Galveston County topped last year's total of athletes signing letters of intent to play collegiate sports on Wednesday morning when more than 40 local players made it official. There were a few surprises in the list, but as always, the sport of football was ever prevalent in helping Galveston County's college-bound athletes secure scholarships.

Football

Clear Creek

Brent Wagner, OL, Southeastern Louisiana
Cory Zunker, OL, Southern Arkansas
Austin Smith, QB, Texas A&M Commerce

Clear Springs

Marcus Johnson, WR, University of Texas
Jesse Washington, DB, Air Force
Brendon Brinkmann, DL, UTSA
Dallas McClarty, DL, Texas State
Damani Alexcee, S, Texas State
Jake Blackledge, QB, Cisco
Chaz Edgerson, WR, Cisco
Ladarius Carpenter, DL, Cisco
Eddie Terry, DB, Cisco
Andrew Doster, Trinity Valley

Dickinson

Tyrell Preston, RB, West Texas A&M
Byron Williams, OL, Stephen F. Austin
John Baker, QB, Oklahoma Panhandle
Nicholas Stirn, OL, Oklahoma Panhandle
Tim Jenkins, DL, Southeast Texas Prep

Friendswood

Seaver Myers, OL, Southern Methodist
Trevor Stevens, TE, UTSA
Benson Chidester, LB, Cisco
Bobby Brown, OL, Colorado College of Mines
Hayden Gardner, QB, Truman State

La Marque

Tim Wright, RB, Navarro
Ken Butler, LB, Blinn
Kendall Hill, WR, Oregon State
Brian Allen, WR, Utah
Emanuell Williams, QB, Alabama State
Ja’Core Aldridge, DB, McMurry
Justin Williams, DB, New Mexico Highlands

Santa Fe

Jacob Sumney, DE, Trinity Valley
Robert Garcia, WR, Concordia (Nebraska)

Other sports include:

Golf

Clear Springs

Kylee Emerson, Colorado Christian
Ryan Hargrove, Arizona Christian

Basketball

Clear Springs

Aaliyah Brown, George Washington

Soccer

Clear Springs

Maryan McElligott, Central Oklahoma
Jordan Oliver, Tennessee Tech
Shelby McDaniel, Sam Houston
Madison Raines, Louisiana Tech

Clear Creek
Kristi Leonard, Texas A&M

Dickinson

Kati Betancourt, Stephen F. Austin

Friendswood

Landry Lowe, Texas State
Bridget Richie, Texas State

Softball

Dickinson

Kassidy Armstrong, Williams Baptist
Marci Seymour, Trinity Valley

Friendswood

Lauren Massar, UT-Tyler
Joan Gray, Trinity Valley

La Marque

Jessieka Palmer, University of Houston

For this year’s Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, I want to do a little something special.

Make a comment below with your official final score prediction. Whoever comes closest to the actual score (and result) will win the opportunity to write some guest remarks for an upcoming blog.

This includes appropriate trash talking, bragging or shout-outs to your favorite Galveston County sports entity, limited to 100 words. Not to mention, regular readers of the From The Sidelines blog will be impressed by your accurate prediction.

Here’s my official prediction:

Giants 34, New England 27

What's yours?

From the buzz I’ve heard around Dickinson’s new athletic director and football coach John Snelson, the guy is a winner.

“Dickinson couldn’t have possibly found a better guy to hire,” La Marque coach Mike Jackson said of Snelson. “He’s a great coach with a great track record for success.”

And it didn’t stop there among praise from Galveston County coaches.

“He is a great hire, a great coach and a great mentor for kids,” Clear Springs coach Clint Hartman said.

The people behind the hire couldn’t have been more pleased with Snelson.

“We think he’s the above-and-beyond candidate to take over our athletics program and football team,” Dickinson ISD Superintendent Vicki Mims said.


Dickinson running back Tyrell Preston is stopped by the Brazoswood defense last fall at Sam Vitanza Stadium in Dickinson. The district has tapped John Snelson to be Dickinson’s new athletic director and football coach for the upcoming year. Photo by Kevin M. Cox

Snelson inherits a program at the perfect time.

He failed to make the playoffs for the first time in six years last year. The Gators had a similar streak come to an end in 2011. Their union could be just what the two entities need for success.

Leaving his hometown of Pasadena wasn’t easy for Snelson. People said he’d never leave Pasadena Memorial, and it was very emotional for him to come to terms of leaving. But at the end of the day, becoming an athletic director and head football coach at a program like Dickinson was too good to pass up.

Dickinson has some of the best facilities in the state, and there’s some serious talent on the way in the next few years. Snelson is poised for success.

Are you excited about the hire? I think Snelson is a coach — like Jackson — that the community can place its trust in and rally around. He’s replacing a 200-win coach in Warren Trahan, and he will coach his 100th game as a head coach at the end of the upcoming season. He’s sitting on 43 wins right now.

What’s the ceiling for Snelson in Dickinson? Better yet, what’s the floor?

I think he’ll be here, finding ways to win, for a long time to come.

We’re working on a story that will provide readers the best spots around Galveston County to watch the upcoming Super Bowl, and we need your help.

I’m sure there are several great spots on the island to watch the big game, and I’m guessing League City offers a few other options. Where did you watch the Super Bowl between the Packers and Steelers last year? I know a lot of people host their own Super Bowl parties at their houses these days, but we’re looking for the best local business to watch the game.

Throw out a few suggestions, and we’ll see what we come up with. Local business and bar owners, feel free to promote your own joint by commenting at the bottom of this blog, and we’ll do some research.

Super Bowl XLVI will take place on Feb. 5, and Madonna will perform at halftime (zzz). I hope she won’t be allowed to play anything from 1992 to the present. Go ahead and make your Cowboys and Texans jokes about neither team being there if it makes you feel better.

I personally think it’ll be the Patriots and the Giants, a rematch of the 2007 Super Bowl.

In that game, I think the Giants will win 31-21.

Just a fun little prediction to throw out there. 

If you have any high school football coaching experience and you're currently unemployed, you just might be in luck.

Friendswood coach Steve Van Meter officially announced his retirement after a 20-year stint as the athletic director and head football coach of the Mustangs. His departure opens up the third vacancy for Galveston County head football coaching jobs, following the resignation of Texas City's Tim Finn and the retirement of Dickinson's Warren Trahan.

The three coaches had a combined 51 years of head coaching experience, and it'll be tough to replace them. But school districts move swiftly on making these hires, and my prediction is that all three schools will have new leaders in place by Easter.

The biggest question right now is, what do they need?

Texas City could use an energetic young coach, perhaps similar in qualities to La Marque's Mike Jackson or someone who could revamp the Stingaree program. It's no secret that Texas City will be stockpiled with explosive talent for at least the next two years. With the right guy, the Stings could legitimately compete for a state title in 2013.

Dickinson will be hiring a head football coach, as Tom Mooney already holds the athletic director position. That coach will take over a program with great athletes, strong-willed players and arguably the best facilities in the Houston area. Dickinson's weight-lifting room, field house and stadium are all first-class, which makes the school more attractive for top-notch coaches.

With Friendswood's consistent success, I would think the Mustang administration will be looking for a carry-the-torch kind of guy. Van Meter did such a tremendous job building up Friendswood athletics as a whole. Keeping those ways in place will be important for keeping the parents and community happy. At the same time, you've gotta win on Friday night. The Mustangs might need a coach to refigure a defense that was one of the worst in school history in 2011.

The hiring of head football coaches in Texas is such an important process. A great coach can rejuvenate a struggling program, while a bad coach can run a program into the ground pretty quickly.

Does anyone have any idea who these programs should seek?

I’m back from a weeklong vacation feeling rejuvenated and ready for spring sports. December was a relatively quiet month for Galveston County sports as the football season ended earlier than many expected.

But the high school basketball season is really starting to heat up now that the teams are digging into district play.

For the boys, both Clear Springs and Clear Creek are serious threats to take the District 24-5A title. Manvel and Dawson seem to have District 24-4A on lock, but pretty much any of the other Galveston County teams have chances of grabbing a playoff spot. Texas City, Friendswood and Clear Falls might be the frontrunners, but La Marque, Ball and Santa Fe could change things in the new year.

On the girls side, we’re already getting an idea of how things might play out. Clear Springs is just as dominant as we expected them to be, even despite having to battle the injury bug a bit. Clear Creek and Dickinson are both legitimate playoff contenders on their heels. In District 24-4A, La Marque has come on surprisingly strong so far, but Friendswood, Ball and several other teams have made strides.

We’re also upon the start of the high school soccer season, believe it or not. I don’t doubt Friendswood’s Laura and Stephen Peter will return talented groups to the pitch in the North County, but several other teams have key pieces returning from last season. I’m currently gathering things for an upcoming high school soccer preview.

Professionally, the Rockets are underway and not looking quite as bad as they were supposed to be, but we’ll just have to see as things develop. The Texans stunk up their final three weeks of play, and they limp into Saturday’s playoff opener against the Bengals.

Everyone talks about resolutions for the new year — have you made any sports-related resolutions? Should be an interesting year, especially if we defy the Mayans and make it all the way through.

The Texas City boys basketball team has made amazing strides so far this season.

I’m not sure who should get all the credit, but I think it should certainly start with first-year coach Chris Mason. He built a dynasty at La Porte, and he saw an opportunity to do the same at Texas City when not many people wanted the task.

After all, they were 4-27 last season and have had just one winning season in the last seven years. They’ve had just two 10-win seasons in that stretch, and Mason might achieve that by New Year’s Eve.

Mason can’t take all the credit as there are a few talented players on the team, but it’s mostly the same team that won two District 24-4A games last season except they lost their two leading scorers to graduation. By the way, they’re already 2-0 in district play, matching last season’s success just a week in.

Other candidates for most improved team:

Dickinson

The Gators have won about the same amount of games to this point as last year, but they’re on the tipping point where Mike Tucker’s program is poised to take off. I think they’re a lock to win more than the two district games they won last year.

Ball High

The girls, that is. The Lady Tors have a solid offense, and if the defense can turn things around, they’re a legitimate playoff bubble team.

Santa Fe

Under first-year coach Brandon Baker, the Indians finally have the ball rolling. They’ve got a force in senior center Kyle Kadlecek, and the guards like Marc Cram and Jeff Riley are starting to knock down shots.