Krider's National Notebook

By Dave Krider

MaxPreps.com

First triumph. Then tragedy. And all on the same play.

In his first varsity game, sophomore Jerry Seybold kicked a 21-yard field goal with three seconds left to give Potomac (Dumfries, Va.) a dramatic 3-0 victory over Manassas Osbourn Park. However, an on-rushing defender crashed into the young kicker, breaking his right femur and sending him to the hospital on a stretcher after a 15-minute delay.

Seybold had been elevated to the varsity earlier in the week. Many of his joyful teammates – celebrating in a nearby pile-up before realizing he was hurt – did not even know his name. Neither did the fans, because he was not listed in the game program. One thing is certain, though, – they’ll remember his name in the future!

Turning to Texas, Ernesto Guevara booted a 55-yard field goal to help Waco edge Stony Point, 9-3…In Oregon, Portland Westview defeated David Douglas, 14-7, as Patrick Acosta kicked field goals of 47, 32, 26 and 25 yards…In South Carolina, Grant Clayton kicked field goals of 50, 37 and 29 yards to help Columbia A.C. Flora nip Brookland-Cayce, 9-7…In Nebraska, Austin Tompkins had a career-best 52-yard field goal during Lincoln Southwest’s 43-6 rout of Lincoln Northeast…In Iowa, Mike Meisheid’s 25-yard field goal gave Troy Mills North-Linn an unusual 3-2 triumph over Bellevue. He also made 22 tackles.

Other Football Feats

* Hurricanes aren’t the only things making big waves in Florida. A mere eighth grader suddenly has been thrust into the center of the running game at Glades Day High School in Belle Glade. When senior tailback Brandon Dean was sidelined by a knee injury, up stepped eighth grader Kelvin Taylor, who merely ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries during a 28-3 victory over Hollywood Chaminade. Kelvin is the son of NFL all-pro running back Fred Taylor and doesn’t look like an eighth grader because he already stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 200 pounds. 

* Tyler Jones of Cherokee has broken the Iowa career passing record, which now stands at 7,789 yards…Huntsville Westminster Christian quarterback Brian Park broke a 21-year-old Alabama state record when he completed 38 passes (for 447 yards) during a 51-26 loss to Red Bay. His 62 attempts rank second in state history…Erik Brown amassed an impressive 259 return yards as Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) humbled Tucson Sahuaro, 71-7…Highly touted senior Trent Richardson (5-11, 219) erupted for a career-high 419 yards and six touchdowns on 29 carries as Escambia (Pensacola, Fla.) rolled past Milton, 41-7. He was rewarded by being named MaxPreps National Player of the Week.

* Expect Montee Ball to have a huge year at Timberland (Wentzville, Mo.). The 6-0, 212-pound senior, who has committed to the University of Wisconsin, is running behind the likes of seniors Ian Hanson (6-2, 252), Kurt Kutter (6-3, 271) and juniors Nick Demien (6-6, 287), Godson Onwubiko (5-10, 278) and Wayne McRoberts (6-2, 257). It’s no wonder he wracked up 321 yards and six touchdowns on just 18 carries during a 48-14 rout of St. Charles West. Ball told the St. Louis Post-Disptach, “I didn’t have holes to run through, I had tunnels.”

* Alic Vanover displayed amazing versatility as Fairfield (Goshen, Ind.) crushed Ligonier West Noble, 63-6. He scored on runs of 74 and 13 yards, fumble recoveries of 30 and 21 yards and a 79-yard interception…Senior Raqueem Richmond made four interceptions to help Moss Point edge Pascagoula, 28-21, in a Mississippi headliner…In Washington, sophomore Matt Malos passed for 433 yards and seven touchdowns as Bellevue Interlake outlasted Yelm in a 53-48 thriller. Dylan Amell made 12 catches for 303 yards.

* Long winning streaks continue to fall by the wayside. In Texas, Daingerfield snapped a 45-game regular-season winning streak by stunning Celina, 28-20…Turning to Maryland, Brandywine Gwynn Park rallied for a 33-32 victory over Baltimore Dunbar, which had won its last 25 games and a pair of state titles. Dunbar helped to dig its own grave by committing 15 penalties…In Michigan, Romeo shocked two-time defending Division I state champ Macomb Dakota, 35-7, severing a 24-game winning streak.

* An Alabama winning streak did continue, however, as Class A powerhouse Sweet Water routed Coffeeville, 57-0. It marked No. 30 in a row for the two-time defending state champions and was impressive, indeed, as they held their opponent to a minus-100 yards. The winners were about as perfect as they could get because they did not punt and they did not commit a single penalty.

Football Coaches, Recruits

* Plymouth Regional coach Chuck Lenahan added to his legendary status in New Hampshire by notching his state-record 300th victory, 41-7, over Wolfeboro Kingswood. The 65-year-old Lenahan has won 16 state titles, finished second 10 times and had 10 undefeated seasons. His school also holds the state-record of 46 consecutive victories – a mark it is threatening with a live winning streak of 35. In his 38th season, Lenahan currently has nine sons of former players on his team.

* Freshman football has taken on a new look this fall at Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) where 30-year-old celebrity Ashton Kutcher is a newly appointed assistant coach. No, the players weren’t “punk’d.” Kutcher was a linebacker at Clear-Creek Amana in Tiffin, Iowa, and he learned the entire freshman playbook in two days.

* In Minnesota, Mike Mahlen tied the state record with his 307th coaching victory as Verndale rolled past Ashby, 56-12. Brainerd’s Ron Stolski is right behind at 306. Another Minnesota coach, Jon Bakken, notched victory No. 200 as Waterville-Elysian-Morristown defeated Minnesota Valley Lutheran, 28-6…In Iowa, Runnells Southeast Polk routed Des Moines East, 50-8, to give Denny Muller his 200th coaching victory…In Ohio, Cleveland St. Ignatius icon Chuck Kyle won No. 250, 40-0, over Canisius (Buffalo, N.Y.).

* On the recruiting front, the University of Michigan received its only good news of the week when defensive end Anthony LaLota announced his commitment on CBS College Sports Television. Ranked as New Jersey’s No. 1 prospect by recruiting guru Tom Lemming, the 6-6, 260-pounder had 40 tackles and 10 sacks in his first year of football as a junior at The Hun School of Princeton.

Basketball Notes

* Tom Crean continues to rebuild the depleted Indiana University program by gaining a commitment from Christian Watford, a sweet-shooting 6-7 senior wing forward from Shades Valley (Birmingham, Ala.)…Oklahoma State also received a major commitment from Roger Franklin, a 6-5 senior at Texas powerhouse Duncanville….Oregon State was thrilled to hear from deluxe shooter Roberto Nelson, a 6-3 senior guard at Santa Barbara (Calif.) High.

* Duke University received a double-barreled commitment from a pair of juniors. Josh Hairston (6-8) of Courtland (Spotsylvania, Va.) and point guard Tyler Thornton of Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) both play AAU basketball together and want to continue as college teammates…Vander Joaquim, who has committed to the University of Nebraska, is transferring from San Diego Christian to Mountain State Academy (Beckley, W.Va.). As a junior, the 6-10, 220-pounder averaged 21.1 points and 16.8 rebounds.

* On the girls side, Suzie McConnell Serio continues to receive commitments from top Pittsburgh (Pa.) area players to build her program at Duquesne University. Her most recent pledges have come from 6-1 senior forward Carly Vendemia of Beaver and 5-8 senior guard Jocelyn Floyd of Washington. Vendemia averaged 16.7 points and 12.6 points last year, while Floyd averaged 16.4 points and 6.5 rebounds.

* Nebraska has received a commitment from 5-10 guard Lindsey Moore, who averaged 17.8 points, 7.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 3.7 steals as a junior at Kentwood (Covington, Wash.)…Inga Orekhova has pledged to Northwestern University. The 6-0 guard averaged 15.9 points in 11 games as a junior after transferring to the Bishop’s School (LaJolla, Calif.) from Austria. She is an outstanding shooter who also was recruited by the likes of North Carolina and Texas.

* Two outstanding Indiana guards have made college commitments. Mishawaka Penn point guard Kelsey Reynolds (5-9) has chosen Boston College. She led the 19-3 Kingsmen in scoring (19.0), assists (5.0) and steals (3.0) as a junior. She also was high scorer as a sophomore with a 14.1 average…Aubrey Minix has chosen Murray State. The 5-9 senior averaged 19 points as a junior and 12.9 as a sophomore. During that period her Hamlet Oregon-Davis team (49-4) won one Class A state title and put together a 43-game winning streak.

Volleyball Notes

* Louisville, Ky., always is loaded with nationally-ranked teams and this year is no different. Last weekend Louisville Mercy defeated city foe Assumption, 26-28, 25-18, 25-22, to win the talent-laden Louisville Invitational. Earlier in the same week Assumption had outlasted Mercy in a marathon dual meet before a standing-room crowd, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22.

* PrepVolleyball.com has named Bailey Webster the nation’s No. 1 recruit this year. The 6-3 outside hitter, who is averaging 7.8 kills this fall at St. Paul’s (Brooklandville, Md.), will decide from among Texas, Florida, Stanford and Alabama. Last summer she helped the U.S. Junior National Team win the gold medal at the NORCECA World Championships in Mexico.

* Julie Pitt picked up her 200th and 201st coaching victories as Wyoming (Cincinnati, Ohio) defeated Thurgood Marshall, 25-6, 25-5, and Little Miami, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21. Pitt has lost just 48 matches.

Cross Country Notes

* Joseph Manilafasha emerged as the star from the prestigious Liberty Bell Invitational at Heritage (Littleton, Colo.). The Denver North standout won the Division 3 boys race in 14:56, 40 seconds ahead of the runner-up. The Division 1 race was won by Bobby Nicolls of Aurora Regis Jesuit in 15:06. On the girls side, Miranda Benzel of Fort Collins won the Division 1 championship in 17:41.

* Kathy Kroeger is back, fully recovered from a stress fracture during her junior year at Independence (Thompson Station, Tenn.). The 2006 Foot Locker National Champion ran a near-record time of 17:44 to win the sixth annual Brooks Memphis Twilight Cross Country Classic at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. She blistered her nearest competitor by nearly two minutes.

Tennis Notes

* Californian Coco Vandeweghe, who serves up to 120 miles per hour, defeated Gabriela Paz of Venezuela, 7-6, 6-1, to win the prestigious U.S. Open Junior Championships. The 6-1 wild-card entry, who will not be 17 until December, turned professional in the spring, but still is playing the junior circuit. She is the first U.S. girl to win the event since Tara Snyder in 1995.

* Another American, Devin Britton, was runner-up in the boys division, losing the finale, 6-4, 6-3, to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who also was the boys champion at Wimbledon and now is No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings. The 6-3 Mississippi resident also was playing as a wild-card entrant.

Potpourri

* Zachery Munroe (Charlotte, N.C.) and Haley Stephens (Greer, S.C.) won championships in the Joe Cheves Junior Golf Invitational at Morganton, N.C. Munroe shot an 11-under-par 133 to win the boys title, while Stephens captured the girls crown with 3-under-par 141. Stephens has made a verbal commitment to the University of Texas.

* In Kentucky, Louisville Manual snapped defending state champion Louisville St. Xavier’s 26-game soccer winning streak with a hard-fought 1-0 victory. William Frentz scored the lone goal with 10:59 to play. St. Xavier coach Andy Schulten called Manual’s Zach Torp “the best goalkeeper in the nation” following the shutout victory.