Second Time Around
KICKING UP A STORM IN WEST TEXAS
In this 40-mile radius we have two of the state's best (if not the nation) high school kickers. That being Greenwood's Rance Purser and Forsan's Nolan Park.
Both are seniors and both are sons of coaches. Rance is the son of Greenwood head football coach Rusty Purser and Nolan is the son of Forsan assistant football coach Dave Park.
Last week in Greenwood's win over Shallowater, Purser kicked a 61-yard field goal. It was one yard shy of the state high school field goal record of 62 held by three players - Odessa Permian's Russell Wheatley (1975), El Paso Irvin's Ralph Heaton (1992) and Midland High's David Leaverton (1995).
"He's a little bitty kid," said coach Purser of his son. "Last year he stood about 5-foot-7 and weighed 135-pounds. He's been kicking on the varsity since his sophomore year. This past year he worked hard in the weight room and got a lot stronger. He had some wind behind him and I felt like he had a chance to kick it. He's pretty consistent between 50 and 55 yards. " coach Purser added.
The week before in a game against Andrews, Rance kicked a 52-yarder.
Three weeks ago in Forsan's win over Post, senior Nolan Park booted a 54-yarder. It was no fluke. I've personally seen him just miss a field goal that would have been good from 55-yards.
Of his 24 kickoffs this season, 19 have gone for touchbacks. Park also punts and averages more than 40-yards per kick.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder is also an all-state offensive guard. Perhaps Park was meant to be a kicker. He played youth soccer at an early age and a few years later he constructed a field goal post out of PVC pipe and put it in his back yard.
"It changes how we call plays," said Phillips of Park's kicking prowess. If we get inside the 40, we feel we are in scoring position."
BIG SPRING RUNNERS IN STATE RANKINGS
The Big Spring cross country teams continue to show their mettle throughout the state. Not only are the Steers ranked third in the state as a team, they have two runners ranked in the top 50 individually.
Leading the way are seniors Adrian Solis and Isaac Gonzales. In the 5K Solis is ranked 40th (16:26) and Gonzales is 50th (16:39) in Class 4A per TX Milssplit.
On the girls' side, freshman Bergan Pinkley continues to impress. She has a personal best of 21:05 in the 5K and has run season best of 12:37 in the 2 mile race.
This week Big Spring will head north to Denton to compete in the TX Garmin Milesplit meet. The Steers will be off on Oct.1 but will host its Big Spring Invitational Fundraiser at Comanche Trail Park.
HOW BOUT THEM STEERS?
Got to love the diversity of the Steers football team. Coach Cannon has got something brewing. Like the way they spread it around the field.
Last week Gavin Padron completed passes to seven different receivers. The offense is sending them all to the right open spots. They'll throw the ball and they don't mind throwing it from any part of the field.
The Kavien Ford fueled running game helps keep the defense honest.
I'M JUST SAYING
In professional football, I wouldn't mind seeing players not celebrating after every good play, whether it be a good catch, sack for a loss, or an interception.
Does anybody just hand the ball to the official and on to the next play. Too much is too much.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Best comment I've seen all week came from pro-linebacker Micah Parsons after recording two sacks in this past Sunday's game. He deflected praise by saying - "One lion can't do it by himself. You need a pride. If there's 10 hyenas and one lion, the lion is liable to lose."
THOSE DILLINGENT BEARKATS
Talk about taking on the competition. Last week the Garden City Bearkats played the No. 2 May Tigers and lost 63-34 in May.
This week the Bearkats will be on the road again against No. 1 ranked Westbrook. This will be No. 12 ranked Garden City's third consecutive road game, what a schedule!
Garden City head coach Jeff Jones laughed and said "trust me, that's not the schedule I would have liked. We would have played Westbrook anyway. It's a close drive and they have sub-varsity teams which makes it a lot easier and it's always a good clean game between teams that have a lot of respect for each other. Oh well, it'll make us better. We just want to stay healthy through the stretch."
Against May, Garden City faced one of six-man's top quarterbacks in Kress Kenyon who has a terrific arm. This week they'll be facing perhaps the state's top running back in Cedric Ware.
Westbrook hasn't shied away from the competition either. They beat top ranked teams Jonesboro and Rankin in back-to-back weeks, Last week they got a bit of a breather against Spur, a 56-8 mercy rule victory.