rivera had 3 receptions for 42 yards.
The Judson Rockets ran 53 plays for 627 yards.
Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey, the Judson quarterback, was my Week 9 stat/player of the week and he is probably going to be my first back-to-back stat/player of the Week for Week 10. Ramsey was 16 of 19 for 368 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception and folks, he didn’t play in the 4th quarter (he did have a few punts in the 4th).
Andre Wilson had 5 receptions for 133 yards and 1 touchdown and an 80 yard free kick-off return for a touchdown.
Michael Akai had 5 receptions for 93 yards and 1 touchdown and a 38 yard touchdown run.
Nick Ortiz had a 38 yard touchdown reception, 2 carries for 44 yards and 1 touchdown, and a 93 yard kick-off return for a touchdown.
Running the ball, the Rockets spread the ball to 14 players for 31 carries for 245 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sophomore, Malik Taylor, led em with 6 carries for 63 yards.
Judson has SPEED and SPEED KILLS!!! WOW!!!
Aren’t you amazed at how good the Judson passing game is compared to just 3 years ago? And, they can still play smash-mouth Judson football by running the ball!!
The Rockets did have 3 turnovers, 10 penalties for 62 yards, and gave up 332 yards of passing. I am pretty confident that Judson will not have the turnover and penalty bug next week. I won’t name names, but I know that a few Judson players got hurt last night and I want them to be at full strength for the playoffs.
The Churchill Chargers will play the Judson Rockets next Friday @ Comalander stadium. These teams played in Week 2 and the Judson Rockets defeated the Chargers. I am expecting a close offensive explosion game.
The New Braunfels Unicorns will play the Madison Mavericks (date and location TBA).
I will have a PLAYOFF BLOG published before next Thursday.
Comalander stadium will be my home on Thursday and Friday. Thursday, it will be the Steele Knights and Clark Cougars and Friday, it is Judson and Churchill.
I don’t know about you, but I am super excited for PLAYOFFS!!!