In the News Week of August 12 2019
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l{ICiilNG IT OFF lake Travis cavaflers kieker HayS Mccannon (85) kicks tlte ball during football prac1ice on Aug.12. T11e cavs. who reached the state semifinals last season. began summer practices this week. LJOHN GUTtERRE2/FOR STATESMANJ Cavs begin summer workouts with - as usual - high hopes Lake Travis kicked off itssummer practices Mondayat LakeTravis HighSchool. - Sta(fr1tp0tt l{icl{ing offwith questions Round Rock loot.ball pl:ave,s take a wiltr break during lhtflrSt day of summer p,actice Aug. U at RourKI Roell. High School. IIIE.HRV HUtv rOR STAJ lSMAHl Five RRISO football coaches and their teams the respectively. This season "' Deuce" Vaughn is a programs begin summer first crack al finding some should again showcase a jaw-dropping talent who workoutsthis week answers. But what ques powerhouse offense led by accounted for 1,926 yards tions are m~'tglaring for the receiver Collin Sullivan, ver rushing and 20 touchdowns ByTI1omasJones Round Rock school district satile weapon JordanSmart on 239 carries a year ago. lj~ecmarw:om squads u practice begins? and quarterback Se.th Ford. But the Kansas state pledge Let's take a look. But a revamped defenseled stand.~ju.~t Sfeet, 7 inches, Sunuuer workouts ldcked byllueman MickyIlemand.., weighs 175 pounds and offMonday for ~ ry fool.ball Wh.tt happened to Round and defensive back Trey now wears a giant target on lt'awinlhestatelb.al under Rock•s defen.se, and can it be McCarty will determine the badt of his jersey. Can went spring pr.i.cUces. That fixed? whethur the Dragons prac Vaughn survive another J!)Wpincludesall !Ivesquad$ TheDragons have pul on tice Tbmksbriving week. A heavy work.load [n a Raklc:r in lhc. Round Rock school record-setting offensive scrimmage against Killeen offense that lilces lo pound district. shows in each of the past Aug. 23 will give a good hinl the ball? Head coach Sam Like other schools, ques two seasons but only tallied at the defense's progress. Robinson and bis offensive tions abound tor Round a 9 -13 record in lb.al span. slaffmaygetVaughntheooll Rock, McNeil, Westwood, Why? Rock's defense has can Dtl.lctkffO getting loose more on screens and swing CedarRidgeaodStonyPoinL allowed ◄ Sand 38.4 points for cedar Ridge? Toefirstdayofpracticegives a game in 2017 and 2018. Running back Chris Secl'OOTBALL, A9 FOOTBALL from Page AB passes in order to utilize bisplaymaldng ability intbe openfield.Thatcouldmake a dynamic Cedar Ridge offense even more explo sive. A scrimmage against c::lce . Aug. 23will give a clue to any exp3DSion of Vaughn's role thisseason. How good can Jake Chambersand Ille Stony POlnt lnel>adcing corps become? Freshmen just don't make varsity. Not at the linebacker position, Nol inClass 6A. Not at Stony Point, which plays inone of the most competitive 6Adistrictsinthestate. But Chamberswasn'tlike most freshmenlastseason, when he earned a starting spot and collected 23 tackles Westwood quarterback RJ Martinez enjoyed a breakout before injuries derailed bis sophomore season and could be even betterasa junior. debut season. The 6-foot, LJAMI£ HARMS FOR AMEAICAH-STATESMANJ 2.15-pound sophomorehas good size, quick feet and can get an early answer Jordan Kerley, who has and aninstinctive feel for Aug. 22 in a scrimmage been getting reps wit h the game. What will he be againstPflugerville. Arizona State's first team likeaftera full offseasoo in in practice. During a six a varsity weight program, What can McNeil do to year spanfrom 1999-2004, andhowwill he fit in with finally relllrn to Ille playoffs? theMavs' footbrulprogram a loaded Jinebacking corps Not much, based on enjoyed a golden erathat that also includes junior heavy graduation losses includedfive playoffberths Emmanuel Obinna and that included quarterback anda runto thethird round senior KylinWoodley? Fans ZaneKampferand receiver oftheplayoffs in 2004.But Cedar Ridge running baclt Chris "Deuce• Vaughn retums as one of the top playmakers in the state. lLOUROES M SHOAf FOR STATESMAN) aside from thatstretch of success, McNeil bas bad just two winningseasons since openingin 1992 and bas missed lbe playoffs 14 straight ye11rs. Running backWinston Hutchinson boasts all-district talent, andreceiversMalikGordon andBJ.al.. Henke canmake plays downfield. But will Coach Howard McMahon turn the offensive reins over to sophomore Luke Hutchinson? He may not baveacboice. Can quarterback R. J. Martinez get even betterfor westwood;? Don't bet against it. During Coach Anthony Wood's 14 seasons on the s.idelines, Westwood always seems at its best whenithosa savvy signal caller running the spread offense at a fast tempo. lf tbat'sthecase,expect more bigthings fromMartinez, a junior. The 6 -foot, 180-pound Martinez shared the district's new comer of the year awnrd after throwing for 1,842 yards and 16 touchdowns on 155-0!-243 passing in 2018, and he added 265 ynrdsandninetoocbdowns on the ground. He's on pace to break ChaseRich's school record of 5,327 careerpassing ynrds, lllldbe mayjustcbal.lenge singte seasonscboolrecords sucb as passing yards(3,016, set byBear Fenimore in 2013) and passing touchdowns (35, Will Jennings, 2017). Catch the scrimmage against Rouse Aug. 22 at Reeves Athletic Complex to see Martinez's offseason development. HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL DIG, SET, SPIKE Tournament Most Valuable Player Kenzie Bec kham of Westwood lifted the Warriors past Vandegrift 26-24, 21-24, 25-23 for the champi onship of the Warrior Showcase last week end. Nearly all Central Texas teams were in action statewide, but Westwood's title came with a dramatic win over previously unbeaten Vandegrift, the 2018 dis trict champion. "I could not be more proud of the team. It was a great match, and some really wonderful volleyball was played on both sides of the net," Westwood coach Tara Grant said. "It's so early on the season, but to me it was so great to Westwood's Kenzie Beckham, right, goes up for a block see them finding their against Kate Alex of Cedar Park during last weekend's rhythm and really look Warrior Showcase. Beckham was named tournament MVP ing like a team outthere.• as she paced the team to first place in the gold bracket. The tournament fea- (HENRY HUEY/FOR STAITSMANJ lured a strong effort by Round Rock, which Word of San Antonio Rouse went north and lost to Vandegrift in the won the copperbracket. finished second in the gold bracket semifi Fort Worth Eaton Byron Nelson in Frisco nals. Liberty Hill upset defeated El IPaso for the to Canyon Randall. top seed and defending championship of the Several other Central champion San Antonio Jason Landers Memorial Texas teams went to Antonian in the quar tournament. Bowie Houston for the Adidas terfinals before losing edged Cedar Ridge 22-25, rohn Turner tournament. to Westwood in the 25-22, 25-22 for third Dripping Springs was semifinals. place. Vista Ridge fin the top local finisher as Cedar Park lost to ished in seventh place, theTigers made thegold Round Rock in the quar Leander was ninth, and round, where theylostto terfinals but then won Austin High claimed eventual runner-up San twice for thegold bracket 10th. Antonio Reagan. The consolation crown. Stony Laredo United defeated Woodlands beat Reagan Point made itto the gold Stephenville to win in thefinals. bracketandfinished sev the Wimberley Texfest New Braunfels enth. McNeil captured tournament, and the Canyon beat Conroe the silver bracket title hostTexans beatPeaster Oak Ridge and then Katy by beating the Round 25-20, 27-25 for third Cinco Ranch to take Rock junior varsity team. place. Lago Vista and first place at the Katy Geronimo Navarro beat Johnson Citybothmade Cypress tournament. Brenham in the bronze thegold bracketand tied San Antonio Churchill bracket, and Incarnate for sixth place. won the Northeast FABFIVES Class6A 1. Westwood 9·2 2. Vandegrift 10·l 3. Hays 6·3 4. ....., 7·2 5. Round Rock 9·l Class SA I. Dripping Springs 5·3 2. Rouse 4-2 3. Georgetown 5·4 4. Cedar Park 6·4 5. Lockhart 4·2 Class 4A and others I. Wimberley8-l 2. Liberty Hill 7·2 3. Round Rock Christian 7-1 4. Lago Vista 5-3 5. Johnson City 5·3 Independent School District tournament. Player of the week Kenzie Beckham , Westwood junior setter - Beckham led the Warriors to first place in theWarrior Showcase and was named tourna mentMVP. She averaged nearly 1o assists per set as Westwood won all nine matches. Upcoming featured matches Tllesday Bowie at Vandegrift, 6:3op.m. Dripping Springs at Hays, 6:30 p.m. Rouse atLeander, 6:30 p.m. Wes1 at New Braunfels Canyon, 6:30 p.m. Westwoocll at Cedar Park, 6:30 p.m. Butch Hart, AA-S correspondent La <e rrrav1s tops Westwood, mal<es case for best team By Colby Gordon Quesnel, I :r i , Ank"rl.c:ln •SlatesnhUI flipped thescript the rest Correspondenl ofthenight. TheCavsbuihnine-point 111. ~ ismakingan leadsby the midway point earlyseasoncase for being ineachofthefinal threesets the top volleyballteamin asArdenBesecker,Jamisoo CentralTeiros. Wheeler and Mykenna Whilepotentialmatch Eklundcombinedfor21 kill< ups against other area offa climcallyrun offense powers in the Leander byReedandAbi Watts. tournament Inter this "Idon'tthink we,tarted month and two District thematch mentally ready 25-Moontestsagainstrivol topl:ly."l••·· '1, · senior W est",>will haveasayin cldensivespecialist Ginger thatdistinction, the Cavs Baldwinsaid. "Thesecond La!'a t\'11111>' Klanna RHCI lffChH low to dig a bal in the posted theirsecondwinin set, we came together as a cavaliers' four-set win over Westwood, the area's top ranked tluee days over a team in teamandsaid we need to team, Monday. (PHOTOS 8Y JOHN GUTIERREZ/FOR: STATESMAN! the Statesman's Fab Five getinto thisas muchmen rankings Monday. tallyas we arephysically, t ,: 'I' topped andthatturned itaround.• Westwood - whic h Besecker led all hit enteredthe matchcoming ters with nine kills, while offwinning its owntour Wheeler knocked down nament Saturday and sevenshotsandaddedfour garneredtheNo.