Off Running
from The Dallas Morning News HS Game Time
Class 5A and 4A teams that held spring practice began workouts this week for the 2009 season. A road sign in front of Allen High School boasts of the 2008 Class 5A Division I state football championship, and a banner inside the field house touts the school's first state football title. So as Allen players prepared for their first practice, it was easy for them to think back to December's crowning moment. More

Friday Night Lights? For McNeil, Practice was Sunday Midnight Madness
from the Austin American-Statesman
While many of their friends were in bed creating dreams early Monday morning, the McNeil Mavericks were on the field, beginning to chase theirs. Monday was the first day in which high school football teams that worked out in spring drills were allowed to practice, and the Mavericks didn't waste any time, taking the field just minutes after midnight. More

Littleton Remembered as Ever-present Mentor
from the San Antonio Express-News
For 43 years as a coach, educator and administrator, and several more before that as a standout athlete in high school and college, Jimmy Littleton's life revolved around sports. His passion continued well into retirement, where his presence at practices and games of the Reagan basketball team coached by his son Jimmy Fred was so common, the players affectionately knew him as "Grandpa." More

Assembling Staff a Key for Orangefield Football
from the Beaumont Enterprise
Orangefield football coach Bryan Huckabay only had two weeks to work with a full coaching staff. Soon after his arrival at the end of June, Huckabay began a coaching search to fill six vacant assistant positions. He filled his last one two weeks prior to the first day of practice, which began Aug. 3. Now that the coaching search has come to end, Huckabay spends much of his time getting his players used to his system. More

Henigan Pointing Grapevine Toward Wins
from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The tough part, the sleeping at the office on an air mattress, away from the wife and three children, that part of the job is over now for Dave Henigan. The challenging part, restoring a two-time state championship program to prominence, well, that began in earnest last week. More

Volleyball's Small Schools Have Big Game
from the San Antonio Express News
It was a year ago, and the anticipation of the start of another high school volleyball season could be felt in the air. Like seemingly every year, teams went into preseason workouts with visions of winning district championships, making deep playoff runs — even winning a state title. Then, Incarnate Word's Marissa Rodriguez began to scan her team's schedule ... and paused. Clark. Smithson Valley. East Central. MacArthur. Those were some of the Class 5A programs the Shamrocks would face during non-district play. More

from the Austin American Statesman
Even in the midst of a drought, linebackers are growing on trees in Cedar Park. The Cedar Park Timberwolves are primed for a run at their first district title since 2004. Leading the way for the Timberwolves will be a defense that returns six starters and five talented linebackers. More

McKinney Shortstop Lipka Long on Accomplishments
from the Plano Star
McKinney senior Matt Lipka has played in hundreds of baseball games, leading the Lions to the playoffs each of the past two seasons as one of the top middle infielders in the state. He starred for Team USA at the Pan American Championships last year and has been invited to the 18U Team USA Baseball Trials from Sept. 12-17 after standing out at the recent Tournament of Stars in North Carolina. More