The Colony Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 50, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 3, 1993 Page: 14 of 37
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The Colony Leader
Page 14A
Wednesday
November 3, 1993
Jones offers
crash course
on slam dunk
Shanne Jones 1, backboards 0.
Less than a week into full-time
basketball practice, the Cougar
basketball team already has The
Colony High School campus buz-
zing.
Thanks to senior Shanne Jones,
that is.
KEVIN
FARR
Commentary
Jones, a six-foot, six-inch, 210-
pound power forward for the
Cougars’ defending District 6-5A
champions, went up for a follow
shot on a miss during practice
Thursday and brought the rim
down with him.
You’ve heard of the NBA’s Sha-
quille O’Neal shattering back-
boards on a regular basis, but you
don’t hear too often about high
school players doing such things.
“In over 14 years of coaching
high school basketball basketball
I’ve never had a player do that,”
Cougar coach Tommy Thomas
said. “We knew Shanne was a
strong dunker. He must have
caught it just right. I was stunned,
to say the least.”
Jones averaged 14 points and
seven rebounds last season while
making the All-District team and is
expected to be a key part of the
Cougar squad this year.
Thankfully, the board-crushing
dunk did not injure anyone, but
left most witnesses in amazement.
“He’s a great leaper and just
went up on the follow shot,” Tho-
mas added. “The next thing you
know he comes down with the rim
in hand. It was strange because
the whole thing didn’t come
crashing down. It just left a huge
hole right in the middle of the
Irby likes team’s
chances in 6-5A
TCHS swimmers set for new season
By KEVIN FARR
Sports writer
The Colony swimming and di-
ving coach Keith Irby is very opti-
mistic heading into the 1993-94
season, returning a good number
of swimmers from last year’s
squad.
The boys’ team took second in
District 6-5A last season and went
on for a fifth place finish in regional
competition. The up-and-coming
girls took fourth, but should be
even better this year with every-
one back.
“We’re a well-rounded team
this year with a lot of quality
depth,” said Irby, who initiated
the program eight years ago. “We
are limited on pool space right
now and that limits the number of
swimmers we can bring into the
program, but we’ve got some
very good depth anyway.
“Our boys’ team should be very
good once again and we’re looking
for our best girls’ team ever. I
think it will be a very successful
season.”
Success is nothing knew to The
Colony swimming program, which
arguably has been the most suc-
cessful in the school’s eight years
of existence.
The swim team won the
school’s first individual and team
district championship and had the
first UIL individual state qualifier.
The Cougars went undefeated
five years in a row in dual competi-
Turn to SWIMMING, Page 12A
JUGARS
Cougars after winning
record in season finale
By KEVIN FARR like they don’t even care what the team this year, especially there de-
Sports writer score is and play hard all the time, fense.
With one game to play in the high We keep telling them if they do that “Anybody that can hold Lewisville
school football season, The Colony eventually things will go their way.” to seven points is doing something
Cougars have one mission. The Cougars have won just one right.”
To finish the year with a winning time against Allen in their eight-year The Eagles have had a tough road
record. existence, knocking off the Eagles in District 6-5A play after a 2-0-1
The obstacle that stands in front 24-7 in 1991. That game was The pre-district start.
of the Cougars and their first winning Colony’s last at Eagle Stadium. Most of the problems have been
mark in Class 5A is long-time rival Last season, the Eagles held on due to injuries to key players, includ-
Allen Friday night at Eagle Stadium, for a 28-26 win in a slugfest at ing their standout running back Gar-
The Cougars are currently at .500 Cougar Stadium, led by junior run- rett, who underwent knee surgery
with a 4-4-1 record. Allen comes into ning back Calvin Garrett, who ended last Thursday.
the final week of the season with a with 240 yards rushing. The Colony “We’re like the walking wound-
2-6-1 mark and riding a six-game los- lost despite rolling up a season-best ed,” added Purcell. “Seems like
ing skid. 475 yards offensively. everytime you turn around some-
The Eagles would like nothing In addition to being long-time riv- body is hurt. It’s been that type of
more than to end the season on a als, Briggs and Allen coach Ken Pur- season.
good note with a victory. cell are long-time friends. “We’ve had to play a lot of sopho-
Game time is scheduled for 7:30. “They do a good job over there (in mores and have really taken our
“Our kids have continued to work The Colony) and Coach Briggs al- lumps, but they’ve gotten better and
hard, no matter what the score is,” ways has them well prepared,” Pur-
Allen coach Ken Purcell said. “It’s cell added. “They’ve got a very good
Turn to COUGARS, Page 13A
TCHS
falls,
26-22
Denton grabs winning
TD in final 2 minutes
By KEVIN FARR
Sports writer
The Colony led for 46 minutes and
two seconds last Friday in the
Cougars’ District 6-5A clash with
Denton.
The final 1:58, however, proved
to be the difference on a blistery
night at Cougar Stadium with the
visitors keeping their slim playoff
hopes alive with an improbable 26-22
victory.
With only 140 hearty souls in
attendance (that number quickly
dwindled to roughly 40 by the
second period), The Colony burst
out to a 13-0 lead and looked to be in
command.
Until the Broncos showed a spark ■
----------—----—----------------================== late in the third quarter, as Deon 1
Richard Bennett Sta photo Green broke loose for an 80-yard J
The Colony tailback Cedric Cooper breaks outside for a good ence (79) Friday against Denton. Cooper rushed for 102 yards, touchdown run.
gain behind the blocking of Jon Stefaniak (33) and Shaun Lawr- but the Cougars lost to the Broncos, 26-22. The Cougars still had the lead at ,
22-20 late in the final period before
costly penalties helped turn the tide.
Denton took over at its own 30
with just 3:32 to play, ran twice for
five yards and faced a crucial third-
and-five.
Impact player
,717 1 j 1 A 1 • 7 * Quarterback Brian Szydlik drop-
1 he Colony linebacker Cusano a big hit on gridiron ^^^
yard pass and a first down.
“I used to like running the ball better,” he said. The Cougars, however, were
“I always dreamed of being a fullback, but now I flagged for roughing the passer and a
think I like being a linebacker a little more.” iate hit after the reception, moving
The junior has seen limited action at fullback the ball 30 more yards to The Colony
this year, but next season is expected to contri- 22.
bute more to the offense after the graduation of Derrick Peoples scored the win- :
Jon Stefaniak. ning touchdown on the next play
“Mark has great recognition and reaction time against a stunned Cougar defense
and makes our on-field adjustment calls,” Briggs and the Broncos led for the only time
said. “Every coach we’ve played against this year all night with 1:58 left.
has just raved about him. He’s just a real consis- Things went all The Colony’s way
tent player, is an outstanding student and is al- in the first quarter, aS Dustin Ptak
ways the first or second person to ball. All those picked up a Denton fumble on the
things make him an outstanding linebacker. Broncos’ first play from scrimmage
Cusano started every game as a sophomore at and returned it 45 yards for a touch-
the weakside position, but moved to the strong- down Eddie Elrod added the PAT
side this year to lead the squad in tackles with for a 7-0 lead. u eu i e
104 through eight games. . u Elrod then attempted a normal
He also calls the defensive signals and was the kickoff but the ball hung in the wind
only junior chosen by his teammates as a team hit 15 yards downfield and bounced
captain.backward into the arms of the
Out on the field, the team really looks up to Cougars’ Matt Jovce at The Colonv
me for inspiration,” said Cusano. “I try to help 47.84.5 man Joyce at me colony
P pump P y Ptak bolted 33 yards on a first- |
Turn to DENTON, Page 13A
TCHS teams
5th, 6th in
6-5A meet
By KEVIN FARR on my strength in the offseason,” said Cusano.
Sports writer “Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a scholarship to play
During his junior season, The Colony’s Mark football someplace. It doesn’t really matter
Cusano has been regarded by many District 6-5A where. I’ll worry about that when the time
coaches as the best defensive player in the dis- comes.”
In the time being, though, the Cougar line-
backer continues to provide big concerns for
opposing coaches.
Most have decided to run away from Cusano,
but that’s the part of the game which he feels is
his strongest and the most fun.
“I think my lateral movement is my best quali-
ty on the field,” Cusano said. “I really like to see
them (opponents) run to the other side because I
can chase them down and get a lot of momentum
trict.
This leaves the questions
of how good Cusano, the
Cougars’ leading tackler,
can become before his high
school career is over.
“He has the capability of
being a dominating defen-
sive player,” Cougar coach
Tommy Briggs said. “He is Mark Cusano
definitely one of the top
before I hit them. When they go laterally or
three linebackers I’ve ever had the chance to sprint out, I get my best shots at people.”
coach in over 20 years around here.” He definitely possesses a linebacker mentality
With those type of accolades, The Colony in that area.
could be the destination of many recruiting trips “I really like to hit people,” said Cusano.
by major college coaches in 1994. “That’s my favorite part of the game. That’s
Cusano, a 6-2, 205-pounder, takes all the rec- what makes it all fun. It really pumps me up to
ognition and honors in stride and hopes just to make a big hit on somebody.”
have the opportunity to play college football any- Cusano, who has been a linebacker since the
where. seventh grade, used to like playing offense more
“I just want to continue to improve and work but his recent success has changed that notion.
The Colony
girls edged
in finale
Turn to CUSANO, Page 12A
By KEVIN FARR
Sports writer
It was closer than most people
expected, but The Colony volleyball
team dropped a 17-15,15-11 verdict
to powerful Allen in the season finale
last week.
backboard. Needless to say, that
brought a quick end to practice.”
Maintenance personnel quickly
went to work, transferring a goal
from the middle school gymnasium key players returning next season,
to the high school, while another The Lady Cougars stayed tough in
backboard was ordered. the first game, despite missing 10
serves.
Allen jumped in front 4-1 and led it
7-3 and 11-5 before The Colony ral-
lied with three straight points and 10
Just to be on the safe side, they
better order more than one board
with Shanne Jones on hand.
I guess you can call him the
mini-shack.
Major college coaches have
already made plans to attend The
Colony games to watch Jones play.
With all the excitement, more and
more people will be coming out to
see if Jones can do it again in addi-
Lady Cougar coach Louise Bailey,
however, is optimistic with several
of the next 14, but it wasn’t quite
enough to overcome the early de-
ficit.
The Lady Cougars improved on
serving in the second game, missing
just one, but Allen once again held on
for the victory.
tion to watching the Cougars try "I was really proud of the way the Lee Baker/Staff photo
to improve on last year’s outstand- girls worked and played hard,” Members of The Colony girls cross country The team placed fifth in the 3.2-mile run. The
ing 28-4 record. Bailey said. “They just came up a team leave the starting line wrapped in their four freshmen and one junior will bring back
warmups as the wind chill was in the teens their experience next year when they return to
Turn to Farr, Page 13A Turn to finale, Page 12A Saturday morning at Northlake Park in Denton, competition.
By KEVIN FARR
Sports writer
With weather conditions signaling
the end of outdoor activities, The
Colony cross country team finished
the season in the District 6-5A meet
at Denton.
The Cougars finished sixth over-
all, while the Lady Cougars took
fifth.
Senior Michael Hundt had another
good outing with an 18th place finish
in 17 minutes, 25 seconds on the
3.1-mile course.
Sophomore Aaron Bowen was
only nine seconds behind for a 19th
place finish of 17:34.
“Our goal was to get all five run-
ners in the top 25,” Coach Roy Stone
said. “We managed to get two out of
five in, but the weather conditions
weren’t very favorable. When the
competition started the temperature
was 38 with a strong north wind.
“I thought Michael Hundt ran real-
ly well. He was in the top six at the
Turn to MEET, Page 13A
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Epperson, Wayne. The Colony Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 50, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 3, 1993, newspaper, November 3, 1993; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1666772/m1/14/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Colony Public Library.