Expanding Culture - Campuses - Katy ISD

page 6 - Sports
Can you dig it
Katie Macneil
‘11
Each year the Lady Mustangs
suit up in their spandex
and knee pads for an
intense, unexpected season.
Coach Plemons, the head varsity
coach, has been coaching
for 12 years. She also played
at Texas A&M as a Middle
Blocker and Right Side
Hitter. Plemons has said
that the girls are consistent
in every match.
They step on the floor
and are ready to play
for the first point of the
match.
Junior Claire Martin has
said of practices that
they are hard working,
sweaty and teary hours.
Junior Sarah Carithers
is a setter on the team
and she has been playing
since 6 th grade and is
enjoying this season very
much. Outside hitter,
Lindsey Fenati, has been
playing since 5 th grade
and now that she is graduating
this May she is
thinking about playing at
Carnegie Mellon or MIT.
Good Luck Linds hope
all goes well! Middle Blocker
Amanda Patteson, has been
playing volleyball for six years
and she doesn’t want to play
in college.
Winning streak falls flat
Asad Qureshi
‘10
The Mustangs came
into the season opener at
Berry Stadium against the Cy
Springs Panthers with high
expectations, going 3 rounds
deep in the playoffs the previous
year before their season
ending loss to Pearland.
Taylor came out firing on
their first drive of the game
finding the end zone with
a 53 yard pass from senior
quarterback
Lee
Rodgers
to fellow
s e n i o r
wide rec
e i v e r
T a y l o r
Rathgerber
to
put the
mustangs
up 7-0.
R o d g -
ers had a
big game
throwing
4 touchdowns
for 238 yards and ran
for 127 yards. Early in the
second 2 nd quarter, junior
running back Bright Ashaka
took a Rodgers screen pass
47 yards to the end zone for
mustangs. Rodgers would also
find senior tight end Trent
Guiberteau for a touchdown
to put the mustangs up 21-0
at halftime.
Another setter on the team
is Callie Lazarine and she has
been playing volleyball for
eight years. Defensive Specialist,
Kelly Best hopes to
play co-ed intramurals in college.
The team is preparing for
district right now so practices
are very rigorous.
On Friday the Lady Mustangs
went up against the
Katy Tigers and they defeated
them in four games. The
Mustangs will be playing the
Morton Ranch Mavericks
tomorrow at Taylor High
School at 6:00. The team’s
record right now is 20-13.
As for the district record the
Lady Mustangs are tied for 2 nd
place and if they beat Seven
After driving up the
field early in the 3 rd quarter,
Cy Springs marched into Taylor
territory on the 20 yard
line but was sacked by junior
linebacker Damian Barletta
on 3 rd down. After Cy Springs
quarterback Hunter Arter
threw an incompletion on 4 th
and 16, the mustang offense
came back onto the field and
two plays later Lee Rodgers
scrambled 71 yards for a
touchdown. Cy Spring came
back on to the field looking
to rebound but a pair of
false starts, and an interception
by Zack Wright gave the
mustangs the ball back on the
35 yard line. Also in the 3 rd
quarter, Lee Rogers found receiver
Josh Thompson open
for a 37 yard touchdown and
later took a quarterback keeper
from 5 yards out to give
Taylor a 41-0 lead. The Taylor
defense manhandled the
Cy Springs offense forcing 5
false starts, 2 forced fumbles,
4 turnovers on downs, 2 sacks
and left them scoreless till
two late touchdowns by Cy
Springs ended the shutout.
The first Touchdown came
on a 2 yard rush by running
back Sisco McClain and the
second coming on a 20 yard
catch by receiver Devon
Richards from Hunter Arter.
(Arter finished the game
with 240 yards passing and
45 yards on the ground to
go along with an interception
and 1 touchdown).
Taylor vs. Terry
Taylor continued their dominance
against Terry high
school, beating Terry 21-6.
Despite multiple turnovers,
Lakes they will have the 2 nd
place spot all to themselves.
On Tuesday night the Mustangs
will be playing Cinco
Ranch for the second time
and this will decide the 1 st
place spot for right now.
Last night the girls played
Cinco Ranch and as Coach
Plemons said,”
we played our
hearts out, and
even though
the scoreboard
showed we
lost, we won
in my eyes.”
The game kept
the crowd on
their toes and
the unexpected
happened. Taylor
won the first
two games, but
the Mustangs
could not seem
to pull it together
to win
the last game.
Unfortunately
Cinco won the
next two games,
causing the
match to go to
five games. Taylor
was up 11-6 and the Cougars
managed to gain points
on us. It was a heartbreaking
loss, but in the end the girls
played their best and Coach
Plemon’s words prove it.
Taylor controlled the game
with a strong running attack
by Bright Ashaka who rushed
for 176 and 2 touchdowns.
The Taylor defense dominated
the Terry offense, only
allowing 180 yards of total
offense and a blocked extra
point that was recovered by
Nico Carlson. Josh Thompson
also had a big game with
5 catches for 155 yards and
a wide open 80 yard touchdown
on the second play of
t h e
game.
Taylor vs. Lamar
after falling flat to Taylor’s
4 th quarter heroics last year
in the playoffs, Lamar came
into Delmar stadium looking
for payback. The Redskins
running game led by senior
running back Patrick Andrews
was too much for the
mustang’s defense. Andrews
ran for 156 yards and a touchdown
and junior quarterback
Bram Kohlhausen threw for
122 yards and 2 touchdowns
as Lamar wins big 28-0.
Putt-putt goes pro
Lela Howard
‘12
America seems to like slowpaced
sports. Sunday afternoons
were made for watching
golf on TV while taking
a nap. Golf is definitely one
of Taylor High’s popular
sports. After tryouts, students
are placed onto the boys or
girls Varsity or Junior Varsity
teams. JV practices before
school twice a week and during
first period, and Varsity
girls and boys practice seventh
period every day except
Fridays.
to practice. I carpool or my
mom drives me to golf early
in the morning to play with
my team.” Chris is on the
JV boy’s team. “I like playing
golf because it’s a fun sport
and you can play it for the rest
of your life without having to
go pro.”
Taylor Mackay is a freshman
boy who plays for Varsity.
Chris and Taylor met in first
grade with the same passion
and have been best friends
ever since. They agree, “It is
fun to hang out and get to
know people in the classroom
as well as out practicing.”
Freshman Chris Nicknish
explains,” We use the course
at Willow Fork Country Club
11
across from McMeans Junior
High unless the coaches
th grade Varsity player,
Trevor Kelley comments,” It
will be interesting this year
find somewhere else for us
Serving it up
Ashley Waronoff
Dillon Piper
‘10
For more than three decades,
Taylor Tennis has
taken the reins on the tennis
court, but it’s no surprise that
the talent it supplies comes
from the team members
themselves and their coaches,
Coach Kniffen and Coach
McDougall.
Teammates
have played Tennis
for as long as
eight years, and
they put all of
their effort into
what the love to
do.
It’s not just
about the competitions
that
make Taylor
Tennis exciting.
Stephanie Williamson,
senior,
said, “Everything is fun with
our team. [We] never have a
dull moment.”
Paul Lee, senior, also said “[I
enjoy] meeting new friends
and people.” The tennis team
sees both familiar and new
faces at their many tournaments
that they participate in
every season.
Crystal Lueng, junior, likes
tennis for a different reason.
“It’s a great stress reliever
from school and the high
school environment is very
fun but still competitive.”
Linh Nguyen, senior, likes
tennis all around. “All team
experiences are awesome!”
she said.
Every teammate wants to
go to state this season. Lueng
said, “[I want to] win as
many matches as possible”
and Nguyen wants to “keep
playing 100%”. Annat Rabinovich,
junior, has played tennis
for eight years and hopes
to make it to state again this
year. As one of her experiences,
she said, “[I enjoyed]
getting to state with Crystal
Lueng.”
because we just lost our two
good seniors who graduated
last year and we need people
to step up. It will also be competitive
between people for
the top five spots. The Varsity
A team is considered THS
golf ’s top 5.” Trevor was on
varsity as a freshman as well.
“We as a boys and girls golf
team are expecting to have a
good season this year.”
Golf season is in the spring,
but they still play against the
other schools for district this
semester. Not everyone plays
at the same time; the first
tournament is on October
10-11 with Boys Varsity A
competing at the Woodlands.
What do they want to do
later in life? “I’d like to continue
tennis as a hobby and
in college intramurals”, said
Nguyen. Williamson wishes
to continue tennis throughout
her life as well. She said,”
[I’d like to play] in college,
but I plan on keeping tennis
up for the rest of my life, or
as long as I
can.” Lueng
also
wants to
play in college.
“I’m
l o o k i n g
f o r w a r d
to playing
D1 college
tennis but
not pro.
Tennis is
something
I would
like to
keep for
the rest of my life.” Rabinovich
said, “I really want to
play for University of Texas.
That’s my top goal.”
Taylor High School is well
known for its Tennis team,
and it’s no surprise why
they’ve become so good over
the years. When you can, go
to a Tennis competition to
see what the team is about.
Cont. on page 7
Mustangs take home a win
Asad Qureshi
‘10
After a disappointing loss to
Lamar, Taylor came home to
Rhodes looking to rebound
by putting a beat down on
Baytown Lee 52-13. Taylor’s
dynamic offense ran all over
the Ganders defense, racking
up 445 yards
of total offense
led by Lee Rodgers
and running
back Bright
Ashaka.
Ashaka had a
big game, rushing
for 128 yards
and a 31 yard
touchdown run
in the 1rst quarter
that put Taylor
up 10-0. In
the second quarter
Lee Rodgers scrambled in
to the end zone from 16 yards
out for a touchdown. Rodgers
finished the game with 196
yards passing and hooked up
with receiver Josh Thompson
for 52 yards for a score. But
Taylors running attack led by
Rodgers and Ashaka ran for
a combined 220 yards and 3
touchdowns that crushed the
Ganders defense all game.
The Ganders offense only
scored twice, once on a 12
yard touchdown pass from
quarterback Malcolm Rueben
to receiver Jaevon Richardson
early in the 2 nd quarter and
again before halftime with
an 11yard touchdown pass
from Rueben to wide receiver
Christian Gutierrez to make
the score 29-13 at halftime .
The Mustangs defense once
again showed their toughness,
not allowing a touchdown in
the second half and forcing
6 turnovers (2 interceptions
and 4 forced fumbles). Taylor
used their stifling defense
to convert turnovers into
touchdowns, in the second
quarter Baytown Lee receiver
Jaevon Richardson fumbled
the ball and was recovered
by junior defensive
back Carson
Brickey who
returned it for a
touchdown. In
the 3rd quarter
junior defensive
back Ryan Sartory
picked off
a Malcolm Rueben
pass and ran
it back 53 yards
for a touchdown.
Taylor
also added a 34
yard field goal
late in the fourth quarter to
finish the game 52-13.