SPORTS
Nocona names Weaver new athletic director
Nocona has found its man as they officially announced Monday morning at a special board meeting they will hire Rick Weaver to be the new athletic director and head football coach of the Indians.
Nocona started with a reported 160 applicants since the job was put up back in December when Brad Keck announced he was moving to an administration job. Weaver’s familiarity with the area, as well as his desire to raise his family in a small town proved to be the tipping point for the Nocona Superintendent David Waters.
“He’s been an offensive coordinator and he’s been in the area with Iowa Park and Weatherford,” Waters said. “He grew up in small towns. He was looking for a place like Nocona. When we looked at his coaching style, and when we met him and his wife and their personalities, we thought it was a great fit.”
Weaver has been an offensive coordinator in recent years at Iowa Park for three seasons and at Weatherford the last two. He spent three years at Iowa Park under Aubrey Sims and the last two under Billy Mathis at Weatherford so he hopes his time working under those two will help him as he steps into his first head coach and athletic director role.
Weaver says his offensive philosophy and style will be flexible enough to suit his personnel’s strengths and minimize their weaknesses in terms of scheme.
Besides success on the football field, Weaver also looks forward to, and recognizes his job as the athletic director, to see success in all athletic fields both on and off the field/court.
Weaver’s main motivation in applying for a job in a small town was for his three young children to grow up in that type of school district.
“Getting them back in a small school atmosphere I thought they could thrive in,” Weaver said. “Give them the opportunity to do everything whether it be UIL, ag., or every sport they want to play.”
Weaver grew up and graduated from Godley, which was a smaller school district in 1998, from Tarleton State University in 2003 and has spent time at Grandview for eight year, Snyder for two years before moving on to his last two stops.
Weaver is married to Betsy who teaches elementary school in the Weatherford district. Together they have a daughter in seventh grade, a daughter in fourth grade and a son who is three.
The plan is for Weaver to come up a couple of times a week until Feb. 18, when he starts working at Nocona full time.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
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