ScotSports.com Blog

The Scots made quick work of Royse City on Tuesday night, winning 25-9, 25-15, 25-5 to move to 5-1 in District 10-4A play. HP (5-1, 23-10) is alone in second place heading into the final game of the first half of district play at 6:30 p.m. Friday at fifth-place Greenville.

HP hosts first-place Richardson Pearce, currently ranked No. 1 in the state, at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9.

Two more wins in district play kept HP at No. 8 in the state Class 4A poll published by the Texas Girls Coaches Association this week. HP (22-10, 3-1) beat Carrollton Turner and Carrollton Smith last week.

The Region II field appears to be the toughest in the state as the district races reach their halfway points this weekend. No. 1 Richardson Pearce, No. 5 Red Oak, No. 6 Frisco Liberty, No. 8 HP, No. 15 Waco Midway and No. 16 Rockwall are all from Region II-4A. Here's this week's poll:

Texas Girls Coaches Association
Class 4A state poll, Sept. 28, 2009
1. Richardson Pearce
2. Canyon Randall
3. Austin Lake Travis
4. Friendswood
5. Red Oak
6. Frisco Liberty
7. Schertz Cibolo Steele
8. HP
9. Hereford
10. Dripping Springs
11. Brenham
12. Dumas
13. Canyon
14. Boerne Champion
15. Waco Midway
16. Rockwall
17. Montgomery
18. Seguin
19. Elgin
20. Uvalde
21. Magnolia
22. Harlandale
23. Marble Falls
24. Buda Hay
25. Denton Guyer

Another win at the McKinney Boyd Invitational 10 days ago helped push HP up to No. 2 in the latest Class 4A state cross country poll by the Texas Girls Coaches Association. The Lady Scots moved to No. 2 in the poll, trailing only Kingwood Park. HP moved past last week's No. 2 Hereford and No. 3 Saginaw Boswell, which dropped to No. 7.

HP placed second at last week's Marcus II Invitational.

HP will get a true test against state powers this weekend as it travels to Round Rock for the McNeil Invitational. Most of the other state-ranked teams will be there racing on the same Settlers' Park course that will host the UIL Championships in November.

Texas Girls Coaches Association
Class 4A state poll, Sept. 24:
1. Kingwood Park
2. HP
3. Hereford
4. Frisco
5. Boerne Champion
6. Canyon
7. Saginaw Boswell
8. Forney
9. McKinney
10.Magnolia West

I guess Denton Ryan's 52-7 win over Wichita Falls Rider grabbed more attention statewide than HP's 56-35 win over Carrollton Smith. Ryan (4-0, 1-0) passed the Scots (3-1, 1-0) this week in the Associated Press' state poll, dropping HP to No. 9 with 47 points. Ryan is well ahead at No. 8 with 73 points. The rest of the top 10 teams remained the same from last week.

One note: No. 4 Sulphur Springs (5-0, 1-0) plays at No. 6 Longview (4-1, 1-0) on Friday, so the Scots could stand to move up past the loser of that District 13-4A game if HP can beat Greenville.

Five of the top 10 teams are from Region II, and four of the five project into the Division I playoffs - No. 3 Waco Midway, No. 5 Waxahachie, No. 6 Longview and No. 9 HP. This week's poll:

Associated Press Class 4A Top 10
Sept. 29, 2009
1. Austin Lake Travis (23 first place votes) (5-0) - 248 votes
2. Denton Guyer (2) (4-0) - 222
3. Waco Midway (4-0) - 176
4. Sulphur Springs (5-0) - 166
5. Waxahachie (4-0) - 138
6. Longview (4-1) - 119
7. Angleton (4-0) - 114
8. Denton Ryan (4-0) - 73
9. HP (3-1) - 47
10. Schertz Cibolo Steele (3-1) - 30

Others receiving votes: Big Spring 25, Port Neches-Grove 4, Lumberton 3, Dayton 3, Corpus Christi Calallen 3, Brenham 1, Aledo 1, Richland 1, Lake Dallas 1.

Matthew Stafford completed 21-of-36 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown to lead Detroit to its first win in two seasons, a 19-14 win over Washington. Glad to see it was Washington that lost - that helps the Cowboys - but even better that it's the ex-HP quarterback to led the team to the win.

Stafford's first post-game quote? "Phew." He's endured a rough start to his rookie season, throwing five interceptions in his first two games. But he didn't turn the ball over once on Sunday, and Detroit's rocking again because of their soon-to-be-franchise quarterback.

Here's some links to the coverage from the Detroit Free Press on the Lions' first win in 644 days. Phew indeed.

(photo by Julian H. Gonzalez of the Detroit Free Press)

Game is a reversal of fortune for the Lions

Blacked out, Knocked out, Lions arise

Stafford keeps on slinging

Clayton Kershaw was held to 77 pitches Sunday, but showed enough stuff to strike out four batters while throwing a four-hitter in LA's 6-5 loss in Pittsburgh. The Dodgers' bullpen lost a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning to prevent the team from clinching the National League West Division. LA has already clinched a playoff berth.

Kershaw was on a pitch count in his first start in three weeks since separating his right (non-throwing) shoulder running into the fence at Dodger Stadium. He pitched two innings of relief last week in Washington to test the shoulder before Sunday's start.

"He was fine," LA manager Joe Torre told MLB.com. "It was good to get him out there and get competition under his belt. His stuff was good. He probably could be more consistent with his location."

Kershaw said his right arm felt "good" and his left arm felt "great" in the same published story. He said he struggled with command of his slider and wanted to go deeper into the game, but figured he would in his last start next weekend.

Kershaw's next start will be Saturday in Los Angeles against Colorado. He is currently slated to pitch one of the first three playoff games for the Dodgers. 

I've been looking forward to the Texas Tech-Houston game all week, expecting an aerial showcase between two of the country's top passing offenses. The other reason is to see ex-HP lineman Chris Olson playing for the Red Raiders. Olson is a junior at Tech who has worked his way into the starting lineup. He started at left tackle for the first three games, but moved inside to left guard for the Houston matchup.

It's great to see one of the top linemen to play at HP doing well at the next level. Tech has plenty of TV games remaining to check Olson out the rest of the season.

I spoke to a non-HP-releated friend of mine at the gas station today. He asked about the Scots' game tonight. "Is it a big game?"

"Sure is," I said.
Home opener.
District opener.
Homecoming.
First chance to get on the field since the team's first loss two weeks ago.
The return of the starting running back (Brookes McIlhenny).
Playing a team that has surprised so far and has playoff aspirations.

Yeah, it's big.

See you there. Kickoff's at 7:30 p.m. at Highlander Stadium.

HP football is back, and thank goodness after two weeks of stewing over losses to Coppell two weeks ago. The Scots' junior varsity and freshman teams are in action tonight against Carrollton Smith in their district openers.

The JV teams will play at Polk Middle School in Carrollton at 5:30 p.m. (Gold) and 7 p.m. (Blue). The 2-1 Gold team and 1-1 Blue team are anxious to return to the field following close losses to Coppell two weeks ago.

The freshmen play at Highlander Stadium for the first time this season against Smith at 5:30 p.m. (Blue) and 7 p.m. (Gold). The Frosh Gold team (1-0)  got to play a full game for the first time this season in a rescheduled 31-6 romp over Frisco Liberty last week. It's been three weeks since the Blue team (1-0)  won the only game it's been able to get in, a 35-6 toasting of Liberty.

The HP varsity (2-1) plays at Highlander tomorrow with plenty on the line - it's the home opener, Homecoming, and also the District 10-4A opener. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

HP enters the 2009-10 boys basketball season with a schedule that looks a lot like last year's, but with a few feature home games coming to Highlander Fieldhouse.

The season opener is at home Tue., Nov. 17 against TCA-Addison, followed by the annual Scot Classic from Nov. 19-21. HP fans can watch the Scot at home against Richardson (Dec. 1) and Cedar Hill (Dec. 4), but will then have to wait more than a month to see HP play in Highlander again. Road trips to Flower Mound Marucs, the three-day Burkburnett Tournament, Richardson Pearce for the district opener and Everman highlight the December schedule.

HP will also play in the Dallas ISD/Coca-Cola Tournament for a third consecutive season. District play follows.