Sports

Do you want to learn to camp? Kayak? Fly fish? Cook gourmet campfire meals? Learn more about snakes and fish and other wildlife? Win prizes in a fishing tournament? Spend time with your family outdoors?

On Sept. 26 at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, the Outdoor Expo and Bluegill Family Fishing Tournament will help you develop skills and increase your knowledge in all those areas by doing them yourself under the direction of a skilled expert. The expo will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Registration for the Bluegill Family Fishing Tournament will begin at 7 a.m. at TFFC’s main gate; weigh-in and the awarding of prizes will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the Anglers Pavilion. Advance registration by mail for the tournament must be completed by Sept. 23; visit http://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/nonpwdforms/media/bluegill_flyer.pdf to download an entry form and rules.

The Canton Eaglette volleyball team finished second overall in the Championship Bracket at this year’s Brownsboro Varsity Tournament on Sept. 5. The Eaglettes are scheduled to be in action three more times, against Cayuga on Sept. 11, against Spring Hill on Sept. 15 and against Mabank on Sept. 18, before beginning with district play on the road against Emory Rains on Sept. 22.

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The Mabank Panthers capitalized on several Canton missteps on Friday night, exorcising some personal demons by recording a 35-34 win over the Eagles at Norris Birdwell Stadium. The win marked the first time the Panthers had recorded a win over a Robert Ivey-led Eagle squad.

Canton started off the game on offense, benefitting from a big return by Logan Nace. The Eagles picked up a first down, before eventually turning the ball over on downs to the Panthers.

Mabank, taking possession on their own 39-yard line, relied heavily on its rushing attack to churn out first downs and flip the field position battle in their favor. Running back Clay Carson did most of the damage, picking up runs of 20, 10 and 9-yards on the drive.

On a second down and goal from the one, Mabank quarterback Adrien Higginbotham scored on a keeper to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

The Canton Junior High volleyball teams traveled to Rains on Aug. 27 to play their first match of the season. The 7th grade B team won their match 25-16, 23-18. Natali Sweat and Jade Spencer were top servers with six points each.

The 8th grade B team split games with the Ladycats, 25-16, 14-20. Breann Nutt was the top server with seven consecutive serves in the first game, and Darby Pruitt had an outstanding game as well.

The 7th grade A team played a great match but fell short in the end, 25-19,12-25, 17-25.  Lottie Adams led the team with nine serves and Bella Raymond followed with seven.

The 8th grade A team won a close match in three sets, 25-17,18-25, 25-22. Megan Fyfe and Gracie Brewer led the team with 9 serves each and Sophie Welty was the outstanding hitter.

Junior high coaches Julie Neff and Deanna Hawkins stated, “The teams only had three practices and still played well. We are looking forward to a great season.”

The Running Eagles opened their latest season on Aug. 29 at the Waxahachie Invitational, bringing home both a second and third place team finish.

The varsity girls finished 2nd overall. Juliana Bratcher finished 5th in a time of 13:12, Karen James finished 7th in 13:18, Lindsey Lamar finished 13th in 13:44, Hannah Manry finished 14th in 13:50, Taylor Marshall finished 15th in 13:53, and Morgan Palmer finished 17th in 14:34.

The varsity boys were 3rd overall and were led by Cordale Harrison who finished with a time of 18:03 for 9th place.

Juan Ruiz was 14th in 18:23, Matthew Hook finished 15th in 18:38, Andrew Hamel finished 21st in 19:13, Jonathan Bourquin finished 26th in 19:29, and Fernando Lopez finished 45th in 21:46. 

In the JV girls division, Kristin Neystel was 12th in 15:02, Olivia Boyd 15th in 15:17, Nancy Lopez 23rd in 16:23, Kendall Bright 31st in 16:50, Ally Wiley 43rd in 18:02 and Maddie Welty 49th in 19:10. 

For the second consecutive season, the Canton Eagles opened their season in a rare Thursday night tilt against the Grace Community Cougars in the Azalea Classic played on the campus of Tyler All Saints. After a slow start, Canton eventually slugged its way into the lead in the game only to fall victim to two late Cougar touchdowns in a 31-21 loss.

Canton started Thursday night’s contest on offense, getting just one yard on three plays before being forced to punt the ball back to the Cougar offense.

Grace fared better on their opening possession, getting timely completions and first downs courtesy of the right arm of quarterback Christopher Wilhelmi to march deep into Eagle territory. The junior quarterback completed six passes on the game’s opening drive, including two third down conversions and one fourth down conversion to put Grace Community on the doorstep of a touchdown.

The Canton Eaglettes continued what has already been a strong start to their 2015 season, competing in the annual Bulldog Varsity Volleyball Tournament over the weekend and returning home with a second place finish in the Championship Bracket.

Pool play began on day one of the tournament, with 32 teams jockeying for one of eight available spots in the Championship Bracket. Thanks to an undefeated stretch in those matches, including wins over both Malakoff and Kemp, the Eaglettes qualified to compete in the Championship Bracket alongside Eustace, Elysian Fields, Mildred, Ennis, Mabank, Elkhart and Sunnyvale.

In round one of the bracket on Aug. 22, Canton outplayed Mildred to set up a semifinal round showdown with Elysian Fields.

Canton controlled the match from the opening serve, cruising to an easy two set win, 25-13, 25-23, over the Yellowjackets.

For the second consecutive season, the Canton Eagles opened their season in a rare Thursday night tilt against the Grace Community Cougars in the Azalea Classic played on the campus of Tyler All Saints. After a slow start, Canton eventually slugged its way into the lead in the game only to fall victim to two late Cougar touchdowns in a 31-21 loss.

Canton started Thursday night’s contest on offense, getting just one yard on three plays before being forced to punt the ball back to the Cougar offense. Grace fared better on their opening possession, getting timely completions and first downs courtesy of the right arm of quarterback Christopher Wilhelmi to march deep into Eagle territory. The junior quarterback completed six passes on the game’s opening drive, including two third down conversions and one fourth down conversion to put Grace Community on the doorstep of a touchdown.

Year two of redistricting always brings with it a strong sense of familiarity. That sentiment will hold especially true for both the Canton Eagles and Grace Community Cougars, with both teams scheduled to do battle for the second consecutive year in the season opening Azalea Classic at Mewbourne Field tonight (Aug. 27).

In their 2014 matchup, Canton fell into an early 21-14 deficit before finding its footing and delivering a 49-28 runaway win.

Since graduated quarterback Chandler Eiland and then junior Brazos Hesskew each played huge roles in Canton’s come from behind win against the Cougars.

Eiland accounted for nearly 400 yards of total offense (208 rushing and 188 passing) and six total touchdowns while Hesskew led all Canton players with four catches for 101 yards on offense and 12 tackles and a forced fumble on defense.

Patrick Malouf won his first Van Zandt County Country Club Junior Club Championship with a score of 37-39=76.  Patrick follows in his father’s footsteps who won the Junior Champtionship in 1978.  The Maloufs became the first father, son to win the championship at Van Zandt Country Club.

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