SMBALLER61

Shelbyville will be the team to beat... After they win state in basketball their two D1 pitchers will join them.

Shelbyville looked pretty good. Not sure how good Hemphill really is? They had a HUGE size advantage, but Shelbyville still manhandled them at the line of scrimmage. In fact, I would be embarrassed if I were a Hemphill lineman. It was a very typical Ferguson type win. The guy can teach good fundamental football no doubt. His teams block and tackle as good as any you will see, but still no passing. If he would just pass the ball he could achieve greatness.

My vote for this dubious distinction has to be Huntington. Cushing would be a close 2nd., but I give the award to Huntington. They are a basketball town, or at least they were for years. I know they have at least one state title from the early70's and they were always very good throughout the 80's. Shelbyville had a 3 year stretch in the 80's with a combined record of 95-4, two state championships, and a 33-0 season. Two of the 4 losses were to Huntington! They were never stacked with great athletes either. They were just very fundamentally sound, and played great as a team. Unfortunately for them it never carried over to football. I think Cushing puts more time into their baseball? I know they have been really good at times in recent years.

yes, it is the same guy harrison.

Shelbyville has had it's moments as being bad, but far from the worst team around! There have been some very good teams actually that had to play up with the likes of Newton, Woodville, Kirbyville.. The first time this happened was in 77. This was a very good team that finished 8-2. In district the only game they lost was to a very powerful Newton team. This was probably the best small ball team ever around these parts. My opinion. and this was back when only one team went from each district. The feature back was Wymon Bolton who went on to play for Texas Tech, and did well as a punt returner. There were also a few more D1 players on the squad. Aaron McClelland who played for UTEP, and Vernon Lister. Not sure where Lister played? Also Shon Lout FB/LB was recruited by D1 schools, but chose to step into the family business instead of pursue football. Rusty Jones was also and outstanding quarterback with college interest. Not sure why he didn't go? I think I will ask him...Also, Mickey Smith who is currently a Shelbyville coach was a sr. that year, and he broke his leg in the first scrimmage of the season. He had rushed for 1500 yards as a Jr. the year before, and he would have been in the same backfield with Wymon Bolton who rushed for 1500yds as a sophomore that year. The 78 team was probably equally as good. They went 9-1 with the only loss being for the district championship against Garrison. There were some strange happenings surrounding this game. On the morning of the game a key player, Norman Welch was killed in a car wreck. He was the starting center, and a very beloved player on a tight knit team. It was tragic, and very traumatizing to the team. Guy Harrison contacted the UIL to have the game postponed to the next day. The decision was left up to Garrison, and ultimately the AD said no. Shelbyville lost 16-0. There is no way of knowing what might have been, but both teams had one common opponent that season which was Elysian fields. Garrison beet them 7-6 and Shelbyville beat them 55 -7. I know Guy Harrison very well, and we have talked about this game many times. He feels strongly that he had the better team. They were ranked #3 in 2a at the time, and one of the polls #1. He felt it was the best squad he had throughout the whole decade. Which was saying a lot! Another interesting fact about the Garrison game was their AD Buddy Pierce became the AD at Shelbyville in 1986 and held the position until about 1995. The 2007 and 2008 teams were good as well ,but could not compete with the likes of Kirbyville and Woodville. The current Ferguson teams also benefitted greatly from having the most talent since the great teams of the late 70's.

Alto SA Joaquin Carlisle Shelbyville Cushing

I bragged a little on my track abilities earlier, but at a bigger school I wouldn't have been able to participate in everything.. I was just decent enough at most of it to not completely embarrass myself. And this was only through 9th grade. I ended up high jumping, and did decent at it, but I went over the bar head first! LOL I cleared like 5' 2" at the district meet and got 3rd place! I was the high jumper because we went to a neighboring town (center) one day and used their facilities. We were all leaving, and the high jump bar was set at 5'. None of the guys that had tried could clear it. I just jokingly took off running and dove over it head first, and I became the high jumper! My high jumping career ended the next week after maxing out at 5' 2" :) I actually participated in a JV meet the next year, and passed until like 5' 4" thinking surely I could clear. After one miss I scratched. My shining moment was the second leg on the mile relay at district. Not sure what my time was, but it was sub 60. Which is decent for an 8th grader.. I nearly died though! About 30 minutes later I cramped up all over, and nearly had a seizure! Probably because I had also ran the 300 hurdles, high jumped, and even ran the 110 hurdles. I actually won the 300 hurdles at district, but it had a lot to do with not much competition at a 2a district meet.. Those high hurdles kicked my butt though! I was pretty much embarrassed in that event. I whole heartedly agree that it takes extreme heart to compete in track. It really separates the wantabe's from the real competitors. Especially that quarter mile!! For me anyway.. I ran it on the relay, and it was a killer! It's basically a 400 yard sprint, and that takes a helluva toll. . I couldn't run distance at all. Tried the 880 one time, and nearly had to crawl across the finish line... I was in first place though for about 600 yards! LOL Later in the Army I was ok with the mile run and two mile, but I had to be careful. Mess around and start out too quick, and you can really hurt yourself trying to finish. At least I did. So, I am not anti track.. I'm just pro other sports as well. Such as basketball and baseball... and I don't like the idea of kids skipping out on those sports in fear of being punished with less playing time come football season.. it happens.

But if track is your thing then run it!! By all means get out there, and put your nose in the wind! Back when I ran the shorts were something similar to what Richard Simmons worked out in.. That was awful! I always felt exposed, BUT on the flipside the girls were there all day too :) I'm not sure if the gear is any better, but at least Michael Jordon came along and got basketball players out of those little, bitty tiny shorts we had to wear! My God what were they thinking! LOL

Like I said, Track is a noble sport.. I ran through 9th grade, and was a decent quarter miler, high jumper, 300 hurdles, and mile relay. A lot of this was just necessity. We needed people to fill in for different events.. We didn't even have a real track, hurdles, high jump, or long jump pit to practice on. I ended up being a 300m hurdler after winning my heat in a big track meet in Arp running the race for the first time.. Never even jumped a hurdle before that race! Coach just told me to go run it!!! I ended up 5th in the finals and went on to win district at the 8th grade meet in Nacogdoches. Had a buddy that won the hundred without even coming out of the blocks! He continued on the though, and ended up placing 2nd in state in 87. He ran 10.5 at state, and actually ran a 10.3 in a meet in Center... Had colleges all over him, but never followed up... The insanity of athletics in a small town! It was tough as heck too! We used to run until we puked, and then run until we puked again.. and if the coach had time before the hour was up he just kept repeating the process.. We ran mostly 220's and 440's in doing this. Occasionally we would be taken approx. 5 to 7 miles off of school campus, and dropped of to run back... It sucked, and I hated it! LOL It was almost like the coaches were sadistic, and got a kick out of punishing us. I know it's tough sport, but there should be some fun involved... And yes, basketball does overlap with track big time! The state tourney is in March, and then there are all star games after that.. Even little dribblers can go all the way to May if the program is ran correctly. And then there is baseball. . An outstanding sport that a lot of modern kids are scared to play, in fear of these gung ho, over the top AD's that are running east texas football... They fear their coach will punish them if they don't participate in track. Which is ridiculous. That decision should not be made for a kid by a coach. Under any circumstance!

Track is a noble sport for sure, and a great way to train. Especially in this day and age where kids are made to lift heavy weights too often, and at too young of an age. Which GREATLY contributes to overuse injuries. It's an epidemic that is played out right before us all the way to the top. As in the NFL. A lot of the tendon injuries for sure. Some of it can be attributed to turf fields, but a lot of it is over training the muscles, and not strengthening the ligaments and tendons accordingly.. I'm sure there are "experts", and studies that can disprove my theory, but the proof is in the pudding. The problem with track is that it overlaps with basketball and baseball. Track is not for everybody. In fact most kids hate it. . There are lazy kids thought that don't want to do anything, and in that case I don't have a problem with a coach demanding that a kid run track. But, if the kid wants to play basketball some feel that is a cardinal sin. WRONG THINKING! There aren't many things as beneficial to lateral agility, and overall quickness than playing basketball. Football players can make great strides in these areas by playing basketball.. Plus, basketball is fun, and we are talking about KIDS. They only get one chance to do this stuff.... Injury you say? What are the odds, and percentages? How many kids ruin their sports careers playing basketball? Proof of this theory is a well known example in Tenaha Texas. For about the last 25 years now they have been very good in football and basketball. They pretty much walk off the football field every year after a deep playoff run ,and hit the basketball court the next school day with basically the same kids. Then they play basketball, and go on more deep playoff runs well into the spring, or track season. . Nothing wrong with track though. If that is the sport of choice for an individual then go for it, but if they like basketball or baseball better then don't demand, or punish them for doing those sports.. These are kids, and those decisions should be made by them. . Again, if you have a lazy kid, or a slacker that only wants to do one thing, and not work hard then it's time for a coach to intervene.

Shelbyville 5 Tenaha 1 Cole Ferguson.. Remember that name. Maybe some of the other kids will play that need to be?? Lot of talent in lil ole Shelbyville.

Bummer! It will be very tough to reach the level of excellence we have enjoyed lately. .

Point made. I hope.

What a great basketball team those SFA Lumberjacks are! They were severely disrespected by the commentators in the first game when they thoroughly whipped West Virginia . . In the 2nd game only the refs kept them from making the sweet 16. Notre Dame shot well, but the bad calls, and non calls were the difference. ND was allowed to be nearly as physical as they wanted around the goal, but SFA was called for many cheap fouls.. The one call that stood out the most in my opinion was near the end when Walkup shot the 3 and missed. Geffrard was able to get his hand on the rebound, and tip it out to a teammate, but one of the zebras called a foul!! Terrible, terrible call! This gave ND a chance they shouldn't have had. The correct call would have been a non call which would have given SFA a fresh shot clock and made ND have to start committing intentional fouls. Maybe the powers that be couldn't stand the fact that little unknown SFA was about to knock off a big name/ big money school like Notre Dame? I think so. Thomas Walkup. Enough said! I've watched him in person many times throughout his SFA career, and I have always said he is the real deal. I hope he gets a chance at the next level.

I've often thought that myself.. LOL ..