2017 El Paso area sports Fall recap

2017 El Paso Area Fall Sports Recap

Cathedral and San Elizario win state championships

Brandon Seagraves and Edwin Gomez win individual state titles

Athletes begin training for the fall sports schedule during the long, hot summer days well before the first school bell rings in August. Most fans know about Friday night football but there are several other sports that make up the fall sports scene. Volleyball, Cross Country Track, and Team Tennis also have their seasons in the fall part of the school year.

I once stated that no El Paso area 11 man football team had ever won a state championship in that sport. That changed when Cathedral High School won the 2016 TAPPS Division 5 State Championship. Hampton Hurt’s Irish enjoyed that experience so much that they decided to win another title in 2017. That’s just what they did. Cathedral’s record was only 6-4 in 2017 but two of those wins came in the final two games of the season and the Irish once again claimed the TAPPS Division 5 football championship.

San Elizario High School has quietly become a Texas state power in Class 4A. The Eagles compete well in several sports and they absolutely dominate the division in Cross Country and Soccer. San Elizario won their fourth straight 4A UIL Cross Country title in 2017.

Brandon Seagraves of Cathedral High School is one of the best track athletes in the state. He has won several individual state titles in Cross Country and Track and Field. He repeated as the 2017 TAPPS Division 6A gold medal winner in Cross Country and led his Irish team mates to a second place finish at the state cross country meet.

Here is a recap of how El Paso area teams fared in each sport during 2017:

Volleyball

Anthony High School is the only area team that has ever won a state championship in volleyball and that remained the case in 2017. Several area teams had outstanding seasons in 2017 but came up short in the state playoffs.

6A Volleyball

Franklin, Coronado, Eastwood, and Eldorado represented the El Paso area in 6A state playoffs. Coronado, El Dorado, and Eastwood all won their bi-district matches. Coronado defeated San Angelo Central 3-0; El Dorado beat Midland Lee 3-0; and Eastwood topped Midland 3-2. Franklin was defeated by Tascosa 3-2 in their playoff encounter. Coronado was the only team to advance past the Area round when the T Birds defeated Mansfield 3-1. Keller beat El Dorado 3-0 and Weatherford topped Eastwood 3-0. Coronado’s season ended in the Regional Quarter Finals when they were beaten by Weatherford 3-0.

5A Volleyball

Burges, Chapin, Horizon, and El Paso High all won their Bi District matches. The Mustangs beat Eastlake 3-0; the Huskies defeated Canutillo 3-0; Horizon outlasted Jefferson 3-1; and EPHS got by Ysleta 3-0. Unfortunately, all El Paso area teams were defeated in the Area round. Canyon defeated EPHS 3-0; Amarillo beat Horizon 3-1; Hereford topped Burges 3-2; and Randall defeated Chapin 3-0.

4A Volleyball

The 4A teams didn’t fare any better in their bi district matches. Andrew defeated San Elizario 3-0; Fabens beat Monahans 3-2; Mountain View lost to Greenwood 3-0; and Pecos beat Clint 3-0. The Area stage saw Pecos fall to Bushland 3-1 and Fabens lose to Levelland 3-2.

3A Volleyball

Tornillo lost to Grape Creek 3-0 in their bi-district match.

2A Volleyball

Anthony defeated McCamey 3-0 in their bi-district match but lost to Post 3-0 in the Area round.

El Paso area volleyball teams play solid volleyball during the season but something seems to go wrong every year in the playoffs. Very few teams advance more than two rounds. Such was the case again this year as Coronado was the only El Paso representative to make it to the third round of the playoffs.

Football

Cathedral defended their 2016 TAPPS Division 5 title by going 4-4 during the regular season and then winning their last two games to capture their second straight TAPPS Division 5 Championship. The Irish defeated Tyler All Saints 43-7 in the Semi Finals and then pulled out a fourth quarter comeback to beat Houston Village School 31-28 the following week. Congratulations to Coach Hampton Hurt, his coaches, and his players for winning their second straight championship.

The story wasn’t so good for the El Paso area’s other teams. Montwood and Pebble Hills were the top two teams in the city and were unbeaten for most of season until they met late in the year. Montwood won that contest and proved to be the best team in El Paso. One probably could have predicted that the Rams were going to be the city’s number one team when they beat Frenship 70-14 and Midland High 58-53 in the first two games of the season. El Paso area 6A teams always begin the season with out of town competition and you probably could have predicted the way the state playoffs were going to unfold by the not-so-great 4-8 pre district record against out of town opponents. The 5A teams didn’t play any pre season out of town teams and it showed in the playoffs. El Paso teams play quality football against each other and have fared better in the playoffs in recent years, especially Canutillo in 2014. Such was not the case this season. Only Parkland advance past the Area round.

6A Football

Montwood was the only El Paso area team to advance past the bi-district round when the Rams defeated Midland 42-35 to make it two wins over the Bulldogs in the same season. Montwood was routed in the Area round by Arlington 77-42 the following week. El Dorado, Coronado, and Pebble Hills all lost their bi-district games. El Dorado was beaten by Midland Lee 63-0; Coronado was ousted by Permian50-17; and Pebble Hills fell to San Angelo Central 35-20.

5A Football

Bi district action saw Andress defeat Bel Air 37-34; Del Valle topped Chapin 49-28; Parkland beat Burges 45-6; and Eastlake easily beat Jefferson 56-13.

Parkland was the only El Paso area 5A team to advance past the Area stage. The Matadors defeated Abilene Cooper 45-34. Andress was defeated by Monterey 52-14; Eastlake lost to Lubbock Cooper 42-21; and Del Valle was ousted by Lubbock Coronado52-42.

Parkland’s playoff run ended the following week when they were defeated by Richland 55-21 in the third round.

4A Football

Mountain View, Fabens, and Clint all failed to make it out of the bi district round of the playoffs. Mountain View was beat by Estacado 45-0; Fabens was defeated by Pampa 53-3; and Clint was ousted by Levelland 28-7.

2A Football

Tornillo was defeated by Stamford 69-14 in their bi-district game.

El Paso area teams play quality football during the season and have played better in the playoffs in recent years. The 2017 season must be seen as a step backwards especially after the pre season wins by Montwood, Franklin, and El Dorado. Maybe the 6A teams beat up each other so badly during the district season that they have nothing left in the tank by the playoffs. Something certainly goes wrong.

Championship Count: One state championship in football

Cross Country

San Elizario High School is becoming a Texas 4A power in athletics especially in Soccer, Cross Country Track, and Track and Field. The Eagles have won team titles or individual titles in the sports in recent years and have done so again in the 2017-18 school year. San Elizario won the 4A UIL Cross Country title in 2017 and just recently won their second 4A UIL Soccer title. I will write about the Soccer title in my Spring 2018 recap but it is now time to write about the Eagle’s Cross Country title.

One state championship is hard enough to win but 2017 marks the 4 th straight state championship for San Elizario. Few athletic teams can match that record (only the Hanks Girls Wrestling team and Cathedral’s amazing Swimming team in the El Paso area) and Coach Morales and his team are to be recognized for their accomplishments. You have made the El Paso area proud. Members of the team and their finish in the state cross country meet are listed below:

Edwin Gomez 1 st Place (Individual Gold Medal)

Rene Arambula 4 th place

David Ceballos 9 th place

Seth Rodriguez 13 th place

Martin Pargas 26 th place

Antonio Diaz 28 th place

Adrian Contreras 62 nd place

Cathedral has been a dominant force in TAPPS Cross Country and 2017 was also another good year. Brandon Seagrave won and individual gold medal and led his team mates to a second place finish in Division 6A. Cathedral scored 76 points and finished runner up to San Antonio Antonian and their 67 points. Other Irish team members were Pedro Espinoza 12 th place, Ian Smith 14 th place, and Daniel Maes 17 th place

Loretto Academy finished in 6 th place in the Girl’s 6A state meet and were led by Britney Martinez 28 th place and Luciana Borrego’s 32 nd place.

Lydia Patterson boys and girls both had respectable showing in TAPPS 5A. The boys finished in 9 th place while the girls placed 14 th .

San Elizario was not the only El Paso area public high school to have a good showing in the various cross country state meets.

6A Boys

The Eastwood boys finished 3 rd in the state. Team members were Gabe Armijo 5 th place, Anthony Molina 11 th place, Elias Perez 20 th place, Juan Olmos 33 rd place, Kayn Quinones 54 th place, Eddie Gallegos 57 th place, and Pedro Guerra 90 th place.

6A Girls

Eva Jess of Franklin finished in 5 th place while Coronado’s Jenelle Darakjy finished in 22 nd place.

5A Boys

Michael Abeyta finished in second place to earn a silver medal. Aaron Gilliam of Irvin finished in 9 th place.

5A Girls

Burges finished in 14 th place and Austin placed 16 th .

4A Girls

America Morales of San Elizario finished 57 th and Yajay Quiroz placed 59 th .

3A Boys

The Tornillo boys team finished 2nd place at the state meet. Team members were Daniel Amerja 9 th place; Eduardo Carrillo 10 th place; Juan Rivera 12 th place; Ofir Ortega 16 th place; Heriberto Amaya 51 st place; Tommy Montelongo 80 th place and Bryan Garcia 88 th place.

Championship Count: 1 state championship and 3 individual state titles

Team Tennis

Coronado is without doubt the best team in 6A team tennis as well as the number one team in the El Paso area. Franklin also has a strong team with Eastwood and Americas rounding out the dominant teams in the 6A ranks. Bel Air, Jefferson, Horizon, Chapin, Eastlake, Burges, El Paso High, and Hanks were the top teams in the 5A classification. Top 4A teams were Mountain View, San Elizario, Fabens, and Clint. The following is a recap of how the area teams fared in the Texas UIL Team Tennis Tournament:

6A Team Tennis

Region 1-6A Bi District

Franklin over Frenship 10-9; Coronado over San Angelo Central 10-1; Midland over Americas 17-2; and Tascosa over Eastwood 10-0

Region 1-6A Area

Franklin over Arlington Lamar 12-7; Coronado over Arlington Martin 10-3

Region 1-6A Regional Quarter Finals

Midland over Franklin 13-6; Coronado over Tascosa 10-9

Region 1-6A Tournament Semi Finals

Plano West 10 Coronado 6

All El Paso 6A teams eliminated. Coronado advances 4 rounds and was one stage from the state final 4

5A Team Tennis

Region 1-5A Bi-District

Bel Air over Jefferson 10-9; Horizon over Chapin 10-3; Eastlake over Burges 10-3; EPHS over Hanks 10-1

Region 1-5A Area

Lubbock Coronado over Bel Air 12-0; Amarillo over Horizon 10-0; Randall over Eastlake 10-0; Lubbock over EPHS 10-3

All El Paso area 5A teams eliminated

4A Team Tennis

Region 1-4A Bi District

Andrews over Mountain View 19-0; San Elizario over Midland Greenwood 10-5; Monahans over Fabens 10-0; and Fort Stockton over Clint 13-0

Region 1-4A Area

Andrews over Seminole 10-1; San Elizario over Brownfield 10-7

Region 1-4A Regional Quarter Finals

Andrews over San Elizario 10-3