Today was a bit slow by Galveston County's normal standards for National Signing Day. However, there were several athletes that signed letters of intent to play college football beginning this fall.
Here's the list of who's going where:
Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A)
Minnesota Logan Hutton, WR, La Marque
Texas A&M Clay Honeycutt, QB, Dickinson
Tulane Brent Comardelle, WR, Creek
Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA)
Central Arkansas Dominique Brown, DB, Ball
McNeese State Danyel Hunter, DL, Dickinson
Texas State Michael Gilmore, WR, La Marque DeChe’ Milburn, WR, Springs
Division II
Eastern New Mexcio Corey Thomas, RB, Dickinson
West Texas A&M D’Mentrie Lacy, DB, Ball Shane Sobnosky, DE, Santa Fe
It’s a pretty safe bet that Darrell Jordan is not a Bon Jovi fan. But on Monday morning at the University Interscholastic League reclassification and realignment meeting, the La Marque athletic director was “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
Jordan and La Marque’s prayers were answered, as the school remained in Class 4A for the next two years. The school's enrollment number of 999 was just above the cutoff for 4A set by the UIL at 990.
“I feel like I won the lottery today,” Jordan said, coming as close as he ever does to cracking a smile.
La Marque is joined by Ball High, which dropped down from Class 5A to 4A. The new District 24-4A consists of Ball, La Marque, Friendswood, Santa Fe, Texas City, Pearland Dawson and Manvel. Angleton and Brazosport moved west to District 23-4A.
District 24-5A remains the same, with the exception of Pearland taking the place of Ball High. District 24-5A consists of Alvin, Brazoswood, Clear Creek, Clear Brook, Clear Lake, Clear Springs, Dickinson and Pearland.
For football, Hitchcock was placed in District 14-2A in Division I. It is joined by Altair Rice Consolidated, Edna, Hallettsville, Hempstead, Van Vleck and Industrial.
In basketball, Hitchcock faces a new set of opponents. It will play Danbury, YES Prep East End, YES Prep SE, YES Prep SW and Katy Nelms.
Happy with the new districts? Sad to see Ball High drop to 4A? Join in the discussion with us on Twitter.
Mike Zierlein will be the first football coach at Clear Falls, the new Clear Creek Independent School District high school set to open in the fall. Zierlein comes from Austin Akins, but has strong ties in the greater Houston area.
Zierlein, 38, served as offensive coordinator at Lamar Consolidated from 2003-2006, coaching the Rodgers brothers (now at Oregon State), and he also won a state title at Bay City in 2000 under current Lake Travis coach Chad Morris.
At Akins, Zierlein's first head coaching position, he posted a record of 4-25. Zierlein called the job a "fixer-upper" where he focused more on a culture change: specifically, getting kids to stay on the field, focusing on academics and instilling better behavior. Akins opened in 2000, and Zierlein served as the second coach.
"I'll never forget when someone came up to me and complimented me on the kids' behavior," Zierlein said. "Apparently, that was a big deal. We wanted to win games, but getting kids on the right track was more important."
Zierlein, who will serve as the school's athletic coordinator, said his goal is to make athletics as good as the school's academics. He thinks playoffs and a state championship are possibilities.
Karen Engle, principal at Falls, said the school received more than 50 applications. Eleven were interviewed.
Engle and the committee was impressed by Zierlein's enthusiasm and commitment to academics on top of athletics.
"He had a vision and we believe it's one that can start a new football and athletic program that needs community and student support," Engle said. "He's going to have to start from scratch and build new traditions and he has the right vision along with a winning pedigree."
Zierlein will have a tough act to follow in CCISD. Clear Springs, the high school that opened in 2007, reached the Division II Class 5A Regional Finals in its second year under coach Clint Hartman. Hartman also arrived at Springs talking about state championships, which he caught a lot of flak for.
"No one is as tough a critic as I am," Zierlein said. "We can't measure ourselves against anybody else. But I think there's talent here to do very well. I am excited."
Falls, which will be nicknamed the Knights and have colors of green, blue and black, won't start varsity play until 2012.
So it's less than 50 hours until the big kahuna, the one for all the marbles, the inaptly named BCS National Championship Game. Texas and Alabama kick off Thursday at 7 p.m. on ABC.
I, for one, can't wait. But I haven't decided what I am going to do. I've thought about cozying up on the couch with a beverage and I've also considered going out.
In order to make my decision, I thought I'd turn to our loyal readers. What are you doing for the big game on Thursday? What events do you know about? Are you going to go? Is it better to watch from home or go out?
Give me options and a reason. I'm open to all suggestions.
As the loyal readers might have noticed today, the sports team (of two) started its annual countdown of the top 10 sports stories in 2009.
My colleague Joshua Buckley eloquently explained No. 10 on the list, how Galveston County alums propelled the Houston Cougars from football oblivion to the top 25 in the Associated Press Poll. Check it out here
I won't spoil the list, so for the next nine days, we'll be counting off No. 9 through No. 1. Just think of it like 10 days of gifts from the sports department.
And, as always, be sure to tell us what we missed, where we went wrong, and if we got it right. Comment right here, shoot us an e-mail or comment on the stories.
Happy Holidays to all and enjoy the list. It was a heck of a year.
With Sunday's sports section entirely devoted to the all-county football team, I'll take a brief moment here to recap two important boys games on Saturday. Both Ball and Dickinson won, gaining a little momentum before the Christmas break
•Ball 68, Fort Bend Dulles 66
Ball held of No. 23 Fort Bend Dulles, barely, in what could be a playoff preview. Marcus Ruiz hit two free throws with just under a minute remaining to put Ball ahead by two and the Tors defense didn't allow another basket.
The Ball defense really carried the team on Saturday, forcing 21 turnovers. The Vikings average just seven a game. By comparison, the Tors committed just 10 turnovers of their own.
Terran Petteway led the Tors with 21. Michael Evans and Josh Miller each had nine. It was a close game throughout as neither team led by more than six points.
Ball (10-3) has now won seven straight. This was its first win over a ranked opponent.
•Dickinson 79, Angleton 67
The Gators closed the third quarter with a 29-10 run to get by the Wildcats. Dickinson erased a 10-point deficit in the process.
The two Gator guards -- Kenny Harris and Dedrick Archie -- were lethal. Harris scored 25 points and dished out eight assists. Archie had 21 points, four steals and five assists. Ivery Mark added 10 points and Sam Kinlaw scored 10 and grabbed 12 boards while blocking five shots.
Dickinson is now 6-7, and will play at the Alvin Holiday Classic on Dec. 28.
About Joshua Buckley
Joshua Buckley is sports editor of The Daily News. He worked previously for The Cullman Times in Alabama, where he won numerous writing awards, including the state's best sports page in 2005.
He graduated from the University of Montevallo in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication. Follow Joshua on Twitter
A die-hard Chicago Bears and Cubs fan, Buckley lives just north of League City. He spends most of his free time playing XBox 360 and managing his championship fantasy baseball team, "The Evil Empire."
