Thursday, September 26, 2024
Fall-sport news
Cross Country: The district meet inches closer and closer for GHS, which has an appearance at Marble Falls next week before hosting the District 23-4A meet here Oct. 7. Vania Martinez has scurried to 1st, 2nd, and 5th place individual finishes, and teammate Riley Higginbotham has been right there with her. The Hornet boys have finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th at meets so far this season, and they’ve had five different runners produce Top 15 finishes. They are running as a hive most meets.
Football: Varsity will travel to Burnet next week for its final non-district test. After that, the Hornets are off Oct. 4, then begin navigating the treacherous waters of District 12-4A on Oct. 11 versus La Vega. How tough is 12-4A? La Vega is one of three 12-4A member schools that have won state titles in the past five seasons, with China Spring and Lorena being the other two. GHS had shown its grit in matchups with formidable foes the last few seasons…and don’t expect them to back down from anyone.
Team Tennis: GHS can secure another fall postseason berth with a win over Brownwood here Tuesday. Although they perform well in doubles matches, singles’ play has been a key weapon for the Hornets so far this season.
Volleyball: Hornet spikers had quite the weekend some days ago. After the high school teams swept Waco High on a Friday, the six sub-varsity teams went 10-4 in tournaments the following day and won two tourney championships and a pair of consolation titles.
Notes and dotes
…GHS Football varsity rushers were averaging a whopping 8.3 yards per rush heading into Friday’s game. Sometimes feels like I could drive my Chevy through some of those gaping holes.
…There are now at least four more GHS senior athletes that could/will be making verbal commitments during the current school year. This may turn out to be the biggest haul of collegiate signees ever. Really excited for these kids and their families.
Thompson, ’74 Bears honored
Baylor University honored its 1974 Southwest Conference football champions at halftime of the Bears’ Sept. 14 game vs. Air Force.
GHS-ex Ricky Thompson was among the more than 60-plus ex-players that were able to attend the ceremony. The 1974 season was quite a memorable one for BU, which won its first undisputed conference title in 50 years. A key piece of that was an unforgettable 34-24 come-from-behind win over the Texas Longhorns in a game later dubbed the “Miracle on the Brazos”. Trust me, it is not memorable for Longhorn fans like myself.
I asked Ricky T, as he is known by many, to jot down some of his more memorable moments from that 1974 season:
“I could probably list 100 different things about ’74 but will make it brief.
…The easy moment/memory would be the Texas game Nov. 9, 1974. At the time, Baylor had lost to them 17 years in a row and, although we moved the ball well, we were down 24-7 at halftime. We dominated second half 27-0 and won 34-24. I had a 54-yard TD catch and run in third quarter. I remember that fans stayed in the stands long after the game was over, and we didn’t leave the field as quickly as we normally would. Texas coach Darrell Royal came into our locker room after game to congratulate us and told us to go win it all. The scoreboard lights were left on all night, and several administrators spent the night at the stadium.
…First conference game was in Fayetteville against Arkansas. We drove for the winning touchdown with a minute to go and won on the road 21-17. We actually had to score the winning touchdown twice - officials called the first one back for phantom holding call. When we were about to land in Waco the pilot came over the intercom and told us they had never seen anything like it but over 2,000 people were at the airport to meet us. They had to circle a couple of times to figure out with the airport personnel how to get us through the terminal with the crowd.
…The team spent the Friday after Thanksgiving at Lettermen’s Lounge watching the Texas vs. A&M game. Texas won 32-3 and that guaranteed us the Cotton Bowl. Coach Royal told us he would take care of A&M and he did. We played Rice the next day and needed to win that game for the outright SWC Championship. No way we were going to lose that one after a season of big wins. Won 24-3. After the game, when we headed to the locker room, someone had covered the floor of the tunnel with cotton bolls.
…Cotton Bowl! Had a huge Baylor crowd at that game and set a record for home-team ticket sales at the time. Freezing cold that day, Jan. 1, 1975. Lost to Penn State. Fortunate to have two TD receptions.”
Thompson, who later played in the NFL with Baltimore, Washington, and St. Louis has been a sideline reporter for the Baylor Radio Network covering Bears’ football for several years now.
Upcoming schedule
Monday, Sept. 23
Volleyball: 7th-8th A-B here vs. La Vega
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Tennis: Varsity here vs. Brownwood
Volleyball: 9th-JV-BVarsity here vs. Jarrell
Thursday, Sept. 26
Cross Country: 7th-8th at Moody meet
Football: JV White-JV Gold-JV Black here vs. Burnet
Football: 7th-8th A-B at Burnet
Tennis: JV at Brownwood
Friday, Sept. 27
Football: Varsity at Burnet
Volleyball: Varsity-JV-9th at Waco Connally
Saturday, Sept. 28
Cross Country: Varsity-JV at Marble Falls meet
Volleyball: 7th-8th A-B at West tournament
Hornet Fight Never Dies!
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