Football Preview
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Sunday, August 25, 2019 The Baytown Sun Football 2019 Preview ƑƏƐƖ҃ƑƏƑƏ" $ ! !$ ĺ " " ! !" !"""ĺ"$ !" DATE DAY OPPONENT LOCATION STADIUM TIME DATE DAY OPPONENT LOCATION STADIUM TIME DATE DAY OPPONENT LOCATION STADIUM TIME 8/16 FRI SCRIMMAGE HOME STALLWORTH 08/16 FRI HJ/SCRIMMAGE HOME GCM 08/23 FRI BH/SCRIMMAGE AWAY BH STADIUM 8/23 FRI SCRIMMAGE HOME STALLWORTH DAYTON/ 08/22 FRI HOME GCM SCRIMMAGE 08/30 FRI CLEAR CREEK HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 08/30 FRI WESTBURY AWAY BUTLER 7:00 08/29 THUR SAM RAYBURN HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 09/06 FRI ALDINE NIMITZ AWAYW.W. THORNE 7:00 09/05 THUR SPLENDORA HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 09/06 FRI SOUTH HOUSTON HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 09/13 FRI HISD AUSTIN AWAYBARNETT 7:00 GALENA 09/12 THUR HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 09/13 FRI CLEAR FALLS HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 PARK 09/20 FRI BYE 09/20 FRI BYE BEAUMONT 09/20 FRI BYE 09/26 THUR HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 09/27 FRI HISD AUSTIN HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 UNITED 09/27 FRI PNG AWAY PNG 7:30 PA MADDRY 10/04 FRI PA MEMORIAL AWAY 7:00 10/04 FRI CHANNELVIEW AWAY 7:00 10/04 FRI SANTA FE HOME STALLWORTH 7:30 MEMORIAL STADIUM BARBERS 10/11 FRI PORTER AWAY TEXAN DRIVE 7:00 10/11 FRI LA PORTE HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 10/11 FRI AWAYBARBERS HILL 7:30 HILL 10/17 THUR HISD WISDOM HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 GALENA PARK 10/18 FRI NORTH SHORE AWAY 7:00 ISD STADIUM 10/18 FRI NEDERLAND HOME STALLWORTH 7:30 GALENA PARK 10/25 FRI GALENA PARK AWAY 7:00 ISD STADIUM 10/25 FRI DEER PARK HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 10/25 FRI DAYTON AWAYDAYTON 7:30 11/01 FRI NEW CANEY HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 10/31 THUR C.E. KING HOME STALLWORTH 7:00 11/01 FRI VIDOR AWAY VIDOR 7:30 BEAUMONT 11/07 THUR KINGWOOD PARK AWAY TURNER 7:00 11/07 THUR AWAY BEAUMONT ISD 7:00 11/08 FRI CROSBY HOME STALLWORTH 7:30 WESTBROOK ĺ]11bv7ĺm;|ņ! ĺ]11bv7ĺm;|ņ ĺ]11bv7ĺm;|ņ!"" 2D The Baytown Sun FOOTBALL PREVIEW Sunday, August 25, 2019 An Ode to Stallworth There it sits proudly on Archer Road, ders’ match against Al- looking as muscle-bound as ever on its dine MacArthur. soon-to-be 49th birthday. Happy birth- Despite less than ideal day, Stallworth Stadium! weather, some 14,000- The stadium stands as a monument to plus were on hand to its namesake, Robert E. Lee’s phenome- see the President and nal football coach Dan Stallworth. the game. In his coaching career here - starting in President Ford, who the early 1940s, Coach Stallworth com- knew something about piled a 150-35-10 record and 12 district football since he played championships, eight bi-district titles, JIM center for the Michigan seven state quarterfinal matches, two FINLEY Wolverines and wore semi-finals, and two appearances in the one of those strange state finals (1951-52), where the Ganders looking helmets, handled the pre-game lost back-to-back years to Lubbock, 14- coin toss, and then took a seat amidst Lee 12 and 12-7. fans Proudly bearing the legend’s name, Adding to the presidential atmosphere, today Stallworth Stadium looks like it’s some serious looking men dressed in mil- ready to host football games ad infinitum, itary garb and holding rifles stood atop as famed sportswriter Grantland Rice the press box while a helicopter circled used to write, which means a long time. the area shining a rather large light into Speaking of which, the Goose Creek the fields surrounding Stallworth. Memorial Patriots have the honor of The Ganders slapped MacArthur opening the 2019 season when they host squarely in the face, 34-0. Pasadena Sam Rayburn on Thursday Unfortunately for the President, he took night. a blow to the gut four days later when Ross S. Sterling’s Rangers won’t be far Team Jimmy Carter won the presidency. behind. They’ll tangle with Clear Creek Another took place in 1973 when the come Friday night. Ganders and Rangers set the all-time at- Let the games and the 50th year of tendance record of 22,000. Sterling won, Stallworth schoolboy action begin. 6-3, and captured its third straight win Looking back, the venerable old stadi- over Lee. um – if you think of 49 as old – opened its Another memorable contest was the gates on Sept. 11, 1970, when the Ganders REL-Sterling game of 2001 when Gan- met Spring Branch. REL won, as it did so ders quarterback Drew Tate set a new state often in those days under the tutelage of record for touchdown passes in a half by the late Ronnie Kramer. Final score: 27-3. tossing seven in the first 24 minutes. For In that era, Stallworth and Spring good measure, he added an eighth in the Branch’s Tully Stadium were far and second half to tie another state mark, one away the best in the area, and among the shared by Barbers Hill’s Jabo Leonard. best in the state on the high school level. When the junior quarterback was fin- Originally, Stallworth held a few more ished, the Ganders won by a count of seats, and sometime they were needed. 62-7, the largest margin of victory in The Later, a new press box cut into part of Game’s 50-year history. the capacity, but not by much. Today the BULLETIN: This just in. If everything stadium holds 16,500. falls into place, Ross vs. Robert – same Speaking of press boxes, three differ- as Sterling vs. Lee – will be reborn in a ent ones have adorned Stallworth over the stadium near you (Stallworth) in 2020 years, like some crown on the stadium’s after not being scheduled the last three concrete head. seasons. In the early 2000s, the stadium got its Interestingly, under Stallworth Sta- first artificial turf. Under Athletic Direc- dium’s magical spell, either Sterling, tor Bernie Mulvaney’s watch, that turf coached by Al Dennis, or Ronnie Kram- was replaced two seasons ago. er’s Ganders won the district title in the Over all these years, Stallworth hasn’t facility’s first seven years, when only one been just about football. It was once the team advanced to the playoffs. host of a presidential visit, the highly suc- Now the great stadium with a marvel- cessful Bay Area Relay for Life, home for ous history opens for another season. high school graduations, etc. Play ball! Dan Stallworth would be Football-wise, the stadium has also proud. been the site of the Bayou Bowl. Jim Finley is a retired managing editor The presidential visit took place on of The Sun. He can be reached at view- Oct. 29, 1976, when President Gerald [email protected], Attention: Jim Ford, who got in free, attended the Gan- Finley. The expertise to KEEP ATHLETES MOVING At Houston Methodist Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, we are experts in helping the body do what it was designed to do — stay in motion. Applying our expertise as team doctors for professional athletes, we are focused on helping athletes recover at every level. Using the most advanced treatments and technologies to care for a wide range of injuries, we provide: • Sports injury treatment • Sports-medical clearance and • Concussion diagnosis wellness exams and management • State-of-the-art physical therapy Baytown Schedule an appointment: houstonmethodist.org/athlete .. Sunday, August 25, 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW The Baytown Sun 3D Baytown Sun photo by Alan Dale Tim Finn has his Robert E. Lee football team pointed in the right direction as he enters year three in charge of the program. In 2017, the Ganders went 1-9 and improved to 4-6 a year ago and battled for a Class 5A-II playoff spot. This fall, Finn expects the Ganders make the postseason. From breakout team to contenders district and still didn’t get to the playoffs. Playoff berth is reality Teams are going to stay aggressive offen- sively against us, because we are going to for Ganders program keep scoring. We need to be a lot better on the defensive side and especially stopping BY ALAN DALE the run.” [email protected] Danavious Hill, a junior linebacker, says the defense is in much better shape From years of misery to threatening for to help stay with the frenetic pace the REL a Class 5A playoff spot, the Robert E. Lee offense creates weekly as their games see Ganders football team turned a corner in more possessions. 2018. “We are more experienced from last Now, it’s about making progress and year and a lot of younger guys played,” proving that winning is back at REL and Hill said. “We can get to the ball, get up not just scatching the surface. hill and come up with more thump.” In head coach Tim Finn’s second year, Edgar Pulido, a junior linebacker, said the Ganders went 4-6 – an improvement selfish, big play mentalities have been re- from 1-8 – and the same number of vic- placed by more of a team-unit approach tories as the previous five seasons com- on defense. bined. “We are trying to play together because The next chapter begins at 7 p.m. on together we are much better than alone,” Aug. 30 at Houston Westbury. Pulido said. “We know how to make bet- Finn believes the difference will be ter decisions.” turning the tables on a few close losses a The Ganders became relevant a year year ago and putting the team in better po- ago and now they want to prove it was no sition to make the postseason.