Well, when I arrived the at stadium, the rain stopped!!! It did rain on and off throughout the game…I could see the rain coming down in front of the lights and also why else would fans be opening there umbrellas!!
For my drive home at 11:15, no rain (wow, a Blind Melon reference)!!!
Before I forget, I really want to thank the East Central ISD athletic staff in the press-box. Man, everyone was friendly and they are always extremely hospitable. And, they fed us Taco Cabana!!!
One gentleman in particular, Chris Clay, waited in the press-box for Bobby and I to leave at 11:00 and he never rushed us out!!! Chris actually provided me an idea for a blog topic…in a basic nutshell, it will be kinda a behind the scenes of what it takes to put on a High School football game and all the hard work that is done. I have a feeling when I start writing, it will end up being a long one!!
So, last night, it was me, Tony Franklin, and Bobby Stautzenberger (the prime time Judson crew). Our area in the press-box was spacious enough that we even made room for Lorne Chan, the sports writer from the SA Express News.
Gosh, talk about multitasking…Lorne moderated and participated in the SA Express Friday Night Football chat room, tweeted a lot, kept stats, wrote an article, and he had to put up with the three of us all night long and he survived!!! Oh, he also got to hear all of my inner thoughts…yes folks, I talk out-loud throughout the game (hey, I am fan just like you)!!
Wait a minute, I did everything Lorne did except the chat room thing (which I only do for my wife)!!
Last week, one of my Twitter followers @judsonfootball asked me to Tweet them stats and I did that last night at halftime and at the end of the game and that worked great. I really appreciate all the Retweets. Thanks!!
I also, last night, Tweeted back and forth with another follower of mine @peterock38. And, on Facebook last night, I commented and liked the status updates of Anthony Lecocke and Roland Guarjado. I like this social media thing!!
It is now time for Mark to write some remarks on a remarkable football game…
The East Central Hornets and Judson Rockets, coming in to the game, both had identical record of 2 wins and 1 loss.
The Hornets scored first and :23 seconds later, the Rockets scored and converted a 2 point conversion. Man, my thoughts were OMG, this is going to be a high scoring game with some crazy offensive numbers for both teams!! Well, only one team heard me as they scored next 41 points and held the other team to just those 7 points.
I am happy to say the Judson Rockets were won the winning side of this one. Final score was Judson 49 and East Central 7!!! WOW!!
The Hornets ran 68 plays for just 248 yards and had 4 turnovers. Quarterback Jeremy Jones, was 7 for 18 passing for 137 yards with 2 interceptions. On the ground, he had 15 carries for 38 yards (several sacks) and 1 touchdown. Running backs, Javion Polk and Jonathan Jackson combined for 28 carries for 56 yards.
I know these 3 J’s will bounce back quickly from this game and I totally expect them to have much better numbers next week when they play New Braunfels.
The Judson Rockets ran 58 plays for 505 yards. Quarterback Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey was 15 for 20 passing for 310 yards and 5 touchdowns. Andre Wilson, the wide receiver, had 4 receptions for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns.
In the first half, Rayjohn and Andre had some sweet looking fantasy numbers…14 of 17 for 302 yards and 5 touchdowns for Ramsey and Andre had 3 receptions for 100 yards and each one was an amazing, OMG, and wow, touchdown for Andre. Andre has moves, speed, and a knack for the endzone. Boy, I would love to see him run the ball!!!
Another wide receiver, Nick Ortiz had a 62 yard touchdown reception. Cedric Williams, yet another wide receiver, had 4 receptions for 53 yards and 1 touchdown.
Yes, Judson has a passing game…a really good passing game!! It will be even better when Cameron Johnson returns from his injury. WOW!!!
The Judson running game of 9 running backs combined for 35 carries for 180 yards and 1 touchdown. Yeah, the running game can improve and I think it has to start with Rayjohn. I would love to see him throw for 300 and rush for 150!!
Oh, after the game ended and Bobby and I were doing the scoreboard show (which went great), I said out-loud to Lorne, “there ain’t any other place I would rather be than at a High School football game on a Friday night.” Well, I would love to be with my wife, but she understands my passion for High School football (at least I think she does) and she also knows this will be over in December. I am planning to have her write some guest blogs about her being a “football widow.”
I got a great gig, I get paid for it, and I love writing about each game.
Tonight, I will be at Farris stadium for the Brandeis Broncos and O’Connor Panthers. Dude, this is gonna be a great game and the district champion will be one of these two teams.