Plowboys Fall to Hawley in Opener

Jax Watts fires a pass to Antonio Aguayo (8) in the fourth quarter.

It’s usually hard to be positive about a football team that loses its first game by twenty points, as the Plowboys did Friday night, falling to Hawley 34-14. But despite the final score, the Plowboys showed a lot of promise and probably proved something to themselves as well as to their fans in the way they played the game.

For one thing, no one gave them a chance to seriously challenge Hawley, a team ranked as high as fifth in state and favored to go deep in the playoffs in class 2A-I this year, just like they did last year. The Plowboys, coming off a losing season and still young in many skill positions, were predicted to finish fourth in their five-team 2A-II district.

And the game could hardly have had a worse beginning for the Plowboys. They received the opening kickoff, lost yardage on their first play and on the second tried a pass that was intercepted and returned 18 yards for a touchdown—and before many fans had settled into their seats, the Plowboys were behind 7-0. After receiving the second kickoff, they went three and out, punted, and on Hawley’s first offensive possession, the Bearcats drove from midfield to the Plowboy 32, where a short pass and a missed tackle resulted in a second touchdown. With less than three minutes gone in the first quarter, Hawley was ahead 14-0.

At that point, it appeared that the rout was on, and the Plowboys could have given up, but they didn’t. The next time Hawley got the ball, the Plowboys held them and forced them to punt. Then, with the ball on their own 33, Jax Watts threw a long pass to a wide-open Tyler Guelker, who took it in untouched for a 67-yard TD, and the Plowboys had narrowed the score to 14-7.

From then on, the two teams played toe-to-toe for the rest of the game. Late in the second quarter, the Plowboys drove from their own 19 to the Hawley 38, and it appeared they might tie the score before halftime. But another errant pass was intercepted by Hawley and returned 62 yards for a touchdown, and instead of 14-14, the halftime score was 21-7.

In the third quarter, the Bearcats capped a long drive with another touchdown to make the score 27-7, and in the fourth quarter both teams scored a touchdown to make the final score 34-14. The Plowboys’ final touchdown came after they drove to the Hawley 12, where Jax Watt threw a touchdown pass to Seth Wilcox.

The Plowboy defense played a good game against the big Hawley backs. Running back Austin Cumpton is big and tough, and the Plowboys frequently were unable to bring him down with just one defender but did a good job of gang tackling and keeping him from breaking lose. He never did make the yardage most expected him to. And their passing game, which the Bearcats used to outscore Albany 4-0 in a scrimmage, never did get untracked against the Plowboy defensive backs.

Despite the score, the Plowboys had more first downs than Hawley, 15 to 14. Hawley had more total yards with 287, but not by a lot as the Plowboys had 251. Third-down and fourth-down efficiency was equal with the Plowboys 4 for 15 on third-down tries and 2 for 7 on fourth downs. Hawley was 3 for 11 on third downs and 2 for 7 on fourths.

The Plowboys’ downfall was the turnovers that cost them in points and killed their momentum. Hawley made 5 interceptions with 2 returned for touchdowns. The Bearcats lost one fumble and had one interception.

Jax Watts completed 18 of 30 passes for 233 yards and 2 TDs. Antonio Aguayo was the leading Plowboy rusher with 6 runs for 30 yards, and Jake Gonzales had 11 yards in 11 carries. Tyler Guelker was the leading receiver with 2 receptions for 81 yards and 1 TD. Aguayo had 7 catches for 61 yards, Ivan McCann had 5 for 51, and Seth Wilcox had 3 for 33 and 1 TD.

Plowboys Face Stamford in Stamford Friday

The Plowboys’ mettle will be tested again on Friday when they play the Stamford Bulldogs in Stamford. The Bulldogs are coming off a shellacking of the Hamlin Pied Pipers, 34-6. The Pipers jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a long opening drive but never threatened again the rest of the game as the Bulldogs ran up 34 unanswered points.

Like the Plowboys, the Bulldogs are an improved team. They have a new head coach, Britt Hart, who was 58-12 at Falls City before going to Merkel last year. They are returning 7 starters on offense and 8 on defense. The Abilene Reporter-News picks them to finish third in a strong 2A-I six-school district behind Hawley and Anson. They have good team speed on both offense and defense.

The Bulldogs run the Wing-T formation on offense with Dylan Faulks and Isaiah Gonzales switching between quarterback and wide receiver, and Hayden Henager and Kolbie Proffitt are both experienced running backs. On defense, they are led by Henager and Proffitt, both linebackers who had good years in 2020.

Kickoff in Stamford is at 7:30pm.

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RCHS CROSS-COUNTRY CRUISES TO WIN AT WTC

Zoey Welch won the girls' cross-country race at WTC.

The Plowgirls finished first and the Plowboys second in the high school division in a six-team meet at Western Texas College on Saturday. The junior high Plowgirls also won their division.

Zoey Welch won the race in the high school girls’ division, and Kaidy Ornelas was second. Jissel Rodriguez finished fifth, and Mahalia Calderon-Ruiz was ninth.

Graham Gleaton was eighth and Marcus Hernandez ninth in the high school boys’ division.

In the junior high girls’ division, Sophie Gleaton was the winner, Ava Burrell was second, and Celeste Rangel was third. Danica Heaps finished sixth, Gabi Solis eighth, and Kennedy Baker ninth.

In the junior high boys’ race, Barrett Floyd finished eighth.

Both Plowboys and Plowgirls are competing in today’s cross-country high school meet in Brownwood. They will also compete in the meet in Eula next Tuesday.

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SCHOOL BOARD HOLDS COMMUNITY MEETING

RCISD School Board, l to r: Eloy Herrera, Jerad Alford, Aaron Brown,  Cheyenne Smith, Allen Richburg, David Pantoja, Kenny Hope.

The Roscoe Collegiate ISD Board of Trustees held an informational meeting at the school cafetorium yesterday evening to update the community on the school district’s goals, programs, activities, and accomplishments. At the end of their presentation, they opened the meeting up to questions and concerns from the audience.

Each of the board trustees played a role in presenting the district’s current concerns, duties, and responsibilities to the audience. Some of the concerns discussed were improving the test scores on the STAAR test in Elementary School, improving teacher morale, and the extending of the Montessori method in the Elementary grades. This year’s slight drop in enrollment was also a topic of concern.

But the speakers also took time to point with pride at some of the unique accomplishments of the Roscoe school system along with the related CEN and P-TECH programs that allow local graduates and residents to earn associate’s and bachelor’s degrees tuition-free and without ever leaving Roscoe. They also spoke of the professional certification programs such as Edu-Weld, Edu-Drone, Edu-Make It, and Edu-Vet that prepare RCHS students for careers upon graduation.

In the question-and-answer session that followed, audience concerns included Covid-19 and school masking, better coordination between early childhood and the primary grades, Roscoe students who transfer to other area schools, student preparation for college placement testing, and others.

RCISD Superintendent Andy Wilson, who spoke at the conclusion of the meeting, introduced Marina Wilcox, the Assistant Superintendent, to the audience.

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COVID 19 UPDATE: AREA SITUATION WORSENS

The number of Covid-19 hospitalizations in Texas continues to grow. As of yesterday, the number was 13,768 compared to last week’s 13,666, and the state has agreed to hire 8,000 contract health workers as hospitalizations approach the record. More people under 50 years old are now hospitalized than at any other time in the pandemic, and 21.5% of hospital beds in Texas are used by Covid-19 patients.

New cases number 8,410 compared to last week’s 15,516, which is good news. But active cases are now at 275,121 compared to last week’s 256,388, and the average number of deaths has increased by 65 over the 7-day average a week ago.

The numbers are also up in Taylor County. Active cases are now at 1,958. That’s 404 more than last week’s 1,554. In Abilene hospitals there are 110 Covid-19 hospitalizations, 32 more than week’s 78, with 20 of those in the ICU. The percentage of Covid-19 patients in the Abilene trauma area has now exceeded 15% for seven days in a row. Taylor County has had 7 more deaths since last week and Brown County 6.

The situation is such that Hendrick Health has opened its Emergency Operation Center to address capacity constraints and moved its Community Safety Dial to Level 6, Emergency, its highest level. It is also calling for medical personnel in the area, including retired nurses and doctors, to help care for patients as temporary employees.

Of all 126 Hendrick Covid-19 patients (including Brownwood), 107 (85%) are not fully vaccinated. Of the 30 Covid-19 patients in ICU, 28 (93%) are not fully vaccinated.

In our four-county area, three counties have more active cases and one fewer. Nolan County now reports 114 active cases compared to last week’s 100; Mitchell County has 70 active cases, 18 more than last week’s 52; Fisher County has 12 active cases, 3 fewer than last week’s 15; and Scurry County has 190 active cases, 29 more than last week’s 161.

Covid-19 has also hit Big Country schools. Abilene ISD reports 194 cases (146 students, 48 staff) and Wylie ISD 82 active cases. Other schools have closed temporarily. Baird has canceled classes and after-school activities until next Monday. Gorman delayed the start of school for a week, Winters closed down Monday, and Leuders-Avoca and Colorado City last week. Colorado also canceled its football game with Albany but is planning to resume classes today. Statewide, more Texas students tested positive last week (20,256 reported cases) than any time since the pandemic began. 

Roscoe Collegiate ISD currently has 9 infected students with 8 others (plus 3 staff) in quarantine. Of the 9, 1 is in Early Childhood, 4 in Elementary, and 4 in Secondary.

Here are the estimated active cases the Big Country’s counties (compared to last week’s number in parentheses): Brown, 387 (249); Howard, 218 (214); Scurry, 190 (161); Jones, 130 (136); Erath, 119 (98); Nolan, 114 (100); Mitchell, 70 (52); Coke, 68 (47); Comanche, 39 (20); Eastland, 37 (30); Stephens, 35 (6); Runnels, 24 (30); Callahan, 17 (14); Fisher, 15 (15); Coleman, 9 (11); Shackelford, 6 (2); Haskell, 3 (5); Knox, 2 (2); Stonewall, 1 (0); Kent, 0 (0); Throckmorton, 0 (0). The total of all these counties last week was 1,192. Now it is 1,484.

Selected west Texas counties’ estimated active cases (with last week’s in parentheses): Lubbock 4,186 (3,250); Ector (Odessa) 1,925 (1,857), Tom Green (San Angelo) 1,834 (1,542); Midland 1,817 (834); Wichita (Wichita Falls) 628 (628). Last week’s total for these counties was 8,171. Now it is 10,390.

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WEATHER REPORT: A TYPICAL AUGUST WEEK

Summer clouds on Monday afternoon.

There were no surprises in the area weather this past week, as every day was pretty much the same as the one before and the one after. All seven days were partly cloudy with those puffy late summer clouds, winds were mostly from the south, and afternoon temperatures were in the mid to high nineties with early morning lows around 70°. The high for the week was 98° on both Thursday and Friday, and the morning  low was 68° on both Saturday and Sunday.

We now move into the month of September, which, along with May, is historically one of the two wettest months of the year in the Roscoe area, averaging just over 3 inches for the month. However, you wouldn’t know it from the forecast for the coming week, in which there is not a single day with a predicted chance of rain higher than today’s 16%.

Temperatures will also remain summerlike with predicted highs of 96° today, 97° tomorrow, 96° Friday, 98° Saturday, and 96° on Sunday and Monday. Lows for all these days will range from 71° to 73°. Skies will be partly cloudy with winds from the south or south-southeast. In other words, we can look forward to the same weather we’ve had for more than the past two weeks.

I hope the weathermen are wrong. The area could use a good rain.

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