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September 19, 2009

Hornets score 28 points in third quarter to rout Houston Waltrip 35-0

By Tom Waddill The Huntsville Item Sat Sep 19, 2009, 01:27 AM CDT

HOUSTON — The final score looked pretty: Huntsville 35, Houston Waltrip 0.

Justin Gilbert’s 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was exciting, Huntsville’s defense did its job most of the night and sophomore linebacker Bridge Blount capped a thrilling third quarter when he picked off a pass and returned it three yards for a touchdown.

Nearly everything else Friday was ugly. Ugly with a capital U.

Huntsville (1-2) did notch its first win of the season, but the Hornets did so in a game that was marred by penalties and a fourth-quarter fight in which one Waltrip player and an assistant coach were escorted off the field by police officers.

In the end, the teams combined for more penalty yards (309) than total offense (246).

It was that bad.

Fortunately, the Hornets came away winners in their final nondistrict game of the season. They did so by scoring late in the first half, then tacking on 28 points in the third quarter.

Gilbert, who struggled mightily in the first half, hit Mark Wheeler with a 27-yard touchdown pass with 36 seconds left in the second period. Wheeler made a nice Willie Mays-style, over-the-shoulder catch on the pass from Gilbert.

“We got us a score and that gave us the momentum going into halftime,” said Huntsville coach Mitchell Coey, who was still smarting from a lick he took in the brawl that brought coaches and police officers from both sides onto the field. “Our defense kept us in the game in the first half.”

The Hornets began to break the game open on the first play of the second half. Gilbert fielded the third-quarter kickoff on the 8-yard line, patiently waited for his blockers to give him an opening, then burst through the Rams defense. He broke one arm tackle and it was off to the races.

“I knew if I could run it back that would give us some momentum,” said Gilbert, who completed 5-of-9 passes for 59 yards. “Our defense did a good job not letting them get back in the game once we took the lead.”

Huntsville’s defense did a great job, especially in the second half.

Senior Brodrick Hadnot recovered a fumble, then sacked Rams quarterback Zechariah Lemond on consecutive possessions. Using a strong pass rush, the Hornets started winning the field-position battle, which helped Huntsville’s offense put some more points on the board.

Senior tailback Joe Maxey scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 1-yard run. Maxey capped a short three-play, 18-yard touchdown drive with 5:28 left in the third, then after senior free safety Gabe Franklin picked off a pass and ran it to the Rams’ 5-yard line, Maxey scored again from 3 yards out to make it 28-0.

Blount put the finishing touches on the Huntsville scoring spurt when he reached up and snatched a Lemond pass and ran it in with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

Kicker Martin Juarez went a perfect 4-for-4 on extra-point tries.

“When Gilbert ran that kickoff all the way back, that was sure a momentum changer,” Coey said. “Then our defense kept giving us a short field and our offense did enough to put some points on the board.

“I feel pretty good about this win. Offensively, we were very conservative. We didn’t want to turn the ball over too many times. We wanted to play a field-position game with them — a cat-and-mouse game — because we knew we had too many athletes not to get on track.”

Huntsville, which opens District 18-4A play next week against Caney Creek at Moorhead Stadium in Conroe, netted only 73 yards through the air and 29 more on the ground. The Hornets were hit with 11 penalties for 132 yards.

Waltrip, which fell to 2-2, passed for 144 yards, but the Rams netted negative-35 yards rushing. Waltrip also was penalized 21 times for 177 yards.

The game got out of hand midway through the fourth quarter when Huntsville lined up for a play. Nose tackle Rodney Clovis flattened the Huntsville center before the ball was snapped. A huge fight broke out on the next play when Clovis took a swing at Maxey.

The game was stopped for nearly 15 minutes, but order was finally restored and the rest of the contest was played without any further incidents. The teams did not shake hands afterward, though.

“I thought the officials did a good job controlling things,” Coey said.

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Hornet Sports

Back to work
Tick tick tick. Tick tick tick tick.
It won’t be long until the alarm goes off early Monday morning, signaling the start of high school football practice in Huntsville.
Freshmen hit the field at 8 a.m. Monday and Hornets head coach Shane Martin can’t wait. Huntsville’s defensive coordinator the past two years, Martin has been waiting seven long months for the first day of serious summer workouts.

July 31, 2010 1 Photo
Huntsville ISD hires new volleyball coach
On paper and in her head, Stephanie Branch quietly took notes while sitting in the stands at Bryan High School on Thursday night. She paid particular attention to the team from Huntsville, because in a little more than a month that bunch will be her’s.
The daughter of a teaching and coaching couple, Branch, 31, was hired this week as the Lady Hornets’ new head volleyball coach. She replaces Brittany Brumbelow, who stepped down from her position at the end of the school year to spend more time with her family.

June 17, 2010
High school notebook: Brenham boys edge Hornets at state track meet
Round one went to the Brenham boys. The Cubs won the District 18-4A boys track and field title last month in Willis.
The Huntsville boys took round two. Led by state qualifiers Justin Gilbert, Brodrick Hadnot, Henry Ford, Dimitri Collier and Cameron Simmons, the Hornets evened the score by outscoring the Cubs at the Region III track meet in Huntsville early this month.
In Austin last weekend, the Cubs edged the Hornets in the unofficial battle for track and field supremacy in District 18-4A.

May 18, 2010
Going for gold
It wasn’t that long ago. RaKira Turner stood in the shot put ring and with all of her might, flat-footed she heaved the heavy ball forward.
Her first throws from the discus ring were even more memorable. With no idea about how to hold the strangely shaped disc, Turner did her best but the results were far from pretty.

May 12, 2010 1 Photo
Hornets finish strong
They easily could have gone through the motions.
Sitting eighth in the team standings after a miserable first day at the UIL Boys Golf State Championships, the Hornets could have trudged around the Jimmy Clay Golf Course without a care.
They could have turned in another big score, gotten back on the bus and hit the highway headed home to Huntsville.
These Hornets had too much pride to mail in the second round of the tournament. On Tuesday, the Huntsville boys made a huge turnaround, shooting a team score of 307, which moved them up to sixth in the team standings.

May 11, 2010
Difficult district
The Lady Hornets played their best round of golf Monday at Raven Nest Golf Club. Unfortunately for the Huntsville girls, they are stuck in District 18-4A with two, and probably three, of the top teams in the state.
Led by junior Madison Ward, who shot a solid 79, Huntsville’s varsity team posted a 349 team score during the first round of the District 18-4A tournament. That total puts the Lady Hornets in fourth place behind Montgomery Gold (310), Montgomery Purple (313) and Magnolia A (319) heading into today’s final round.

April 12, 2010 1 Photo
Hornets finish first at Dayton track meet
The track teams from Huntsville High School did exactly what their head coach wanted them to do last week in the final tune-up before the all-important District 18-4A meet.
The Hornets finished first and the Lady Hornets placed third in the team standings at the Bronco Relays in Dayton.

April 12, 2010 2 Photos
Gilbert advances to 100-meter finals at Texas Relays
Huntsville senior Justin Gilbert booked a spot in the main event. With a sizzling showing in the prelims for the 100-meter dash, Gilbert earned a place in the finals of the Texas Relays this afternoon in Austin.
Hopefully, he will have some company as some of his teammates try this morning to advance to the finals at Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas.

April 2, 2010
‘I’m going to be nervous’
Austin’s Mike Myers Stadium is the place to be this weekend. The top track and field athletes not only in Texas, but from across the United States, will be competing inside a stadium full with the sport’s most passionate fans.
As a reward for weeks of hard work, and also to act as a possible tune-up for next month’s season-ending state meet, Huntsville High School is sending its best athletes to Austin, too.

April 1, 2010 2 Photos
Top-ranked Cubs bring big bats to Huntsville
On a night when Brenham’s Chase Wellbrock nearly threw a no-hitter, Huntsville head coach Jeff Brumbelow shook his head more about the Cubs’ impressive hit parade.
Brenham came to Kate Barr Ross Park on Wednesday and quickly took control on the District 18-4A baseball game against the Hornets. The top-ranked Cubs banged out 16 hits in the first three innings and scored 13 runs on their way to a commanding 18-1 win over Huntsville.

March 17, 2010
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Second-half explosion

Hornets score 28 points in third quarter to rout Houston Waltrip 35-0

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