Friday Night Football Week 9: Central vs. Lubbock Monterey

After the previous week's ease back into Friday Night Football, I was ready for the next game at San Angelo Stadium between Central and Lubbock Monterey. This was going to be an exciting game no matter what happened due to various factors. If the Bobcats were to win the game they would earn a share of the District 2-5A championship with an opportunity to win the title outright the following week against Amarillo Tascosa. Central has not won a district title since 1963. Another reason the game was going to be exciting is because of the all the hype about the game from the Monterey head coach.
Apparently, and I have not heard the recording nor have I found evidence of it on the web, but Monterey's head coach bashed Central earlier in the week on a radio talk show. Like I've said I haven't heard the recording, but I've been told by several people that the coach said something along the lines that Central's 1-point win over Amarillo High (the district champs last year) was a fluke and that Monterey was going to come into San Angelo and put Central in their place. Again, I don't know the specifics of the whole thing, but if it was true there was sure to be a few fireworks.

The game started off pretty slow remaining scoreless through the first quarter. But Central's offense put up 24 points in just over 7 minutes in the second quarter and relied on it's defense to take care of the rest of the game. That's how the game would end: Central 24, Monterey 0. This was the first shutout by Central since 2006 and improving their overall record to 7-2, 4-0 in District 2-5A and their best start in 20 years. There were in fact a few fireworks during the game with Monterey's starting running back being taken out of the game for unsportsman-like conduct. There was a little scuffle on the field which resulted in a Central player being picked up and slammed to the ground. Apparently you can't do that after the whistle has been blown to end the play.
It was a good night all around for everyone, at least if you were a Central fan. You can read sports writer Paul Harris' story HERE if you want to know a little more of the specifics of the game. I'm pretty sure there is a good chance that instead of going to an area game or the Lake View game this week, I'll be making the trip up to Amarillo to shoot Central play for the district title. I was going to suggest this to my editor today but he must have been reading my mind because as I was about to call and ask, he sent me a text asking about what I thought about going to Amarillo. Not only should it be an exciting game to shoot, but it is also slated to start at 4:00 pm. Awesome, a day game! That means I'll be able to shoot the entire game and not have to miss the third quarter editing photos from the first half. Maybe I can spend a day in Lubbock visiting my parents over the weekend. The photo staff has posted photo galleries of all the games covered last Friday and you can go HERE to see them.

Friday Night Football Week 8: Central vs. Lubbock High

Wow. The last time I shot a Friday night football game was Week 3! I had just arrived back in town from my trip to Cambodia (blog posts coming soon) on Wednesday last week and was immediately thrown back into the football mix that Friday. I was slated to shoot Central playing winless Lubbock High here in San Angelo. While I was out of the country I wasn't able to keep up with all the football action until the last few days of the trip when I was able to get a reliable internet connection. As it turns out, Central has been doing quite well this season (now 6-2 overall) and even has a chance to win the District 2-5A championship outright. The week before the Bobcats defeated Amarillo High, last year's district champions.
I have to admit that I was not ready to jump right back into regular assignments. I had only been back in the country for three days, my sleep schedule was still severely off and I was trying to get back to eating regular food. I lost 12 pounds on the trip. Needless to say I was tired, hungry and weak at the game on Friday night. However, with the Bobcats playing so well this season, the excitement of the game kept me alert.

Typically, the Bobcats are fighting tooth and nail for every yard and score, but not this Friday. Lubbock High has given the Bobcats troubles in the past with wins in 2008 and 2009 and a close game last year. Lubbock High scored first in this year's game just 4 minutes in, but it would only be one of two touchdowns the Westerners would score for the entire game. Central finished the game with over 500 yards of offense and held the Westerners to just over 200 yards in a 46-14 win.
I have to be perfectly honest, I was glad to have an easy game to shoot for my first Friday back. It's a lot easier to shot a winning team, especially a team that's winning by such a large margin, than it is to shoot a game where your team is getting blown out or a game that's coming down to the wire. Admittedly, the close games are fun to shoot, but I was happy to ease my way back into the flow of things. Plus it was nice to see all of the people I normally talk and shoot with on the sidelines. Everyone was interested in the Cambodia trip and I was happy to talk about it. I guess the next step is to edit through all the photos and videos and start piecing together a story that is slated to publish in November. If you would like to read sports writer Paul Harris's game story you can find it HERE. The photo staff and freelancers also put up several photo galleries from Friday's games and you can find them HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.