SPORTS

Cowboys have me hopeful

Published

4 years ago

07/24/2021

With NFL training camp started this week for the Dallas Cowboys, my season long journey of building up cautious optimism all the way up until the first game and seeing what the team actually looks like begins now.
I never want to be too enthusiastic because I have learned that only brings more pain. I am a guarded Cowboys fan at this point entering my 20th season identifying as one.
If you do the math you will realize I missed out on all of the 90s glory years. Forgive me, I was six when they last won and watching sports as a kid only resulted in seeing my dad, my hero to this day and usually relaxed, be at his most volatile.
I remember my first five years of watching the team trying to find the next quarterback after Troy Aikman retired the season before I became a fan.
The highlight was watching Emmitt Smith become the all-time leading rusher followed by a weird 2003 team that somehow made the playoffs on the back of a bunch of Bill Parcell veterans and one good season from quarterback Quincy Carter.
Only when the team stumbled onto quarterback Tony Romo in 2006 did I ever feel like Dallas had a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl.
As much crap the Romo era got at the time, the only two losing seasons in 10 years came when Romo was hurt in 2010 and 2015. Several 8-8 seasons and lack of playoff wins get the main criticism.
During most of those years I could naively buy into the team as a Super Bowl contender, so seeing the team barely miss the playoffs or get knocked out by an admittedly better team in the playoffs was always gutting.
Even more gutting though is the two best teams from that era, the 2007 team and the 2014 team. Both made it to the divisional round of the playoffs (the 2007 team had a first round bye) before losing tragically.
While these years hurt, it was a way better fan experience than a lot of franchises around the league. Several teams would be lucky to have one quarterback as good as Romo, a four-time pro bowler who in his best years could go toe-to-toe with future Hall-of-Famers at the position.
It is easy to look back on the Romo era with rose-tinted-goggles since he is now the most popular color commentator in the league announcing games at CBS and is still getting endorsements. I was there and the majority of the stupid fan base wanted almost any excuse to get rid of him.
Then, the Cowboys luck into his replacement in 2016. Like Romo, Dak Prescott equally came out of nowhere. Though he was actually drafted, unlike Romo, Dallas tried to draft several other quarterbacks in that draft before settling on him in the fifth round.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

Two teams compete at state tourney

Published

2 days ago

06/05/2025

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Colt Henry, Lane Smith, Cooper Johnson and Corbyn Patton competed at the state high school bass tournament at Lake Conroe. (Courtesy photo)

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.

SPORTS

15 athletes playing in Oil Bowl

Published

2 days ago

06/05/2025

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The Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl is this week on June 6-7 and graduating athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo are confirmed to be playing.
In total, seven athletes from Bowie, five from Nocona and three from Saint Jo are planning to play in the all-star games this week. Nocona also will have a pair of coaches participating as well.
The girl’s basketball game kicks off events on June 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Falls Memorial High School. In the game, the east team will have Nocona players Avery Crutsinger, Meg Meekins and Reagan Phipps playing while Kyler Spitzer and Clayton Brown coach them one last time.
On the west team, Saint Jo’s Payzlie Cervantes is confirmed to be playing.
The boy’s basketball game is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. On the east team, Bowie’s Boston Farris and Nocona’s Jose Gomez Jr. will be playing.
On June 7, the volleyball games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the small school game. On the west team, Nocona’s Kaygan Stone and Saint Jo’s Taylor Patrick are confirmed to play. On the east team, Saint Jo’s Aubrey Morman will get to play her teammate.
There are no local athletes confirmed to be playing in the big school volleyball game.
The final event is the football game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. It is an all Bowie affair with six players confirmed to be playing for the east team: Justin Clark, Jorge De Leon, Hunter Fluitt and Braden Rhyne, Preacher Chambers and Moh Azouak.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

Hill upgraded to Nocona AD

Published

2 days ago

06/05/2025

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New Nocona Athletic Director Jeff Hill along with his wife Amy and their kids Kason, Camden and Kinsley. (Courtesy photo)

Nocona Independent School District officials looked inward for a new athletic director/head football coach, selecting Jeff Hill for the position.
Hill, who served last year as Nocona football’s offensive coordinator and also led the softball program to the playoffs for the first time in a while as its head coach, was upgraded to the role.
This came on the heels of former Athletic Director Blake Crutsinger, who served in the role the last four years, resigned in May.
For Hill, the choice to apply for the position was a no brainer. His one year in Nocona had impressed upon him and his wife that it was the place they would like to be long term.
“I’m looking for a town to raise my kids in and Nocona has treated my family really well,” Hill said. “There are some really good people. The kids work hard. Everything I am looking for in a hometown is right here in Nocona and I want to try and make it as best as it can be, especially through athletics.”
Before Nocona, Hill served as the athletic director at S&S Consolidated while also spending time at Hebron and Whitewright in his coaching career.
Hill expresses great respect for the departing Crutsinger and besides changing a few small things in how he personally wants to do things, he is not trying to come in with a sweeping restructuring of the whole athletic department.
The program had five of its six team sports make the playoffs, with volleyball playing in the regional final and the girl’s basketball team winning the state championship.
That along with two athletes competing at the state championship in cross country and track with one earning a gold medal, it was one of the more successful school years in athletic program history.
“Coach Crutsinger was awesome and did a great job so honestly just little tweaks, a little bit of structure and cohesion amongst the coaching staff between boys and girls,” Hill said. “I hope to keep the winning tradition going overall in the athletic department.”

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.