Plowboys Shock Stamford 37-26

The Plowboys got their first victory of the year Friday at Stamford, upsetting the Bulldogs 37-26 at their homecoming celebration.

Stamford fans can’t be blamed for expecting the game to be an easy win for the home team. After all, the Bulldogs had beaten the Plowboys the last three years in a row, and all the Abilene sportswriters were predicting a Stamford victory. Stamford had also easily won their first game of the year over Hamlin 34-6, while Roscoe had lost theirs 34-14—and to top it all off, the Harris poll had the Plowboys as 31-point underdogs. But, as ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman always says, “That’s why they play the game,” and the Plowboys came away with a big win.

The Bulldogs scored first. The Plowboys received the opening kickoff and drove to the Stamford 11-yard line, but a fumble was recovered by the Bulldogs, who then put together a long drive and scored on a 21-yard pass play. The conversion attempt failed, but the Bulldogs led 6-0. However, Roscoe came right back and tied the game on a 5-yard run by Ivan McCann and took the lead when Antonio Aguayo’s extra-point kick was good. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 7-6.

Stamford went back on top in the second quarter on a 30-yard pass play. This time they converted the two-point attempt and led 14-7. Then a Plowboy drive was stopped at midfield, but Aguayo’s punt went all the way to the 2-yard line, and on Stamford’s second play, Aguayo tackled the ball carrier in the end zone for a 2-point safety, making the score 14-9. The Plowboys re-took the lead on their next drive when Aguayo scored from the four to make the score 16-14 Roscoe for a lead they would never relinquish. The Plowboys got another touchdown shortly before halftime when McCann ran it in from 2 yards out, making the halftime score 23-14.

Early in the third quarter, the Plowboy offense drove all the way to the Stamford 22 but once again fumbled. A Stamford player scooped up the ball and ran 77 yards for a touchdown, narrowing the score to 23-20. On Roscoe's next offensive series, Aguayo scored on a reverse play that covered 54 yards, putting the Plowboys up 30-20, which was also the score at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Plowboys extended the lead to 37-20 on a drive ending in a Jake Gonzales 1-yard run. The Bulldogs made the game’s last touchdown to narrow the lead to 37-26, but it was too little too late, and the Plowboys came away with a convincing victory and a big upset few expected.

Scoring by quarters:
                           1          2          3          4          T
Roscoe              7          16        7          7          37
Stamford          6          8         6          6          26

For the game, Stamford had 17 first downs to the Plowboys’ 10, but the Plowboys had 320 total yards to Stamford’s 312. The Plowboys had only 2 turnovers, both fumbles, while Stamford had 4, 2 fumbles and 2 interceptions, one of them a leaping catch by Ivan McCann. Stamford also had 82 penalty yards to the Plowboys’ 51.

Antonio Aguayo led the Plowboy offense. He caught 4 passes for 73 yards and ran the ball 4 times for 62 yards and 2 TDs. He also kicked 5 extra points and scored a safety. Ivan McCann ran 10 times for 56 yards and 2 TDs and had 1 pass reception for 5 yards. Seth Wilcox caught 1 pass for 38 yards and ran twice for 32. Jake Gonzales had 11 carries for 45 yards and 1 TD, and Tyler Guelker ran 4 times for 9 yards.

Jax Watts completed 8 of 14 passes with 0 interceptions, although he did have 1 fumble.

Trace Guelker led the Plowboys on defense with 14 tackles, 10 of them solo. McCann had 13 with 7 solo, and Jake Gonzales had 11 with 6 solo. Jacob Kiser had 8, Reese Kiser 8, Tyler Guelker 8, Aguayo 6, and Keller Vinson and Peyton Friedman both had 5. Others included Michael Fulton 4, Britt Justice 4, Watts 3, Jake Madden 2, Wilcox 1, Parker Gleaton 1, Xavier Lopez 1, and David Diaz 1.

Plowboys Tackle Miles in Miles Friday

After their big win over Stamford, the Plowboys face another non-district opponent Friday when they take on Miles in Miles. The Bulldogs are a 2A-II school like the Plowboys and are in District 14 with Christoval, Menard, Eldorado, and two others. They return 8 starters on offense and 9 on defense from a team that went 3-8 last year. One of those victories was a 29-7 win over Roscoe, so the Plowboys have a score to settle with them this time around.

Texas Football picked Miles to finish fifth in district this year, just ahead of Menard, and they are currently 0-2. Their first game was a 24-0 loss to Coleman, which has a strong 2A-I team this year. That score, however, doesn’t look so bad until you learn that the game was called on account of lightning at the end of the first quarter. Then, this past week they lost 54-0 to Coahoma, also a good 3A-II team. On paper, it appears that the Plowboys have little to fear Friday—although they should keep in mind that that’s what Stamford thought this past week, and look at what happened to them!

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CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM COMPETES IN BROWNWOOD, EULA

The RCHS Cross-Country team had two more good outcomes in their two most recent meets, the first the Brownwood Invitational last Wednesday and the second the Eula Invitational yesterday.

In the Brownwood Invitational, a huge meet with teams of schools of all sizes, the high school Plowgirls finished sixth of the 25 competing teams. Top finishers were Zoey Welch, who finished 4th and Jissel Rodriquez 13th out of 181 runners.

For the junior varsity Plowgirls, Jaiden Amador was 18th out of 90 runners. For the junior high Plowboys, Graham Gleaton finished 39th out of 137 runners.

Yesterday at Eula, the varsity Plowgirls placed 3rd out of 20 teams. Top finishers were Zoey Welch in 3rd, Jissel Rodriquez 8th, and Mahalia Calderon-Ruiz 18th out of 158 runners. The top varsity Plowboy was Graham Gleaton, who was 26th out of 112 runners.

The 8th grade girls placed 3rd overall out of 14 teams. Top finisher was Sophie Gleaton, who was 19th out of 110 runners.

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REMEMBERING 9/11

There are certain public events in life that occur with such impact that anyone who lives through them always remembers where they were and what they were doing when they happened. Examples that spring to mind are Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy Assassination, the Moon Landing, and the Coming of the New Millennium on January 1, 2000.

Another one we will all be acutely aware of in the coming days is the one popularly known as 9/11, the day Al Qaeda terrorists commandeered four passenger jets and flew two into the Twin Towers in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and yet another that the heroic actions of passengers caused to crash in rural Pennsylvania instead of the Capitol Building, where it was headed.

This Saturday, September 11, will mark the twentieth anniversary of that day that shocked the world and resulted in two long hard-fought wars that consumed this nation’s attention, resources, and sacrifices—one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan, which has just ended after twenty long years.

Where were you when you heard the news?

I was at Towson University in Maryland that Tuesday morning about to begin my nine o’clock Medieval Literature class. A student came into the room and said a jet liner had just crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York City.

Assuming it was some sort of accident, I went ahead and started class and didn’t think about it again until shortly later when a student came to the door and said another plane had just crashed into the other tower. At this point, we were all alarmed because the events could no longer be assumed to be accidental.

Not knowing what to do, I resumed with the class until another professor came to the door and said that yet another plane had crashed into the Pentagon, and that all classes were immediately cancelled by order of the university president.

The students dispersed and scattered, but a large number of the professors stayed in the building as the events unfolded that day, and I was one of them. It’s a day I’ll never forget, and I’m willing to bet the memory is impressed just as indelibly in your mind as it is in mine.

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COVID 19 UPDATE: AREA SITUATION SERIOUS

In Texas, the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations decreased by 269 patients compared with a week ago. As of yesterday, the number was 13,499 compared to last week’s 13,768. That’s the good news.

The not-so-good news is the state’s ICU capacity continues to diminish. At least 95 of Texas’s some 200 hospitals with ICU units are filled to capacity. These include Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene and Brownwood (with Abilene Regional at 98%) and Rolling Plains (all 6 ICU units filled) in Sweetwater for the week from August 28-September 3.

New cases in Texas increased by 2,538 compared with the 7-day average of a week ago, and active cases are now at 287,879 compared to last week’s 275,121. The average number of deaths has also  increased by 47 over the 7-day average a week ago. Yesterday 128 new deaths were reported.

The numbers are also up in Taylor County. Active cases are now at 2,266. That’s 308 more than last week’s 1,958. In Abilene hospitals there are 100 Covid-19 hospitalizations, 10 less than week’s 110, with 20 of those in the ICU. The percentage of Covid-19 patients in the Abilene trauma area was at 19.10% on Monday. Taylor County has had 10 more Covid-19 deaths since last week and Brown County 4.

Of all 126 Hendrick Covid-19 patients (including Brownwood), 102 (81%) are not fully vaccinated. Of the 27 Covid-19 patients in ICU, 24 (89%) are not fully vaccinated.

In our four-county area, all four counties have more active cases than last week. Nolan County now reports 263 active cases, more than double last week’s 114; Mitchell County has 93 active cases, 23 more than last week’s 70; Fisher County has 15 active cases, 3 more than last week’s 12; and Scurry County has 303 active cases, 113 more than last week’s 190.

Roscoe Collegiate ISD has 6 infected students with 10 others (plus 1 staff) in quarantine. Of the 6, 4 are in Elementary, and 2 in Secondary.

Here are the estimated active cases the Big Country’s counties (compared to last week’s number in parentheses): Brown, 441 (387); Scurry, 303 (190); Howard, 273 (218); Nolan, 263 (114); Erath, 175 (119); Jones, 140 (130); Stephens, 129 (35); Mitchell, 93 (70); Coke, 76 (68); Eastland, 57 (37); Comanche, 52 (39); Callahan, 44 (17); Runnels, 42 (24); Fisher, 15 (12); Coleman, 9 (9); Shackelford, 5 (6); Haskell, 2 (3); Stonewall, 2 (1); Knox, 1 (2); Kent, 0 (0); Throckmorton, 0 (0). The total of all these counties last week was 1,484. Now it is 2,122.

Selected west Texas counties’ estimated active cases (with last week’s in parentheses): Lubbock 4,355 (4,186); Midland 2,376 (1.817); Ector (Odessa) 1,955 (1,925), Tom Green (San Angelo) 1,573 (1,834); Wichita (Wichita Falls) 1,864 (628). Last week’s total for these counties was 10,390. Now it is 12,123.

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WEATHER REPORT: SUMMER HEAT, A SURPRISE SHOWER

Southern sky on Monday.

September began a week ago today, but you wouldn’t know it from the weather we got this past week, which was an unbroken continuation of the August heat spell. Every day had highs in the mid to upper nineties and morning lows in the seventies except for Sunday and Monday which fell to 69°F and 68° respectively. The hottest days were Wednesday and Saturday, which both reached 99°.

Yesterday in the middle of a hot afternoon just after five o’clock, the sun was shining and the temperature 95° when it started raining from a cloud that didn’t look like it was capable of doing it. The shower was not widespread, as the sky was clear west and north of town. (I haven’t heard what happened south of town.) The shower lasted about fifteen minutes, and I had .22” in my rain gauge when it was all over. It was the first precipitation of any kind that we’ve had in a while, so it was welcome. Here’s hoping it will be a primer for more.

The forecast is for a continuation of the hot spell. Today and tomorrow are expected to reach 96°, Friday 99°, Saturday 100°, and Sunday 96° with northeasterly winds today and southerly winds in the days following. Early morning lows will be in the high 60s all week, and skies will be clear or mostly clear.

There is no rain in the forecast.

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† MATTIE LOUISE McWHIRTER

A private graveside service will be held for Mattie Louise Woodard, 82, at Georges Creek Cemetery in Glen Rose under the direction of McCoy Funeral Home of Sweetwater. She went home to Jesus on September 5, surrounded by her three daughters and her faithful dog Injee.

Louise was born in Cleburne on March 10, 1939, to Frank and Earline Woodard. She grew up playing with her brother Jimmy, who predeceased her in 2018, and their sister Sharon. During her childhood, Louise attended Westside Church in Cleburne, and later married the love of her life, H. C. “Mickey” McWhirter, in the same church on December 4, 1959. Louise and Mickey were blessed with three daughters: Valerie, Pamela, and Jill. While raising her family, Louise went back to school. She graduated in 1979 from Tarleton State University with honors and was able to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher. She taught one year in Rio Vista and kindergarten for 20 years at Highland.

After retirement in 1998, Louise spent two years with her beloved husband Mickey, until his passing in November 2000. She then worked as a substitute teacher and long-term reading teacher at J. P. Cowan School in Sweetwater. In addition to her brother Jimmy and her husband Mickey, Louise was preceded in death by her parents.

She leaves behind a loving family, all of whom loved her dearly: her sister Sharon Clark (husband Larry), and daughters Valerie Shoemaker (Kurt), Pamela Hamer (Mitchell), and Jill Sims (Vance). Also, grandchildren Nolan Cornutt (Krisha), Mitch Cornutt, Sam Cornutt (Lacie), Katie (Chris Hartman), Chase Sims (Molly), Clint Sims, Miriam Bracken (Jim), and Jaeger Shoemaker. In addition, she is survived by nine great-grandchildren, three nieces, and one nephew.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Georges Creek Cemetery and to Hendrick Hospice of Abilene.

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† ASCENSION “CHONITA” CASTILLO

Funeral services for Ascension "Chonita" Castillo, 76, of Sweetwater, were held at 2:00pm, yesterday, September 7, at Cate-Spencer & Trent Funeral Home Chapel with Johnny Deleon officiating. Burial followed at Roscoe Cemetery with graveside rites by Erik Almonte. She lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on Friday, September 3, in Prosper, Texas. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the early part of 2021 after over a year of searching for a diagnosis.

Ascension was born in Las Canoas, SLP, Mexico, moved to Roscoe in l969 and Sweetwater in 2006. After a ten-day courtship, she married Jose Eli Castillo, her husband of forty-two years. She gained a daughter, Janie, and he gained a daughter, Leonor. They later raised three other daughters, Rebecca, Elizabeth and JoAnna and granddaughter Vickie.

Ascension had a passion for gardening, loved shopping, and had a special talent for cooking. If there was any place she could spend all day, she often said it was the beach, but her heart was fullest being surrounded by family.

Ascension was a selfless mother, grandmother, and friend. She will be missed by her many friends and large extended family. She leaves a great legacy of kindness, generosity, and friendship to all she met.

She is survived by six daughters, Janie Smith and husband Russell of Snyder; Leonor Ortega and husband Robert of Sweetwater; Rebecca Murphy and husband Michael of Frisco; Vickie Simpson and husband Jackie of Weatherford; Elizabeth Taylor and husband Cameron of Prosper; and JoAnna Lee and husband Jared of The Colony, Texas; nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; one brother, Agustin Vitales of Birmingham, Alabama; three sisters, Natividad Rios of Monterrey, NL, Mexico, Eusebia Godines of Tortugas, SLP, Mexico, and Piedad Hernandez of Cardenas, SLP, Mexico; and numerous nieces, and nephews.  

She was preceded in death by her parents, Esteban and Librada Vitales; husband, Jose Eli Castillo; three brothers, and two sisters.

Pallbearers were Robert Ortega, Michael Murphy, Cameron Taylor, Jared Lee, Russell Smith and Richard Tsambikos.

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 † LINDA DARLENE (PIEPER) WRIGHT

On July 22, Linda Darlene Wright, loving mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully in Denton, Texas, at the age of 74.

Darlene was born April 25, 1947, in Sweetwater to Arnold Pieper and Stella Margaret Rogers. She graduated from Roscoe High School in 1965. She married her true love, Truett Dave Wright on December 12, 1964. She moved to the Fort Worth area in 1986 after her husband’s passing and worked for Domino’s National Commissary from 1986 to 1998. Darlene became a Distribution Clerk for the U.S. Post Office and retired from the Roanoke post office in 2009 after ten and a half years.  

Darlene was preceded in death by her mother; Stella Margaret Rogers; father, Arnold Pieper; and her husband, Truett Dave Wright.                     

She is survived by her daughters, Dawn Ide and husband Bill and Darla Yoder and husband, Joe; grandchildren, Matthew Yoder, Ryan Yoder, Brittnee Ide, and Truett Ide;  and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

Darlene loved playing Blackjack and watching the Texas Rangers, and she was proud to be a Roscoe Plowboy!  She was loved dearly and will be missed by all who knew her.

No memorial service has been held and family has requested no flowers, but donations should be made to Diabetes, Heart, or Cancer foundations. White’s Funeral Home, Springtown.

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† KATHRYN E. BAILEY

Kathryn E. Bailey, 78, of Roscoe and Sweetwater, passed away Sunday, September 5, at her residence in Roscoe.

Per her wishes, Kathryn will be cremated with all services directed by McCoy Funeral Home.

Kathryn was born December 10, 1942, in Sweetwater to Jesse Wilson and Ladonna Lillian (Stonelake) Morgan. She had lived in Nolan County since 1942. She married Dud Walter Bailey. She was a member of Faith Harvest Pentecostal Church in Sweetwater and was a homemaker.

She is survived by two daughters, Cindy Bailey of Roscoe, Cynthia Marie Bailey and Gilbert Lopez of Roscoe; two granddaughters, Kelly and Shelly Bailey of Sweetwater; four grandsons, Michael Dwayne Bennett of Roscoe, Kevin Bennett of Roscoe, Scotty Bailey of Sweetwater, and Douglas Wallace of Sweetwater; her brother, Jerry Bailey of Sweetwater; a daughter-in-law, Mary Brumit of Jacksonville, Texas; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband Dud Walter Bailey; two sons, Doug Bailey and Lewis Brumit; a daughter, Kathy Brumit; and her sister, Mary Bailey.

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