TD Club's all-preseason team released

Two players from defending 5A-Division II state champion Katy and one from 5A-Division I runner-up Hightower highlight the Touchdown Club of Houston’s 2009 Preseason All-Greater Houston High School Football Team.

Offensive lineman Shep Klinke and tight end Zach Swanson will represent the Tigers at the Touchdowner of the Year banquet, at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at the JW Marriott.

Linebacker Shaun Lewis will represent the Hurricanes.

Other players from the Athlete’s Connection primary coverage area include Morton Ranch quarterback Sam Carter, who recently verbally committed to TCU; Kempner running back Josh Bell, Cypress Creek offensive lineman Cameron Fleming and defensive lineman Will Hampton, Aldine running back Dontae Williams, Elkins tight end Jake Matthews and receiver Jordan Jolly, Alief Taylor defensive lineman De’Aires Cotton, Eisenhower defensive lineman Jay Guy, Cypress Woods defensive Bryce Callahan and Fort Bend Marshall defensive back Toney Hurd.

Matthews, the son of former NFL offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, recently committed to Texas A&M, according to multiple media reports. Klinke committed to the Aggies last winter.

Cotton verbally committed to Texas shortly after last National Signing Day. Guy has committed to California but continues to entertain other offers.
Fleming will play for TCU. Swanson is heading to Stanford.

Former Buffalo Bills running back Thurman Thomas, a Willowridge graduate, will be honored as Touchdowner of the Year.

The complete list is below.
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Dave Purpura can be reached at (281) 404-4958 or dpurpura@athletesconnection.com.

Touchdown Club of Houston
2009 Preseason All-Greater Houston High School Football Team

OFFENSE
Quarterbacks: Sam Carter, Morton Ranch; Clay Honeycutt, Dickinson; Jacoby Walker, Westfield.
Running Backs: Josh Bell, Kempner; Kendrick Perkins, La Porte; Dontae Williams, Aldine.
Offensive Line: Cameron Fleming, Cypress Creek; Trey Hopkins, North Shore; Chad Lindsay, The Woodlands; Shep Klinke, Katy; Jake Matthews, Elkins.
Tight End: Zachary Swanson, Katy.
Wide Receivers: Jordan Jolly, Elkins; Jordan Leslie, Tomball; DeAndrew White, North Shore.

DEFENSE
Defensive Line: D’Vonn Brown, Lamar Consolidated; DeAires Cotton, Alief Taylor; Jay Guy, Eisenhower; Will Hampton, Cypress Creek; Two Willis, Manvel.
Linebackers: Shaun Lewis, Hightower; Stephen Maeweather, Sharpstown; Luke Muncie, Klein Oak; Jon Whitten, Clear Lake.
Defensive Backs: Kent Brown, Atascocita; Bryce Callahan, Cypress Woods; Toney Hurd, Fort Bend Marshall; Damian Payne, Klein Forest; Larry Stephens, North Shore.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker/Punter: Ron Doherty, Klein; Kyle Trimm, Kingwood Park.

State 7-on-7 rankings released

Rivals.com's Matt Stepp, the 7-on-7 guru formerly with Scout, today released his rankings for next week's state tournament. Katy led local teams at No. 2, behind defending champion Richmond.
Other locals in the top 10 include Klein at No. 4, Lamar at No. 8 and Elkins at No. 9.
Stepp would probably be the first to admit how subjective these are, but we all eat them up, so there *is* a market.
The other local teams were ranked as follows:
11. Langham Creek
13. Chavez
16. Bellaire
19. Tomball
23. Cy-Fair
28. The Woodlands
31. Pearland
32. Dulles
35. Oak Ridge
40. Klein Forest
43. Spring
48. Fort Bend Bush
49. Klein Collins
52. Seven Lakes
53. Stratford
55. Pearland Dawson
59. Jersey Village

The complete list is here.
Our previews resume Wednesday and continue into next week.

Ratterree, Knoblauch, Von Tungeln named First Team all-State

Memorial shortstop Michael Ratterree, Bellaire first baseman Trace Knoblauch and Kempner outfielder Kyle Von Tungeln were 19 players named to the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association First Team all-State released Tuesday.

Ratterree, a Rice signee, belted 12 home runs this year to lead the Mustangs to the District 18-5A championship and a berth in the 5A-Region III quarterfinals, where they lost to Bellaire.

Knoblauch, an Indiana commit, also pitches for the Cardinals. He was named a Preseason All-American by Baseball America.

Von Tungeln, who will play at TCU, finished the year hitting more than .500 with nine home runs and seven doubles.

Area selections to the Second Team were Katy pitcher Keifer Nuncio, Memorial catcher M.P. Cokinos, Katy catcher Andrew Stumph and Cy-Fair first baseman Zach Thomas.

Third Team honorees include Pearland second baseman Josh Gonzales, Oilers shortstop Kevin Miller, Fort Bend Austin shortstop Ryan Dalton and Katy outfielder Jarred Fancher.

The complete teams are listed below.

FIRST TEAM
Pitchers: Tavi Amperan, sr., El Paso Socorro; Zak Hermanns, sr., Coppell; James Ferguson, sr., Austin Westlake; Miguel Pena, sr., La Joya; Luis Pollorena, sr., Laredo United.
Catchers: Justin Beck, sr., Smithson Valley; Josh Elander, sr., Round Rock.
First Base: Trace Knoblauch, sr., Bellaire; Tyler Spurlin, sr., The Woodlands.
Second Base: Anthony Gomez, sr., Laredo United; Jordan Lewis, sr., Dallas White.
Third Base: Jake Feckle, sr., Wylie; Bobby Mares, sr., El Paso Socorro.
Shortstop: Michael Ratterree, sr., Memorial; Derrick Walls, sr., San Antonio Reagan.
Outfielders: Kyle Von Tungeln, sr., Kempner; Cory Falvey, sr., El Paso Socorro; Jake Gonzalez, sr., Brazoswood; Chase McDowell, sr., College Station A&M Consolidated.

SECOND TEAM
Pitchers: Keifer Nuncio, sr., Katy; Aaron Gilbreath, sr., Colley Heritage; Matt Harrell, sr., San Antonio Reagan; Derek Loera, sr., Odessa Hart; Hoby Milner, sr., Fort Worth Paschal; Yanken Jacob, sr., Tyler Lee.
Catchers: M.P. Cokinos, sr., Memorial; Andrew Stumph, sr., Katy; Andrew LaCombe, sr., Southlake Carroll.
First Base: Zach Thomas, sr., Cy-Fair; Andrew Gross, sr., Alvin.
Second Base: Chuck Duarte, sr., Franklin; Tyler Green, jr., Brazoswood.
Third Base: Alvaro Moreno, jr., McAllen; Tucker Oakley, sr., Sharyland.
Shortstop: Agustin Enriquez, sr., Lufkin; Shane Hoelscher, jr., Belton; Brett Pirtle, sr., Tyler Lee.
Outfielders: Tyler Collins, sr., Justin Northwest; Nicholas Lee, sr., San Antonio Madison; Tyler Naquin, sr., Klein Collins; Aaron Williams, sr., Corpus Christi Carroll.

THIRD TEAM
Pitchers: J.P. Clifton, sr., Lufkin; Chase Greening, sr., Lufkin; Colton Lindloff, sr., Brazoswood; Brad Nasis, sr., Smithson Valley; Jamen Parten, sr., Plano; Jameson Taillon, jr., The Woodlands.
Catchers: Mike Bains, sr., Round Rock Stony Point; Jessiray Navarrette, sr., El Paso Socorro.
First Base: Evan Brummett, jr., Round Rock Stony Point; Will Watson, sr., Southlake Carroll.
Second Base: Josh Gonzales, sr., Pearland; Adam Pena, sr., Sharyland; Matt Reyes, so., Midland.
Third Base: Ryan Dalton, sr., Fort Bend Austin; Jose Madrid, sr., Victoria Memorial.
Shortstop: Kevin Miller, sr., Pearland; Chad Kettler, sr., Coppell.
Outfielders: Jarred Fancher, sr., Katy; Vincent Postert, sr., San Antonio Reagan; Toby Teakell, sr., Weatherford; Shaney Wilkinson, sr., Lubbock Coronado.

Bayou Bowl set to kickoff

Greetings from Stallworth Stadium in Baytown, site of the seventh annual Bayou Bowl. The game, pitting all-star teams from Texas and Louisiana, is set to kick off in 3 hours, 19 minutes, promptly at 8 p.m.

There is a ton of area players on the roster, which can be found at www.bayoubowl.org.

It's still disappointing to me how few people really know about this game outside Baytown. It's a big thing here, but people in Houston either don't know about the game or don't care. Anyone who isn't aware is depriving themselves of a fun game. It's not a bunch of second-tier kids with nothing else to do. Players in this game are committed to Texas A&M, Utah, SMU, Louisiana Tech and TCU among other schools.

But as big as Texas is, it's easy to see how the all-star pool is diluted. After all, the Oil Bowl is taking place tonight up in Dallas, and we also have the Blue Chip game - or at least we did until recently. A check of that game's Web site shows no information regarding this year's game.

For those who can't make it out to Baytown, the game will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday on Fox Sports Houston and Fox Sports Southwest. Not sure who is on the call, but my money is on Local 2's Randy McIlvoy. The FSSW crew and a few press box workers were the only people who beat me out here; I couldn't come up with enough things to do to kill time between the end of the lunch banquet at 1:45 and 5:30 or 6.

I am simply thankful Stallworth now has wireless!!

Katy tops a couple of preseason football rankings

It may be June, but a couple of web publications have put out their preseason rankings for the coming football season. One has ranked the top 25 teams in the state, while one has already came out with the top teams from around the country. And both rankings have a familiar local team ranked at the top of both.
Yep, you guessed it. Katy.
The Tigers are the preseason No. 1 according to 5ATexasFooball.com’s preseason rankings after winning its second straight state title. Round Rock Stony Point comes in second, Cedar Hill is third and Southlake Carroll and Allen round out the top five.
As far as Houston-area teams, North Shore is No. 9, followed by Division I state finalist Hightower. Klein Oak comes in at No. 20, with The Woodlands at No. 22, followed by Cinco Ranch and Pearland.
But back to Katy. The Tigers also ranked high in the MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25 early contenders list, coming in at No. 3. Only St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes came in high on the list. Other Texas teams mentioned are Allen at No. 4 and Cedar Hill at No. 13.
Also of interest, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, Calif., was No. 5 on the list. Why do we care? Because Klein Oak will face the Irish as part of the Herbstreit Varsity Series on Sept. 7 at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

What a Friday!

I really should be sleeping after a long Friday here in Austin covering the 5A state golf tournament and keeping an eye on everything going on back home, but that's the reason I am blogging at nearly 1 a.m. What a wild Friday here and in Houston. Where to begin?
- Congratulations to the Cy-Fair softball team for upsetting previously undefeated Klein Oak in their 5A-Region II area round series. Fair pulled off two straight wins at Tomball after dropping Game 1 Thursday night.
We should know not to count out the Bobcats. This is two straight postseasons they've pulled off upsets; last year they ousted then-18-5A champion Katy and 19-5A winner Memorial.
“When it comes to the playoffs, you just never know,” Cy-Fair softball coach Debbie Burrow told HCN's Michael Sudhalter. “Their team is probably stronger than my team, but tonight was ours, and we owned it. Our kids wanted it more – we kept them off-balanced.”

- What is with these baseball scores?: Baytown Sterling 16, Pearland 14 ... The Woodlands 21, Klein Oak 9 ... Cypress Creek 13, Round Rock Stony Point 12 ... La Porte 16, Baytown Lee 6. Goodness. Was it windy back there today? In the words of Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman, oh my goodness gracious!

- Congratulations to Clements junior Portland Rosen on winning the 5A state golf individual title. The Virginia commit shot 6-under par 66 today after a round of 1-under 71 on Thursday. The Rangers themselves had a tremendous turnaround, cutting 17 shots off their Thursday score to finish tied for third. They lost a one-hole playoff with The Woodlands.
Here are a few quotes that did not make my story from golf ...
* Clements coach Jason Jesek on the team's finish: “This year, just in our region Clear Lake got us quite often. They got us every time we saw them. But when you lose two players to college, we had two players come up who really hadn’t been on this stage and we shot our two lowest scores of the year at regionals. Yesterday we tied that same score, which was the best they’d ever shot. And then they come out and do this today.”
“They just had fun. They just wanted to play. I’ve never seen a group of girls who love each other as much as they do. They just want to go play.”
* Travis junior Brandon Wilhide, on what he learned from shooting 81 in the final round after a 70 Thursday: “I need to take this last 18 and learn from it and bring that back next year. Those short birdie putts, even though they were short they weren’t gimmes. I need to pick an exact spot where to hit to instead of just hitting toward the hole.”
* Seven Lakes' Brian Swanson, who shot 70 today after a 77 Thursday and hit no fewer than a dozen greens: “We weren’t thinking at all about yesterday. We just wanted to take this one hole at a time and we did that. I didn’t have a great finish yesterday so I just wanted to come out firing today.”

- To wrap up, we know a few baseball and softball series for the next round but not all of them. I will search out dates and times over the next few days. Here's the current lineup for baseball's area round and the softball regional quarterfinals, both of which must be played as one-game series on Tuesday.
Anywhere there's a "Team A or Team B" scenario, those teams are playing Game 3 of their series today:
BASEBALL
Area playoffs
Seven Lakes or Strake Jesuit vs. Bellaire
Memorial vs. Milby
Kempner or Clear Creek vs. Baytown Lee or La Porte
Katy Taylor or Stratford vs. Atascocita
Westside vs. Katy
Dulles or Clear Brook vs. Baytown Sterling or Pearland
Fort Bend Austin vs. Channelview or Dobie
Cypress Woods vs. Spring or College Park
Cy-Fair vs. Lufkin
Cypress Creek or Round Rock Stony Point vs. Klein Collins or Oak Ridge

SOFTBALL
Regional quarterfinals
Bellaire vs. Seven Lakes
Cinco Ranch vs. Katy, 5 p.m. Tuesday at Seven Lakes (thanks to The Katy Times for that info)
Cy-Fair vs. Spring/Round Rock
Clements or Dobie vs. Clear Creek or Pasadena Memorial

Last week's poll results

Did the UIL make the right call in suspending sports until May 11?

No
64.9%

Yes
24.4%

Not sure, we'll have to see
10.7%