Sports

The Canton Eaglettes and Grand Saline Lady Indians took a break from the district grind this week, taking to the court in Canton Sept. 29 for a late season matchup.

Led by big hitting in the attacking game, Canton easily took the first set before withstanding several challenges by the Lady Indians to pull out a 25-10, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22.

The Eaglette tandem of Lauren Gomez and Payton Williams were on point in the early going, delivering several emphatic kills to spark Canton to a 25-10 first set win.

Grand Saline, currently 29^th in the latest 3A Texas Girls Coaches Weekly Poll, got a better handle on the Canton attacking game in the second set but still couldn’t get over the hump to give the Eaglettes a two sets to none lead.

Big hitting by senior Hannah Chandler and junior Caitlyn Amaya, and strong back line play by Emily Barber helped Grand Saline the third set 25-22.

If District 14-4A volleyball openers are any indication, players, coaches and fans could be in for a wild ride in the coming weeks.

The Rains Lady Cats, ranked 27^th overall in the latest Texas Girls Coaches Association Poll, hosted the Canton Eaglettes on Sept. 22. Despite coming up with more total points in the match-up (112-109), Canton finished up on the short end of the scoreboard during Rains’ five-set win, 29-27, 25-22, 17-25, 23-25, 15-13.

Canton wasn’t the only team to end up with a tough loss on Sept. 22, with Wills Point handing the Van Lady Vandals a 25-20, 20-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-13 loss.

Wills Point and Canton added another chapter to their long rivalry on Friday, Sept. 25, engaging in one of the strangest and most exciting games of the 2015 season at Ken Autry Davis Field.

The Tigers were dominant early against the Eagles, seemingly seizing control by taking a 19-0 lead into the half. The second half looked to be more of the same early, but a series of big plays by the Eagles turned the tide quickly, resulting in a 28-27 Canton win.

Special teams were a huge factor in the contest, with Canton blocking an extra point, snuffing out a two-point conversion attempt, blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown and returning a kick for a touchdown to help their cause.

The Running Eagles ran at the Van Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 26, located at Youth with a Mission. The varsity girls finished second overall out of twelve teams. 

Karen James led the way finishing 5th overall out of 103 runners in a time of 13:01. Juliana Bratcher was 9th in 13:26, Taylor Marshall 18th in 14:11, Hannah Manry 19th in 14:12, Lindsey Lamar 21st in 14:17, and Morgan Palmer 27th in 14:37. 

In the varsity boys division, Cordale Harrison finished 11th overall in a field of 126 runners with a time of 18:23. Matthew Hook was 18th in 18:42, Andrew Hamel 26th in 19:08, and Fernando Lopez 23:34. 

In the JV girls division, Kendall Bright led the way finishing 14th with a time of 15:35, Olivia Boyd 15th in 15:40, Nancy Lopez 23rd in 16:38, Ally Wiley 36th in 17:39, and Maddie Welty 20:49. 

The High School Running Eagles will travel to Grand Prairie this Thursday to compete at the Ken Gaston Invitational.

Junior High

The Running Eagles hosted their annual Invitational Meet on September 19 at the First Monday Parking grounds on Highway 19. Teams representing 20 different schools, including all seven Van Zandt County schools, participated in the event. 

The varsity boys team finished second overall. Matthew Hook finished 9th with a time of 18:20 followed by Cordale Harrison 11th in 18:39, Andrew Hamel 15th in 19:04, Jonathan Bourquin 23rd in 19:42, and Fernando Lopez 25th in 19:55. 

Coach Marta Morgan stated, “These boys did an excellent job.” 

The varsity girls finished third overall and were led by Karen James who finished 7th in a time of 13:04. Juliana Bratcher was 11th in 13:21, Hannah Manry 15th in 13:42, Lindsey Lamar 28th in 14:06, Taylor Marshall 33rd in 14:34, and Morgan Palmer 34th in 14:35.  Morgan noted, “The girls did a great job on a tough course. Many of them turned in personal best times.” 

Wills Point and Canton engaged in one of the strangest and most exciting games of the 2015 season on Sept. 25. The Tigers were dominant early against the Eagles, seizing early control by taking a 19-0 lead into the half. The second half looked to be more of the same, but a series of big plays by the Eagles turned the tide quickly, resulting in a 28-27 Canton win.

Special teams were a huge factor in the contest, with Canton blocking an extra point, snuffing out a two-point conversion attempt, blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown and returning a kick for a touchdown.

Tiger quarterback/defensive back Caden Bennett played well on both sides of the ball. The junior scored twice in the ground game, and intercepted two Canton passes.

The Eagles got a strong performance from Brazos Hesskew, who stepped into the quarterback position in the first half and led the Canton comeback.

The Canton Eagles exorcised weeks of frustration and near misses by delivering their most complete performance of the season in a 35-13 homecoming night win over the Spring Hill Panthers on Friday, September 18.

The Eagles entered the game with an 0-3 record, coming off three consecutive heartbreakers where the opposing team lifted their play over the final quarter of play to pull off come from behind wins.

Canton ensured itself of a different fate against the Panthers, setting the tone early with strong play in all three phases of the game.

Things began on defense for the Eagles, where the team hounded Spring Hill into a quick three and out to set up the Canton offense with possession. The Eagle offense needed just six plays to put up the first points of the night, watching Hunter Moore connect on four consecutive passes to move the team down to the Spring Hill 5-yard line.

The Canton Eaglette junior high volleyball program swept the Brownsboro Bearettes in district play this week, picking up four wins in matches played on Sept. 14.

The 8th A team continued their district winning streak by winning 25-14, 25-19. Darbi Motley and Gracie Brewer were top servers of the match with five points each. 

The 8th grade B team beat the Bearettes 25-16, 19-18. Breann Nutt led the team with eight consecutive serves and Kara Cleere contributed six serving points and awesome net play.

The 7th grade Eaglettes also dominated the Bearettes. The 7^th grade A team won 25-10, 25-16. Carly Autry led the team with 6 serves and Lottie Adams followed with 5. 

After a tough three weeks to start the season, the Canton Eagles finally got themselves back in the win column with a complete team effort against Spring Hill. Canton got two touchdowns each from Jordan Jackson and Hunter Moore, and another score by wide receiver Tre Fitzgerald in a 35-13 win.

The Eagles entered the game coming off three consecutive games in which they led entering the fourth quarter only to watch their opponents deliver a strong push to keep Canton winless.

Entering this week’s fourth quarter with a 28-13 lead, the Eagles ensured themselves a different outcome by forcing two Panther turnovers, and getting a game sealing touchdown with 4:27 to play to put the game out of reach.

The Eagles will hit the road this week, serving as the homecoming opponent for the rival Wills Point Tigers. 

The Sneaky Cleats 04-Pride team took third place in their first 12U tournament Sept. 11-12 during the fifth annual Makenzi Faith Farlow Memorial tournament held in Carthage.

Sneaky Cleats players are back row, Kori Nicklas, Lynsie Walding, Amber Michaelis, Trinity Hood, Charli Bird and Claire Rose; front row, Berlyn Grossman, Kloee Carroll, Katie Wilkerson, Jacey Pride, Natalie Styles and Jaci Taylor.

Sneaky Cleats is coached by Jason Pride and Chad Rose. 

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