Highland Park tops Everman in Texas 1-2 matchup

Carroll QB appeals after being ruled ineligible; Dukes out for the season with broken femur.

By
Aug 31, 2010, 1:49pm
In the matchup of the top two Class 4A football teams in the Dallas area, the difference was an inch. It might've been even less than that as Highland Park (Dallas) beat Everman 27-21 on Saturday at SMU’s Ford Stadium.

With less than 30 seconds left, Everman quarterback Devynn Birdow connected with James Bailey for what appeared to be a 33-yard touchdown that would've tied the game. But officials ruled that Bailey didn't quite get his feet in bounds.

After one more incomplete pass, Highland Park began celebrating its win over the No. 1 team in The Dallas Morning News' preseason rankings.

"This is good for us because it lets us know what's out there," Highland Park quarterback Jake Howeth said. "It prepares us for what we're going to see down the line."

Howeth was a big reason why No. 2 Highland Park pulled out the victory. He was an all-district safety last season but was converted to quarterback to replace Luke Woodley, who is now at Texas A&M.

Howeth threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 113 yards and two more touchdowns.

"I was feeling the nerves in the first half," Howeth said. "But I always need to get hit once before I get going. After the first pop, I was like, 'Let's go.'"

More top stories from around the Dallas area in the last week:

2. Carroll quarterback ruled ineligible: Daxx Garman, who was expected to start the first game of the season for Carroll (Southlake) last Friday, was ruled ineligible earlier that day by the District 7-5A executive committee, which ruled that he had transferred for athletic purposes. Garman, who is orally committed to Arizona, enrolled at Carroll in the spring and was previously ruled eligible. His family has filed an appeal with the University Interscholastic League, and the hearing is set for Sept. 14. Carroll, a perennial powerhouse, lost its opener to Copperas Cove, 35-14.

3. Coppell volleyball team wins own tournament: Coppell protected its home turf over the weekend by beating Dumas in the final of the Coppell Tournament. Coppell sophomore Cassidy Pickrell was named the MVP.

4. Argyle football team knocks off top-ranked Lovejoy: Argyle fell behind 14-0 early in the game, but its defense dominated the rest of the way to upset Lovejoy (Lucas), which was No. 2 in the 3A state rankings. Layton Lowry rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown to lead unranked Argyle.

5. A. Maceo Smith quarterback out for season: Monterius Dukes, the only quarterback with any experience on the A. Maceo Smith (Dallas) roster, broke his right femur in the season-opening loss to Molina (Dallas). Coach Elzie Barnett told The Dallas Morning News that he is now down to a third-string quarterback because Dukes’ backup transferred to South Oak Cliff (Dallas) right before the season started.

TOP PERFORMERS
Heritage's Jeff Calvert.
Heritage's Jeff Calvert.
Photo by Robbie Rakestraw
* Melvin Spears (Allen): The senior linebacker, who has scholarship offers from Iowa, Minnesota and several other schools, stripped Cedar Hill running back Ronnie Green of the football in the third quarter of Allen's 33-27 victory. Allen recovered the fumble and scored a critical touchdown in the matchup of Dallas-area 5A powerhouses.

* Jeff Calvert (Heritage (Colleyville)): The senior quarterback threw for 363 yards and scored six touchdowns in Heritage's 58-52, triple-overtime victory over Duncanville. Calvert sealed the game with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third overtime.

* Cam McDaniel (Coppell): The senior, who has scholarship offers from Colorado, Stanford and several other schools, was the workhorse in Coppell's 13-0 victory over Horn (Mesquite). He rushed 45 times for 218 yards and scored both of Coppell's touchdowns.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic on Labor Day will provide a football buffet for fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A quadrupleheader featuring six of the best local teams and two nationally recognized teams will make Cowboys Stadium in Arlington the site of the best day of high school football until the playoffs. Here's the schedule:

10:30 a.m.: Trinity (Euless), MaxPrep’s No. 1 team in the nation, vs. Shiloh Christian (Springdale, Ark.)
1:30 p.m.: Skyline (Dallas) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
4:30 p.m.: Cedar Hill vs. Guyer (Denton)
7:30 p.m.: Bowie (Arlington) vs. DeSoto

Note: the Skyline-Aquinas and Cedar Hill-Guyer game times were switched this week. See why.

RECRUITING NEWS
Wednesday marks the first day that juniors can be sent recruiting information and be given scholarship offers in all sports except men's basketball. (They can receive written offers in the summer after the sophomore year.) A pair of junior running backs in the area, Aledo's Johnathan Gray and Bowie's Russell Hansbrough should have full mailboxes.

NEWS AND VIEWS
The Bowie-DeSoto game will feature a lot of tremendous athletes, including one that has now played for both teams. DeSoto star receiver Cameron White, who has orally committed to TCU, was Bowie's top receiver last season. He transferred to DeSoto in the spring and was declared eligible to play by the district executive committee. … Daxx Garman, mentioned above, wasn't as fortunate. There's no doubt that he transferred for athletic purposes, but the truth is, dozens of athletes do it each year – and not just for football. But, as pointed out in The Dallas Morning News, the district executive committee really had no choice but to declare Garman ineligible.

Matt Wixon is the high school sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He can be reached at mwixon@dallasnews.com or at www.twitter.com/mattwixon.

Related Content