A rivalry renewed and some Joey Awards too
Well, I guess you could call it a rivalry, kinda in a way, you might say.
Really, though, it was a renewal of a renewal.
That’s clear, huh?
In a nutshell, we’re talking about the girls Basketball Battle of Highway 190, starring a couple of teams that don’t meet all that often, even though they should and in as many other sports as possible, both boys and girls.
Naturally, I’m referring to Copperas Cove vs. Lampasas, Bulldawgs against Badgers, two schools separated by 19 miles as the crow flies, one a 6A team and the other in 4A.
Right about here, some will say a Class 6A team has no business going up against a squad two enrollment sizes below, but if you’d been at Bulldawg Gym Tuesday night, you would have seen that argument doesn’t hold a shot glass full of water.
This was their second meeting in 2022 and both teams went after each other tooth and nail for 32 minutes until Lampasas claimed a 48-36 win. Put that together with the Lady Dawgs 49-47 victory Nov. 12 in the Rouse tournament and to me it’s a natural, right up there with Baylor-Iowa State in Big XII women’s action. So...
Our first two Joey Awards go out to Lady Dawg coach Derik Short and Lady Badger boss Mark Myers for putting this one on the schedule. Let’s see things like this more often. Believe me, the fans would turn out just like they did Tuesday, making up the biggest and best crowd for a girls game in a long, long time.
Another of our mythical four-inch statuettes of a chubby guy and his big flapping mouth is awarded to head football coach Tony Johnson, who has demonstrated his zeal to turn things around. Even with a 2-8 record in 2022, I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel getting brighter.
We’re also honoring the CCHS AquaDawg swim team for braving last Saturday’s funky weather to help put out wreaths at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery.
Congratulations to our award winners..oh..Athletic Director Cari Lowery gets one too. It’s no small task overseeing a Class 6A athletic department and she has come on like gangbusters..such as hiring Coach Short to helm girls basketball, which is doing what we all want to see..slowly but surely getting better.
Keep up the good work, y’all!
Go Dawgs!