Sports

A college cowboy spurs his bareback bronc Saturday night, Oct. 10 at the Pittsburg Rodeo Arena. Northeast Texas Community College hosted the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Rodeo. In addition to NTCC athletes, the colleges and universities competing this weekend include: Texas A&M University, McNeese State University, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin University, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Hill College, Wharton County Junior College, Southwest Texas Junior College, Panola College, Trinity Valley Community College, Blinn College and Texas State University.

Pittsburg is now 6 and 0, besides being 2 and 0 for homecomings, much to the chagrin of the home teams. To recap last Friday, Pitt had 91 total plays, rushed and passed for 520 yards with Senior No. 4-Tray walker with 308 yards and two TDs, and Senior No. 3-Brian Baca with 108 yards and four TDs.

Sophomore kicker No. 82-Alex Rodriguez was 7 for 7 extra points. Senior No. 28-Fre’zarian Harrison picked up a fumble and ran it back for a TD. He was chosen Defensive Player of the Game.

Senior No. 14-Robert Hollins led the team with 6 unassisted tackles and No. 25-Link Emard led the team with nine combined solo and assisted tackles.  Senior No. 23-Bobby Stroud and Senior No. 28-Fre’zarian Harrison sacked the North Lamar quarterback three times each and Juniors No. 31-Bradlee Warrick and No. 44-E. J. Hill sacked him once each.

On Oct. 9, 4A-1, Region II, District 7, begins conference play and the Pirates engage the North Lamar Panthers in their first district game. The Pirates are going in as the only undefeated team in the district.

 As of Sept. 25, Liberty-Eylau is 4-1, Paris is 4-1, N. Lamar is 4-1, Princeton is 4-1, and Quinlan-Ford is 1-4. In 4A-1, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football ranks Liberty-Eylau is ranked No. 4, and Pittsburg No. 9, up from not being ranked at all.

 Maxprep rates Pitt at No. 8, Liberty-Eylau No. 11, Paris No. 15, Princeton No. 27, N. Lamar No. 32, and Quinlan-Ford at No. 75. The High School AP poll rates Liberty-Eylau at No. 10 and Pittsburg tied with Carthage at No. 17.

A bull rider hangs on as his ride does a belly roll and a direction change during the Faulkner Chevrolet Championship Bull Riding Rodeo. The rodeo was well attended and raised a record amount of donations for the Pittsburg-Camp County area Handicapable Project.

The Texas High School poll rankings for the 4A-1 Pittsburg Pirates are rather confused.

Pittsburg did not even rank in the top 25 in the early season polls.

The Texas HS AP poll ranks the Pirates at #17 in 4A. In Dave Campbell’s Texas Football they are also not in the top 10, however in the Texas Maxprep poll Pittsburg is ranked #8 in 4A-1.

The AP poll ranks Pitts conference rival Liberty-Eylau at #10 and Dave Campbell at #6. Texas Maxprep rates them at #9 behind Pittsburg.

The East Texas Sports Network rates Pittsburg at #5. ETSN.fm notably rates Gilmer #1, and Liberty-Eylau #2. Pittsburg is 4-0 and Liberty-Eylau is 3-1 losing their first game to Gilmer 50 to 45.

The rest of the District members are ranked by Maxprep: Paris - #13, N. Lamar - #22, Princeton - #32, and Quinlan Ford - #81. The rest of the District is not ranked by ETSN.fm.

Dae’jah Heath returns a volley as Malaysia Burns and Sydney Waldrep #5 look on. DeKalb defeated the Varsity 3 -1, but JV wins – 3-0, and Fish win 2-1 on Sept. 22.

The Pirates continued their winning streak with five wins and no losses Friday night at Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon defense held the Pirates to 4 and out on the Pirates first possession, but after that the Pirates dominated the game.

The Pirate no-huddle offense only ran 34 plays from the line of scrimmage, scored seven touchdowns, eight first downs, and only one penalty. Quarterback Brian Baca had 124 yards passing which resulted in two touchdowns.

However, the Pirate running game was also outstanding, a total of 264 yards rushing, with the Co-Player of the Game Tray Walker accounting for 111 of those rushing yards. The other Co-Player of the Game was Alex Rodriguez, special teams’ kicker, who was five for six extra points and whose kickoffs were perfection.

Touchdowns were scored by #3 – Brian Baca, QB; #4 – Tray Walker, RB; #11 – Damian Porter, WR; #15 – Dejour Dowell, WR; #20 - Lateric Harper; and two touchdowns by #24 – Elijah Boyd.

The New Boston Lions visited Pirate Stadium on homecoming to a standing-room only Pittsburg crowd of fans. The opening ceremonies were paused for a moment of silence for the victims of the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.

 With only 21 seconds to go in the first quarter, quarterback Brian Baca scored on a keeper but the extra point kick failed. The first half settled into a defensive battle as neither team was able to score. The half ended with the Pirates leading by six.

The fans were then entertained by a half-time show led off by a dance routine by the Pitt Varsity Cheerleaders. The second half began with a supercharged second effort by the Pirate team.  In the closing seconds of the third quarter, Tray Walker scored Pitt’s second touchdown and Alex Rodriguez’ extra point kick was good for the pirates to lead 13 to zero.

In just a few short months, Pittsburg Athletic Director Brad Baca has worked to create a winning sports program and early indicators show he is succeeding.

The Pittsburg Pirates football team has celebrated several hard-fought victories and this is just the beginning, according to Coach Baca. At a recent meeting of the Pittsburg Rotary Club, the coach spoke of his team and how he has worked to create a top-down program of greatness.

“What we're trying to do overall as a program is creating a culture,” he said. “Whether it's in business, church, a nonprofit or a school district, you're always trying to create a culture and that's what we're trying to do here in Pittsburg.”

Coach Baca said he started with his coaching staff then worked his way to the individual players.

The Pitt Pirates defeated Gladewater Bears, 49 to 36, in a hard fought victory Sept. 4. Gladewater went ahead by one point in the third quarter, 28 to 29.

The Pirate defense and good blocking and ball handling on offense enable the team to dominate the rest of the game.

“You did it, you did it. Your teamwork and hard work will always pay off,” Coach Brad Baca told the team later in an after-game huddle.

By Ellis Knox, reporter@campcountynow.com - To continue reading this article, purchase the print edition of The Pittsburg Gazette or go to our online e-edition at:http://www.etypeservices.com/Pittsburg%20GazetteID315/default.aspx