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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT Thursday, September 19, 2013 Page 4
VOLLEYBALL
District play begins next week
Lady Panthers pick up vital victory over Bangs
By Taylor Grafft The Independent Sports With the Liberty Hill Lady Panthers Varsity volleyball team a week away from opening District play against Lampasas, Head Coach Gretchen Peterson believes the team’s next few matches will play a vital role in preparing for bigger challenges down the road. “We’re really going to work on consistency,” said Coach Peterson. “We’ve got to cut down the number of unforced errors, missed serves and hitting errors. In District it’s a brand new season and everybody comes out in a different mindset and those can come back to really hurt you.” Against Bangs on Tuesday, the Lady Panthers were moving the ball rather well and linking up for good kills. The team seemed to be playing loose and having a lot of fun out on the court, which led to a dominate 3-0 (25-16, 25-6, 25-16) win. “I think sometimes we played too relaxed,” Coach Peterson said. “It got a little sloppy at times. We needed to execute and look a little crisper on things, but overall it’s a good win. We got a lot of playing time for everybody, so we really got to finetune some things heading into District and that’s what we want these last few games to be about. We still need to work on intensity more, but overall it was a good win.” The biggest challenge for the Panthers will be remaining mentally tough in District play
“We have to be mentally focused, crisper, and execute more,” Peterson said. “I think if we keep pushing the tempo and really work on ball control that will definitely play in our favor. Those are the types of things we’ll be focusing on these last few games to prepare.” Kallie Perrin was the leader and most dominate player on the court against Bangs. She did well to combine with Jaycie Pluenneke, Jill Green, and Peyton Redmond for key offensive plays. “I thought Kallie (Perrin) moved the ball around really well,” Peterson said. “Her and Jaycie (Pluenneke) connected on some really key quick attacks in the front row.” In the first game against Bangs, Liberty Hill started out with a 4-2 lead following a kill by Peyton Redmond. Then another kill by Redmond made it 6-4. After taking a 7-6 lead, the Lady Panthers went on a 9-0 run to make it 16-6. Bangs battled back to make it 16-10 before a dump shot by Kallie Perrin helped put Liberty Hill up 17-10. A hitting error by Bangs caused the Panthers to take a 19-12 lead. Then Redmond’s kill made it 21-14. An unforced error by Bangs made it 2315 and caused them to call a timeout to reorganize. The Panthers finished off game one with a kill by Redmond and took the 25-16 first set victory. In the second game, the Lady Panthers were nothing short of domi-
nant. They were passing the ball around well and hitting their shots with precision. After falling behind 0-1, the Panthers went on a 8-0 run and jumped out to a 8-1 lead. A kill by Jaycie Pluenneke gave Liberty Hill a 9-2 lead, before a dump shot by Perrin increased the lead to eight points. An ace by Pluenneke and back-toback kills by Redmond and Perrin made it 16-3. The Lady Panthers were really clicking and having fun out on the court. Jill Green’s block made it 19-4, before another kill by Mason Sharp made it 24-6. The second game ended with a Liberty Hill 25-6 victory and two game advantage over Bangs. In the third and final game, Liberty Hill got off to a slow start and allowed Bangs to keep it close before pulling away. A kill by Pluenneke allowed the Panthers to pull ahead 4-3 after being tied 3-3. A missed serve by Bangs put Liberty Hill on top 8-5 a little later on in the set. The Lady Panthers went on a 6-0 run and forced Bangs to call a timeout to try and kill the momentum. A kill by Jill Green made it 16-7. Bangs started to cut the lead closer when it became 19-11, but back-toback kills by Pluenneke made it 2111. Bangs cut the lead to six, but the Lady Panthers dug deep and held off the late push and took a 25-16 third set victory and the match, 3-0.
Mason Sharp (#7) spikes the ball over the net to give her team a healthy lead over Bangs in the third set. The Panthers went on to win 3-0 over Bangs in a total team effort on Tuesday. (Photo by Kathy Canady)
Game Night Preview
Liberty Hill faces Rockdale in Homecoming match Liberty Hill vs. Rockdale (HOMECOMING) 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20 Panther Stadium, Liberty Hill
About Rockdale High School Coach: Jeff Miller Mascot: Tigers Colors: Royal Blue/Gold League: 3A Region III District 18 The Rockdale Tigers (1-2) started off the 2013 season with a 47-21 win over Salado at home, but dropped the next two games at Burnet and at home against Cameron Yoe. Last season, Liberty Hill defeated Rockdale 76-35 and Rockdale finished the 2012 season at 5-5. Friday night at Panther Stadium will be Homecoming for Liberty Hill High School, so it will be a special night for the fans, players and students. The Tigers are a very athletic team that will score a lot of points and average over 400 yards of total offense. Their running back, Elijah Brooks, has averaged 75.7 yards per game this season and will be a major threat running the football on Friday. “Rockdale was real young last
year,” said Liberty Hill Head Coach Jerry Vance. “All their kids are back. I think they have nine returning players on defense and seven players on offense. They are a very talented bunch. They are by far the most talented team we’ve seen. And most likely will be the most talented team we face in non-conference games this regular season.” This will be a great challenge for the Panthers as they look to pick up their first win at the new Panther Stadium. The Panthers will try and take the momentum they have built over the last two weeks on the road and translate those victories into wins at home. “We hope those victories have helped,” Vance said. “I think we’ve gotten better each week. In this business you don’t want to go backwards. If you go backwards you’re in real trouble. So I think we’ve made progress and this week is by far the toughest opponent we’ve seen and we’ll see how we match up against them.” Offensively the Tigers line up in the spread and have a couple of wide receivers that can hurt you vertically by running great routes and have
exceptional catching abilities. The Panthers will also have to keep an eye on Tigers’ quarterback Clayton Gibbs, who is averaging 236.3 yards passing per game this season and averaging 45.7 yards rushing per game. “The Rockdale quarterback throws the ball very quickly,” Vance said. “He gets the ball out of his hands real fast.” Rockdale also has an offensive lineman committed to Baylor University who could give the Panthers defensive lineman trouble. Josh Pelzel, is a 6’7” 334 pound offensive tackle that committed to the Bears back in May. On defense the Tigers also have a star linebacker, James David, who is committed to Baylor as well. David is a 6’3” 225 pound inside linebacker that committed to the Bears in June. “We’ll be the first team that lines up and runs at Rockdale,” Coach Vance said. “I’m not sure what they’ll look like defensively because they changed their scheme recently to a 4-3 defensive look. But last season they brought a lot of pressure. So we’ll have to wait and see what sorts of things they bring to the table.”
Quarterback Keylan Herman breaks through the Smithville defense on his way to a 35-yard touchdown run. Herman added another touchdown run from one-yard out in the Junior Varsity’s 52-14 victory on Sept. 12. (Photo by Kathy Canady)
Liberty Hill JV dominates Smithville in total team effort
By TAYLOR GRAFFT The Independent Sports The Liberty Hill Junior Varsity Football team dominated in every aspect of its 52-14 home victory over the Smithville Tigers on Sept. 12. The Panthers scored on the ground and on defense. It was a total team
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effort that had Panther fans and players enjoying themselves in the stands and on the sidelines last Thursday evening. Running back Lance Champion opened the scoring with 7:10 remaining in the first quarter on an 11yard touchdown run. The Tigers answered back with a five-minute, 73-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass in the end zone. The Tigers’ 2 point conversion try was no good and left the game 7-6 in favor of Liberty Hill. The Panthers would score again in the second quarter on a 35-yard touchdown run with 9:26 remaining in the first half. The ensuing extra point was no good and left the Tigers trailing 13-6. Running back Grant White added another touchdown on the ground from 18-yards out with 5:34 remaining in the quarter and increased the lead to 19-6. The Panthers started the drive on the Tigers’ 33-yard line following a fumble recovery by Liberty Hill. The Panthers would score one last touchdown before halftime on a running back John Brown 3-yard touchdown run with five seconds remaining in the quarter. The Panthers converted the two-point conversion to Grant White to increase their lead to 27-6. The four minute and five second drive was the dagger that really put the game out of reach and allowed the Panthers to take a comfortable lead into halftime. It didn’t take long for Liberty Hill to find the end zone again, as the
Panthers scored 43 seconds into the second half following a fumble recovery on the Tigers 29-yard line. Lance Champion scored his second touchdown of the game on a 15-yard run. The ensuing extra point was no good and the Panthers took a 33-6 lead with 9:17 remaining in the third quarter. A minute later it was the Panther defense that put points on the board. The Smithville quarterback fumbled the ball on a tackle by Paul Swartz and it was picked up and returned for a touchdown by Clayton Lafferty. The extra point was blocked and the Panthers were up 39-6. The Tigers got something positive going on the following drive. A kickoff return down to the 5-yard line put Smithville in a great chance to score and make the game a little more within reach. Smithville finally punched it in on third and goal with 6:16 remaining in the third quarter to cut the lead to 39-14 following a successful two-point conversion. Ryan Ragle entered the game for Liberty Hill on the following drive as the new quarterback. Ragle made quick work of his opportunity and scored a 45-yard touchdown on a three-play drive that started at the Panthers’ 38-yard line. The JV Panthers would score one last touchdown in the fourth quarter with 7:25 remaining in the game. John Brown added his second rushing touchdown of the evening on a 12-yard touchdown run. The extra point was no good and the Panthers went on to end the game with a 5214 victory.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT
Page 5
Tori Graves (#17) picks up a kill in the Junior Varsity Lady Panthers 2-0 victory over Bangs on Tuesday. Tori and her sister, Andi Graves, were key players in the victory with key serves and strong offensive attacks in the front row. (Photo by Kathy Canady)
JV Lady Panthers defeat Bangs
(TOP) Freshman defensive end Kyle Huppee (#56) grabs a hold of the Lake Travis quarterback and brings him down for a loss in the backfield. The Panther defense shut out the Cavs and pressured the quarterback the entire game. (ABOVE) Freshman running back Logan Hester (#33) breaks free and scores a 50-yard touchdown run. Hester and the Panthers defeated the Lake Travis Cavaliers 29-0 on Sept. 12 in Panther Stadium. (Photos by Kathy Canady)
Freshmen shut out Lake Travis
By TAYLOR GRAFFT The Independent Sports The Liberty Hill Panthers freshman football team took just three minutes to put points on the board against a high school known for producing state championship caliber players. In fact, they shut down the Lake Travis offense for the most part of the game and did not allow the Cavilers to score. Despite the fact Lake Travis is a 4A school out of Austin, the freshman Panthers did not let the hurry-up spread offense and marquee name break their intensity and focus going into the game.
The Cavilers threatened several times to drive the ball into Panther territory, but the Liberty Hill defense played bend-don’t-break football when it mattered. The defensive pressure brought by the Panthers’ front seven was causing the Lake Travis quarterback to hurry his passes and miss his receivers. Freshman running back Logan Hester scored on the Panthers second offensive play of the game when he took the ball off-tackle to the left and rushed for a 50-yard touchdown. The Panthers would score again from their strong rushing attack at
the start of the second quarter. Freshman running back Brandon Barefield took the ball 37 yards into the end zone to put Liberty Hill on top 15-0 after the Panther quarterback Garrett Wright converted the 2 point conversion on a 2-yard rush. Liberty Hill would increase its lead with 1:34 remaining in the first half through freshman Jacob McCaleb’s seven-yard scamper into the end zone to put the Panthers on top 22-0 at halftime. The Panthers scored their last touchdown in the third quarter on a 43-yard touchdown pass to McCaleb with 5:50 remaining in the quarter.
By TAYLOR GRAFFT The Independent Sports The Liberty Hill Junior Varsity volleyball team wasted no time against Bangs on Tuesday night. The girls got off to a fast start and had one of their best games of the season. Their service game was especially strong and was key in leading them to a comfortable 2-0 (25-6, 25-13) victory over Bangs. In the first game the Lady Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead after a kill by Allee Nix. Nix and Amanda Boliek then combined for a block to put Liberty Hill on top 9-2. An ace by Andi Graves made it 12-4, before her sister, Tori Graves, made it 13-4 with a quick kill. Andi Graves was key in the Lady
Panthers’ first game victory and had the best serves of the night. She picked up three aces in the first set as did teammate Allie Childs. Andi Graves’ ace gave the Panthers their final point when it hit the net and dropped behind a Bangs player and out of her reach. In the second game, the Lady Panthers started out strong by taking a 6-1 lead thanks to an ace by Allee Nix. Bangs battled back in the second set and cut the Liberty Hill lead to one and a 6-5 lead. A kill by Andi Graves made it 7-5, before a block by Maddi Englehaupt made it 8-5. The two teams rallied back and forth with key point exchanges. Bangs cut the lead to two and tried its best to take the momentum away
from the Lady Panthers. Allee Nix got the team going and was key in the 12-2 run to end the match. Nix got back-to-back kills and a block to make it 17-11. Then Kelsey Hamrick and Allie Childs made some key offensive plays to set the Lady Panthers up with a comfortable 23-13 lead. A kill by Hamrick was the final dagger that ended the match for Liberty Hill and gave them a 25-13 second set victory. The Panthers’ strong service game will be key for them moving forward into District. If they can remain consistent and keep hitting their shots, it will put the JV Panthers in a prime position to start out strong and build some momentum.
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Project Graduation
Liberty Hill High School seniors are raising money for Project Graduation 2014, to give their class a safe graduation night party. Seniors are attending volleyball and football games encouraging supporters to participate in 50/50 Drawings. The community can also help Project Graduation by subscribing to The Independent, which is donating half of each subscription to the organization. From left are Dustin Taylor, Tori Prudhomme, Linda Hanstein, Macy Kirk and Rachel Czubas. (Photo by Kathy Canady)
$5 each! Drawing: Nov 1st ~ Halftime at Football Game
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Page 6
THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT
Thursday, September 19, 2013
LHHS runners perform well at Pflugerville Invitational
PFLUGERVILLE -- Liberty Hill High School boys and girls varsity cross country teams participated in the Pflugerville Invitational Cross Country meet last weekend. Liberty Hill Boys Varsity earned 1st place as a team. Senior Mitchell Germann won first overall. Girls Varsity won 1st place as a team. Mckynzie King, Danielle Rimann, and Hannah Manning placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, espectively. Boys JV finished in 3rd place as a team. Girls JV finished 4th place as a team. Individual results follow. Athlete Event Bowles, Tabitha F Two Mile Run Castillo, Elias M 5,000 Meter Run Cole, Chelsea F Two Mile Run Cummins, Garret M 5,000 Meter Run Dean, Hannah F Two Mile Run Dixon, Jared M 5,000 Meter Run French, Marissa F Two Mile Run Frerichs, Andrew M 5,000 Meter Run Germann, Mitchell M 5,000 Meter Run Grenier, Talon M 5,000 Meter Run Guzman, Emhely F Two Mile Run Hageman, Logan M 5,000 Meter Run Haskell, Holly F Two Mile Run Hofmann, Emma F Two Mile Run Hofmann, Grant M 5,000 Meter Run House, Ryan M 5,000 Meter Run Kelley, Amanda F Two Mile Run Kindle, Nathan M 5,000 Meter Run King, Mckynzie F Two Mile Run Kranz, Austin M 5,000 Meter Run Landry, Brooke F Two Mile Run Lord, Blair F Two Mile Run Luckadoo, Clayton M 5,000 Meter Run Luna, Amias F Two Mile Run Manning, Hannah F Two Mile Run Marsh, Jordan F Two Mile Run Nance, Clayton M 5,000 Meter Run Natividad, Michael M 5,000 Meter Run O’dell, Tyler M 5,000 Meter Run O’neill, Justin M 5,000 Meter Run Prudhomme, Tori F Two Mile Run Ramirez, Sam M 5,000 Meter Run Ray, Ryan M 5,000 Meter Run Rimann, Danielle F Two Mile Run Serio, Joseph M 5,000 Meter Run Shelton, Abigail F Two Mile Run Smith, Courtney F Two Mile Run Stiles, Mikayla F Two Mile Run Strickland, Maddie F Two Mile Run Tatro, Danielle F Two Mile Run Taylor, Dustin M 5,000 Meter Run Tudyk, Avery F Two Mile Run
Mark 17:43.10 19:50.90 13:50.40 19:04.70 15:50.30 20:49.60 17:31.10 19:49.40 16:18.60 19:58.80 14:49.70 20:09.40 19:50.60 13:38.70 18:17.30 22:49.40 15:17.70 21:01.50 12:43.90 20:35.40 15:33.40 17:45.40 18:21.90 15:31.40 13:26.40 13:51.20 19:19.90 19:48.80 21:59.60 19:29.90 16:09.40 21:38.10 17:42.70 13:23.70 19:59.30 14:01.30 14:53.20 14:50.90 15:15.70 15:42.10 19:14.10 14:18.90
Round Place Finals 174 Finals 31 Finals 11 Finals 23 Finals 54 Finals 69 Finals 157 Finals 30 Finals 1 Finals 35 Finals 19 Finals 40 Finals 263 Finals 8 Finals 11 Finals 72 Finals 28 Finals 77 Finals 1 Finals 60 Finals 40 Finals 178 Finals 12 Finals 39 Finals 3 Finals 12 Finals 28 Finals 29 Finals 145 Finals 34 Finals 77 Finals 126 Finals 4 Finals 2 Finals 41 Finals 17 Finals 21 Finals 20 Finals 26 Finals 47 Finals 15 Finals 21
Liberty Hill Junior High Boys Cross Country Salado Cross Country Meet Sept. 14 Place Runner Time 1 Adam Gomez 12:41 2 Bryce Neffendorf 13:06 5 Justin Zuhn 13:16 9 Cade Cole 13:42 10 Nick Roth 13:54 14 Walker Gilbert 14:15 26 Chad Leath 14:37 27 Alex Albarran 14:43 31 Jack Gillespie 14:57 32 Nick Bramhall 15:03 42 Noah Nix 15:30 44 Noah Kelley 15:36 52 Kyle Moore 16:06 53 Cristian Montelango 16:07 65 Luke Kline 16:33 73 Jacob Brothers 16:51 84 Brayden Sommerfield 17:25 93 Collin Johnston 18:17 101 Devon Willard 18:53 Team Results Place Team Points 1 Liberty Hill 27 2 McGregor 73 3 Salado 101 4 Hopewell 113 5 Lorena 141 6 Academy 142 7 Meridian 166 8 Crawford 170 9 Holland 229
Liberty Hill Junior High Girls Cross Country Salado Cross Country Meet Sept. 14 Place Runner Time 1 Courtney Peterson 13:40 2 Safira Molina 13:44 5 Lauren Brooks 14:21 9 Bethany McLeod 14:52 10 Carissa Vickers 14:55 12 Ireland Sargent 15:01 18 Kennedy Coleman 15:35 19 Savannah Stanley 15:40 24 Allison Van Klaveren 15:56 27 Hannah Brown 16:02 31 Nya Casebolt 16:09 33 Ellie Rimann 16:14 34 Hayden Schilli 16:14 39 Emily Janssen 16:29 40 Ashlyn Revere 16:30 44 Jacqueline Holliday 16:55 57 Kaylyn Revere 17:41 58 Molly Meldau 17:42 65 Amanda Petterson 18:20 101 Billie Bray 21:36 Team Results Place Team Points 1 Liberty Hill 24 2 Thorndale 59 3 Franklin 123 4 Lorena 124 5 McGregor 158 6 Academy 176 7 Holland 191 8 Salado 194 9 Crawford 207 10 Hopewell 219
(TOP) Liberty Hill varsity boys start their cross country run in Pflugerville Saturday. (ABOVE) Girls Varsity team having some fun just prior to the start of their race. Front row from left are Abbi Shelton, Hanna Manning, Chelsea Cole. Back row are Mckynzie King, Jordan Marsh, Danielle Rimann, Emma Hofmann and Avery Tudyck. (LEFT) Sophomore Chelsea Cole and Freshman Emma Hofmann. (BELOW) Senior Mitchell Germann. (Photos by Doug Germann)