Sports

Canton’s most recent stretch of matches could essentially be renamed rivalry week, as the Eaglettes tangled with both Van and Wills Point in District 13-4A play. Canton, which finished last season with a District 14-4A title, entered the week with a 2-3 record overall through the first round of district play with a tough loss to Mabank Oct. 7.  

The Eaglettes traveled to Van Oct. 11, playing a Vandal team that defeated them in four sets back on Sept. 23: 25-17, 25-16, 28-30, 25-17.

Unfortunately for Canton fans, the second matchup didn’t go any better than the first with Van securing a three set win over the Eaglettes.

The Lady Vandals put together a dominant run in the first set, riding big nights from both M’Kenna Daniel, Macy Rucker and Alli Lloyd to a 25-12 start.

Van carried its strong play into the match’s second set, building up a two sets to none lead with a 25-15 stretch.

Canton and Wills Point competed in one of the most entertaining games of last season, a thrilling 28-27 come from behind win by the Eagles in the final non-district contest for both teams.

Stakes were even higher for this year’s meeting as the two longtime rivals clashed in a game Friday night to determine who gets the upper hand for a playoff spot and a possible shot at the district title down the road.

Despite a valiant comeback bid late in the game, Canton couldn’t do enough to contain a dominant Tiger rushing attack in a 32-29 loss to Wills Point at Norris Birdwell Stadium Oct. 14.

The Eagles opened play on offense, marching from their own 29-yard line into Tiger territory with relative ease. A 13-yard completion from Hunter Moore to Tanner Moore, coupled by several runs from both Hunter Moore and Dylan Cox moved Canton to the 25-yard line of Wills Point.

Canton-based select fast pitch softball team the Sneaky Cleats 04-Pride team brought home gold as first place champions in the 12U FASA East Texas Fall Regional Qualifier tournament held at Lear Park in Longview oSept. 24-25.  Sneaky Cleats 04-Pride went undefeated in bracket games all weekend, scoring 30 and only allowing 7 runs from opponents, team coaches said. 

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The Running Eagles competed at the Lindale Invitational Oct. 6, posting several top team and individual finishes. 

The varsity girls finished second overall out of 24 teams. Karen James led the way finishing in fourth overall out of the 177 competitors with a time of 12:47.

Taylor Marshall was 9th in 13:04, Juliana Bratcher 13th in 13:13, Darby Pruitt 23rd in 13:32, Claire Boyd 14:40, and Olivia Boyd 15:55. 

The Varsity boys finished third out of 24 teams and 174 runners. Cordale Harrison finished fifth overall with a time of 18:08, followed by Matthew Hook 12th in 18:35, Juan Ruiz 26th in 19:09, Jaeden Miller 30th in 19:23, Bryce Terry 20:25, Jonathan Bourquin 20:33, and Garrett Stapleton 21:04. 

In the JV Girls division, Haylee Terry finished in 18:39 and Ally Wiley 18:44.  Colby Chastain finished with a time of 21:59, Gage Bullard 22:41, Bryce Wilkins 23:24, and Kevin Pagel 24:21 in the JV boys division.

The Canton Eaglettes took the court twice over the course of the past week, earning a split in matches against Brownsboro and Mabank to move to 2-3 overall throughout one round of District 13-4A play.

Canton hosted the Brownsboro Bearettes Oct. 4 for their annual Dig Pink Night benefiting breast cancer awareness and research. The event, which has become tradition since the arrival of Coach Liz Ramsey, included players and fans wearing pink items as well as an auction with proceeds going towards efforts to fight breast cancer.

Once play began, the Eaglettes took care of business to register their second district win of the 2016 season with a sweep of the Bearettes.

Play between the two teams was exceptionally competitive in the first set, with Canton eventually securing a 25-23, one set to none lead.

Canton Eagles taking on the run-heavy offense of the Ferris Yellowjackets in the District 6-4A opener for both teams.

Canton did more than enough to pick up its fifth win over the season, bouncing back from a loss in their non-district finale against Paris North Lamar Sept. 23 with a 36-23 win over the Yellowjackets.

Play in the first quarter played out a slightly different than expected, with Canton scoring twice courtesy of long runs of more than 50 yards each by senior quarterback Hunter Moore and Ferris registering points on a long passing touchdown.

Entering the second quarter, Canton held a 14-6 advantage of the Yellowjackets. Ferris capitalized on a touchdown drive with less than a minute into the frame, scoring on a fourth and one play courtesy of a Damian Edwards touchdown run. Edwards would go on to score on the ensuing two-point conversion, tying the game at 14-14.

The Running Eagles competed at the Chili Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Oct 1.

The varsity girls finished 4th overall out of 57 teams and were led by Juliana Bratcher who finished 9th overall out of more than 700 runners with a time of 20:32 on the 3.1 mile course. She was followed by Taylor Marshall who finished 27th in 21:26, Darby Pruitt in 43rd in 21:57, Kristin Neystel in 22:37, Claire Boyd in 23:08, Morgan Palmer in 24:02, and Olivia Boyd in 24:38. 

The varsity boys finished 20th overall out of a field of 66 teams. Cordale Harrison was 20th in a field of 865 runners with a personal-best time of 17:20. Jaeden Miller finished in a time of 18:00, Juan Ruiz in 18:35, Jonathan Bourquin in 18:53, Garrett Stapleton in 19:40, Bryce Terry in 20:01, and Gage Bullard in 21:20. 

The race among District 6-4A teams vying for a spot in the 4A UIL State Football Playoffs officially begins Friday night, with Canton, Dallas Lincoln, Dallas Roosevelt, Emory Rains, Ferris and Wills Point finally scheduled to take the field against one another after five non-district games and a bye week.

Canton’s road to district play included five games overall, including home dates against Brownsboro, Grace Community and Life Waxahachie, and road games against Mabank and Paris North Lamar.

Oct. 27 vs. Brownsboro

Canton opened its 2016 season with a rare Saturday afternoon affair after a lingering weather system that produced plenty of lightning and rain caused delays and cancellations for season openers across East Texas.

The Eagles more than held up to the challenges thrown at them by both Mother Nature and Brownsboro, putting together a dominant second half to pull away from the Bears 56-34.

The Canton Eaglettes were in action twice over the course of the past week, following up their district opener Sept. 23 against the Van Lady Vandals with contests against Wills Point and state-ranked Emory Rains.

Canton would finish those matches with a 1-1 record overall, moving their overall record in District 12-4A play to 1-2.

The Eaglettes had to log some additional time on the court Sept. 27, edging past the Wills Point Lady Tigers in five competitive sets.

Canton drew first blood, narrowly taking the first set 25-23 behind superior serving and better play from their back row.

Wills Point evened the match during the second set, capitalizing on big hitting from Claire Hiler, Kamree Clark and Melanie Sullivan to edge Canton 25-22.

With the match tied at a set apiece, Eaglette players responded by holding Wills Point’s big hitters in check to take the third set by a 25-23 count.

“The Locker Room Show” on Mineola radio station KMOO (99.9 FM), will be broadcasting live from Salt Lickers in downtown Grand Saline Monday night from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

“The Locker Room Show” features high school football correspondents from around the KMOO listening area reviewing the previous Friday night matchups and looking ahead to the following Friday night gridiron contests.

David Barber, sports correspondent for Van Zandt Newspapers, will be among the guests on the program each week.

KMOO will be broadcasting the Grand Saline/Winnsboro varsity football game live on Friday, October 14 in Grand Saline.

All football fans are invited to come out and be a part of “The Locker Room Show” on KMOO every Monday night during the high school football season.