On Thursday, I was at Farris stadium for the 33rd meeting between the Clark Cougars and the Churchill Chargers. This game is also known as “The Gucci Bowl.” Yeah, a bowl game in August, and guess what? Gucci isn’t a sponsor – I don’t even think they know they have a bowl game named after them. It is called The Gucci Bowl because both schools are located in fairly affluent areas of San Antonio.
In 1991, I was a freshman at Clark, and had the opportunity to be a student trainer. Well, that opportunity only lasted one game, which was The Gucci Bowl. I didn’t like the attitudes of the football players towards me; they weren’t nice. I then decided to become the student manger of the basketball team and I did that for all 4 years – I filmed all the Varsity games, kept stats, operated the scoreboard, and provided support to the players and coaches. Today, 24 years later, I am still in touch with the two coaches, Danny Murphy (he is a real estate agent) and Kevin Hamilton (he is an assistant Athletic Director at the school district), and am Facebook friends with several of the players.
Besides getting married, I think that choice I made as a freshman was one of the best things I have ever done. I sometimes think how different my life would’ve been if I had not given up being a student trainer. I definitely wouldn’t be a high school football statistician or a writer – nor would I be married to the sweetest woman I know on the planet.
My wife is totally awesome – after I got home from the Thursday game, she had my breakfast, lunch, and snacks all prepared in the fridge for Friday. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the first football game of the 2015 season.
Last year, Churchill defeated Clark by a score of 35 to 14 and that extended the Churchill streak to 5 consecutive wins. In his debut, Dandre Reed, a junior last season, had 9 carries for 56 yards and a 42 yard touchdown reception. For the season, Reed had 1,200 total yards with 12 touchdowns.
In my preview article for District 26-6A, I compared Reed to former Churchill Chargers player, Dimitri Flowers. Flowers ran the ball, caught the ball, threw the ball, and returned kick-offs and punts – and did them all extremely well. As a freshman last year for the Oklahoma Sooners, he played in all of their 13 games as a fullback! Flowers’ Dad is former NFL player Erik Flowers.
The only offensive threat returning this year for the Cougars is senior running back, Julian Dusuau. Last year, he had 61 carries for 259 yards with 3 touchdowns. Whoever ends up playing quarterback is going to be very inexperienced.
This was the first Thursday Night Lights TV game of the season and it was very nice to see the broadcasters – Don Harris and Chuck Miketanic. I know I say this a lot about my gig, but I truly feel like a rock and roll superstar. All I have to do is make sure the production truck can hear me and then I do stats which I have been doing since 1997. I love my job!
The Churchill Chargers defeated the Clark Cougars again this year by a score of 27 to 3 and now have a 6-game winning streak over Clark. A Clark win would’ve made my Thursday night perfect.
Dandre Reed had 181 total yards with 3 touchdowns on just 8 touches. The touchdowns were 58, 60, and 22 yards! The dude has speed, and speed kills. I have a feeling that as the season progresses, Reed is going to have a lot of interest from colleges. The quarterback for Churchill was Devin Faktor – last year, he played on the defensive side of the ball. Faktor was very effective (then again, when you have Dandre Reed as a teammate, he can make it real easy for you). He was 10 of 12 passing for 154 yards with 2 touchdowns. The starting running back for Churchill was junior Jordan Cardenas – he had 16 carries for 72 yards.
Junior Antonio De La Trigg made his debut as starting quarterback. He was 10 of 18 passing for 63 yards. He also had 12 carries for 4 yards – he got sacked several times. I know he will improve each game and I’m looking forward to tracking his progress. Julian Dusuau only had 2 carries for 8 yards. The Clark player who really impressed me was junior Jake Stewart. Stewart had 7 carries for 32 yards and 3 receptions for 19 yards.
Next Thursday, I will be at Farris stadium as the Brandeis Broncos host the Judson Rockets. On Friday, I will be at Heroes stadium as the Johnson Jaguars host the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves. Follow me on Twitter @statmanspeaks for game-day updates.
If you want to see my complete photo album from the Churchill/Clark game, please visit The Stat Man Speaks on Facebook. Below are a few teaser photos:
