Preview of next week’s sports pages

Baytown Lee scores late to topple Dayton, 35-34

By Jerry Michalsky — The Dayton Broncos put together a good game plan and played well on Friday night at Houston Methodist Field at Bronco Stadium but fell just a little short to Baytown Lee 35-34 in District 12-5A DI action.  In a back and forth affair for most of the night, the Ganders reclaimed the lead for good with 1:44 left in the game by moving 58 yards on five plays with Ijenea Wooley scoring from 6 yards out to make it 35-34.

Tigers top Panthers, 38-14

By Neal Thornton — The Liberty Panthers fell short in their second District game Friday night, falling at the hands of the Silsbee Tigers by a score of 38-14. It was the Panthers' second loss in District 10-4A. Liberty didn't seem to have an answer for the Tigers' explosive offense. 

As an example, Silsbee took the opening kick-off and scored in four plays while only using 30 seconds. This type of play by the Tigers, who advanced to the State Quarterfinals last year, was demonstrated several times by Silsbee and overwhelmed the young Panther squad.

Dragons slay Bobcats

By Dennis Warren — In one of the most inhospitable climates in recent memory, the Shelbyville Dragons enjoyed a homecoming slaying of the Bobcats. With temperatures in the 60s at game time, a mist engulfed every surface of everything. No fan, player, referee or coach was dry after the first quarter. As the temperature dropped into the 50s and the wind picked up, well you can imagine how much more complicated everything turned out to be. 

HD continued their season of slow starts by spotting the Dragons 25 points in the first quarter. On the Bobcats side, Landyn Sellers had a decent night at quarterback. He completed passes to Cason Fregia, Kole Frauenberger and Bryce Aguirre. He also had one picked off and run back 98 yards for a TD. We are still checking the record books on that one. Aguirre led the team in rushing and had a nice 40 yard kick return to start the third.

On the misty, rainy night in Shelbyville, the Bobcats trailed 44-8 at halftime. HD Nation did prove though that they are not quitters as they outscored the Dragons 8-7 in the second half. Final score 51-16. HD is 2-5, 0-3 and faces West Sabine next Friday in Pineland.

Lions tame Oilers

By Justin Kelm — The West Hardin High School Oilers traveled two plus hours to Lovelady to battle the Lions in a Week 9 Friday night District 12-2A showdown. The Oilers came into the game after beating rival Colmesneil 42 to 12. The win secured the thirteenth trip for the Oilers in the Playoffs. From the start, the game did not go the Oilers way. Lions running back No. 10 Martinez ran all over the Oilers defense. The Oilers had no answers. On a positive note, senior running back No. 3 Keaton Castilaw found the end zone on a 12-yard rush.

Those stories plus Hardin at Anahuac and maybe a little volleyball, with photos from Shonda Dryden, Robert Ward and Amanda Jordan will be in the next edition of The Vindicator.