What a night

Wow.

Really, that's all I can say.

The sad part is, it may not get better than that all season long, and that could include some pretty good games along the way. But it'll be hard to match up to that one, even though the Cats did come out on the losing end.

A few thoughts on my end before we call it a night:

*The way the defense responded to the challenge presented to them series after series was spectacular. As a coach, I don't think you could ask for anything else. That unit gave it everything it had out there, that's for sure.

*Kenny Green and Co. will learn from this experience. In fact, he might already be. Instead of moping off the field after the game, I saw Green talk to teammates, make sure they were okay. That's the sign of a real team leader. This one will be tough for a while, but Green and the team will learn and grow from it.

*Finally, and I know this isn't breaking news to anyone, but Terrance Simon is a beast. The final tally came to 145 on 25 carries, by my count. That includes the drive early in the fourth that saw him almost single-handedly will his team to victory. On that nine-play, 64-yard drive that tied it at 14, Green opened the series with a five yard run. From there, it was all Simon.

The Wildcats' youth showed through tonight in some of the mistakes they made, but the good news for PHS fans is all the mistakes that were made seem to be fixable with time and teaching.

Palestine rally falls short

Despite a valiant effort from its defense and an almost heroic final drive from its offense, the Palestine football team came up short against Brownsboro, 20-14.

Wildcat quarterback Kenny Green had a pass intercepted inside the Brownsboro five-yard line as time expired, ending the rally.

Westwood fell in Tyler to open the Bryan Price-era, 50-10, to Chapel Hill.
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Mistakes catch up with Cats

The Palestine defense withstood a muffed punt. It couldn't withstand a fumble four plays later.

Brownsboro converted Palestine's second turnover of the fourth quarter into points, leading 20-14 with 3:30 remaining in the game.

Cayuga opened 2010 with a resounding 30-6 win over Overton.

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The Terrance Simon show

The Wildcats needed an answer to the last BHS score, and they got it courtesy of Terrance Simon.

The senior just carried Palestine in for the tying score, a drive highlighted by a 28-yard run by the senior.

It's tied at 14 with 2:30 left in the third.
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Bears retake lead

A 3-yd run by Brownsboro's Keantis Thompson just put the Bears back on top, 14-7, with 6:59 left in the 3rd quarter.
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Westwood falling fast

It hasn't gotten any better for the Westwood Panthers who trail Tyler Chapel Hill, 42-3 at the half.
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Fw: grapeland

From our correspondents Wayne and Christina Stewart at the Grapeland/Centerville contest

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---

From: "christina cutler" <ccutler@palestineherald.com>

Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:46:36 GMT

To: <justinrains25@gmail.com>

Subject: grapeland

Centerville leads Grapeland 7-6 at halftime.

Noteable plays: Cameron Boyd threw a 65 yard TD pass to Reshawd Shepherd.

Cameron Boyd has 113 yards passing.
Reshawd Shepherd has 105 receiving yards.

PHS/BHS tied, Yuga rolling

The Wildcats and Bears head into half time tied a 7 apieceM after a shaky startN the Cats offense and defense seem to have settled in for a dogfight.

In CayugaN the defending champs came out swinging and currently lead Overton, 24-0.
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Cats answer

Jeremy Sias just blocked a Brownsboro punt into the endzone.

It was fallen on by 2 Wildcats for the score.

It's 7-7 with 7:20 left in the half.
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Westwood down big

The Panthers face an uphill climb in Tyler, trailing Chapel Hill, 21- 0 after the first quarter.
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Bears score first

After recovering a PHS fumble near midfield, Brownsboro opens the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run.

7-0 BHS with 6:40 left in the first quarter.
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Fw: Pre-game notes

I'm still working out the mobile upload kinks.
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-----Original Message-----
From: justinrains25@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:05:54
To: <justinrains.duke@blogger.com>
Reply-To: justinrains25@gmail.com
Subject: Pre-game notes

Alright folks, we're live here at Wildcat Stadium in Palestine getting set for the Palestine Wildcats and Brownsboro.

The two teams are finishing up their respective pre-game routines as fans begin filing into the stadium.

We should see two contrasting offensive styles tonight, with Palestine showcasing their team speed and running game while Brownsboro, historically, will utilize a crisp passing game.

Talking to coach Lance Angel this week, he seemed to think special teams could easily become a factor tonight.

Stay tuned, the 2010 season kick-off is less than 30 minutes away.
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Southlake Carroll QB denied eligibility

Don't know if anyone's been following the saga that's been the short career of Southlake Carroll quarterback Daxx Garman, but District 7-5A ruled today that he's uneligible to play for the Dragons after moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex in the spring, ESPNDallas.com reported today.

Not many details were available because the meeting was closed, but for what it's worth here's the story from ESPNDallas.com: here

In my opinion, this is the right ruling. The UIL clearly states that if a player moves into a district, they have to wait a calendar year to play varsity level athletics. A high school buddy of mine had to sit off the golf team when we were in school for the same reasons.

While it may not seem fair, they are the rules. Rules that everybody has to follow. It doesn't help the Garmans' case that Daxx was ruled ineligible in Oklahoma just prior to the move. Although, maybe that shouldn't matter, since no one seems to know why he was ineligible.

Time for those Friday Night Lights

Well, it's finally here. As they say, there are two seasons here in the great state of Texas: Football season and the offseason.

Starting tonight, the offseason is officially over. Time to strap'em on tight and go.

I'll be covering the Palestine/Brownsboro tilt live at Wildcat Stadium, and if you can't make it out, then keep tuned to the blog here for updates throughout the game.

I'll also be updating the scores from around the Dogwood Circle with the help of our staff writers and correspondents in the field.

It should be a great night for football, and I know I'm personally ready to go.

Check back in just a little bit for my thoughts on PHS/BHS, as well as other pre-game musings from the press box.

Campbell, Black earn Waco Trib honors

The Waco Tribune-Herald released its annual football section with today's paper, and both Westwood's Dustin Campbell and Palestine's Jermaine Black earned nods as a top performer 20-AAA.
The Trib named Campbell the district's top  lineman, while Black was named top defensive player.
The paper also picked the district and has newcomer Mexia edging out the Wildcats for the district title. But, the writer admits a desire by the PHS-faithful for redemtion following last year's playoff loss to Mexia.
Westwood is slated to finish fourth, one spot out of the playoffs behind Madisonville.
In 11-AA, the Elks were picked to finish last, with Crockett, Malakoff and Teague slated to make the playoffs.
In 8-A, D-I--a district the Trib calls "arguably the best" in all of 1A--defending state champion Cayuga is picked to finish third behind Mart and Kerens. The Wildcats Coleman Shafer earned the title of best lineman for the district.

Check out all the high school picks for the Central Texas area here, as well as previews of Baylor and the Big XII

Welcome to The Baseline

Hello there Dogwood Circle sports fans, and welcome to The Baseline, the new sports blog from the Paletine Herald-Press.

I'm Justin Rains, sports editor and blogger, and I've made it my mission to give you as up-to-date coverage as is possible of all things sports in the Dogwood Circle, and helping me do that will be this blog.

So, check the blog often, as there may be things that post here that don't make it in to print.

Also, I'll be doing live-blogging from major events, such as Palestine High School football this season. Also, I'll post scores as I get them on the blog on Friday nights.

So, welcome to the blog, leave a comment below if you've got one, and let's play ball.