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Sports
TALL TASK: THROWING OVER SCOTS’ SECONDARY
Long wingspans provide potential advantage to HP safeties, cornerbacks
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By Todd Jorgenson
People Newspapers
As a power forward on the Highland Park basketball team, Preston Taylor is just one of many tall trees.
But Taylor’s 6-foot-5 frame is much more unusual for a safety on the football field, where he finds his height can be equally advantageous.
“With a longer wingspan, you can break up passes easier,” Taylor said. “You can get to some passes that other people can’t.”
Taylor isn’t the only member of the Scots’ secondary who stands out. Blake Bevans is a 6-foot-3 cornerback, and Jonathan Thomas is just an inch shorter at the other safety spot.
At about 6 feet, cornerback Adam Rourke is average-sized for his position yet seems almost tiny compared to his abnormally lanky teammates.
“It’s totally coincidental,” said HP head coach Randy Allen. “It’s a nice advantage when your players have height to go with speed and instincts, especially when you get matched up against a taller receiver.”
Taylor’s length matches that of former Dallas Cowboys safety Pat Watkins, the tallest safety in NFL history.
Naturally, Taylor started as a receiver before shifting to safety in middle school. Bevans made a similar position switch.
“It helps me. Usually, corners are shorter and quicker,” Bevans said. “Some of the knockdowns I had last year were because of my wingspan.”
Of the eight cornerbacks named to the NFL’s Pro Bowl last season, none were over 6-foot-1. All-pro receivers, on the other hand, were more than an inch taller on average.
Height can be an advantage when contesting fade routes and other high throws. But Taylor also has been one of the team’s leading tacklers so far this season.
“We’ve had other corners and other safeties that weren’t as tall,” Allen said. “It’s an advantage if you can bend your hips and keep leverage on your tackling.”
Highland Park’s taller than usual secondary includes Preston Taylor (24) at 6-foot-5 and
6-foot-3 Blake Bevans (31). (PHOTOS: CHRIS
MCGATHEY AND MELISSA MACATEE)
The secondary will be critical to HP’s hopes of defending its District 6-5A Division I title this season. League play starts on Oct. 1 at Sherman.
For Bevans, perhaps the extra reach can compensate for a half-step against a quicker receiver, as the Scots will face some top pass-catchers throughout the season.
“It helps that we have such a tough non-district schedule,” he said. “We’re getting challenged at the beginning to see how we handle adversity.”
Sophie Biediger Embraces Team Aspects of Individual Sport
Lady Scots top golfer aims to lead Highland Park on another state run
By Todd Jorgenson
People Newspapers
During her freshman season at Highland Park, Sophie Biediger began to embrace the team aspects of high school golf — the camaraderie, the mentorship, the cooperation — that are otherwise unusual in her sport.
Three years later, she’s the one extolling those same virtues to her younger teammates as she tries to lead the Lady Scots to a third consecutive appearance at the Class 5A state tournament next spring.
PCP_Nov2021_Banner-1-Revised.pdf 1 9/14/2021 10:40:59 PM“Since I’m the oldest on the team, I use the advice that the upperclassmen taught me and try to be a leader to the younger players,” Biediger said. “It’s really fun to have a team of girls who love golf like you do. We can all work together toward a common goal for our school.” Biediger’s deep family roots on the links led her to start playing at a young age. Her aunt competed on the LPGA tour, while her uncle is a club professional in California. In seventh grade, she began playing higher-profile tournaments year-round. By her freshman year, she already was the No. 2 player on the Lady Scots roster and qualified for state alongside her teammates. “It’s a lot different from individual tournaments. I want everybody on my team to do well,” she said. “It’s really fun to have the competition on the team. That helps me get better.” Biediger moved into HP’s top spot the following year. Although the state tournament was canceled that spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned in 2021 and individually tied for fourth place, finishing 22 shots better than her debut. Since that May event, she’s been active on the prestigious Legends Junior Tour, which includes some of the top junior golfers in
After tying for fourth place at the 5A state tournament in the spring, Highland Park senior
Sophie Biediger is back to lead the Lady Scots. (COURTESY PHOTO)
Texas. Her highlight came at a July tournament at Lantana Golf Club, where she won by eight strokes, recorded her first competitive round with no bogeys, and closed with back-to-back rounds under 70.
Also, this summer, she placed seventh at the Texas Junior Amateur Championship and finished second in a playoff at the George Hannon Invitational in Austin.
Biediger attributes the improvement to time on the putting green, complementing her typically solid driving and iron play.
“That changed the whole trajectory of my game,” said Biediger, who hopes to continue playing golf next year in college. “I’ve improved a lot more since then. I’m excited for this year.”
Park Cities Coaching Finds Niche With Aspiring Athletes Experienced competitors develop young counterparts in new venture
By Todd Jorgenson
People Newspapers
As much as Carter Clements enjoyed competing in soccer, tennis, or track as a teenager in Virginia, he had the heart of a coach.
That never changed when he came to SMU six years ago, even as Clements graduated with a business degree and started a corporate career.
“It got to the point where it seemed like I was working just so I could go home and play sports at night,” Clements said. “My heart wasn’t really in it. I wanted to pursue coaching full-time.”
So, in June, Clements quit his job with an investment firm and launched Park Cities Coaching, which aims to provide customized lessons for young athletes in up to 10 different sports.
The hook is that Clements contracts primarily with high school or college athletes, or recent graduates, as potential mentors who can encourage youngsters to follow in their footsteps.
“They want to make an impact in the community. For the kids, it’s a lesson from a captain on a varsity team,” Clements said. “This varsity athlete is telling me what he went through to get to where he is. Five or 10 years down the road, I can be like him.”
The idea continues an entrepreneurial venture Clements started almost a decade ago in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia when he starred in multiple sports and was asked by some parents if he was
FROM LEFT: Carter Clements guides agility and speed training during a private lesson with Avery Terry; Former SMU safety Michael Salerno
reviews football routes with a group of second graders. (PHOTOS: COURTESY CARTER CLEMENTS)
interested in coaching.
Even after moving to Dallas, he continued to organize clinics in Virginia for a couple of years until he no longer had the time. He founded the new company with his fiancée, Madi Wray, a Park Cities native who graduated from Ursuline.
“When I first started, the goal was to get one person to sign up. From there, it just grew,” Clements said. “It’s been such a blessing.”
The feedback has been positive thus far, Clements said. After coaching two smallgroup lessons in the first week, now he handles dozens, with word-of-mouth enabling him to expand to Preston Hollow and other neighborhoods.
“My husband and I were struggling to find golf lessons at a price point that made sense,” said Park Cities resident Haley Allen. “Our kindergartener has gone from the desire to play golf but with zero knowledge of the sport to swinging impressive golf shots within a matter of weeks.”
The company already has signed up coaches from SMU, Highland Park, Ursuline, Hockaday, St. Mark’s, Parish Episcopal, and more. The roster continues to grow.
“Working with kids and sports is the most fun thing I do with my life,” said Jeff Bolte, a recent SMU graduate who coaches basketball. “It’s a blast to see them light up when they do something right. The best feeling in the world is seeing that smile come back at you.”
