I have to admit that Saturday was one of the more memorable days in my time at Hardin-Simmons.
No it wasn’t a 55-10 win over Sul Ross State or senior days for the soccer program, but it was about the 500th game in the coaching career of coach Keeling.
People inside the program know what a special man that Coach K is. They know him as a fair man that loves his players no matter what. He will do whatever is in the best interest of his team no matter what.
He has taken a program and built it from scratch and it is one of the most respected programs in the country. His teams always play hard. They might not be the most talented, team on the field every Saturday, but you never see them not playing hard. With that simple mantra that his players have heard daily, the Cowboys have built that program.
I got the chance to talk to coach Keeling before the game. Every game he makes the walk from the fieldhouse, down the middle of the field and then to through the press box. I am not sure of the exact time, but my guess is it starts somewhere around 10:15 (Keeling time that is) and it probably hasn’t ever changed.
As he was going through the press box he stopped briefly and he thanked me for writing the story I wrote about him last week. In his usual manner, he said it was a pretty good story considering the content I had to work with. I have to disagree with coach on this one. He is a legend, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, and it has been a pleasure to work with him over the last 10 years.
As he was walking out the door he said I just want to win A game. I am sure he was talking about the Sul Ross State game, but I get the feeling that he wants to win THE game. You know the one that is played in Salem, Virginia on Dec. 20th.
This year’s team has overcome some adversity, come together as a group and they get better and better every week. Yesterday was about as perfect of a game as you can play offensively and the defense has improved leaps and bounds. From week one to now it has been an amazing transformation.
Back to the game, the Cowboys took control from the opening kickoff when ZaVious Robbins returned it 100 yards for a score. You could see how special the game was to the players and staff after the game in the celebration honoring their coach. There were many former players at the game, and that included some from his high school coaching days as well.
At a gathering at the Keeling’s after the game the gleam was still there and it was a celebration, but he asked me for scores around the league, like he always does on Saturday nights. He was already thinking ahead to next week.
There is no doubt Keeling is a special coach, but to many he is known more for being a special person.
I got to see how strong of a person coach Keeling was in January when Cowboy player Brentdrick Walker was killed in a motorcycle accident. He held his team together in a very emotional time. There is no book on how to handle that situation at Books-A-Million, but he could probably write one and make some money.
The loss of Brentdrick has had a big impact on this team. You may notice that the Cowboys have been late getting to the field for each of the home games. The reason for that is that every player goes by and touches the locker of their fallen teammate.
Unfortunately, coach Keeling may have to go back to that unwritten book this week as the Cowboy family has lost another one of its own way to early. Former Cowboy Ke-Ke Sims, who played in the 2005 and 2006 seasons for HSU as a cornerback, was killed last night in a car wreck in Abilene. Many of the current Cowboys were teammates with Sims.
The Cowboy family needs your prayers once again. It is so great to have a leader like coach Keeling in charge during the tough times. It is easy to be a leader in the good times, it is the bad times where your true identity is formed.
So what turned into a great day of celebration, turned into tragedy, but with the Lord’s guidance we will get through this again, because He has promised not to give us more than we can handle.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
500 and Counting
As we head down the stretch toward the postseason the soccer, volleyball and football teams are still in the hunt for conference titles.
The soccer teams have the most realistic shots at regular-season conference titles. The women’s soccer team needs three wins in their last four games to secure hosting the American Southwest Tournament for the sixth straight year. The Cowgirls have not allowed a goal in conference play this season.
The Cowboy soccer team is still in the hunt for the regular season title, but they do not control their own destiny for that title. They would need UT-Dallas to lose a game. However, if they win out they will finish no lower than second and that would get them a first-round bye in the ASC Tournament. That makes the last four games extremely important.
Saturday will mark senior day for the soccer programs and a tip of the cap goes out to the five seniors for the soccer programs. Kelly Watson, Cassie Sandifer and Morgan Loyd have all overcome huge obstacles to be factors for the Cowgirls. Watson has played her entire career despite being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Sandifer has been a solid contributor and may be one of the hardest workers on the team. Loyd has played through some chronic back pain and other painful injuries throughout the years and ranks fifth in school history in scoring with 120 points.
On the men’s side, Berto Martinez and Chinedu Okoro are a pair of players that have been significant contributors. Okoro did not play last year and has come back to lead a Cowboy defense that is one of the tops in the conference. Martinez has been a solid midfielder for the Cowboys.
The volleyball team is preparing for its final two weeks of the season. The Cowgirls play at McMurry tonight and then play in the Trinity Tournament this weekend. HSU needs to win its final four conference games and have McMurry beat Texas Lutheran to have a chance at sharing the conference regular-season title.
The football team continues to improve each week and that is a bad sign for opponents. I don’t know if it is possible to play a more perfect game of offensive football than the Cowboys played last week. The Cowboys set a school record with 499 yards rushing and set a Division III high with 692 yards of total offense. That is with starter Justin Feaster not even touching the field in the second half.
HSU needs to take care of its business the last three weeks of the season and the Cowboys would likely see themselves in the playoffs again.
I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate coach Keeling for coaching in his 500th career game this weekend. It is amazing to have the passion and longevity that Keeling has displayed. Not only has he coached for 500 games he has won over 71 percent of them. I had the chance to set down with coach this week for a story and rest assured that the legendary coach is not slowing down any at all.
Not only is Coach Keeling a great leader, he does it the right way. His players respect him, they graduate and they go on and are productive citizens. I have never heard anyone that really knows anything about coach say a bad word about him. He is tough and fair and that approach has proven to be successful.
I have had a chance to watch the men and women’s basketball team practice a couple of times over the last week and they both look to be very exciting for this year. Both teams have brought in some great new talent and with both teams returning a lot of talent it could be a VERY, VERY exciting year for both teams.
The women’s basketball team will be having a BBQ dinner this Saturday at the football game for a fundraiser. They will be serving sandwiches, chips and a drink for $5. It is a fundraiser to help support their trip to the Bahamas in December so go out and get a nice meal before the game.
The soccer teams have the most realistic shots at regular-season conference titles. The women’s soccer team needs three wins in their last four games to secure hosting the American Southwest Tournament for the sixth straight year. The Cowgirls have not allowed a goal in conference play this season.
The Cowboy soccer team is still in the hunt for the regular season title, but they do not control their own destiny for that title. They would need UT-Dallas to lose a game. However, if they win out they will finish no lower than second and that would get them a first-round bye in the ASC Tournament. That makes the last four games extremely important.
Saturday will mark senior day for the soccer programs and a tip of the cap goes out to the five seniors for the soccer programs. Kelly Watson, Cassie Sandifer and Morgan Loyd have all overcome huge obstacles to be factors for the Cowgirls. Watson has played her entire career despite being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Sandifer has been a solid contributor and may be one of the hardest workers on the team. Loyd has played through some chronic back pain and other painful injuries throughout the years and ranks fifth in school history in scoring with 120 points.
On the men’s side, Berto Martinez and Chinedu Okoro are a pair of players that have been significant contributors. Okoro did not play last year and has come back to lead a Cowboy defense that is one of the tops in the conference. Martinez has been a solid midfielder for the Cowboys.
The volleyball team is preparing for its final two weeks of the season. The Cowgirls play at McMurry tonight and then play in the Trinity Tournament this weekend. HSU needs to win its final four conference games and have McMurry beat Texas Lutheran to have a chance at sharing the conference regular-season title.
The football team continues to improve each week and that is a bad sign for opponents. I don’t know if it is possible to play a more perfect game of offensive football than the Cowboys played last week. The Cowboys set a school record with 499 yards rushing and set a Division III high with 692 yards of total offense. That is with starter Justin Feaster not even touching the field in the second half.
HSU needs to take care of its business the last three weeks of the season and the Cowboys would likely see themselves in the playoffs again.
I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate coach Keeling for coaching in his 500th career game this weekend. It is amazing to have the passion and longevity that Keeling has displayed. Not only has he coached for 500 games he has won over 71 percent of them. I had the chance to set down with coach this week for a story and rest assured that the legendary coach is not slowing down any at all.
Not only is Coach Keeling a great leader, he does it the right way. His players respect him, they graduate and they go on and are productive citizens. I have never heard anyone that really knows anything about coach say a bad word about him. He is tough and fair and that approach has proven to be successful.
I have had a chance to watch the men and women’s basketball team practice a couple of times over the last week and they both look to be very exciting for this year. Both teams have brought in some great new talent and with both teams returning a lot of talent it could be a VERY, VERY exciting year for both teams.
The women’s basketball team will be having a BBQ dinner this Saturday at the football game for a fundraiser. They will be serving sandwiches, chips and a drink for $5. It is a fundraiser to help support their trip to the Bahamas in December so go out and get a nice meal before the game.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Another Big Week
One of my favorite days of the year comes on Wednesday when the basketball teams open practice.
It has been a long offseason for both teams, but both teams should be among the favorites for ASC titles this year which makes it even more exciting.
The Cowgirls return three starters and six of the top eight scorers from last season. They have also added an extremely talented class of newcomers and this could be the year the Cowgirls make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
The men had an interesting offseason with coach Howard leaving and new coach Craig Carse coming in late in the summer. It will be interesting to watch how the team of talented players comes together. Cowboy fans will enjoy watching the up-tempo style of play. This team should score a lot of points, but must find a way to replace All-American Mardochee Jean in the middle.
It was nice to see the Cowboy football team play a fourth quarter with some breathing room on Saturday. HSU put away East Texas Baptist in the third quarter and how about the defensive effort. HSU picked off five passes in the game and you can see that unit starting to get more and more comfortable with the new scheme of Jay Niemann and Steve Barrows. The offense continues to move the ball at an amazing rate and they have improved their drive finishing rates.
It is good to see the team getting more and more confident each week and if they continue to get better a deep run in the playoffs is not out of the question. Before that can happen they have to play it one week at a time.
The soccer and volleyball teams continued their good seasons with strong weekends. The women’s soccer team beat Mississippi College 3-0 in a first-place showdown and also handled Louisiana College 8-0. They have the inside track on hosting the American Southwest Conference Tournament for the sixth straight year.
The Cowboys beat Louisiana College 4-1 and then got what has became par for the course treatment in Mississippi on Saturday. The Choctaws received a penalty kick with 22 seconds to go in the game to tie it and MC won it in overtime. This came after MC had twice tackled an HSU player in the box that should have been penalty kicks in the final minutes of the game. Such is life when you play at Mississippi College and you know going in you have to overcome it.
The volleyball team pushed its home winning streak to 15 and its streak over McMurry to eight with a win last Wednesday. The Cowgirls also won at Concordia. HSU will play at UMHB in the other crossover this weekend after playing at Howard Payne on Tuesday night.
HSU cleaned up on the ASC player of the week awards. Justin Feaster won his second of the year, Morgan Loyd won for women’s soccer and Kaela Parnell and Gracen Harris swept the offensive and defensive awards for the week.
The women’s cross country team had a fourth place finish at the UTPB meet on Saturday. Ashley (Allen) Huston ran her first meet of the year and finished eighth overall.
There are just three weeks left of the regular season for soccer and volleyball and it is on to the playoffs. The soccer teams have a light conference week as they only have one game this weekend against McMurry. The Cowgirls will host Southwestern on Friday in non-conference action.
Just a few other odds and ends.
• The Howard Payne game on Saturday is at 1 p.m. rather than the normal 2 p.m. start.
• The Cowgirl basketball team will have a BBQ sandwich dinner prior to the football game next Saturday. Check back for more details.
• The Sul Ross State game will be the 500th of the distinguished career of coach Keeling.
• How about my OSU Cowboys ranked eighth in the nation. I take a lot of grief about my alma mater in these parts, but it is nice to see them doing well.
It has been a long offseason for both teams, but both teams should be among the favorites for ASC titles this year which makes it even more exciting.
The Cowgirls return three starters and six of the top eight scorers from last season. They have also added an extremely talented class of newcomers and this could be the year the Cowgirls make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
The men had an interesting offseason with coach Howard leaving and new coach Craig Carse coming in late in the summer. It will be interesting to watch how the team of talented players comes together. Cowboy fans will enjoy watching the up-tempo style of play. This team should score a lot of points, but must find a way to replace All-American Mardochee Jean in the middle.
It was nice to see the Cowboy football team play a fourth quarter with some breathing room on Saturday. HSU put away East Texas Baptist in the third quarter and how about the defensive effort. HSU picked off five passes in the game and you can see that unit starting to get more and more comfortable with the new scheme of Jay Niemann and Steve Barrows. The offense continues to move the ball at an amazing rate and they have improved their drive finishing rates.
It is good to see the team getting more and more confident each week and if they continue to get better a deep run in the playoffs is not out of the question. Before that can happen they have to play it one week at a time.
The soccer and volleyball teams continued their good seasons with strong weekends. The women’s soccer team beat Mississippi College 3-0 in a first-place showdown and also handled Louisiana College 8-0. They have the inside track on hosting the American Southwest Conference Tournament for the sixth straight year.
The Cowboys beat Louisiana College 4-1 and then got what has became par for the course treatment in Mississippi on Saturday. The Choctaws received a penalty kick with 22 seconds to go in the game to tie it and MC won it in overtime. This came after MC had twice tackled an HSU player in the box that should have been penalty kicks in the final minutes of the game. Such is life when you play at Mississippi College and you know going in you have to overcome it.
The volleyball team pushed its home winning streak to 15 and its streak over McMurry to eight with a win last Wednesday. The Cowgirls also won at Concordia. HSU will play at UMHB in the other crossover this weekend after playing at Howard Payne on Tuesday night.
HSU cleaned up on the ASC player of the week awards. Justin Feaster won his second of the year, Morgan Loyd won for women’s soccer and Kaela Parnell and Gracen Harris swept the offensive and defensive awards for the week.
The women’s cross country team had a fourth place finish at the UTPB meet on Saturday. Ashley (Allen) Huston ran her first meet of the year and finished eighth overall.
There are just three weeks left of the regular season for soccer and volleyball and it is on to the playoffs. The soccer teams have a light conference week as they only have one game this weekend against McMurry. The Cowgirls will host Southwestern on Friday in non-conference action.
Just a few other odds and ends.
• The Howard Payne game on Saturday is at 1 p.m. rather than the normal 2 p.m. start.
• The Cowgirl basketball team will have a BBQ sandwich dinner prior to the football game next Saturday. Check back for more details.
• The Sul Ross State game will be the 500th of the distinguished career of coach Keeling.
• How about my OSU Cowboys ranked eighth in the nation. I take a lot of grief about my alma mater in these parts, but it is nice to see them doing well.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
On The Rise
I talked last week about what a big week it was for the Cowboy and Cowgirl soccer, football and volleyball teams.
It was a milestone weekend for the soccer teams as the men defeated Ozarks and tied UT-Dallas. With the win over Ozarks Dan Heger became the school’s all-time leader in wins. What a great accomplishment for him and his team.
Ozarks and UT-Dallas have been right at the top of the list along with the Cowboys as the top teams in the conference. The Cowboys head into another big weekend as the leader of the ASC and it has already played three of the top contenders. The schedule is lighter on the back end, but a trip to Mississippi College this weekend could be the determining factor if the Cowboys are to claim one of the top two seeds and allow HSU a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.
If you haven’t watched this team yet there are only two more chances and that is October 24th and 25th when Cowboys will play UMHB, led by former Cowboy Brad Bankhead, and Howard Payne. They are really a fun team to watch play.
Congratulations are also in order for the Cowgirl soccer team as they pushed their ASC unbeaten streak to 100 games. What an amazing feat. Coach Wood and the Cowgirls earned a 0-0 tie against old rival UT-Dallas.
This is a big weekend for the Cowgirls again, especially the game at Mississippi College. Currently, the Cowgirls are 5-0-1 in league play and Mississippi College is 5-0-0. If the two teams tie or if MC wins the game and wins out then Mississippi College would host the ASC tournament. HSU has hosted the last five ASC tournaments and probably not coincidentally have won the last five ASC titles.
I have been asked a couple of times about who would host if the men and women both were regular season champions. The quick answer is the women would host if they both won the right to host this season.
In the 2005 season both of our teams won the right to host and we hosted both tournaments. Honestly, it was not the championship experience that the league or anyone really wanted to put on. Without lights, there were games played not only at HSU but at Shotwell Stadium. Without lights the games obviously had to be played in the daytime. With shorter daylight hours in late November and four games having to be played on one day we had games starting at 8 a.m. and no one should have their season determined at 8 in the morning.
After that season the league’s coaches, then AD’s, then president’s voted that one school could not host both events anymore. They put in a system where if both teams won the right to host that the men would get the right in odd years and women in the even years. There are similar rules in NCAA Tournament play as well with both teams hosting. It is the only sport in the ASC that has this problem, because the other sports have divisions that alternate between the East and West.
The volleyball crossover tournament went well last weekend with the Cowgirls winning all three matches. They are currently one game behind Texas Lutheran in the standings and they still get to play TLU at home. The Cowgirls host McMurry tonight at 7 p.m. and can put some distance between themselves and McMurry. The Cowgirls have won 14 matches in a row at home and have won seven straight matches against McMurry.
The football game last weekend was really exciting and we had a legitimate chance to win the game. I think the team really believes it is making progress and if they can win out they would have a great shot at making the NCAA playoffs.
This weekend marks the 200th football game of the Jimmie Keeling era. The Cowboys host East Texas Baptist for Homecoming. HSU has never lost to ETBU, but the Tigers are undefeated in league play and have the lead on the Cowboys in the standings.
It was a milestone weekend for the soccer teams as the men defeated Ozarks and tied UT-Dallas. With the win over Ozarks Dan Heger became the school’s all-time leader in wins. What a great accomplishment for him and his team.
Ozarks and UT-Dallas have been right at the top of the list along with the Cowboys as the top teams in the conference. The Cowboys head into another big weekend as the leader of the ASC and it has already played three of the top contenders. The schedule is lighter on the back end, but a trip to Mississippi College this weekend could be the determining factor if the Cowboys are to claim one of the top two seeds and allow HSU a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.
If you haven’t watched this team yet there are only two more chances and that is October 24th and 25th when Cowboys will play UMHB, led by former Cowboy Brad Bankhead, and Howard Payne. They are really a fun team to watch play.
Congratulations are also in order for the Cowgirl soccer team as they pushed their ASC unbeaten streak to 100 games. What an amazing feat. Coach Wood and the Cowgirls earned a 0-0 tie against old rival UT-Dallas.
This is a big weekend for the Cowgirls again, especially the game at Mississippi College. Currently, the Cowgirls are 5-0-1 in league play and Mississippi College is 5-0-0. If the two teams tie or if MC wins the game and wins out then Mississippi College would host the ASC tournament. HSU has hosted the last five ASC tournaments and probably not coincidentally have won the last five ASC titles.
I have been asked a couple of times about who would host if the men and women both were regular season champions. The quick answer is the women would host if they both won the right to host this season.
In the 2005 season both of our teams won the right to host and we hosted both tournaments. Honestly, it was not the championship experience that the league or anyone really wanted to put on. Without lights, there were games played not only at HSU but at Shotwell Stadium. Without lights the games obviously had to be played in the daytime. With shorter daylight hours in late November and four games having to be played on one day we had games starting at 8 a.m. and no one should have their season determined at 8 in the morning.
After that season the league’s coaches, then AD’s, then president’s voted that one school could not host both events anymore. They put in a system where if both teams won the right to host that the men would get the right in odd years and women in the even years. There are similar rules in NCAA Tournament play as well with both teams hosting. It is the only sport in the ASC that has this problem, because the other sports have divisions that alternate between the East and West.
The volleyball crossover tournament went well last weekend with the Cowgirls winning all three matches. They are currently one game behind Texas Lutheran in the standings and they still get to play TLU at home. The Cowgirls host McMurry tonight at 7 p.m. and can put some distance between themselves and McMurry. The Cowgirls have won 14 matches in a row at home and have won seven straight matches against McMurry.
The football game last weekend was really exciting and we had a legitimate chance to win the game. I think the team really believes it is making progress and if they can win out they would have a great shot at making the NCAA playoffs.
This weekend marks the 200th football game of the Jimmie Keeling era. The Cowboys host East Texas Baptist for Homecoming. HSU has never lost to ETBU, but the Tigers are undefeated in league play and have the lead on the Cowboys in the standings.
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