Bulldogs at Wimberley in district opener

By Tim McGrath BCC Sports Writer

The Bandera Bulldogs will take on the 2011 State Champion Wimberley Texans in the 2012 District 27AAA football season opener on Friday, Oct. 12 at Wimberley with kickoff set for 7:30 pm. Both teams enter the contest with identical 2-3 marks for the non-district season and bring high hopes of earning a berth in the upcoming 2012 State Playoffs.

The Texans finished 2011 with a perfect 15-0 record that included the Class 3A Division II State Championship and returned four offensive and seven defensive starters for the 2012 campaign. The much improved Bulldogs will enter the district season on a high note after back-to-back wins over Comfort and LaVernia in the final two non-district matchups. The Bulldogs remain upbeat despite the loss of their starting quarterback and senior leader Michael Miller to an injury in the Bandera 34-14 victory over LaVernia.

Sophomore Noah Nelson has stepped in at the quarterback position for the Bulldogs and AD Larry Prince is confident that the team will continue to improve and progress with Nelson at the position. "The team will get behind Noah," Prince said. "He has been taking reps every day in practice and he has proven to be a good leader. He can run and he can throw and he brings a complete package to the game." Prince looked ahead to Wimberley and also spoke about the remaining teams in the 27AAA playoff race. "Wimberley doesn't have the players they had last year but they are improving every week and their defense has really stepped it up in the past few games," Prince said. "The district looks wide open this year and it's going to be a dogfight for the next five weeks," he added.

Current standings after the non-district season have the Fredericksburg Battlin' Billies and the Navarro Panthers on top with identical 4-1 marks while the Boerne Greyhounds are next with a 3-2 record. Bandera and Wimberley come in at 2-3 while the Canyon Lake Hawks are at 1-4.

At the conclusion of the 27AAA season, the top three teams in the district standings will go on to the postseason state tournament.

Pictured: Photo by Sandy Jennings

Front row (kneeling): Mascot Amanda Quillen, Alexis Bowman, Haley Wilhelm, Jessica Preece, Kati Fitzpatrick, Brittney Palacios, Danise Leal, Cheyanne Cooper, Groomer, Audrey Perne, Mascot Lauren Ramsey; second row: Jordan Hayes, Mary "Doc" Bolan, Fabian Muniz, Michael Davis, Stevie Chessir, Winston Lopez, Justin Brann, Bryce Dowda, Colton Lacey, Jonathan Stoufflet, Alex Willoughby, Rudy Fernandez, Emma Williams; third row: Ish Macneil, Killian Connor, Shane Montooth, Ethan Greven, Ace Elkins, Hunter Prince, Jacob Berger, Travis Whitefield, Luca Taulli, Dylan Zinsmeyer, Caleb Beauchamp, Kavan Connor; fourth row: Brent Ahrens, Cullen McGuire, Dillon Erskine, Logan Breen, Nick Leeper, CJ Shade, Aaron Shackelford, Sterling Gardner, Noah Nelson, Chase Haddad, Mitchell Keese, Michael Miller, Corey Jennings. Back row: Wil Shahan, Lamar Lewis, Raul Noyola, Brett Morris, Jack Irvin, Chad Berardi, Larry Prince, Bob Shearhart, Bobby LaLanne, Blake Nesrsta, Jeremy Pelz.