Roscoe Hard Times: Plowboys Down Junction in San Angelo 14-6

Plowboys start from deep within their own territory. (Photo by Benivamondez)

The third time’s the charm. After falling in their first two games this year, the Roscoe Plowboys got their first win of the season Friday night over the Junction Eagles 14-6. The game was played at a neutral site, San Angelo Stadium, with both teams traveling some distance to get there.

The victory was a solid one for the Plowboys. After a scoreless first quarter, the Plowboys scored first on an 18-yard run by Vincent Pantoja right before halftime. Pablo Huidobro kicked the extra point, and the Plowboys led at the half 7-0.

Pantoja scored again in the third quarter on a 4-yard run, and after another Huidobro extra-point kick, the Plowboys were up 14-0. Junction finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run, but their extra-point attempt failed, and the score, 14-6, turned out to be the final one.

Vincent Pantoja led the Plowboys with 143 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 27 carries. Brayden Beal completed 6 of 16 passes for 104 yards with 3 interceptions, and Kevin Lavalais led all receivers with 4 receptions for 58 yards.

The Plowboys travel to Tuscola this Friday to play Jim Ned. The Indians, a 3A-Division 1 school, are coming off a 32-18 loss to Anson in Anson last Friday and will be looking for a victory at home.

Kickoff is at 7:30pm.

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PLOWGIRLS FINISH SECOND, PLOWBOYS THIRD, AT HAMLIN CROSS COUNTRY MEET

In a meet that included several area schools such as Anson, Hamlin, Hawley, Lueders-Avoca, Munday, Hermleigh, Merkel, Seymour, and others, the Plowboys and Plowgirls did quite well with the Plowgirls finishing second to Merkel and the Plowboys finishing third at the Hamlin Cross Country Meet on Saturday. Additionally, the Eighth Grade girls finished in first place while the Seventh Grade girls finished in second place.

Leaders for the varsity Plowgirls were Lyndi Wilkinson, Alejandra Solis, and Karina Cisneros. For the varsity Plowboys it was Juan Garcia followed by Jetly Hobdy, and Braiden Moore.

Leaders for the first-place eighth grade girls were Bonnie Wilkinson, Jazmine Alvarez, and Michaela Horton, and for the seventh grade girls Madison Hickson, Jaci Alexander, and Jaleigh Morales.

This weekend the Cross Country teams will participate here in Roscoe in the Race for the Cure.

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BOBBY FLORES & BAND AT LUMBERYARD SATURDAY

Bobby Flores

Texas swing artist and Grammy Award winner Bobby Flores and his Yellow Rose Band will make their debut at the Lumberyard this Saturday, September 20.

Perhaps best known as the former fiddle player for Ray Price, Bobby Flores has also had quite a career on his own both as a featured performer and as a session musician. He has been playing professionally since the age of seven and has studied music theory and classical violin at Trinity University.

He has composed and performed in TV commercials and won numerous awards, among them induction into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame. His recording of “I Wonder Who’ll Turn Out the Lights” is featured in the Tommy Jones movie Three Burials. He and his band Angel Fire opened for George Strait, Garth Brooks, Tanya Tucker, Conway Twitty, and others. His Yellow Rose Band features three fiddles and some of the world’s best musicians.

His most recent album is Fast Company. Others include Eleven Roses, Christmas in Ol’ San Antone, Neon Nights, Direct from Blanco County, Too Many Rivers, Festival Favorites and Just for the Record.

Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door. Nine Mile Mountain will open at 8:00pm and Bobby Flores will take the stage around 9:45. For more information, phone the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

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WEATHER REPORT: COOL AND CLOUDY WITH SOME RAIN

Skies were cloudy for most of the week.

Last Wednesday the temperature topped out at 99°F, but the next day a cold front blew in and since then it’s been generally overcast and cooler than normal. On Friday, we got another nice rain. Lyndall Underwood got 1.25” on the west side of town, while others got more or less depending on the location. In general, more fell west of town than east of town, and south more than north. On Sunday, it rained just enough to get the ground wet, about 0.05” or so, and that was it for the precipitation.

Highs from Thursday through Sunday were in the seventies with lows in the fifties, except for Saturday when it got up only to 64°. Monday and yesterday were warmer with highs of 86° and 82° respectively and lows of 68° and 71°.

The possibility of more rain is in the forecast with clouds from the Pacific hurricane Odile heading this way. There’s a 40%-50% chance of rain today and tomorrow, diminishing to 30%-40% on Friday, and 20%-40% on Saturday. High temperatures will be in the low to mid eighties and lows in the mid to upper sixties.

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ROSCOE HARD TIMES BEGINS FIFTH YEAR

In some ways it’s hard to believe, but the Roscoe Hard Times has been providing the Roscoe news for over four years now and with this post begins its fifth. In that first post on September 9, 2010, I announced my intention to regularly provide Roscoe news to current and former Roscoans by way of a blog on the Internet. I followed it a couple of days later with my first news report, an account of the Roscoe-Stamford football game, and the Hard Times has been in business ever since.

At first, I didn’t have any regular day to post and just put up the news as I received it. But after a month or so, I found it easier to do it all on a weekly basis and settled in to posting on Wednesday mornings and have stuck to that schedule since then.

Over time the readership has steadily grown, and with the help of Google Analytics, a free service provided by Google, I’m able to see how many readers the blog has and where they are located. So, for example, the Hard Times had 355 hits, or visits, this past week, which is pretty normal. As you might expect, about half of these come on Wednesdays with the rest scattered out pretty evenly over the rest of the week.

The vast majority of these visits come from computers located in the US, 96% to be precise, but there are always a few from far-flung parts of the globe. I’m not surprised when the Hard Times gets hits from Norway or Mongolia since my brother and his wife, kids, and in-laws live in Norway and my daughter lives in Mongolia. But in the past month, the blog also has been visited by people in India, Peru, Chile, France, Germany, Great Britain, Nigeria, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others. Of course, there is no way to know which of these are former Roscoe folks and which are computer users who just happen in some way to stumble across the Hard Times as they surf the Internet.

Almost from the outset, I had requests from people who don’t use computers, mostly older folks, to provide a print version, but that would have turned the venture into a full-time job with all sorts of expenses and complications, and I never seriously considered it. However, about a year and a half ago, the editor of the Sweetwater Reporter asked if I’d be willing to provide stories for a “What’s Happening in Roscoe” page every Thursday, and I’ve been happy to do that since it solves the problem for the people who don’t use computers.

When I started the blog, I had no idea or thoughts about how long I’d keep it up—and I still don’t. I guess I’ll just continue for as long as I consider the reward greater than the effort. It’s my way of giving back to the community in a way that keeps me busy and mentally active, so I’m happy to do it.

Anyway, thanks to all you readers who regularly check the Hard Times to find out what’s going on in Roscoe. You make me feel relevant and keep me on my toes.

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REVISED HOMECOMING SCHEDULE