Lady Eagles grab post season spot, still reign undefeated

The Lady Eagles basketball team clenched a spot in post season play last Tuesday with a 46-34 win over the Randall Lady Raiders. They increased their undefeated district record to 13-0.

They faced Caprock last Friday and came away with a 44-32 win over the Lady Longhorns.

Continuing their winning streak, the girls went up against Plainview this Tuesday night. Canyon added yet another win with a score of 44-30.

The Lady Eagles will travel to Frenship tomorrow. Freshmen begin at 4:30 p.m., JV at 7:30 p.m., and varsity at 6 p.m.

Tennis springs into new season

The varsity tennis team began their district season last Saturday in Vernon, Texas.

The Eagles faced Burkburnett Saturday morning and defeated them 13-6. They battled the Vernon Lions that afternoon and snuck out a win, 10-9.

“Those were two big wins for us,” Coach Aaron Fuller said.

Canyon will travel to Texas Tech this Saturday to play Abilene Wylie.

Eagles defeat Dons, to face Hereford

The varsity boys’ basketball team defeated the Palo Duro Dons Tuesday night with a final score of 59-45.

The lead Eagles scorer was senior Will Tolliver with 15 points. He led Canyon, along with senior Isaac Williams, defensively with a combined total of six steals.

The Eagles battle Hereford at home tonight.

“We feel very confident going into Friday’s game,” sophomore Dylan Douglass said. “We’re hoping to hold our place in the district standings.

Freshmen begin at 4:30 p.m., JV at 6 p.m. and varsity at 7:30 p.m.

BCS, bowl selection need overhaul

 On Sunday, Dec. 4, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) released their official top 25 standings and matchups for all 35 bowl games. The rankings, conference championship results and several other factors compiled the final order and determined the teams who will play in a BCS bowl. This included the two who will play for the 2012 National Championship at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Despite No. 3 Oklahoma State’s performance in their domination over rival Oklahoma and their resulting Big XII championship, their first since 1948, it was not enough to sway the human components of the BCS, the USA Today coaches’ and Harris polls. For the first time ever, two teams from the same conference will play each other for a national championship. No. 1 Louisiana State against No. 2 Alabama.

Elsewhere, the Sugar Bowl features No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 13 Michigan. Virginia Tech lost 38-10 to Clemson in the Atlantic Coastal Conference title game. Michigan sat at home while in-state rival Michigan State played Wisconsin in the inaugural Big Ten title game. Kansas State, Boise State and even Michigan State were better choices for the game. But because teams often do not lose ground in the polls when they do not play, the Wolverines stood firm while the Spartans slid. Bittersweet picks for this season’s Sugar Bowl.

The bowl picks cleared me of all doubt that the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division 1 needs a playoff system like every other college sport in every other division. Their bowl selection process also needs someone to step in and say “Here’s who’s playing. You don’t like it, tough.”

FBS football is the only college sport without a championship tournament or playoff. First and second in the BCS polls play for the title. All other teams play or sit at home on the whim of the games’ committees. Every bowl game has a group of people to determine who they want the most out of all the available teams. BCS bowls get first pick, followed by everyone else. Bowl games with traditional prestige, such as the Cotton Bowl, have more weight to convince a higher-ranked BCS snub than the Independence Bowl or the Music City Bowl.

However, the main factor with many prominent bowls comes down to the teams that travel better or are closer to the site of the game. Which school has more fans that will show up? While deserving conference runners-up should beat out other teams, money should not be the determining factor that manipulates who flies and who lies.

For the national title game, there are 59 coaches who get votes in the USA Today poll. Alabama coach Nick Saban and LSU coach Les Miles both get votes. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy does not. My suggestion is to use the AP poll for that third rather than half of the coaches to determine the entire picture.

California-Los Angeles (UCLA), despite a 6-7 record, will play Illinois in a bowl game. Western Kentucky, who finished 7-5, will stay home for the bowl season. UCLA played in the Pac-12 title game, so my theory is that the NCAA saw no reason to bounce the runner up from an AQ league championship. WKU finished second in the Sun Belt Conference in their third year as an FBS team. Yet despite their turnaround from a 0-4 start, will have to wait until next September for another game.

The BCS gives automatic BCS bowl bids to the champions of the following conferences (2011 champions): the Big Ten (Wisconsin), the Big XII (Oklahoma State), the Big East (West Virginia), the ACC (Clemson), the SEC (LSU) and the Pac-12 (Oregon). While most of these teams deserve a place in the BCS bowls, West Virginia finished No. 23 in the polls with a 9-3 mark, well behind 10+ win teams. Yet because of their championship, they pushed out other BCS potentials with better credentials.

Non-AQ leagues can only send their champion to a BCS game if they finish in the top 12 outright or in the top 16 and ahead of other champions of AQ leagues. One surprising stat is that non-AQ teams are 5-2 in the BCS, all against AQ league champions.

Overall, the system of giving bowls the power to choose who they want to play is bogus. They choose based on their own interests rather than on who deserves the better games more. The process to determine the national champion needs to switch to a playoff bracket like every other college sport and division. Even if it were only four teams to begin with, that would be a satisfactory start to let deserving teams prove why they deserve to play for the crystal football.

Boys’ cross country finishes sixth at Region, send one to State

The varsity boys cross country team’s season came to a close after their sixth place finish at the regional meet on Nov. 5.

The top three teams and top ten individuals moved on to the state cross country meet last Saturday in Austin. Junior Mesa Allison represented the Canyon boys down south with his sixth place regional finish.

I was excited that I actually made it, but I didn’t do as well as I wanted to at regionals,” Allison said. “Going into state I was trying to redeem myself, but that didn’t really work out so well.”

Allison finished 29^th place and said he thought he did well, but that he just didn’t meet his goals.

“Mesa placed well, there is room for him to do a lot better in the future and could possibly be on the podium next year,” boys cross country coach Wes Kirton said.

Varsity football advances to playoffs with win in Plainview

The varsity football clinched the last playoff spot in district 3-4 A with a 21-7 victory over the Plainview Bulldogs last Friday night.

The first points of the game were scored by junior Graeson Cook with a 39-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Travis Cosby. A good PAT by senior Austin Weaver made the Eagles up 7-0 with 1:38 left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs tied the game at 7-7 with 54 seconds remaining in the half after Canyon’s four penalties, including three facemasks, helped propel Plainview down the field.

Canyon was ahead 14-7 by the end of the third quarter after a three-yard run by Cosby. They scored again with 9:57 left in the game with a catch by sophomore Blake Weaver, coming to the final score of 21-7.

The Eagles face Lake Dallas Saturday at Wichita Falls Memorial Stadium. A final game time is yet to be determined.

Varsity football defeats Dumas on senior night

The varsity football team defeated the Dumas Demons last Friday 34-14 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium on senior night.

The first points of the game were scored by senior quarterback Travis Cosby at the 8:14 mark of the first quarter. Senior Austin Weaver’s extra point was wide, making the score 6-0.

With 1:27 left in the quarter, the Eagles were up 14-0 after a quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a two-point conversion by sophomore Blake Weaver and junior Graeson Cook.

After a handoff from Cosby, senior Ben Wentz ran the ball 44-yards for another Canyon touchdown. Austin Weaver’s extra point was good, putting the Eagles up 21-0 with 3:53 left in the half.

The second half started with an interception by junior Dak Olson, giving the Eagles possession on their own 38 yard line. With a pass to Cook and Austin Weaver’s PAT, the Eagles were up 28-0 with 8:09 to play in the third quarter.

Canyon’s defense caused the Demons to punt yet again and the Eagles were up 34-0 with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter after a six-yard run by junior Steven Hansen and a blocked PAT.

Dumas made a quarterback change to Rylan Gerber after Clayton Baker was sacked by sophomore Trey Barrentos. After only one completion, Gerber threw an interception to Olson and Canyon had the ball on their 28 the end the third quarter.

The Demons scored with 3:33 remaining in the game with a 36-yard touchdown and a good PAT. Their defense caused the Eagles to go three and out and Dumas used the last minute of the game to score a four-yard touchdown pass to end the game 34-14.

The varsity team will close their regular season out in Plainview this Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Varsity tennis team looks ahead to individual spring season

The varsity tennis team traveled to Wichita Falls on Oct. 27 for the regional tournament. They were unranked as they faced their first round opponents Friday morning.

“We lost the fourth seed to a team with a lower state rank and worse district record than ours,” head coach Aaron Fuller said. “Don’t know how that happened, but we didn’t let it affect us.”

The eagles faced Granbury High School in the first round, defeating them 10-0.

“We dominated Granbury,  plain and simple,” Fuller said.

Canyon faced Wichita Falls Old High in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon. They fought hard, but were defeated by the Coyotes, 1-10.

“We battled very hard against Old High,” Fuller said. “They were just better than us.”

Old High fell to Wichita Falls Rider in the finals on Saturday afternoon, 8-11.  

The tennis team will prepare for their individual season in the spring as they move to off season.

Undefeated varsity tennis advances to regionals

The varsity tennis team completed their fall district season undefeated after beating the Dumas Demons 12-7 and the Palo Duro Dons 18-1 last Saturday.

The team will head to Wichita Falls this Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and head coach Aaron Fuller will attend the coaches meeting that night at 8 p.m. to determine their rank at the regional tournament.

“It is important that we’re seeded one through four,” Fuller said. “If we aren’t we could play some of our toughest competition early on in the tournament.”

With last year’s fall season resulting in a semifinal loss to Wichita Falls Old High for the second consecutive year, the team said they feel prepared and confident going into this year’s tournament.

“We played Old High on Aug. 20 and lost 5-14, but I think we’ve worked really hard since then,” Fuller said. “Playing them early on in our season showed us what we needed to focus on, and I feel we have improved. We’re ready to go down there and compete.”

Varsity football defeats Hereford, 36-7

The varsity football team scored their first district win Friday night against the Hereford Whitefaces, defeating them 36-7.

The first points in the game didn’t come until 2:52 left in the first half when Hereford’s D. J. Garcia found Brian Hill for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Edgar Tobias’s extra point was good, putting the Whitefaces up 7-0.

The Eagles caught fire in the second half of the game.

A carry by senior Ben Wentz put Canyon on the board. The Eagles then faked a kick for the extra point and sophomore Blake Weaver found sophomore Dylan Douglass in the end zone for a two-point conversion. With 8:55 left in the third quarter, the Eagles were ahead 8-7.

In only 37 seconds and two plays, the Eagles had their next six up on the board with a carry from Wentz, then a 15-yard keeper from senior quarterback Travis Cosby and an extra point from senior Austin Weaver. Canyon then led 29-7.

The Whitefaces had made it to the Eagles 28-yard line with 1:54 left in the game, Garcia threw an interception and senior Will Toliver ran it back 77-yards for a touchdown.  Austin Weaver’s kick settle the score at 36-7.

The varsity team will play Caprock this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium. The JV and freshmen teams will also face the Longhorns Thursday night at 5 p.m., JV at Caprock and freshmen at Kimbrough.

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