Ten Highland Lakes Sports Insights

Welcome to this weekly column where readers will find a summary of sports across the region and the impressions left on this writer.

This is the final week of the 2021-22 school year and that means saying good-bye to some athletes who left their marks on their programs. Throughout the Highland Lakes, fans can point out seniors on their favorite teams who led their programs to great heights. I’d like to highlight a few here.

1. At Marble Falls, folks had an idea what the class of 2022 could do when those football players were freshmen and went 8-1 that season. Those Mustangs were the cornerstones of head coach Brian Herman’s three years and led the team to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2020 and 2021. The reason for their success was a commitment to building a winner in the offseason. Those athletes were the epitome of what fans like me love — talent combined with a commitment to work. They definitely are leaving the program better than they found it.
2. At Burnet, the same can be said of the volleyball team. The Lady Dawgs reached the Class 4A Region III tournament and seemed to come out of nowhere to do it. But to head coach Crystal Shipley, the ingredients for that type of success always were there. Those seniors displayed a trait that served them well — especially when facing Salado a third time to decide seedings for the playoffs — the commitment to not be denied. While the other two matches against Salado took five sets in each to decide a winner, the Lady Dawgs swept the Lady Eagles in three games in the third match and then went on a run all the way to regionals. Fans believe the volleyball team’s success gave the basketball and soccer players the confidence they could reach regionals, too, which also happened. It truly was a banner year for the Lady Dawgs.
3. At Faith Academy, the question wasn’t whether the Flames could win a Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state championship. It was how many could they win in one school year. That’s the depth of talent the class of 2022 displayed where the athletes posted undefeated district seasons in six-man football, boys basketball and baseball and won the district track championship by scoring four times the number of points than the runner-up. By the end, Faith repeated as the state champs in boys track and field and played for a state title in football. In boys basketball, this senior class never lost a district contest.
4. The same can be said of the Smoking for Jesus Ministry School’s six-man football team where the Eagles captured back-to-back state football championships in 2020 and 2021 after finishing as the runners-up in 2019 while playing in the Texas Christian Athletic League. They followed the second football state title with a TCAL state championship in boys basketball during the 2021-22 season. By the time track season began, the Eagles had switched to the Texas Association of Independent Athletic Organizations, but they didn’t stop winning. Brothers Jonathan and Charles Frazier, Jr. scored high enough in two events apiece to bring home the runner-up trophy in the team standings.
5. The Llano boys golf team finished fourth at the Class 3A state tournament thanks to a two-day team score of 336-331–667. The team had one senior, Dillon Prokop, who helped the Jackets win the District 25-3A crown and finish in the top three of the Class 3A Region IV meet to advance to state.
6. I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time with three area football teams to write reports on their progress. And it’s been fun to report on them. One was with the Marble Falls Mustangs and the number of football players who arrive for voluntary lifting sessions before or after school. Some show up for both. The numbers, when adding the rising freshmen to the rising sophomores, juniors and seniors, are in the triple digits. That tells me the athletes are well aware of the challenges ahead in District 13-4A Division I, their new district beginning with the 2022 season. The district includes Burnet, Lampasas, Comal Canyon Lake, Comal Davenport and Taylor, which should have closer, more competitive contests.
7. I had a chance to watch the Burnet and Llano 7-on-7 teams play each other May 23. The Jackets looked very sharp during the two contests. At one point Llano had outscored the Bulldogs 33-0. And that’s with a quarterback battle taking place between sophomore Briggs Green and junior Bryce Mize. The good news is I didn’t see a drop-off when the Jackets subbed in different receivers and defensive backs, and that should spell trouble for their opponents this upcoming football season. I’ll have a complete report on the Jackets in a separate piece very soon.
8. That’s not to say the Bulldogs haven’t been working. Quite the opposite happened as highlighted by the program’s champions week where many of the drills resembled what fans may see while watching a linemen’s challenge. The players got points for winning drills, for their enthusiasm, how well they organized to win a drill, and how well they encouraged each other. It was fun to see them compete and how they celebrated.
9. The only venue I didn’t get to visit was Marble Falls Middle School on Monday nights where the Lady Mustang volleyball team was playing matches against Burnet, Llano and Killeen Harker Heights. But there’s no doubt the league did what coaches wanted it to do — give their players opportunities to improve. How do I know? I saw the photos on social media and how coaches applauded their athletes for their hard work. Now that the May league ended, volleyball will move its league night to Wednesday to not interfere with the Lampasas girls basketball league that is played on Mondays in June.
10. Now that the calendar is about to turn to June, student-athletes will be challenged in a much different way: the commitment to show up for voluntary strength-and-conditioning workouts. During the school day, it’s much easier because students have an athletic period where coaches have already drawn up what they’ll do during that time. I look forward to writing updates on the number of athletes showing up for voluntary sessions and what they’re doing to stay in shape for fall training camps in August.

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