The Cuero Record (Cuero, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 96, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 5, 1987 Page: 5 of 12
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Sat., December 5, 1987 THE CUERO RECORD Page 5
Sports
Fair
or Foul
B> Bob Steiner
Urban versus rural teams
STATE HIGH SCHOOL POLLSTERS wore selecting the Cuero Gobblers to
defeat the LaGrange Leopards by at least 22 points in last night s state 3A
quarterfinal contest played in Austin.
Talking with one district 26-3A coach who had played Cuero and then
faced the Leopards in an opening round game three weeks ago, remarked
that Cuero should have no problems whatsoever. He should know, his
team lost to the Leopards 13-7. He went on to say that LaGrange was on
par with his club and If his team didn’t put the ball on the ground more
often than not, his club could have won.
To honestly say that LaGrange has the weapons to upend the Gobblers
would be an injustice to the playoff structure which isn’t quite what It
should be. There are weak districts and weak regions, no fault of the
teams participating. In the ultimate end, the two best teams out of 64
should meet for the title, but that’s not always the case.
Some teams have an open road to the title match only because of the
geographical locations they play in. Other teams have a tough and rocky
road to travel over in their efforts to roach the promised land. That’s due to
the urban locations thoy play in.
For example, a single 3A school could have 4A and 5A schools located
in the same district as other 3A schools. Let me put it more precisely. Say
for instance, Stroman of Victoria is a 3A school and Victoria High remains
5A. There is a recruiting war going on botween thoso two schools in an ef-
fort to latch onto the best players. Naturally, the 3A school is going to ac-
quire bigger and better athletes than most 3A schools located in rural por-
tions of Texas.
The simple answer is, more numbers and choices for the athlete who
thinks he could obtain a full football scholarship if he played at a 3A
school. Thus, the athlete who could have gone to a 5A school and excelled
amongst bigger and better athletes can be a standout at a lower level and
still achieve his goals toward a full football scholarship.
No doubt, that can only make the 3A football team much stronger. In
many cases, as strong as other teams that take the same course in urban
locations where the competition is keen for players who can compete at
the 5A level.
So, when a rural team which is a bit better than most in the region in
which it plays faces an urban 3A team, the results can be much different
in the end than in the beginning.
Population in a given rural community has much to do with athletes win-
ning or losing against competition from urban areas. The less population,
the less chance of winning.
There’re exceptions to the rule, but more often than not, the urban
athletes dominate in the end.
Many fans can get caught in a trap believing their team is unbeatable.
In some cases, very few, that becomes a reality. Not to think that way
would disrupt fan support and everything they look up to as far as pride in
the community, pride in themselves and pride in all the team players.
Vince Lombardi, a great football coach, now deceased, once said, “It’s
the reality of the game that makes men out of boys. There is always so-
meone better than you are, that’s reality. To meet the challenge of reality
and become a winner Is what the game is all about."
CJH teams play Monday
The Cuero Junior High 7-8
grade girls basketball teams will
travel to Yorktown next Monday
evening for their third games of
the season.
The 8th grade team, coached
by Jackie Schumacher, lost to
Luling last week but the seventh
graders salvaged a split win, a
32-23 victory.
Following the home games
against Kenedy Dec. 14, the 8th
grade team will participate in the
Kenedy tournament January 8-9.
Southwest Conference Offensive Newcomer of the Yeer.
Goebel who wee the starting quarterback for the Baylor
Bears was the top passer In games played (11) In SWC this
season. He attempted 305 passes, completed 158 for 2,178
yards and nine touchdowns and 12 Interceptions. He averag-
ed 188 yards per game and was third best on the rating chart
with a 113.7 average. His passing yardage was the best
amongst SWC quarterbacks. Goebel Is a sophomore but was
redshlrted In his freshman year which allows him three more
years of eligibility
__»_(Photo by Ken Ames)
Gobblers, LaGrange square off
B> BOB STEINER
Sports Editor
The Cuero Gobblers squared
off against the La Grange
Leopards last night in a state 3A
quarterfinal contest at Memorial
Stadium in Austin. Game time
was 8 p.m.
For the Leopards, it was a new
experience and head coach Jack
Rushing was happy that his team
was playing in its thirteenth game
without a loss. But, playing the
No. 1 ranked Gobblers who
entered the contest with the same
mark, wasn’t going to be easy as
Rushing explained. "We’re glad
to be playing anybody at this
stage of the season, even if it’s
Cuero."
Both Gobbler coach Pat Bless-
ing and Rushing exchanged views
on the contest earlier this week.
Blessing felt that the Leopards
can be dangerous. "They are like
us in many ways, tough defen-
sively and possess the explosive
play. They have a strong fullback
who also plays linebacker. He
plays the same roll as our Rodney
Pedraza," said Blessing. Blessing
was referring to senior Keith
Wilkerson (216 lbs.). Another
fine runner is senior Mark Con-
nors (165) who rushed for over
1,000 yards this season.
Blessing thinks the Leopards
are comparable in size to Cuero
and will try to control the foot-
ball as much as possible.
Rushing commented, “Cuero’s
coaching staff has done an
outstanding job with their team.
They have size, speed and
quickness. They are the toughest
club we’ll face this year. We’re
excited about playing them but
we certainly put things into
perspective. We’ll have to be at
our best. Yes, we’re tickled to be
where we are right now.”
Cuero shakes Poth
but loses 32-28
By BOB STEINER
Sports Editor
POTH — The Cuero Gob-
blerettes put on their game face
following their humiliating loss
to Moulton last week and turned
things around against No. 2 rank-
ed 2A Poth Tuesday night.
Although losing 32-28 follow-
ing a basket by Tina Taylor to tie
the game at 28-28 with 1:31 left,
Cuero pushed the Piratettes to
the limit and held 6’6 center
Heidi Gillingham to 14 points. It
was Cuero’s third loss in as many
games. Coach Mike Tankersley
was more than pleased with the
way his team played than the
week before.
Kathleen Gawlik played a
superb game on both ends of the
court while scoring 10 points.
Taylor and Sharonda Dailey who
went down with leg cramps in the
last minute of play had eight
apiece. Tiajuna Wesley, Andrea
Olgun, Shunne Mays and Stacy
Weldon had two points each.
The contest was close all the
way with no more than six points
separating the two teams. "Gill-,
ingham is reported to be the
tallest player in the state. I was
considering taking out a large in-
surance policy and finding the
nearest bridge. I felt like it would
take a miracle along the lines of
parting of the Red Sea for us to
stay within 20 points of them
(Poth)," said Gobblerette coach
Mike Tankersley.
Tankersley added, "We had a
couple of busted offensive
assignments and, Gillingham
cashed them in on two offensive
rebounds for four points, that
was the difference. We used a dif-
ferent defense that caused Poth a
lot of problems. Sheila Wisian
started her first game for us and
did a fine job.
"The biggest differnce in this
game was our effort, both
physically and mentally. Last
week was the first time in 15 years
that I ever fielded a team that
displayed as little mental and
physical effort. It was unim-
porant that we lost, but rather it
was in how we lost that I was so
disturbed. Against Poth, our kids
hustled throughout and certainly
should be congratulated for their
efforts. You can’t completely
overcome a lack of physical
talent, but you can minimize it by
out-hustling and out-thinking the
opponent.”
If anything, it was a moral vic-
tory for the Gobblerettes and a
step closer to becoming a solid
team. Tankersley remarked, “To‘
be sure, mistakes were made dur-
ing the Poth game. We missed
several layups and had some
ridiculous turnovers. At times we
looked like Brooke Shields, other
times like Medusa. We haven’t
reached a level of consistancy,
which is the mark of a mature
team.
CUERO’S QUARTERBACK Wayne Mathis is described by La
Grange football coach Jack Rushing as the best all around
athlete on the Gobbler team. "He’s the best we will face this
season.”
(Photo by Ken Ames)
"The game showed that we can
play with the biggys, just like last
week when we showed we can be
demolished. How we approach
the game mentally and how much
we hustle determines which side
of the scale we will fall bn.”
The JV ‘White’ team came
home with a 28-12 victory. "The
kids played good defense,
especially Bridgette Sharp and
Erica Barfield. Lisa Schley and
Monica Harcrow rebounded very
well and helped spark our fast
break,” said Tankersley.
Barfield had 10 points, Stacy
Fox s-i\. Sharp and Maine Gua-
jardo font each while Su/annc
C'owoy added two alo'g with.
Schley
I he IV ‘Green’ team absorbed
a 42-6 shallicking. lanklersley
said, “T he kids shooting was ex-
tremely poor as was their
defense. The kids were complete-
ly intimidated by the size of the
Poth players.
Star Stefka, Erica Mejia and
Amy Stiles had two points each
for Cuero.
PICTURED ARE MEMBERS of the Gobbler*!
»•• JV basketball team. From L to R front row
are Jennifer Hull, Elaine Guajardo, Casey
Hunnam, Erica Mejia, Shannon Rabe and Kim
Ouren. Second row are Ashley Blackwell, Star
Stefka, Rachelle Rhodes, Stacey Fox, Erica
Barfield and Stephanie Turner. Third row are
Monica Harcrow, Courtney Toller, Diane
Gawlik, Suzanne Cowey and Chrlstl Hancock.
necessary.
“This year’s team is much
more consistant compared to last
year’s club which had its ups and
downs.”
The winner of last night’s game
earned the right to advance to the
state semi-finals against the
Region HI winner between
Cameron Yoe and Corrigan-
Camden.
Asked about Cuero’s Robert
Strait, Rushing replied, "He’s
their running game. We read the
papers and can see that. With
Pedraza and Carl Taylor, it just
makes them (Cuero) that much
better. But I want to point out,
we have a couple of solid running
backs in Wilkerson and
Conners.”
Blessing agreed with Rushing’s
statement that Wilkerson and
Connors are strong runners.
"We’ll have to play good solid
defense to keep them from runn-
ing on us,” said Blessing.
Rushing let it be known that he
thought Gobbler quarterback
Wayne Mathis was the best all
around player the Gobblers have.
"He’s the best at his position and
by far, the best we’ll play against.
Mathis is one of the main keys to
Cuero’s offense.”
Rushing also pointed out,
"Cuero’s defense is solid, has
good size. But, I personally think
that the strongest suit of that
defense is in the secondary. That
secondary is the best we’ve seen
all year. They have lots of speed
and I’m impressed with that kid
Da von Battles.”
Blessing’s thoughts up to this
point and time in the playoffs are
very positive. "We don’t feel at
this stage that we’ve reached our
peak in all phases of the game. I
saw signs of it coming together in
the last three games. I just hope
we reach a high point when
i
i
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Rea, Glenn. The Cuero Record (Cuero, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 96, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 5, 1987, newspaper, December 5, 1987; Cuero, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth844249/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Cuero Public Library.