Navasota Chosen As 3A Army Strong Team Of The Week [Archive]

HEMOTOXIC

10-20-2009, 04:02 PM

http://www.kbtx.com/sports/headlines/65039067.html

NAVASOTA -- Dave Campbell’s Texas Football is proud to announce that the Navasota High School Rattlers football team has been named the Army Strong Team of the Week for Division 3A.

The Navasota Rattlers were chosen for this honor because of their teamwork, dedication, discipline, personal courage and integrity, values shared by U.S. Army Soldiers.

“Navasota faced a top-five opponent Friday night when it butted heads with Rockdale, and came away victorious with a 41-13 win,” said Adam Hochfelder, general manager of Dave Campbell's Texas Football. “The Rattlers improved to 2-1 in District 24-3A play and 6-1 overall, putting them right in the thick of the district title race.”

The award will be presented to the team at a time to be determined later this week by a representative of the U.S. Army.

"The U.S. Army is recognizing the student-athletes at Navasota High School for demonstrating qualities similar to those exhibited by its Soldiers. Student-athletes and Soldiers share similar values, but more importantly they must be mentally, emotionally and physically strong," said Captain David Humphreys. "We expect to see some of these young men competing at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, the college level, or maybe even professionally in the future."

:clap:

HEMOTOXIC

10-20-2009, 04:07 PM

Another article courtesy of the Bryan College Station Eagle
http://www.brazossports.com/football/BOWEN--Pretty-boys-not-good-description-of-Rattlers

BOWEN: Pretty boys not good description of Rattlers

Published Tuesday, October 20, 2009 6:05 AM

By LARRY BOWEN

Considering how the Navasota football team piles up yards and points, there could be a temptation to tag the Rattlers as District 24-3A's pretty boys.

But that characterization has never fit the Rattlers under head coach Lee Fedora, and that includes this year.

The Rattlers proved they can take a punch last week, getting up from the mud where they lost to Caldwell and knocking 10th-ranked Rockdale from the ranks of the unbeaten and out of the state poll. Navasota whipped the Tigers, 41-13, and pretty boys don't do that to the district's top-rated defense.

Simply bouncing back from the loss to Caldwell said something about the Rattlers' toughness. It also provided a rousing "amen" to the message Navasota's coaches regularly deliver on looking ahead instead of looking back.

"We've always told our kids that when your last game's over, it's over," Fedora said. "Our kids were disappointed with the Caldwell game, but when we watched the film Saturday, that's the last we talked of it.

"We had a great week of preparation. I told the kids that I'd be real surprised if we didn't come out on fire against Rockdale."

Quarterback Kye Hildreth added another big game to what has been a season strong enough to qualify as surprising, but the Rattlers also got huge contributions from their defense and offensive line. People joke about linebackers foaming at the mouth and call offensive linemen big uglies, and neither description brings pretty boy to mind.

Middle linebacker Kesnick Jones continued to lead the Navasota defense with a big game against the Tigers, pushing his season tackles total to near 100. Outside linebacker Adrian Ewing had a good night pressuring the Rockdale offense, which probably had something to do with Alfon Taylor grabbing two interceptions.

"Not many people put up a lot of points on us, either," Fedora said. "Our defense has played outstanding. Our offensive line also was outstanding against Rockdale."

Navasota's top blockers were left guard Jarvis Harrison and right tackle Gabe Hernandez, who was sick most of the day Friday.

The guys up front helped Hildreth put up big-time numbers against a Rockdale defense that had been very, very stingy. Hildreth rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. He passed for 163 yards and another score.

Hildreth and running back Antoine Burrell have done a great job of filling in for graduated seniors Jacolby Stokes and Dexter Pratt, who helped make Navasota one of the area's most potent offenses the last couple of years.

The Rattlers don't have one spectacular receiver like they did last year in current Texas A&M freshman Brandal Jackson, but Tevin Creeks has 18 catches and five touchdowns, including one against Rockdale.

There was some question about how well Hildreth would fare after taking over for Stokes at quarterback, but the senior has been quite productive. Hildreth's 828 rushing yards rank second in the district behind Caldwell running back Kysan Woolverton. Hildreth's 858 passing yards rank second behind Cameron quarterback Steven Townsend.

About what you're looking for, coach?

"I want a kid that's a multiple threat, who can throw it and run it," Fedora said. "Kye brings that straight to the table. He's a very intelligent kid, and definitely a leader. The thing that I like about Kye the most is he never talks about what he's done. He's always talking about what his teammates have done."

What did the victory over Rockdale do for the Rattlers? It provided a huge boost to their playoff hopes and kept them in the running for at least a share of the district title. Navasota (6-1, 2-1) left Caldwell as the only team without a loss in 24-3A play.

Caldwell will visit Rockdale this week, so the district could get even more jumbled. The Rattlers will take on Taylor (4-3, 1-2) with another chance to heed Fedora's instructions to get past the huge win, for which Navasota was named Army Strong Team of the Week in Class 3A.

"We always talk about getting in the playoffs, and we still held that [possibility] in our hands [last week]," Fedora said. "Playing Rockdale the way we did was big a plus for us. Now the Rockdale game's over and we're trying to get ready for Taylor, just like last week."