SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: James takes the reigns in Nocona
By ERIC VICCARO
bnewssports@gmail.com
The 2015 high school football season will be upon on us Thursday when Gold-Burg travels to rural Vernon for a game against Northside.
The following night the slate features these regional games: Alvord at Nocona, Harrold at Saint Jo and Tioga at Forestburg.
All games will take place at 7:30 p.m., with Nocona’s game at Jack Crain Stadium, Saint Jo plays at Harley Sewell Field and Forestburg is home at Longhorn Stadium.
Alvord will be a challenge for Nocona. The Bulldogs feature dangerous wide receiver Jaylon White and they also run the ball well.
“They are a power running team,” Nocona head coach Brad Keck said. “They will run power I-formation, some shotgun, some three-back to no-back looks.”
Nocona’s 4-3 defense will be pressed to keep the Bulldogs under wraps. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine has picked Alvord to finish second in District 5-2A-I.
The Indians had all sorts of trouble last year as their lone score came on special teams and Alvord outgained Nocona 329-167, nearly double the output, as the Bulldogs triumphed 38-8.
But, Keck is optimistic.
“I think it’s going to come down to execution,” he said. “We made too many mistakes last year, and we had a lot of first-year players. We have to be able to execute on offense, and the defense needs to settle down.”
Nocona made some changes in the offseason to get better. Keck hired Bryce Reed as the offensive coordinator and sophomore Jeremy James will make his first start at quarterback. Plus, Emmanuel Gayton will be the featured running back from the start of the season. Read more football previews in the mid-week Bowie News.
Emmanuel Gayton rushes past an Eastland defender during a 2014 season game at Jack Crain Stadium in Nocona. (News file photo by Eric Viccaro)
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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