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In the Heart of the Blackland Divide

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Strong Second Half Sends Seagraves Past Plowboys, 29-21

Clemente Aguayo (6) wants the ball as Brayden Beal (3) looks for an open receiver. (Football photos by Tamara Alexander)

A popular football adage states that it’s hard to beat the same team twice in the same year. Hamlin found that out last year the second time they played the Plowboys. After defeating Roscoe earlier in the season, 35-21, they lost to them in the playoffs, 35-14. Unfortunately, the Plowboys learned the same hard lesson Friday afternoon in Midland when they faced the Seagraves Eagles for the second time. After beating the Eagles 39-23 in district competition, they fell to them on Friday as the Eagles came from behind in the second half to win a close one, 29-21.

In the contest, the first half was definitely more positive for the Plowboys than the second. The game began with neither side scoring until Brayden Beal capped off a Plowboy drive with a 4-yard TD run in mid-quarter. Juan Garcia kicked the extra point and the Plowboys were up 7-0. Seagraves got its first score toward the end of the quarter when its star running back, Aries Williams, broke free on a 54-yard touchdown run. The Plowboys blocked the extra-point kick, however, and still led at the end of the quarter, 7-6.

The Plowboys extended their lead in the second quarter with Beal scoring on a 9-yard run followed by a Garcia kick to make the score 14-6. Then just before the half Francisco Garcia scored on a 10-yard run. Juan Garcia again kicked the extra point, and at the intermission the Plowboys had a commanding lead, 21-6.

The second half began inauspiciously for Roscoe when on the first play from scrimmage Seagraves’ Williams ran 45 yards for another long touchdown to close the gap to 21-12. Then on the Roscoe’s first drive after the kickoff, the Eagles covered a Plowboy fumble, and shortly thereafter scored again, this time on a seven-yard run. The extra point made the score 21-19. In just a few plays the Plowboys had gone from a comfortable lead to being essentially tied, and the momentum had shifted. The Plowboys held Seagraves out of the end zone on their next drive, but their kicker made a 27-yard field goal, and Seagraves went ahead for the first time, 22-21. It was a lead they would never relinquish.

In the fourth quarter Williams put the icing on the cake with his third long touchdown run of the afternoon, this one for 67 yards. The extra-point kick put the Eagles ahead by eight points, 29-21. The Plowboys weren’t finished, though. They drove one last time into Seagraves territory, but on a fourth and 11, Beal was sacked, and the Eagles ran out the clock for the victory.

Scoring by quarters:

Seagraves          6            0        16        7 – 29
Plowboys           7          14          0        0 – 21

Roscoe outgained the Eagles for the entire game with 348 total yards to Seagraves’ 326. Most of Roscoe’s yardage came through the air, with Beal completing 28 of 40 passes for 272 yards with 1 interception and Jose Ortega completing 1 of 1 for 21 yards. Ortega was also Beal’s favorite target with 8 catches for 79 yards; Cade Garrett had 5 for 64 yards, Jayden Gonzales 6 for 50, Francisco Garcia 2 for 42, Clemente Aguayo 5 for 22, Beal 1 for 21, and Damian Aguayo 2 for 15.

Despite their success with the pass, the Plowboys had a hard time running the ball, even though that’s how they scored all three of their touchdowns. Francisco Garcia was able to get only 57 yards from 29 carries, and Beal got only 49 yards on 24 carries. Ortega had 12 yards on 2 carries.

And the Plowboys had three turnovers, two of which proved costly. The first, a pass interception, killed a Plowboy drive early in the game, and the second, the fumble on the Plowboys first drive of the second half, put the Eagles deep in Roscoe territory and allowed them to open the second half with two quick scores and gain the momentum. Seagraves had no turnovers in the game.

Now Seagraves (10-3) goes on to face Wellington (12-1) Friday in Amarillo in the State Quarterfinals, and Roscoe (8-5) goes home. It’s a disappointing outcome, but the only team in a playoff situation that doesn’t leave disappointed is the one that wins it all. So, in all fairness, we shouldn’t let that initial disappointment detract from the milestones the Plowboys reached this year.

By advancing to the regional semi-finals for the second year in a row, the Plowboys are becoming known as one of the Big Country’s 2A teams to be reckoned with. Their repeated success also points to the soundness of the program established and maintained by Coach Freeman and his assistants.

It’s hard to believe now that it’s just been a few short years since the Plowboys lost 13 games in a row. This year’s seniors can always look back with pride on their high school football years, and Roscoe fans and exes can look forward to more exciting Plowboy football in the future.

A brief video clip of game highlights from Lubbock TV stations KAMC-TV and KLBK-TV is available here.

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PLOWGIRLS WIN EASILY OVER LADY GORILLAS, 45-18, HIGHLAND TOURNEY THIS WEEKEND

The Plowgirls won another one last night when they downed Trent in the Special Events Center, 45-18.

Here are the scores by quarters:

Plowgirls          10        24        30        45
Trent                   5        10        14        18

Individual scoring: Veronica Cuellar 9. Bonnie Wilkinson 9, Jaleigh Morales 8, Jovana Peña 8, Jaci Alexander 6, Bergan Trevino, Lynzie Atkinson 1.

Both Plowgirls and Plowboys will participate in the Highland tournament that runs from Thursday through Saturday. Then next Tuesday evening, they will play Lueders-Avoca in Lueders.

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ROSCOE IN YEARS GONE BY: THE RACE TRACK AND THE NOLAN COUNTY FAIR
(from the January 9, 2013, Roscoe Hard Times)

A modern chariot racer. (photo from Internet)
We Roscoe folks are rightfully proud of our three major civic events of the year: the Spring Fling in April, the Independence Day Celebration in July, and the West Texas Wind Festival in October.  All are well attended and have steadily grown to become not just local but regional in scope.

With the city’s lean years in the eighties and nineties, one might assume that these recent annual events are unprecedented for Roscoe, but there was a time when our fair city put on a major annual celebration—the Nolan County Fair—which in the early days was held in Roscoe, or more specifically, just east of Roscoe at what was then known as the Fairgrounds, located just across Broadway from the American Legion post, where a cotton field now stands.

The focal point of the Fairgrounds—and its greatest drawing card—was the race track, reputed to be one of the finest around. Recently, I examined the 1915 Nolan County Fair’s program, which had been sitting unnoticed on a shelf in the museum for years. Its contents are fascinating and reveal much about the life of the town one hundred years ago.

As one would expect, there were several contests typical of county fairs: ladies’ crafts with separate competitions for embroidery, crocheting, and tatting; best cooked and baked dishes, flowers and pot plants, art, garden produce, even a pretty baby contest. Cash prizes were in the $3 range for first prizes with second and third prizes correspondingly less, but these were not inconsiderable amounts at a time when when laborers worked for 15¢-20¢ an hour.

Not all the prizes were money, however. The award for the best jar of homemade sour pickles, for example, was a bucket of Seal Brand Coffee from Dodds’ Grocery along with ten tickets to the Gem Theater, Roscoe’s silent moving-picture house. The best loaf of salt-rising bread got ten gallons of oil and five gallons of gasoline from J. E. Russell’s garage, and so on.

There was also an extensive stock show with $10 prizes going to the best draft stallion, gaited stallion, and all-purpose stallion, $8 to the best jack and $5 to the best jennet, and $7.50 to the best span of mules along with numerous other categories. Cattle categories (Jersey bull, cow, heifer; Durham bull, cow, heifer, etc.) had $5 first prizes and $2.50 second prizes as did the hogs (red boar, sow; Poland China boar, sow; etc.).

In addition, the organizers engaged a big carnival from outside that employed 150 people and had equipment that took seven railcars to transport. Midway on the Roscoe fairgrounds must have been quite a sight.

But back to the races—at the beginning of the racing section of the program, the Nolan County Fair Association addresses horsemen with the following enticement to participate:

“We have a splendid track, and it will be in the finest condition for this event.  Plenty of sheds, stalls, and other conveniences have been provided, and every courtesy possible will be extended to those making entries.”

Racing took place on all three days of the fair with the largest prizes on the first and third days. The top purse was $150 for the 2:20 pace or trot on the first day and $125 on the third day. The half-mile race had a $100 purse on both the first and third days. Purses were divided 50%, 30%, 20% for first, second, and third places.

The first and third days also had a quarter-mile saddle horse race ($25 purse), and a chariot race ($25).  I can’t help but wonder what the chariot race was like. I would love to have seen one.  

There were also separate races for motorcycles ($10), bicycles ($5), mules ($5), and burros ($5).  Boys ages 7-10 could compete in the turkey roping where the prize was the turkey, and boys ages 10-13 had a pig roping where the prize was the pig. There was also a goat roping contest ($10).

In short, the Nolan County Fair must have been quite an event for Roscoe, its citizens, and the county at large. It is a shame that, as far as I know, no photos of it are still in existence.

The Roscoe Historical Museum would love to have any photos of the race track, fairgrounds, or any aspect of the Nolan County Fair when it was in Roscoe. If you or anyone you know has any, please notify me so that I could make a copy or copies for the museum.

The entire program for the 1915 Nolan County Fair is available for viewing online by clicking here. Note: As a .pdf file, it requires Adobe Reader for viewing.

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WEATHER REPORT: COOLER WEATHER

A strong southwest wind Monday afternoon was punishing the school's flags.
Although there wasn’t a another freeze in the past week to kill the remaining live cotton and other plants that made it past the first one, the weather in general has definitely been cooler than it was in the earlier part of the month. The high topped seventy only once, last Thursday, when it reached 71°F. A cold front moved in on Friday, and the high reached only 58°, and Saturday was the same. Sunday and Monday had highs in the sixties, but both days were windy enough to make the temperatures feel colder than they were. Sustained high winds reached 29mph both days with gusts up to 37mph. Yesterday was better with a high of 63° and somewhat diminished winds, but they were still strong enough to keep a cool nip in the air.

Today’s high will be only 57°, but skies will be sunny today and tomorrow. However, the forecast for Friday and Saturday is for cloudy skies and rain, 90% on Friday and 100% on Saturday, with cooler temperatures. Tomorrow’s projected high of 64° will drop on Friday to 56° and on Saturday to 47°. On Sunday it will be back up to 53°. Lows should be around 40° through the weekend—with a hard freeze predicted for midweek next week.

We’re moving into December, and the weather is beginning to show it.

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