Heading into today’s regular-season finale, the New Waverly Bulldogs have accomplished nearly everything they had in mind before the season kicked off.
Clinch a second straight playoff berth.
Check.
Win a share of a second consecutive district championship.
Check.
Claim an outright title.
Not just yet. That’s something that will be decided tonight when the Bulldogs clash with Buffalo.
The Dogs are far from satisfied and have no plans of resting on their laurels. Instead, they are focused on the Bison and look to finish district play the right way, without a single blemish.
“We just have to take it one game at a time,” senior wide receiver Kyren Watts said following Thursday’s practice. “We can’t look past Buffalo.”
“We really do need to finish strong,” senior Kody Coleman said.
Like New Waverly, the Bison have been cruising through district play.
After getting blanked by Corrigan-Camden in the district opener, Buffalo (3-1 in District 21-2A) blasted Groveton and Trinity and edged Centerville 21-14.
With plenty of confidence on both sidelines, the Bulldogs know they’ll have to do all the little things right to win their sixth straight this season.
“We really need to come out and set the tone for the game defensively,” head coach Ken Craig said. “We need to make a statement on that side of the ball. We’ve been good at times. Other times, we’ve bent a lot and done well when it gets into crunch time, but we need to have a solid four-quarter defensive game. We’ve got to line up correctly and we need to take care of our assignments.
“We also need to make that statement on the offensive side of the ball. We’ve come out and big-played everybody. We want to come out and execute on that side of the ball as well. We need to keep getting the ball into the hands of those guys that make big plays.”
Win or lose, New Waverly (4-0, 7-2) will be district champions. But with a loss to the Bison, the Bulldogs will have to share the title with Buffalo and possibly Corrigan-Camden, a team that New Waverly defeated three weeks ago on a last-second field goal.
Just the mere thought of sharing the 21-2A championship is a bitter pill to swallow and the Bulldogs want to avoid that from happening.
“We’re selfish. We’re greedy,” Coleman said with a smirk. “We don’t want to share it with anybody. We worked too hard and accomplished so much to not have it all to ourselves.”
Even with the Class 2A playoffs on the horizon, New Waverly knows that it still has a lot to gain, especially against a team that will also be going to the playoffs, and a lot to improve on.
“We always want to win,” Coleman added. “It’s just always good to go out on a positive note and build on it. We can always get better and that’s what we hope to do.”
Besides putting another district championship trophy on the shelf, the Bulldogs hope that they’ll gain some momentum to carry into the playoffs, which begin next week.
“You definitely want to go in with a win,” Craig said. “It’s tough to come back from a loss and regain focus. Sometimes that’s hard thing to overcome.
“I expect us to come out Friday and play the best that we can play. If we can play the best that we can, then we’ll be undefeated district champions by the end of the night.”
Sports
One more goal to reach
Bulldogs looking to win district crown outright with win over Bison tonight
- Sports
-
-
Tough night for Kats against Rice
The Bearkats had a golden opportunity to make a lasting impression for a potential at-large bid in the NCAA tournament with fifth-ranked Rice coming to town. Sam Houston’s bats couldn’t get going early enough or be able to link enough hits together against the Owls pitching staff and succumbed to a 5-0 loss in the final game of the season at Don Sanders Stadium on Tuesday night.
-
BEARKAT BASEBALL — Plenty up for grabs against fifth-ranked Rice
For several reasons, today’s game against fifth-ranked Rice is going to be a biggie for the Bearkats.
-
SHSU MEN'S BASKETBALL — Kats sign ‘winner’ from Trinity Valley
Will Bond, a 6-3 guard from Trinity Valley Community College, has signed a letter-of-intent to attend Sam Houston State University and play men’s basketball for head coach Jason Hooten.
- RUNNING SHORTS: New study confirms the benefits of running
-
BEARKATS BASEBALL — Sam Houston wasn't going to be denied regular-season title
With four conference games left to play, all that kept Sam Houston from a Southland Conference regular season championship was just one win. Whether it was at Central Arkansas later in the week or in the Kats’ conference home finale on Sunday, just one victory would hand Sam Houston it’s first regular season conference title in 23 years. Relaxed and ready to pounce, Sam Houston jumped all over Southeastern Louisiana’s pitching staff early and relied on a strong starting pitching performance from senior Michael Oros. The Kats cruised to an 8-3 victory over the second-place Lions and the celebration was on.
-
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT — Bearkats fall to Texas State in Southland Conference softball tournament title round
A gallant effort by the Sam Houston State softball team ended Sunday afternoon as the Bearkats fell 3-0 to No. 1 seed Texas State in the finals of the Southland Conference Tournament at Roadrunner Field.
-
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS — Sam Houston men place fourth, women ninth at outdoor championships
Led by the Bearkats’ gold medal-winning 1,600-meter relay team of Trey Jones, Brian Hellaire, Jesse Martinez and D.J. Hayes, Sam Houston State’s men’s track and field team finished fourth, while the Sam Houston women finished ninth at the Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships in San Marcos over the weekend.
-
BEARKATS BASEBALL — Sam Houston closing in on Southland championship
-
CLASS 2A BASEBALL PLAYOFFS — Bulldogs let one slip away, 9-8
No one from New Waverly wanted to publicly criticize the officiating after Central Heights bounced the Bulldogs out of the Class 2A state baseball playoffs Saturday, but everyone seemed to be wondering the same thing. Where exactly was the strike zone and what was it going to take for a New Waverly pitcher to be able to locate it? That was a mystery New Waverly pitchers Ryan Keller, Cole Bohannon or Johnny Cravey could not solve.
-
Sam Houston stays alive in Southland softball tourney
The Bearkats are alive and kicking in the Southland Conference softball tournament. Three times Saturday, second-seeded Sam Houston staved off elimination to advance to today’s championship round against regular-season champ Texas State. The Bearkats and Bobcats clash at 10 a.m. today at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio. SHSU needs to beat Texas State twice to earn the Southland’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
- More Sports Headlines
-



