Coaches named, coaches leaving

While NISD named two head football coaches this week, Seguin is losing theirs.

Steve McGhee and David Malesky have been named head coaches of Clark and O’Connor, respectively. Both were assistants at those schools.

Meanwhile, Jim Carson of Seguin has announced that he will step down as head football coach and athletic director of Seguin High School at the end of this school year.

Lady Mustangs stampede over Cougars

Jay clinches playoff berth with 61-40 victory over Clark

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

The story of Julissa Garrett joining the Jay basketball program is well known.

Garrett was enrolled in a freshman P.E. class at Jay when she started nailing jumpers during class. After the coaches picked their jaws up off the court, they asked Garrett why she hadn’t tried out for basketball.

So if Garrett were in the marching band, she might never have been on hand to score 22 second half points in Jay’s 61-40 victory over the Clark Cougars Saturday evening at the Paul Taylor Field House.

Jay (25-4, 11-0 in 28-5A), a region finalist last year who only lost one player from that team, proved their versatility after trailing 13-11 through one quarter. Clark didn’t score the first 4:20 of the game, but only trailed 5-0. The Cougars then went on a 13-2 run, thanks to three-pointers from Carolyn Chavara, Taylor Buck, and Vanessa Casanova. Clark led 13-7 with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter.

Unfortunately for them, it appeared all they’d done is make Jay mad.

Clark (18-12, 6-6 in 28-5A) had packed the lane to neutralize Erica Donovan, but the Mustangs adjusted. Jay began working the transition game when they could, and passing the ball around the perimeter in search of an open three when the fast breaks weren’t available. Kiara Taylor hit three treys in the first half, and Jay led 23-19 at intermission, closing the half on a 16-6 run. They did this despite only six points from Donovan and five from Garrett, well below their season averages.

Clark did keep Donovan under her scoring average. She finished with ten points, struggling with her shot most of the evening. Halfway through the second quarter, she stole the ball, drove for a layup, and missed – but got her own rebound and then scored. Then she did the same thing one minute into the third.

The rest of the third quarter belonged to Garrett. She poured in 14 points, including four threes. Dee Evans, Destiny Amezquita, and Donovan each provided assists on a Garrett third-quarter three pointer. Garrett and Taylor each scored five three-pointers, and the Lady Mustangs ended up winning going away.

In the playoff race, Clark fell one game behind Stevens for fourth place in the district. Clark has games remaining against O’Connor, Warren, Taft, and Holmes; Stevens must face Brandeis, Marshall, Jay, and O’Connor.

Although their ambitions are clearly much higher than this, Jay did clinch a playoff berth with the victory. Jay can win the district with three wins in their last five games, and their next three games are against Taft, Holmes, and Brandeis, who’ve combined for six district wins. Taft and Brandeis have split with each other and swept Holmes to account for those six victories.

Quarters
JAY 11 12 21 17 - 61
CLARK 13 6 13 8 - 40

JAY SCORING: Julissa Garrett 27, Kiara Taylor 18, Erica Donovan 10, Vanessa Orr 4, Destiny Amezquita 2, Aleeya Harris, Kim Diaz, Kori Pichon, Dee Evans

CLARK SCORING: Carolyn Chavara 13, Taylor Buck 8, Hannah Gulley 7, Kristen Lye 6, Vanessa Casanova 4, Melanie Schwartz 2, Samantha Biemer, Chloe Rhodes, Courtney Rhodes

Govan, Falcons soar

Stevens guard scores 15 in second half of 43-35 victory over Clark

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Given that Stevens led 15-1 after the first quarter, they probably weren’t pleased to be clinging to a 37-35 lead over Clark with 1:39 left in the game.

But Alexis Govan made all six of her free throw attempts down the stretch, producing the last six points of a 43-35 victory over the Clark Cougars Saturday evening at the Paul Taylor Field House.

Stevens (18-10, 5-5 in 28-5A) narrowed the gap in the standings between themselves and fourth-place Clark to one game with the victory. The Cougars are now one game behind second-place teams Marshall and O’Connor and one game ahead of fifth-place teams Stevens and Warren. Clark won their first district game with Stevens 51-39 on December 11th.

For a while, it looked like Stevens might embarrass Clark. The Falcons started the game with a three-point play by Jennifer Forge and a three-point basket from Alyssa Crockett. After Hannah Gulley made her second free throw attempt for Clark’s only first-quarter point, Stevens closed the quarter with a 9-0 run, giving Stevens their 15-1 lead.

Stevens built the lead as high as 19-3 before Clark was able to whittle away at the deficit. Clark (18-10, 6-4 in 28-5A) was within ten before Forge’s free throws sent the teams to the locker with Stevens leading 23-11. Then the Lady Cougars outscored Stevens 13-7 in the third. Even though no Clark player had scored more than four points in the first three quarters, they’d narrowed the deficit to 30-24.

Now that Clark had made it interesting, Stevens began to use a full-court press. When Clark coach David Creekmore called timeout with 4:08 left in the fourth, trailing 37-29, it looked as though he was just trying to avoid a 5-second violation on his team. Then came a 6-0 Clark run, featuring five points from Courtney Rhodes, and suddenly it was a 37-35 ballgame with 1:39 remaining.

Although they had opportunities, Clark could not get closer. A loose ball foul on an offensive rebound attempt by Taylor Buck, a steal by Crocket, and a moving screen by Hannah Gulley all thwarted Clark opportunities late. And when they had to foul, Alexis Govan had the basketball.

Govan attempted ten free throws, all in the fourth quarter. She missed the first, but made the last nine. She scored 11 of Stevens’ 13 fourth quarter points.

Quarters
STEVENS 15 8 7 13 - 43
CLARK 1 10 13 11 - 35

STEVENS SCORING: Alexis Govan 17, Jennifer Forge 9, Alyssa Crockett 7, Nicole Salazar 6, Kayla Robinson 2, Jessica Sanchez 2, Adrienne Myers, Michelle Moore

CLARK SCORING: Courtney Rhodes 11, Carolyn Chavara 7, Hannah Gulley 5, Melanie Schwartz 5, Vanessa Casanova 4, Chloe Rhodes 3, Kristen Lye, Taylor Buck, Samantha Biemer

Clark completes undefeated first round of district

Cougars land 71-64 victory over Stevens

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Jason Brickman poured in a career-high 27 points in helping Clark hold onto first place in 28-5A with a 71-64 victory over the Stevens Falcons Friday night.

Brickman kept his team in the ballgame at the beginning, then led the Cougars to a dominant third quarter on their way to their first win ever over Stevens in boys basketball.

Stevens took a brief 4-2 lead before Clark (21-5, 8-0 in 28-5A) went on an 11-0 run. Manny Paz y Puente began the run with a three-pointer, and Brickman took care of the other eight points.

Late in the quarter, Stevens went on a 9-0 which extended into the second, taking a 23-22 lead in the process. Then Brickman knocked down a trey and a deuce, and Clark was off on an 8-0 run.

The Falcons clawed their way back into the ballgame, closing within two early in third, then within three at 43-40 late in the third. The Cougars responded by closing out the quarter with a 12-0 run, featuring five points each from Brickman and Sam Perez. From that point on, Stevens came no closer than seven.

Stevens did offer a glimpse into the future of San Antonio basketball with a breakout performance by Uche Ofoegbu. Ofoegbu, whose older brother played for Taft and two older sisters played for Warren – the family lived in the same house the entire time but the school boundaries changed – contributed a career-high 23 points. Ofoegbu displayed the ability to go from anywhere on the court to anywhere on the court to get his shot, scoring 15 of his points in the second half. “He reached the point to where we couldn’t stop him,” admitted Clark coach Steve Sylestine.

Stevens (12-12, 6-2 in 28-5A), the defending district champions, is a team that lost much talent and leadership to graduation. The Falcons struggled through non-district at 6-10 before coming alive in 28-5A play. Of Stevens’ 12 losses, 6 were by 3 points or fewer.

Stevens falls two games behind Clark in the district title race. The Falcons will be tied for second with Taft should the Raiders defeat Brandeis Saturday.

Stevens began the scoring with a basket from Griffin. The next play, a pass went out of bounds, deflected after it was out of play by the broadcaster for the Texas Sports Radio Network.

Sylestine, who took over as the Clark coach after Kevin Hamilton accepted a position at the Northside ISD Athletic office, founded the Stevens girls basketball program. During his four years at Stevens, he shared a desk with Stevens boys coach John Hirst.

Quarters
STEVENS 19 15 6 24 - 64
CLARK 22 16 17 16 - 71

STEVENS SCORING: Uche Ofoegbu 23, Lee Griffin 16, Mark Cravens 9, Christian Davis 6, Marcus Roper 4, Joe Monroe 4, Trevor Doyle 2, Octavius Steed, Alex Galvan, Christian Torres, Javon Joseph

CLARK SCORING: Jason Brickman 27, Ansley Benjamin 12, Sam Perez 11, Elhad Emerllahu 10, Manny Paz y Puente 6, Jacob Palacios 5, Jake Chapman, Kyle Rutledge

Clark stuns O’Connor in double overtime

Trailing by 10 with 1:46 left, Cougars rally to victory

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Jason Brickman scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and Sam Perez added nine in the overtime periods as the Clark Cougars rallied to take a 76-72 victory Tuesday afternoon at the Paul Taylor Field House.

Clark (16-5, 3-0 in 28-5A) closed regulation with a 10-0 run, with Brickman provided five of the points. Brickman’s two free throws with 43 seconds left sent the game to overtime.

Sam Perez, who scored only two points in regulation, hit his second three in overtime to put Clark ahead 69-66, but with a minute left in the first overtime, Brickman missed two free throws which could have extended the lead. Adrian Lozano, who kept O’Connor in the ball game with 11 first half points, missed two free throws which could have closed the gap, but Nathaniel Sisk made a pair to close the Panthers with 69-68. Sam Perez’s brother Adam made one of two free throws to put Clark ahead 70-68, but Troy Massie made a late bucket to the game at 70 and send it to a second overtime.

Sam Perez’s third trey in overtime gave Clark the lead for good with about 3 minutes left in the second overtime. Sisk scored to bring O’Connor with 73-72, but Adam Perez made three of four free throws to provide the final cushion. Raymond Hawkins, who replaced Ansley Benjamin when the latter fouled out, got a critical rebound to protect Clark’s lead.

Clark led 19-14 after one quarter, thanks largely to Jacob Palacios’s ten points. But then Clark’s shooting cooled down, and O’Connor’s passing game heated up. Three treys from Sisk helped O’Connor pull within 33-30 at the half, and O’Connor took the lead in the third on a basket by Massey at 39-38. O’Connor led 45-39 after three, and continued building their lead until Clark’s stunning rally.

The victory keeps Clark undefeated in district along with Stevens. O’Connor (9-8, 1-1 in 28-5A) falls into a three-way tie in the loss column for third with Taft and Warren.

O’CONNOR SCORING: Nathaniel Sisk 19, Kurt Russell 19, Troy Massie 13, Adrian Lozano 12, Michael Adenian 5, Jonathan Azzinaro 2, Jarrin Johnson 2, Jordan Kouremetis, Kevin Washington, Andre Pimental

CLARK SCORING: Jason Brickman 22, Elhad Emerllahu 12, Ansley Benjamin 12, Jacob Palacios 12, Sam Perez 11, Adam Perez 7, Manny Paz y Puente, Raymond Hawkins, Jake Chapman, Kyle Rutledge

Clark giftwraps game

Six turnovers cost Clark in 37-20 loss to Westlake

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Once is an accident, twice is a trend.

Last week, Harlingen outgained Westlake by 113 yards, but the Chaparrals capitalized on six Cardinal turnovers, scoring a defensive touchdown and a special teams touchdown on their way to a 42-13 victory.

This week, Clark outgained Westlake by 97 yards, but the Chaparrals capitalized on six Cougar turnovers, scoring two defensive touchdowns on their way to a 37-20 victory Saturday afternoon at Heroes Stadium.

The turnovers led to 23 Westlake points, and helped create a bizarre second quarter where Westlake ran only two plays from scrimmage, got no first downs – and outscored Clark 13-12.

Westlake (12-2) built the lead to 17-0 in the first quarter when Brice Dolezal went in motion from the left slot to five yards behind shotgun quarterback Tanner Price, took a pitch, then raced along the right sideline for a 60 yard touchdown with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.

Then Clark (13-1) began a vintage drive – or so it seemed for a long time. Starting from their own 29, they drove 13 plays – all runs - to the Westlake 12 over 6:39 of time of possession. But with 3rd and 4 at the Chaparrel 12, Hayden Greenbauer pitched the ball behind Ryan Jones. Jones stretched backwards for the ball but fell, unable to control it. Westlake linebacker Ellis Glaw – executing the scoop drill to perfection – recovered the fumble and ran untouched 80 yards for a touchdown, extending Westlake’s lead to 24-0.

Clark got the ball back at their own 18 and ran on four more plays for 20 yards. But faced with a 3rd and 1, Clark went to the air, and Greenbauer was intercepted by Campbell McCrea; McCrea returned the ball along the right sideline 40 yards for another defensive touchdown. The extra point was wide left, but Westlake had built their led to 30-0, and still hadn’t run a play in the second quarter.

Of course, Clark still got the ball back, and drove from their 19 to the Westlake 40 before getting wide and crazy. With 3rd and 10, Clark set up a swinging gate to the left side, with three blockers stationed in front of Greenbauer and Daniel Durke taking over at quarterback. With the defense focused on where Greenbauer was, Durke threw over the middle to Joey Cammer for 25 yards. The next play, Clark used the same formation again, and this time Durke did throw to Greenbauer, who evaded defenders on his way to a 15 yards touchdown reception – his first reception in over two years. Clark went for two and failed, and thus trailed 30-6.

But the Cougars weren’t ready to give up the ball, so they tried an onside kick, and Jacob Garcia recovered at the Westlake 41. Once again they went to the swinging gate, and this time Durke threw an overhand lateral to Greenbauer, allowing Greenbauer to throw deep for Cammer for 30 yards. Three plays later, Greenbauer, back at quarterback, took it himself for an 11-yard score. Clark again went for two and failed, and now trailed 30-12 with 1:07 left in the half.

From here, it looked like Westlake might actually run some plays and drain the clock. But on their second place, Westlake fumbled, and Clark’s Tim Sanchez recovered at the Westlake 27. Clark had a chance to pull within two possessions; however, the Cougars was out of time outs, and on the last play of the half, Greenbauer was intercepted in the end zone by McCrea, Clark’s fifth turnover of the first half.

The Clark Cougars had no margin left for error, but on the sixth play of the opening drive of the second half, Greenbauer was intercepted by James Robison. Nine plays later, Westlake cemented the game with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Price to Collin Shaw; Cody Rademacher’s extra point made it 37-12 with 5:15 left in the third quarter.

Westlake only ran 9 more plays from scrimmage the rest of the game, but Clark, for all their ball control expertise, managed no plays bigger than 17 yards and were helpless to catch up. A consolation touchdown pass from Greenbauer to Jacob Garcia, plus a two-point conversion pass from Greenbauer to Ryan Jones, produced the final margin.

Football Playoffs: Clark vs. Del Rio - In Pictures

Photos by Antonio Morano
SAsports.com Senior Photographer
www.moranomemories.photoreflect.com
amorano@satx.rr.com

It had been a a few years since Clark and Del Rio had played - both were district rivals for many years. And this is the furthest Del Rio had ever advanced in the football playoffs.

The Cougars dominated what is a vastly improved Del Rio program, defeating the Rams 35-14 Friday night at the Alamodome.

Clark now moves on to the Regional finals in 5A Division I, where they will take on Austin Westlake.

More pictures are available for viewing:
www.moranomemories.photoreflect.com
amorano@satx.rr.com

Clark mows over Wagner

Cougars limit Wagner to 19 yards rushing in 17-10 victory

by Mark Kusenberger
SAsports.com Senior Writer

Coming off a state semifinalist season, the 2009 Clark Cougars plowed through their regular season undefeated.

In 2008, the Cougars used a powerful offensive line to pummel defenses into submission while depriving playmakers of their opponent’s offenses of precious opportunities.

The question was: can the 2009 team do the same thing?

If Clark’s 17-10 victory over Wagner Friday night at Farris Stadium is any indication, the answer is: you better believe it.

Hayden Greenbauer led a ball-control offense that was phenomenal even by Clark’s standards. Clark (11-0) won the time of possession battle 36:15 to 11:45; Greenbauer had nearly as many rushing attempts (34) as Wagner had plays from scrimmage (36.)

Wagner (8-3) figured to get the ball to David Glasco early and often; Glasco has four games this season with 26 or more carries. But Wagner, with a solid but smallish offensive line, could not come close to getting the running game untracked. The Thunderbirds ran the ball 17 times for 19 yards.

Glasco came into the game as the leading rusher in the city; with 1889 yards for the season, he figured to approach or surpass 2000 for the season Friday night. He didn’t even make it to 1900. Clark, with a defense led by Glenn Bonner, Ethan Price, and Joey Cammer that inspires you to look for stronger words than “swarming” or “stifling” limited Glasco to nine yards on twelve carries.

Clark made a break early when a short opening kickoff was returned by Jacob Garrison, then stolen from his hands by Daniel Durke. Clark drove 10 plays – all runs – in 5:19 and took a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard Greenbauer touchdown and a Webb Williams conversion kick.

Wagner managed one first down, but had to punt, or at least try. A jailbreak rush allowed Bonner to block the punt, setting up Clark for a 10 play drive – all runs – in 5:25 and took a 14-0 lead on a 5-yard Greenbauer touchdown and a Webb Williams conversion kick.

Wagner did show their big play capability on a 56 screen pass touchdown from Seth Pierce to DeAnthony Wright; Juan Alvarado’s conversion made in 14-7 Clark, but also meant Wagner would kick off to Clark. Clark drove 11 plays – the 11th was the first pass of the game for Clark; it fell incomplete – in 6:31 and took a 17-7 lead on a 30 yard field goal by Williams.

Wagner got within one possession on an 8-play, 33 yard drive. Passes from Pierce to Kali Rashaad acconted for 36 of the yards (Wagner lost 3 yards the rest of the drive), and a 35 yard field goal by Alvarado drew Wagner within 17-10 at the half.

Wagner did finally force a punt on Clark’s opening possession, but went 3-and-out as three Glasco runs yielded only four yards. The teams exchanged punts again, with Wagner’s coming on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Fifteen plays and 9:30 later, Wagner finally got the ball back. Clark converted three fourth-downs during their drive, and was on their way to a fourth chance when Greenbauer fumbled at the Wagner 9 after gaining 10 yards on a 3rd-and-13 play.

The 13th play of the drive was a peculiar as they get. On fourth-down and one, Greenbauer was running an option to the left when the defense converged on him. He pitched the ball – forward – to Tevin Glasgow, and Glasgow got the first down by the a football length and a half. Since Greenbauer was behind the line when the released the ball, it was a forward pass, only Greenbauer’s third of the game. A chop block penalty was initially called, but was waved off by the officials, allowing the play to stand.

Make no mistake: Wagner played great defense. Clark ran 61 plays but only managed 228 yards, averaging 3.7 per play. But Wagner couldn’t get a takeaway until late, and even that was deep in the own territory with 2:19 remaining. The play ended Clark’s 15-play drive and gave Wagner the ball at their own nine. In ten plays, Wagner advanced to their 35, where they stalled on four straight incompletions from Pierce. Pierce threw seven incompletions on the drive, with the yards coming on a 15 yard reception by Ben Thomas, a two-yard run by Pierce, and a nine-yard run by Rashaad.

Clark will face Austin Bowie in the second round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs, with early reports indicating the game will be Friday, November 20th at the Alamodome.

Football: Clark vs. Taft - In Pictures

Photos by Jaime Rivera
SAsports.com Photographer
www.JRSportsPhotography.com
jr@jrsportsphotography.com

More pictures are available for viewing:
www.JRSportsPhotography.com
jr@jrsportsphotography.com

District 28-5A Team Tennis Meet Results

Play-In Matches

Holmes defeated Stevens 10-0
Taft defeated Jay 10-5

First Round

#1 Seed Clark defeated Holmes 10-0
#5 Seed Brandeis defeated #4 Seed O’Connor 10-9
#3 Seed Marshall defeated Warren 10-3
#2 Seed Health Careers defeated Taft 10-2

Semi-Finals

Clark defeated Brandeis 10-1
Health Careers defeated Marshall 10-3

Finals

Clark defeated Health Careers 10-5

Clark and Health Careers advance to the Regional Tennis Tournament (October 30th/31st) in Corpus Christi.

3rd Place Match

Marshall defeated Brandeis 10-5