Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 110, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Page: 7 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
♦ * «■ *«• "H **» -*• -S *-
“S -«* ** •'.
■'-*•• *•••■» •■ * •-, *. »; •„ •. •. -. . •. , V . « ... »’
Ritchey
to replace
Slaughter as
Clyde’s coach
David Ritchey, who in his
first season as a head football
coach in 2008 led Rotan to a
6-5 record and a trip to the
playoffs, on Monday was
named to replace Craig
Slaughter as the new head
football coach and athletic
director at Clyde during a
Clyde ISD school board meet-
ing.
Ritchey served as an assis-
tant coach under Slaughter
prior to taking the head
coaching job at Rotan and
was at Clyde as an assistant
for seven years in all. The
Bulldogs were 1-9 in his first
year but advanced to the
Class 3A playoffs his last two
years, there first trips to the
post-season since 1996,
before dropping to 2A this
past season.
Slaughter resigned at Clyde
after the 2008 season
when the Bulldogs won their
first outright district champi-
onship in 53 years and had an
11-2 record to come to
Sweetwater in February as
the new head football coach
and athletic director.
Slaughter, one of two final-
ists for the position, was
hired to replace Kent .Jack-
son, who resigned in .January
to become the new coach at
Frisco Heritage High School
after going 78-26 in eight
years at Sweetwater.
David Ritchey
Slaughter, who was 23-12
in three years at Clyde, began
his new job here earlier this
month.
Ritchey played for his
father, ex-Sweetwater High
School head coach Tom
Ritchey, at SHS and helped
the Mustangs advance to the
state semifinals in 1991, his
senior year. He quarter-
backed the ‘91 team to a 12-2
record that included three
playoff wins and a district co-
championship.
Ritchey also spent one year
each at Abilene High and
Wylie as an assistant coach.
Rotan was the third-place
team this past year in a foot-
ball district that included
Roscoe, which was ranked
No. 3 in the state and posted
a 10-2 overall record. Roscoe
made it to the area round in
2008 before losing to Archer
City.
SHS teams struggle with bats
in District 2-3A home openers
■ Mustangs are held to
four hits in loss to Steers
Visiting Graham collected just two runs — one unearned — and
tour hits against Sweetwater over the final five innings of
Tuesday’s District 2-3A home opener at Newman Park. But the
Mustangs couldn t overcome a slow start and anemic offensive
attack as they lost, 7-1.
Once again, the Mustangs received a strong pitching effort by
Dane Bennett, who held Graham’s offense in check over the final
5 2/3 innings in relief of starter Cameron Fox. But Graham’s
Hubbell Allen was even better, allowing just four hits in a seven-
inning complete game. Sweetwater’s only run came in the first
inning when .Jordan Jones led off with a triple and scored on a
sacrifice fly by Tanner Crain.
Graham, which like Sweetwater is now 1-1 in district, led 5-1 af-
ter two innings after scoring two times in the first and coming up
with three runs in the second. After Fox was replaced bv Bennett,
the Steers scored just two more times but still added to their lead!
Sweetwater’s only other hits were singles by Josh Pepper, .Jason
Vause and Torres. The Mustangs play at Snyder at 7 p.m. Friday.
■ Lady Mustangs are
encouraged despite loss
A strong pitching effort by Kelli Wofford on Tuesday has the
Sweetwater softball team encouraged despite a 3-0 loss against
Graham in the Lady Mustangs’ District 2-3Ahome opener.
Wofford, a freshman making her first district start, held a good
Graham team to just three runs in a seven-inning complete game
Graham (2-0) had scored 10 runs four days earlier in a 10-0 win
over Snyder to begin district play. Wofford struck out two and
“did an excellent job,” coach Ginger Murray said.
Graham scored in the first, third and fourth innings against.
Sweetwater team that was coming off an 8-1 loss against Breck
enridge to start district play. Murray said Tuesday’s effort wa
much better. "It was a very well-battled game from start to finish
I was proud of how well we played against a tough team like < Tra-
il am,” the head coach said.
Sweetwater finished with five hits, with Taylor McKoy collect-
ing two doubles and Hailey McIntosh, Dedra Brown and Hanna
Kite getting singles. Sweetwater returns to action when it goes to
Snyder for a 5 p.m. game Friday.
Jeffrey is featured speaker
at FCA’s banquet on April 19
Former San Diego Charger and Baylor University quarterback Neal Jeffrey will
be the featured speaker at the 2009 Fellowship of Christian Athletes Victory
Banquet on April 19 at the Abilene Civic Center starting at 4 p.m.
Now a Christian author, speaker and minister, Jeffrey will also help introduce
the 2009 class of players, cheerleaders and coaches for the 10th Anniversary
Greathouse FCA All-Star Classic.
Jeffrey is best known for leading Baylor in its 1974 “Miracle on the Brazos" sea-
son when the Bears came from out ot nowhere to capture their first Southwest
Conference title in 50 years. He later played three seasons in the NFL for the San
Diego Chargers.
A longtime member and supporter ot FCA, .Jeffrey speaks at hundreds of events
each year and is author of the book, The Man I Want to Be. He also serves as an
associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas.
A limited number of tickets tor the Victory' Banquet can be purchased by con-
tacting the Big Country FCA office at 325-795-0020. Tables of 10 are available for
a donation of $500 and individual tickets are $50.
Along with the annual football game, a girls basketball game will be added to the
(Jreathouse FCA Classic this year. Both games are set for June 13.
Information about the Big Country Chapter of the FCA can also be found at
www.bigcountryffca.org.
Girls golfers at
B’ridge to start
district tourney
%
The Sweetwater girls golf team will go to
Breckenridge on Thursday to play the first of
three legs in the District 2-3A tournament.
The second 18-hole leg of the 54-hoh
tournament will be played March 31 at Abi
lene Wylie and the final leg will be on April 9 I
at Snyder, '[’he top two teams at district w ill
advance to play in the regional tournament
which is scheduled for April 21 and 23 at
Lubbock.
The SHS golf team hasn’t played since fin
ishing second at its Sweetwater Golf Classic
back on Feb. 27-28.
The team’s final pre-district event was to
be played March 11 at Baird, but it was can-
celled due to bad weather.
FourNFl player safety rules
are passed lor2009season
DANA P( >1NT, Calif. (APJ — The NFL is taking the safe route.
Concerned about the rising number of penalties in the area of
player safety, league owners passed four rules changes Tuesday.
They will consider more of them today.
“We re try ing to make the game safer for the guy getting hit and
the guy doing the hitting,” director of officiating Mike Pereira
said.
Among those guy s was Tom Brady, who injured his knee when
hit by Kansas City safety Bernard Pollard in the 2008 opener,
costing Brady the rest of the season. That tackle, when Pollard
was on the ground but lunged at Brady, was legal last season. It
won’t be in '09.
That adjustment was not a rule change and did not require an
owners vote. But four other rules were adopted by the 32 teams:
The initial force of a blindside block can’t be delivered by a
helmet, forearm or shoulder to an opponent's head or neck. An
illegal blindside block will bring a 15-yard penalty.
Initial contact to the head of a defenseless receiver also will
draw a 15-yard penalty.
“Our clear movement is to getting out of the striking in the
head area,’ Pereira said. “We’re reading about injuries that say
spinal and vertebrae. We’ve got to try something."
On kickoffs, no blocking w edge of more than two players will
be allowed. Again, it will be a 15-yard penalty.
Also on kickoffs, the kicking team can't have more than five
players bunched together pursuing an onside kick. That will cost
a team 5 yards.
Pereira is especially concerned about the proliferation of horse-
collar tackles. There were 24 called in 2008, up from 12 in '07,
but there also were 47 league fines handed out for them.
“That's just too high a number," he said. “We have not been
effective in terms of stopping the tactic."
Such tackles w ill be a point of emphasis w ith officiating crews
in 2009.
So w ill holding penalties, on which the variance of calls from
crew to crew has been huge. Pereira's office is compiling a tape
that will be shown to officials, coaching staffs and players.
"It's one area we need to find consistency from crew to crew,”
he said.
lie also lamented that NFL teams scout officials.
"You scout your opponents and you do the same w ith officials,"
Pereira said at the league meetings. "1 think it’s a shame, but they
do look at things. How many holding calls or roughing-the-pass-
er calls are made. Oxer the 15 games our officials have (to work),
it should even up."
What did please Pereira, commissioner Roger Goodell and the
two heads of the competition committee - Atlanta Falcons pres-
ident Rich McKay and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher - was
the sharp decrease in suspensions and tines for hits to the head,
particularly when players launch themselves helmet first into an
opponent.
Pereira noted that players tend to police themselves once the
league starts fining or suspending them for illegal hits. Last sea-
son, there were two suspensions (Jets safety Eric Smith for hit-
ting Arizona receiver Anquan Boldin, and Tampa Bay cornerback
Elbert Mack for a tackle of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan) and
a $25,000 fine (Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson for a hit on
Buffalo quarterback Trent Edwards) in the first five weeks of the
schedule. After that? None.
Asked about the ratings for each crew last year, Pereira said
they averaged 98.1 percent accuracy, down slightly from 98.3 in
2007. Naturally, he wants that number as close to too percent as
possible.
“We had some train wrecks and train wrecks hurt you," he said,
referring to Ed I loculi’s blown call on Jay Cutler’s fumble in a
Week 2 game between Denver and San Diego, and to the Week 11
win by Pittsburgh over San Diego 11-10 in which a late Steelers
touchdown wrongly was negated. “They hurt perception. It was
hard getting through Week 2. That’s what we have to avoid this
year."
The owners could make that easier it they pass a rule today
allowing video replay to be used to determine whether a play sim-
ilar to Cutler’s is an incomplete pass or a fumble.
INSURANCE DIRECTORY
For life’s unexpected moments, having insurance can save your peace of mind.
BENNETT
m
ASSOCIATES
<5&>
/instate
1
' Inasnmx
' 4**W
909 East Third
236-6321
I
The Insurance
Texans Trust.
U
★ Since 1896 ★
~ Jk i
idmh
AGENCY
latin McPtieism ■ leremy Ooilil
(ilily MavtifU*
1?10 Hailey SI - Swee.lwaier TX )05!>6
325 23b 4172
Germania !
HOME • AUTO • LIFE I
iHimtllKlIltMirjIHC el>111 I
CLARK AGENCY, INC.
TRAVELERsT -driyp--((Kemper.
-- --------------
iMtutANCt MMtfBM
Since
IM20
)Mwaten
j tararja
r4f*nf
309 Oak Street • Sweetwater • 325-236-6722
rn&iwance
Hochheim Prairie ft
x Farm Mutual ^
A/>
■’'*......
Lynda K. High
Russell L. High
Office: 325-235-8556
Fax: 325-235-1768
1410 Hailey
Sweetwater, Tx 70556
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View four places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Rodriguez, Tatiana. Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 110, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 25, 2009, newspaper, March 25, 2009; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth577937/m1/7/?q=%22~1~1%22~1&rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.