Owens on Football
After Friday night’s Wildcats scrimmage loss to Liberty-Eylau, Wildcats Fotoball Coach Greg Owens said it look like the Wildcats first scrimmage. He said things were sloppy, especially right at first. He said the Leopard’s speed exposed lots of Wildcats’ weaknesses. On Saturday, Wildcats’ coaches used the video to work on correcting things with players. Coach Owens said he liked where the Wildcats are right now and he said he saw some good things during the Friday scrimmage. He said the Wildcats defense was extremely aggressive. Coach Owens said L-E made a lot of plays because they have lots of play makers. He said the Wildcats have to step up and make plays as well. Coach Owens said the scrimmage overall was good. He said everyone got to play. Coach Owens said it was all about reps and getting better. He said L-E is right up there with talented teams the Wildcats will play this year such as Texas High and Marshall. The Leopards have 35 seniors and Coach Owens noted that’s a lot for a Class 4A team. He said the Wildcats need to work on being consistent. He added all Friday night’s errors are fixable.
Maness on Lady Cats Volleyball
The Lady Cats’ volleyball team is on a four game winning streak. After losing three tough matches in pool play Thursday in a Tyler tournament, the Lady Cats returned to the home court Friday and topped Caddo Mills, 3-1. Back in Tyler in tournament play Saturday, the Lady Cats swept all three matches they played to win their bracket. They defeated Eustace, Tyler Grace Community and Nacogdoches. The Lady Cats did not loss a single set. The Lady Cats are now 14-9 for the season. Lady Cats Volleyball Coach Justin Maness said he thought the Lady Cats pool in Tyler contained the four best team’s in the tournament. Coach Maness said he believes the Lady Cats are starting to find a little consistency. He said even in losses, he sees the Lady Cats getting better. Coach Maness said he really liked his team’s back row defense Saturday in Tyler. He said the team is becoming very defensive minded. Coach Maness said they will need to be against a tougher schedule this year. This week the Lady Cats travel to Paris Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and then will host Liberty-Eylau Friday.
Hicks on Cross Country
The Wildcats and Lady Cats’ cross country teams both sent two teams to participate in the Greenhill Relays at Norbuck Park in Dallas Saturday. Cross Country Coach Ross Hicks said the 6-mile, 4-person relay race was a fun way to open the cross country season. The Wildcats’ top boys team finished 15th and Coach Hicks said they were fourth best among 5A schools. The Wildcats’ second team was 26th. The Lady Cats’ top team finished 25th. Their second team was in the mid-30’s according to Coach Hicks. He said the girls’ second team included some younger runners who had to step in and participate when some other girls could not compete. Coach Hicks said he was impressed with Wildcats Peyton Vickery, Landon Thornton, Ed Ramirez and Eli Sellers and Lady Cats Syndey Washburn, Landry McKinney and Hannah Dixon. Next the Wildcats and Lady Cats will run at the Rise and Shine cross country meet in Wylie Saturday. Coach Hicks said the more traditional 5K cross country race gets underway at 7:30 a.m. At least 26 teams will be there and they are all either 5A or 6A schools.
