Roscoe Hard Times: Plowboys Wax Wink 68-31, Hamlin Next

Cheerleaders and fans celebrate the Plowboy victory over Wink. (Photo by Patty McBride)

It was a tale of two halves Thursday night in Big Spring—not exactly Jekyll and Hyde, but not far from it. The first half was a struggle in which the Wildcats came out smoking, and the Plowboys were playing catch-up into the second quarter. The second half was a complete rout as the Plowboys pulled away and left the Wildcats in the dust with five touchdowns in the third quarter and another in the early fourth, immediately followed by both coaches agreeing to run the clock to finish the game.

Unlike the Plowboys’ previous three games in which they quickly jumped out to three and four touchdown leads over their opponents, the team gaining the early momentum Thursday night was Wink. Early on, they scored to go up 7-0. The Plowboys came right back and tied it up on a 5-yard run by Vincent Pantoja, but then Wink responded with a 67-yard TD pass and went ahead 13-7. Then the next time the Wildcats got the ball, they scored again to go up by 12, 19-7, and Plowboy fans were understandably nervous. However, Roscoe made another touchdown right before the end of the quarter on a 2-yard run by Pantoja, and at the end of one, Wink was ahead 19-14.

The Plowboys scored the first two touchdowns of the second quarter, the first by Brayden Beal on a 4-yard run and the second a 9-yard pass from Beal to Kevin Lavalais to put them ahead 28-19. But on their next series, Beal got hit in the backfield and the ball went right into the hands of a Wink defender, who ran it in for another Wildcat TD to narrow the score to 28-25, which was what it was halftime. It still appeared to be anybody’s game.

But the second half was all Roscoe, as the Plowboys came out fired up, grabbed the momentum, and went on a scoring spree that put the game away. Pantoja scored first on a 44-yard run, and on Wink’s first drive Lavalais intercepted a pass and returned it 44 yards for another TD. Wink responded with a scoring drive to get within fourteen, 45-31, but then Roscoe scored three more touchdowns before the end of the quarter, the first on a 41-yard run by Beal, the second a 14-yard pass from Beal to Max Nemir, and the third a 2-yard run by Jose Ortega. At the end of three the score was 61-31 Roscoe.

By this time, the Plowboys had sent in several JV players, and Wink was exhausted and demoralized. So when Francisco Garcia scored on a 66-yard run to put the Plowboys up 68-31 early in the fourth quarter, both coaches agreed to run the clock to get the game over with. Plowboy subs played the rest of the game, and neither side scored again.

In this game the Plowboys relied more on running than passing. They ran the ball for 41 plays to only 14 passing. The leading rusher was Pantoja with 20 carries for 157 yards and 3 TDs. Garcia had 6 carries for 110 yards and 1 TD, Beal 7 for 83 and 2 TDs, and Ortega 4 for 19 and 1 TD.

Beal completed 8 of 14 passes for 94 total yards with 2 TDs and 1 interception. The leading receiver was Lavalais with 3 catches for 41 yards and 1 TD. Nemir caught 2 for 32 yards and 1 TD, Rafael Aguayo had 2 for 24, and Diego Garza had 1 for -3. Erick Huidobro was good on 8 of 10 extra-point kicks.

Next up for the Plowboys is a re-match with Hamlin, who on Friday won over Santo in overtime 31-24. Like Roscoe, the Pipers are now 7-4. Their losses were to Anson, Hawley, Stamford, and Seymour. Hamlin beat Roscoe 35-21 in the second game of the season, but a couple of key Plowboy players including Vincent Pantoja were out for that game, and the Plowboys have improved as the season progressed. They will also have all their players ready to go this week, so it should be quite a game.

The game will be played on Friday in Tuscola. Kickoff is at 7:30pm.

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PEP RALLY AT OLD TOWN PARK TOMORROW

What: Community Wide Pep Rally
When: Thursday night at 6pm
Where: Old Town Park across from Roscoe City Hall
Why: To support the Cheerleaders, Coaches, and the PLOWBOYS!!!
We're Behind Ya Rootin' for Ya—Go Plowboys Go!!!

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JOHN JAY CONTINUES LEADERSHIP WITH TEXAS INDEPENDENT BANKERS

John Jay at the IBAT convention in Galveston.

Austin, Texas.—The Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT) is proud to announce that John Jay, president of the Roscoe State Bank and chairman of the IBAT Board of Directors this past year, is now continuing to serve as Immediate Past Chairman of the Board for 2015-16. He officially accepted this position during the association’s 41st annual convention held in Galveston on September 19-22.

Jay has been the president of Roscoe State Bank since 1990. He is the seventh person to hold the position since the bank’s opening on December 6, 1906. For the past year he has served as chairman of the IBAT Board of Directors, the association’s highest leadership position.

In addition to Jay’s many leadership roles with IBAT, including his service as IBAT Chairman and IBAT Services Chairman, he has dedicated much of his time to his community. He has previously served on the boards of Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development (SEED), Nolan County Foundation, Sweetwater Industrial Foundation, Rolling Plains Technical Foundation and Hendrick Medical Foundation. A Roscoe native, he received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University. Jay and his wife Sandy have three children, Bonnie, Jared and Clint.

He joins Chairman Rogers Pope, Jr., of Texas Bank and Trust in Longview, Chair-Elect Darla Rooke of Junction National Bank in Junction and Secretary-Treasurer Joe Kim King of Brady National Bank in Brady. New board members include Gary Owens of Southwestern National Bank in Houston and Kenneth Zapalac of National Bank & Trust in La Grange.

Austin-based IBAT represents more than 2,000 independent banks and branches in 700 Texas communities. Additional information about the new board of directors can be found at www.ibat.org.

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CAMDEN BOREN AND MURISSA HORTON FINISH 4TH IN NATIONAL FFA COMPETITION

Camden Boren and Murissa Horton in Louisville, Kentucky.

Camden Boren and Murissa Horton represented the Roscoe Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter at the National FFA Convention held in Louisville, Kentucky, the last week of October. They competed in Animal Systems Division 3 of the Agriscience Fair and placed 4th out of 21 teams in the nation.

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PLOWGIRLS BEGIN BASKETBALL SEASON

It’s that time of year again. The Plowgirls officially began their basketball season last week in Robert Lee with a 57-19 loss. They played their second game last night in Colorado City and lost by a score of 58-11.

Haley Bridges was the Plowgirls’ high scorer with 6 points. Lyndi Wilkinson had 3, and Veronica Cuellar had 2.

This weekend the Plowgirls will travel to Leuders for the Leuders-Avoca Tournament.

The boys won’t be playing basketball until they finish their football season.

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BIG WEEKEND AT THE LUMBERYARD, RECKLESS KELLY, RAY WYLIE HUBBARD FRIDAY, GARY P. NUNN SATURDAY

Q: What does the Lumberyard do as an encore after having Travis Tritt here last week? A: Follow up with another big weekend featuring Reckless Kelly and Ray Wylie Hubbard on Friday and Gary P. Nunn on Saturday.

Reckless Kelly

Reckless Kelly, a band based in Austin, was originally formed in Idaho. Two of its members, Willy and Cody Braun, have two other brothers, Micky and Gary, who are frontmen for another Austin band, Micky and the Motorcars. They all got their start playing in their father’s band, Muzzie Braun & the Boys, a western swing band, and still go to Idaho every summer to play at the annual Braun Brothers Reunion.

Reckless Kelly relocated to Austin in 1996 and became popular in various clubs and locations there. Their first album, Millican, was released in 1998. Since then, they have produced seven others, the most recent being Long Night Moon, released in 2013. Popular singles include “Wicked Twisted Road,” “Seven Nights in Eire,” “Nobody’s Girl,” “Long Night Moon,” “The Last Goodbye,” “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” and “Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Ray Wylie Hubbard, both a singer and songwriter, is a long-time fixture of the Austin outlaw scene. He first achieved fame with his song, “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” originally recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker, and has since written and recorded several others including “Screw You, We’re from Texas,” “Snake Farm,” and “Drunken Poet’s Dream.” Over his long career, he has produced sixteen CDs, the most recent being The Ruffian’s Misfortune, released earlier this year.

Hubbard will take the stage at about 8:00pm and will be followed by Reckless Kelly at about 10:00.

Gary P. Nunn

On Saturday night, Gary P. Nunn and his Bunkhouse Band will be the featured act. Nunn, also a pioneer of the outlaw music scene in Austin with his Lost Gonzo Band, played with Willie Nelson, Michael Murphy, and Jerry Jeff Walker in the seventies—and has been a fixture of the Texas music scene ever since.

His fame as a performer is matched, if not exceeded, by his songwriting skills. What self-respecting Texan can’t sing along to “I want to go home with the armadillo, good country music from Amarillo and Abilene” from his “London Homesick Blues”? He’ll be singing that and “That’s What I Like about Texas,” “Adios, Amigo,” “Macho Man from Taco Land,” and “Terlingua Sky,” along with others, including songs from his latest album, One Way or Another.

For reservations call the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

Travis Tritt put on a great show at the Lumberyard Friday.

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WEATHER REPORT: WINDY

Flags were flapping in the breeze at the school yesterday.

As the old saying goes, “If you don’t like the weather around here, stick around a few minutes,” which is the way it’s been this past week. We got a little bit of everything, sunshine and clear skies, heavy low clouds and a fast-moving front with thunder and lightning—even a little rain and some light hail in places.

But what really stands out, at least to me, is the god-awful wind we’ve had the past few days. You’d think it was the middle of March the way it’s been blowing both day and night. It started on Saturday but really picked up on Sunday with sustained winds of 26mph and gusts up to 36mph. Monday was worse with sustained winds of 33 and gusts up to 41 and yesterday with sustained winds of 31 and gusts up to 40. They finally calmed down yesterday about 5pm and have been relatively calm since.

The rains came, as predicted, on Sunday and Monday. It wasn’t a lot. On Sunday afternoon, my rain gauge recorded .18”, and when we got another shower that evening, I got .06” more for a Sunday total of .24”. Then on Monday night when the front from the southwest passed through, I got .44” more for a two-day total of .68”. It didn’t hail here in Roscoe, but it did in some places north and west of town. I’m not sure about south and east, but in any case the hailstones were small and didn’t fall long or do much damage. Roscoe’s official rainfall for the two days was .61”, enough to create puddles in the streets and ditches.

Temperatures were generally average or a little above, but when Monday’s storm blew through, the mercury dropped from 70° to about 50° in less than an hour. In general, though, temperatures were mild for this time of year. The high was on Monday at 73° and the low was this morning’s 41°.

The forecast through Friday is for sunny skies with highs in the sixties, lows in the forties, and lighter breezes. A front is predicted to arrive on Saturday, though, which will drop the day’s high to only about 49° and a low of around 35°. Sunday’s high will be only slightly warmer at about 53°.

Still, over half of November is now gone, and we still haven’t had a freeze. And even if we get a light frost on Saturday, it appears that we may not get a hard freeze until after Thanksgiving. At least, that’s what the meteorologists are saying. On the other hand, there is a long-range forecast for rain starting next Tuesday and running through Friday, so we could have a wet Thanksgiving. Chances given are for 70% next Tuesday, 70% Wednesday, and 50% for Thursday and Friday. We’ll see.