Gray awarded the Gatorade National Player of the year, RB Trey Williams carries the load for Dekaney
Although controversy has surrounded Aledo’s star running back Johnathan Gray, Gatorade has named him the National Football player of the year. Gray was ejected in the third quarter of its Class 4A Division II Quarter Final victory over Stephenville (33-0) for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. One involved a slash-neck gesture toward the crowd and the second for high stepping after getting out in front of the defense.
Its said that Gray apologized for his actions. In limited duty, Gray finished with 195 yards on 18 carries. Aledo will face Corsicana a semifinal matchup set for Friday at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.
A big reason Dekaney is alive deep into its playoff, are RB Trey Williams, who is one of the nation’s top RB recruits. Williams, an A&M commit have carried the load 371 times this season for a whopping 3,409 yards and 39 TDs. Coach Amendola mentions his durability of over 800 carries within the last three years in the rugged tough district 13-5A.
“He’s a tough kid (RB Trey Williams). I think he has rushed 850 times in the last three years. You got to be pretty tough to do that. I think he had 823 going into the game (against Westfield) and I think he had about 30 carries today. If you can take the rock in high school 850 times against men in 13-5A, that’s a testimony,” Willie Amendola, Dekaney’s coach said.
Games of the week matches undefeated teams in Dallas Skyline vs. Southlake Carroll at 4:00 p.m., Saturday at SMU’s Ford Stadium. In Class 3A Division I, Alvarado (14-0) will take on Tyler Chapel Hill (14-0) for the title Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Cowboy Stadium and Cisco (13-0) will battle Corsicana Mildred (13-0) in Class 2A Division II Semifinals at Mansfield Newsom Stadium, Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Hightower’s Bralon Addison, a Texas A&M commit, took home the Touchdown Club of Houston’s Offensive Player of the year Thursday night at the 32nd annual High School Awards Dinner. Through 14 games, Addison has completed 124 of 219 attempts for 1995 yards with 20 TDs, 3-INTs and has accounted for 1,213 ground yards on 155 carries and 13 TDs. In San Antonio at the Alamodome this weekend, quarterback Addison’s will lead the Hurricanes into the Class 5A Division I semifinals against San Antonio Madison for the first time since falling in the title game to Allen in 2008.
The defensive award went to Chris Alexander, Pearland’s Defensive tackle. The ball hawking Alexander, has had more than 19 stops behind the line of scrimmage. Manvel’s Coach Kirk Martin picked up the John Kelly Coach of the year award for good reason. Undefeated Manvel (14-0) have reached the state semifinals in a short period of time.
In basketball news, the state’s top ranked team in Class 5A, Flower Mound Marcus (9-1) dropped its first game of the season, snapping a 32-game win streak to national power Findlay Prep of Henderson, Nev., Las Vegas in a 47-39 loss. Findlay also halted Yates streak at 67, last season.
Unexpected rocky start for the Yates Boys basketball team. After a disappointing exit in the regional semifinals of last season, the Lions entered this season as the top ranked class 4A team in the state, according the Associated Press, but that all changed after losses to Class 5A power Fort Bend Travis, Dallas area Flower Mound Marcus and local prep power Westbury Christian.
Class 5A and 4A pairings
CLASS 5A — DIVISION I
STATE SEMIFINALS
Southlake Carroll (14-0) vs. Skyline (14-0)
4:00 Saturday at SMU’s Ford Stadium
Fort Bend Hightower (12-2) vs. San Antonio Madison (10-4)
4:00 Saturday at San Antonio’s Alamodome
CLASS 5A — DIVISION II
STATE SEMIFINALS
Mansfield Timberview (12-2) vs. Spring Dekaney (12-2)
2:00 Saturday at Round Rock’s Reeves Complex
Port Arthur Memorial (13-1) vs. Cibolo Steele (14-0)
4:00 Saturday at Houston’s Reliant Stadium
CLASS 4A — DIVISION I
STATE SEMIFINALS
Waco Midway (12-2) vs. Tyler John Tyler (11-3)
7:30 Friday at Corsicana
Pearland Dawson (12-2) vs. Austin Lake Travis (14-0)
8:00 Friday at San Antonio’s Alamodome
CLASS 4A — DIVISION II
STATE SEMIFINALS
Aledo (12-2) vs. Corsicana (13-1)
7:30 Friday at Mesquite Memorial Stadium
Manvel (14-0) vs. Corpus Christi Calallen (13-1)
Noon Saturday at San Antonio’s Alamodome
Class 3A and 2A Pairings
CLASS 3A — DIVISION I
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Alvarado (14-0) vs. Tyler Chapel Hill (14-0)
7:30 Friday at Cowboys Stadium
CLASS 3A — DIVISION II
STATE SEMIFINALS
Monahans (12-2) vs. Argyle (13-1)
7:30 Friday at Abilene Wylie
Coldspring-Oakhurst (14-0) vs. Wimberley (13-0)
7:30 Friday at Bastrop
CLASS 2A — DIVISION I
STATE SEMIFINALS
Muleshoe (12-1) vs. Melissa (11-1)
7:00 Friday at Sweetwater
Tatum (12-2) vs. Hempstead (13-0)
7:30 Friday at Waco ISD Stadium
CLASS 2A — DIVISION II
STATE SEMIFINALS
Cisco (13-0) vs. Corsicana Mildred (13-0)
7:30 Friday at Mansfield’s Newsom Stadium
Lexington (11-2) vs. Refugio (13-0)
7:30 Friday at San Antonio’s Heroes Stadium