2016 History 

3rd ANNUAL VOLLEYBALL 

Blue 3, Red 1 

Blue 25 19 25 25 

Red 18 25 18 18 

 

 

Blue- Shara Newton 1 kill, 3 digs, 1 block; Summer Knowles 3 kills, 11 digs, 1 block; Tracy Jander 2 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks, 1 assist; Callan Holmes 9 kills, 10 digs; Kelby Sprinkles 6 kills; Bailey Meggs 1 ace, 14 kills, 14 digs, 2 blocks; Rylie Fuentes 1 kill, 13 digs, 22 assists; Justice McGown 10 kills, 7 digs, 3 blocks; Teleia Braziel 1 ace. 14 digs, 1 assist; Kaci Bachtel 4 kills, 9 digs, 1 block, 1 assist; Jamie Jones 3 aces, 8 digs, 24 assists. 

Red – Alexis Heath 1 ace, 16 digs, 2 assists; Laura Vega 1 kill, 16 digs; Adrianna Jones 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 block, 2 assists; Brey York 5 kills, 5 digs, 24 assists; Jen Eubanks 1 ace, 6 kills, 13 digs, 4 blocks, 3 assists; Kenna Bing 4 kills, 1 dig, 1 block, 2 assists; Katy Ranes 3 aces, 3 kills, 13 digs, 4 blocks, 20 assists; Heather Lyn Rodgers 3 digs, 4 assists; Macee Knowles 1 kill, 1 dig; Caroline Ross 3 kills, 7 digs, 1 block, 2 assists; Allison Waits 4 kills, 9 digs, 1 block; Stephanie Lindsey 9 digs, 2 assists. 

 

For seniors, one last spike at Victory Bowl volleyball game  

By BRIAN CROWNOVER bcrownover@wacortib.com   

After four years as Robinson teammates, Rylie Fuentes and Bailey Meggs wanted one more chance to play 

on the same side of the net before becoming rivals in college. 

They earned the privilege as members of the blue team in the third annual Fellowship of Christian 

Athletes Victory Bowl volleyball match, and took advantage of it — they won. 

Fuentes was named the match’s most valuable player with 13 digs and 22 assists, Meggs recorded 14 kills, 

14 digs and two blocks and the two former Rockettes led the blue team past the red team, 25-18, 19-25, 

25-18, 25-18 on Saturday at University High. 

“It was great to play with her, just because I know how she likes the ball,” Fuentes said. “We played 

together four years in high school. So just having one last time because before college, it was fun.” 

Blue 25 19 25 25 Red 18 25 18 18 

After helping guide Robinson to state tournament appearances in 2014 and 2015, Fuentes signed with 

Texas A&M-Commerce while Meggs chose Tarleton State. That means they’ll be on opposite sides of the 

floor in Lone Star Conference games beginning next season. 

Saturday was an opportunity for them to bid farewell to Waco area volleyball, alongside a cast of senior 

players from teams across Central Texas. 

“It’s just fun seeing all the kids around the Waco area coming together as one, playing for Christ,” Fuentes 

said. “It’s relaxed, but it at the same time it’s super competitive.” 

The blue team, which also featured players from match host University, as well as Lorena and Live Oak, 

stood tall after its only loss of the day in Game 2, winning back-to-back sets. 

Blue led 17-13 in Game 3 after the two teams exchanged three-point swings in an evenly-matched battle. It 

never gave up the lead in the match, and Meggs secured the victory with a game-winning kill. 

Blue then jumped out to a 12-5 lead in Game 4 after a 6-0 run, but Red rallied to get back within four at 

16-14. Blue held on the rest of the way, sparked by a pair of kills from Academy’s Kelby Sprinkles and 

Lorena’s Callan Holmes. 

“It was great — they all were awesome,” Blue team and La Vega head coach Suzette Gill said. “It just felt 

good to have kids out here that know the game and just love the game, and come together and love each 

other and play.” 

Blue controlled Game 1 from the start, expanding its lead to 17-8 after three straight aces by Live Oak’s 

Jamie Jones. Red got back within five before Blue wrapped up the win on a kill by Kaci Bachtel and a 

block by Lorena’s Tracy Jander. 

Red answered with its lone win of the day in Game 2, as it pulled ahead, 16-9, following a 5-0 run. Blue 

fought back to within four, then Red raced away once again to win the set. 

Jones led the blue team with 24 assists, while Corsicana’s Teleia Braziel notched 14 digs. University’s 

Justice McGowan, playing on her high school floor, recorded 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Holmes 

had nine kills and 10 digs. 

Belton’s Brey York of the red team was awarded the Molly Martinsen Braveheart Award, which is awarded 

to the player who “demonstrated a strong and courageous spirit throughout bowl week.” She finished the 

match with 25 assists and eight digs. 

Copperas Cove’s Jen Eubanks led Red with nine kills, along with 16 digs and six blocks. High school 

teammate Katy Ranes contributed with six kills, 16 digs and 23 assists and Crawford’s Caroline Ross had 

six kills, 10 digs and four blocks. 

“It’s just good to get young people involved, and it’s all for a good cause,” Gill said. “I love FCA and I’m 

just so excited that they made me a part of it this year. It has done so much for these young kids. We have 

had such a great week.” 

 

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Football 

Blue 7, Red 6 

Blue 7 0 0 0 

Red 0 0 6 0

   

 

First quarter B – Gaut 15 yard run, XP good by Callejas 

 

Third quarter R – Griffith 8 yard run 

 

 

 

 Blue Red Rushes – Yards 40 - 107 35 - 60 Completions – Attempts – INTs 2 – 4 - 0 7 – 20 - 3 Passing Yards -2 99 

Individual statistics Rushing Blue – Brody Owens 3- -17, Shamal McKee 2- -10, Korey Chatman 5-20, Brody Hunter Parrish 7-24, Matron Gerald 5-16, Dylynn Anderson 1-0, Spencer Maples 9-37, Seth Spinn 1-4, Cody Martinez 4-13 

Red – Garrett Qualey 2- -3, Dylan Walker 8 -12, DJ McHenry 9-44, Aaron Boren 1-10, Toby Smith 1- -7, Kameron Coe 5- -1, Wyatt Griffith 7-7 

Blue 7 0 0 0 Red 0 0 6 0 

Passing (comp – att – yds – td – int) Blue – Brody Owens 1-3--3-0-0, Hunter Parrish 1-1-1-0-0 Red – DJ McHenry 0-1-0-0-1, Kameron Coe 3-7-21-0-0, Wyatt Griffith 4-12-78-0-2 Receiving Blue – Matron Gerald 1-1, Cody Martinez 1-1 Red – Cooper Edmiston 1-1, NyGree Poole 4-4, Isaih Coulson 2-2  

BLUE Tackles: Cody Chambliss 5, Shamal McKee 1, Tyrik Ray 8, Raul Salomon 1, Adrian Johnson 1. Jequell Johnson 1, Joseph Bryant 4, Zacchaeus Bell 6, Landon Jones 2, Jay’Lon Bryant 1, Derrick Miller 1, Seth Spinn 2, Jace Williams 2, Dyandre Walker 3, Quinton Edmerson 1, Danny Gutierrez 2, D’Andre Adams 1, Tristan Cale 4, Ethan Alford 11,  

Sacks: Tyrik Ray 1 

Interceptions: Deyondre Walker 3 

 

 

RED Tackles: Cooper Edmiston 3, Max Viladeval 3, Draylon Simmons 2, Braydyn Gilham 3, Tyler Fedrick 3, Kevin McCown 1, Joe Williams 2, Marcus Washington 2, Jacob Pavelka 6, Logan Breton 3, Cade Ramsey 4, Marty Rogers 4, Stephon Primous 3, Wyatt Griffith 2, Seth Krumnow 4, Caleb Sarcinella 6, Colby Skiffington 3, Bryson Nail 1, Devyn Hebbe 8, Brayden Wise 4, Cody Garrett 3 

 

Sacks: Max Viladevall 1, Marty Rogers 1, Devyn Hebbe 2 

Interceptions:   

 

Victory Bowl: Blues take hard 7-6 win in down-and-dirty defensive battle 

By BRICE CHERRY bcherry@wacotrib.com   

When Connally head coach Shane Anderson met the coaching staff he’d be working with on the blue team in the 2016 Fellowship of Christian Athletes Victory Bowl, he was quick to notice that every coach came from a defensive background. 

“All of us are head coaches, but all of us were defensive coordinators at one time,” Anderson said. “Somebody had to call the offense. I drew the short straw and told them I’d do it.” 

The final score of the annual Central Texas all-star football game reflected the defensive mindset on the Blue sideline. They held off the red team, 7-6, in a smash-mouth slugfest Saturday night at Waco ISD Stadium, making for the lowest-scoring game in Victory Bowl history. 

The blue team needed only 129 offensive yards to hold off the red team, which had just 162 yards of its own. Blue has won four in a row to even the series in the eighth running of the game, which features senior players from across Central Texas. 

But 60 of Red’s total yards came on a single play with 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter, as Crawford’s Wyatt Griffth found Killeen Ellison’s NyGree Poole downfield to put their team in the Blue red zone with a chance to steal the win. Prior to the deep pass, Red’s longest play of the game was 10 yards. 

Red kicker Bryson Nail, of Mart, missed a 31-yard field goal attempt with 24 seconds remaining, and Blue escaped with the narrow victory. 

“It’s third and long right there, and you’d like the kids to just to bat the ball down,” Anderson said. “But it’s an all-star game. Kids are excited, they’re trying to go up and make plays, and their kid made a big play over our two kids and it is what it is. It worked out in the end.” 

Midway defensive back Dyondre Walker was named the Bob McQueen Defensive MVP after pulling down a Victory Bowl record three interceptions, including a second-quarter pick in blue territory to halt successful Red drive. 

“I was just focusing,” Walker said. “I was just blessed to be able to come out here and play, and blessed with the talent that not many people are blessed with. I just came out here and used it to the best of my abilities.” 

It was only fitting that Blue’s lone touchdown of the game was also scored on defense. 

Cameron Yoe’s Jay’Lon Bryant scooped up a loose ball fumbled by Red quarterback Dylan Walker of Moody on the 15-yard line, and waltzed into the end zone at the 5:49 mark of the first quarter to give Blue a 7-0 lead. 

That remained the score until late into the third quarter, when Griffith capped a 55-yard scoring drive with a four-yard touchdown run to cut Red’s deficit to just one. 

Red failed to convert a two-point conversion, and the score remained 7-6 all the way to the dramatic finish. 

“Us as coaches are fired up, because we’re coaching the best kids in Central Texas,” Anderson said. “Every one of them knows how to play football and knows how to run, how to tackle, throw and catch. So that’s a lot of fun. But as the week went on, as it got closer and closer, you could feel the tension, you could feel the atmosphere starting to get closer to game time.” 

Griffith finished the game 4 of 11 passing for 78 yards, while Poole caught four passes for 81. McGregor’s DJ McHenry led the Red run game with 36 yards on 11 carries. 

Griffith took over the bulk of Red passing duties after teammate Kameron Coe, of China Spring, left the game on a stretcher after sustaining an injury on a quarterback keeper in the third quarter. 

Spencer Maples of Lampasas, the game’s offensive MVP, carried the ball 11 times for 37 to lead the Blue offense. 

 

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1st Inaugural Baseball 

Red 9, Blue 2 

 

 

 

BELTON — Tanner Frick’s previous at-bat during a high school game was as a Belton freshman. Flash forward four years, a graduation and various successes through his main role as a pitcher, Frick stepped back in the batter’s box again. 

 

The big, McLennan-bound lefty grinned after two consecutive looping swings and misses. His smile was wider still after he got caught looking at a swooping curveball on the outside corner. 

 

Troy’s Elijah Saldana bunted his way on base then found a few seconds to bother Academy’s Keaton Dodd, who was playing first. The District 20-3A counterparts got into their version of a game of tag, sort of, with Saldana trying to untuck Dodd’s shirt, and Dodd responding by playfully punching Saldana. 

 

“That’s my buddy,” Saldana said. “I actually saw on TV how (Houston Astros second baseman Jose) Altuve was messing with (Detroit’s) Miguel Cabrera. I was like, ‘I’m going to do the same thing.’ (Dodd) is huge. I’m small. Plus he has a short temper so I like to get on his nerves a little bit. I know it was supposed to be competitive but how could you not have fun with these guys out here. They are all cool guys.” 

 

Friday’s atmosphere at UMHB’s Red Murff Field indeed had the right mix of fun and competitive fire surrounding the inaugural Heart of Texas Fellowship of Christian Athletes Victory Bowl baseball game. Graduated seniors from around Central Texas put their skills on display for a sizeable and appreciative crowd that watched the Red team beat the Blue 92. 

 

The contest capped three days of activities, which also included community service projects, fellowship and a skills competition. The final baseball game for some of the participants went off without a hitch. Every player technically was in the batting lineup and substitutions were unlimited. 

 

Frick started on the mound and pitched two innings for the Red team, which used a fourrun fourth and a three-run seventh to pull away. 

 

“(The week) was great. I met some kids I never would have met,” Frick said. “There were a lot of devotionals and I heard a lot of stories. It was just a good event, and just seeing how everybody got together as one to help the community was fun.” 

As for his plate appearances: “I was just trying to have fun and put the ball in play. That didn’t really happen,” he said. 

 

Harker Heights shortstop Tyler Torres had a pair of hits, including a triple, two RBIs and scored twice for the Red. Griffin Paxton of two-time Class 3A state champion West added to the winners’ pop with two hits and two runs, while Belton’s Trent Stafford was 2-for-3 and Saldana 1-for-1 with two walks and two runs. 

 

Stafford and Saldana also worked two innings on the mound. 

 

Temple’s Keion Seastrunk made his way across home in the Red’s four-run fourth. Copperas Cove’s Michael Hayes and Reicher’s Nick Hovde each produced an RBI single, and Riesel’s Landon Dieterich punctuated the offense with a two-run double in the seventh. 

 

Teague’s Coby Brooks was responsible for both the Blue runs, singling home Corsicana’s Trevor Nolen in the top of the second to make it 1-1 and driving in Nolen again in the sixth with a triple. 

 

Dodd, who missed a chunk of Academy’s season with a broken wrist, put together a memorable final outing by pitching a 1-2-3 eighth and pulling a single into right field in his final plate appearance. His teammate, throughout the regular season and again Friday, Patrick Hernandez was presented the Gene Pemberton Servant’s Heart Award. 

 

Bartlett’s Landon Rafay, Rogers’ Mark Raynor, who had an infield single, and Holland’s Heath Barabas also played for the Blue team. 

 

“You get to have a lot of fun with a bunch of guys that are just like you, who have a love for the game,” Barabas said. 

 

Gatesville’s Pat Hopson pitched a scoreless eighth for the Red. He left a runner stranded at third and got some defensive help by way of Saldana’s diving catch in center field. 

 

It was 1-1 through three innings before the Red erupted in the fourth. It was 6-1 after five and 6-2 into the seventh when the Red added the finishing touches. 

 

 

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1st Inaugural Softball 

Blue 11, Red 10 

BELTON — The inaugural Heart of Texas Fellowship of Christian Athletes Victory Bowl softball game had everything a spectator would expect from an event billed as an all-star game: solid pitching, clutch hitting and great defense. 

 It was not devoid of errors either. 

 

In the end, the Blue squad — led by Salado’s Malory Schattle and Meagan Hill — edged out the Red Squad that featured Belton’s Sidney Holman, Troy’s Julie Cantu and Moody’s Paige McNeely by an 11-10 score at UMHB’s Dee Dillon Field on Friday night. 

 

The solid pitching came from Holman, an Abilene Christian signee who got the start for Red and mowed down all six batters she faced. 

 

Holman, who led the Belton Lady Tigers to a 31-4 record this season, approached the allstar game with the same mentality she has used her entire softball career. 

 

“It’s like any other game,” she said. “I just went out there and knew the girls would back me up.” 

 

Holman singled in the first run of in the top of the first, and Red led 3-0 when Holman was replaced in the circle in the third. 

 

With Holman gone, the Blue squad began to show off its clutch hitting. 

 

Trailing 6-3 entering the bottom of the fifth, Blue rallied off McNeely, scoring seven runs. The go-ahead shot was a two-run homer by Schattle, a Texas signee, over the left field wall. “Any way I can help my team is always a good thing,” Schattle said. “I was just trying to get a base hit to score that run. That was just extra, and it was great.” 

 

Hill had entered the circle in the top of the inning, giving her the win in the inaugural game after Blue never relinquished the lead. 

 

But it wasn’t without a little drama. 

 

Cantu was effective in two innings of relief to keep Red in the game. It trailed 11-9 entering the ninth in the modified format, which allowed for free defensive substitutions and a batting order that included every player on the roster. Riesel’s Erin Kadlacek started the ninth with a ground ball back to the pitcher, but the hurried throw to first went wide and Kadlacek had the speed to turn the would-be ground out into a run on the four-base error. 

 

Two batters later, Blue got the stellar defensive play it needed when Florence second baseman Gabrielle Ramirez made a diving stop of a grounder by Clifton’s Karlee Kleibrink for an out, saving what could have been the tying run as Riesel’s Kalli Jo Williams doubled to left a batter later. Dawson’s Caitlin Price struck out to finish the threat. 

 

Though Holman, who was awarded the Gene Pemberton Servant’s Heart Award, felt the game was intense, all the players believed it was about the fun and playing one final high school game. 

 

“Playing in Central Texas, it’s a community,” Hill said. “It’s nice to play one last game. I’m going to miss playing middle infield with Malory, so it’s nice to have one last hurrah.” Added Holman: “It’s a pretty awesome experience. I just learned so much this week and everybody here was here for the same purpose, to worship the Almighty. It was a great way to end my high school career.”