Sports

The Canton Eagles continued their winning ways during a trip to Mabank Sept. 9, spoiling the Panthers homecoming night by scoring touchdowns in all three phases of the game during a 33-24 win.

Penalties and punts were the name of the game throughout the early stages of the first quarter, with neither team being able to string together enough plays on offense to put a mark on the scoreboard.

Mabank was finally able to put the first points on the board, relying on excellent starting field position and several big plays in the ground game to push their way deep into Canton territory.

Faced with a third down and one on the Canton three, Mabank’s Jacob Proffitt broke the plane of the goal line for a 6-0 Panther lead. Mabank failed in its effort to convert the ensuing extra point.

The Eaglettes recently traveled to Wills Point for their first volleyball games of the season. 

The 7th grade A team won 25-18, 25-19. Makayla Floyd was the top server in game one with seven unbreakable serves. Kaitlin Hall led the team in the second game with seven consecutive serves.

The 7th grade B team split games, 22-25, 25-9. Karo Buck had the most serves and Raleigh Strickland showed great leadership in the games. 

The 8th grade A team won 26-24, 25-9. Madelyn Dunn led the way with eleven unanswered serves. In the 8th B game, Natali Sweat was the top server with nine serves. The team split games 25-22, 13-20.

The Canton Eaglettes spent extended time in Brownsboro last week, competing against a wide ranging group of schools participating in the 12th annual Brownsboro Athletic Booster Club Volleyball Classic.

Entrants in the tournament included teams from Bullard, Bullard Brook Hill, Rains, Henderson, Alba-Golden, DeKalb, Brownsboro, Mineola, Troup, Athens, Jacksonville, Overton, Kemp, the Rains JV, John Tyler JV, Palestine, Brownsboro JV, Kilgore and Trinity School of Texas.

After finishing 1-2 overall during pool play, Canton was scheduled to compete in the Bronze Bracket Sept. 3.

The first two weeks of the 2016 season have provided plenty of drama for players, coaches and fans of the Canton football program as the varsity team bounced back after a slow first half to pull out a thrilling 42-41 come from behind win against the visiting Grace Community Cougars Sept. 2.

Canton is no stranger to comebacks, storming back from a 28-21 deficit in their season opener against the Brownsboro Bears to pull out a 56-34 win.

The game against Tyler Grace was just the latest chapter in what has become a competitive series over the past three years.

Canton got the better of Grace Community in their first meeting back in 2014, getting a huge game from then quarterback Chandler Eiland for a 49-28 win.

Grace Community returned the favor in the 2015 season opener between the two teams, jumpstarting their own excellent season by fending off a tough Canton challenge for a 31-21 win.

Editor’s Note: The following story appeared in the annual Van Zandt County Football/Volleyball Preview section included in the Aug. 21 edition of the Van Zandt News.

No football team in Van Zandt County finished as strongly as the Canton Eagles in 2015. After an 0-3 start marked by near misses and almosts, the Eagles found another gear, riding a wave of momentum to a 6-6 finish and a berth in the Area round of the playoffs.

Canton will look to ride that momentum as far or even farther in 2016, relying on the return of several key pieces on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football.

Since taking over the position full-time, Hunter Moore has proven himself to be one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the area. In 2015 alone, Moore carved up opposing defenses for 2,112 yards through the air and another 812 yards on the ground while contributing to 33 Eagle touchdowns.

The Canton Eaglette varsity volleyball team made its way to Eustace Aug. 18-20, competing against a field of more than 25 teams for the annual Lady Bulldog Varsity Volleyball Invitational Tournament.

The tournament was broken down into two segments, with teams competing in pool play Aug. 18-19 to determine which bracket they would ultimately compete in on the final day of the tournament: the Championship Bracket, the Gold Bracket, the Silver Bracket or the Bronze Bracket.

Canton, competing in Pool 6 against teams from Cross Roads, Westwood and Rice, won all three of its matches on the first day to qualify for the Championship Bracket alongside teams from Eustace, Grand Saline, Elkhart, Mabank, Grace, Scurry and Sunnyvale.

Eventual Championship Bracket winners Sunnyvale, currently 13-1 on the season including a perfect 6-0 at the Lady Dog Invitational, drew Canton in the first round of bracket play.

Editor’s Note: A portion of this story appeared in the annual Van Zandt County Football/Volleyball Preview section included in the Aug. 21 edition of the Van Zandt News.

Even the most diehard Canton Eagle fan likely found themselves on shaky footing during the early stages of the 2015 season as the team came out just a play or two short of winning each of its first three games.

Those early narrow missteps aside, Eagle players and coaches kept the faith, storming back from the brink of a disappointing season to rally back with six wins in their final nine contests to qualify as the third seed coming out of District 5-4A.

When the dust settled, Canton found itself in rarefied air as the lone Van Zandt County football team to record a playoff victory in 2015 with a thrilling 34-27 win over a highly regarded Gladewater team.

Van Zandt Newspapers L. L. C. and Canton radio station KWJB (95.1 FM and 1510 AM) in Canton have announced a joint effort to cover high school football in Van Zandt County for the 2016 season.

As part of that agreement, a new weekly radio show will air every Wednesday during the season called “Hump Day Huddle,” hosted by David Barber, sports correspondent for Van Zandt Newspapers, and T. A. Hale from the KWJB “Buzz Brothers.”

“Hump Day Huddle” will air every Wednesday at 10 a.m., 12 noon and 5 p.m. exclusively on KWJB.

The one-hour show each week will feature varsity football information on the Canton Eagles, the Van Vandals, the Wills Point Tigers, the Grand Saline Indians, the Edgewood Bulldogs and the Fruitvale Bobcats.

Barber and Hale will review the previous Friday night football action in the county and look ahead to the upcoming Friday night matchups.

The Canton Eaglette varsity volleyball team will get its first look at tournament play Aug. 18-20, competing in the annual Eustace Lady Bulldog Varsity Volleyball Invitational Tournament.

Pool play, which will be conducted over the first two days of the tournament, includes teams from Eustace, Blooming Grove, Jacksonville, Fruitvale, Tyler Grace, Palestine, Life Oak, Kerens, Brook Hill, Mildred, Neches, ETCA, Chapel Hill, Athens, Scurry, Trinidad, Elkhart, Kemp, Frankston, North Dalls, Mabank, Buffalo, Malakoff, Boles, Sunnyvale, Grand Saline and Edgewood among others.

Canton will compete in Pool 6, taking the court against Cross Roads, Westwood and Rice.

The Eaglettes will take on Cross Roads beginning at 8 a.m., Rice beginning at 10 a.m. and Westwood beginning at noon Aug. 20.

The 2016 high school football season will feature the return of “The Locker Room Show” every Monday night from 6:30-8:30 p.m. beginning August 22 on Mineola radio station KMOO (99.9 FM).

“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.

The program will air live on location usually from an area restaurant in the KMOO listening area.

The first show for the 2016 season will originate from East Texas Burger Co. in downtown Mineola on Highway 80 Monday night leading up to KMOO’s live play-by-play broadcast of the regular season opener featuring the Van Vandals and the Mineola Yellowjackets set for Friday, August 26 in Mineola.