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AHS JV Gold 21 Midland JV Purple 12 - FINAL Otoh, Midland's Gold off to strong start vs AHS Black
Final for "A" Teams: Midland JV Gold 18 AHS JV Black goose egg
Final for "A" Teams: Midland JV Gold 18 AHS JV Black goose egg
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Last edited by mike03car; 09-03-2015, 08:53 PM. -
VIDEO: AHS' Abram Smith comes back strong for the Eagles. Get the story here, http://bit.ly/1XnwaDbComment
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Washington, McMillon pull double duty for Eagles
Sam Waller 8:56 PM, Sep 3, 2015
local high school football | abilene high | sports | gofridaynight
ABILENE, Texas - For most Class 6A football programs, the number of players available generally precludes having to use players on both offense and defense.
That's been the case at Abilene High, where some players were used both ways only under certain circumstances. That's changed this season with juniors Qua'Shawn Washington and Coy McMillon being called on for double duty and then some.
McMillon, a tight end and defensive lineman, and Washington, a wide receiver and outside linebacker, saw significant action on both sides of the ball in last week's season opener at Colleyville Heritage, and Eagles coach Del Van Cox said he doesn't expect that to change any time soon.
"Those two guys are really good players and they need to be on the field," Cox said. "We've made a commitment even early in this process that if it takes away from their production a little bit, we'll continue to do it to work on their conditioning so it'll help us later on.
"We've made a commitment to having both those guys play a lot both ways. We're excited about where they're at. They know that every Friday night's going to be a war for them because they're going to be going lots of plays."
For both players, it's just a matter of doing whatever it takes to help the Eagles be successful.
"It means a lot," Washington said of the situation. "It just goes to show the team and the coaches have a lot of trust in me and I'm not going to let them down."
McMillon said he prefers being on the field no matter what position.
"I just love playing," he said. "I was trying to get on the field as much as I can. I was tired, but whenever I could I was out there.
"I haven't really played defense. I played one week of freshman ball on defense and that's it. I've been against scout team, but it's a different speed when you get against Copperas Cove and Colleyville Heritage. Trying to tackle those guys is different."
Despite the workload, both made significant contributions in the Eagles' 35-21 victory over Heritage. Washington caught seven passes for 82 yards and a touchdown on offense and had eight total tackles (three solo) and an interception on defense. McMillon caught one pass for a yard and had a blocking grade of 85 percent on offense. On defense, he was credited with one tackle, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.
Cox said preparation was the key to their performances.
"They've got to do a lot," he said. "They're having to do a little bit of extra film study in the middle of meeting time with their (position) coaches on both sides of the ball to make sure they know the game plan.
"We try to keep the game plan simple like we always do so are kids can play fast."
Washington said going both ways requires good time management during the week.
"We split (practice) time half and half," he said. "Some days I'll go to (position drills) with offense and come back with defense for team. We'll just switch off days."
With AHS employing two-tight end sets much of the night, McMillon and Jeb Bishop saw plenty of time on offense, helping the Eagles rush for 251 yards and average 5.3 yards per carry.
"That's just the formation that we run a lot," McCoy said. "We plan on running a lot with our running backs and our offensive line. We have a good running game."
For both players, physical conditioning was a major reason they were able to stay on the field most of the game, which saw temperatures in the upper 90s at kickoff.
"We're very conditioned," McMillon said. "It's not that hard, especially with the offseason we go through. We're used to getting pushed to our limits."
Washington said it helped that the decision to use the players in multiple roles was made well before the start of the season.
"We went ahead and got extra conditioning when it was needed," he said. "The coaches just reiterated that we had to get in shape. We knew what we had to do.
"We always talk about we want to play 16 weeks. We want to play into December, so we run 16 (40-yard-dashes) and we run them as hard as we can."
Cox said conditioning was a factor for the team overall as the Eagles pulled away from a 21-21 tie late in the third quarter with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns.
"I think our conditioning paid off Friday night," he said. "We were still able to do some things. We had some people cramp up, but they were able to get back in the game. We thought we were still strong in the fourth quarter to make some good drives to put the game away."
In addition to their offensive and defensive duties, both players were also used on special teams. Washington played on the kickoff and punt return units and joined McMillon on the PAT/field goal unit. Washington also played a few snaps at safety late in the game when AHS went with an extra defensive back.
"I got a lot of (playing time)," Washington said. "I ended up going down because of cramps, but came back.
"I just want to do what's best for the team."Comment
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Booster Club will be meeting on Sept 7th, 12 Noon at Golden Corral.Comment
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Have some bread pudding for me. Our meeting this week is at my favorite sports bar gosh darn it. Have to go back to Zentner's Daughter next week. Sigh.Comment
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Eagles Soar to 35-9 Victory Over Warren
Eagles roll past Warren in Champions Classic
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I sent a spy down your way today to get a few photo's of your booster club meeting. Man, you weren't kidding, were you!
girls-at-tea-party.jpgComment
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That's me on the right.Comment
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Traffic changes planned for Crosstown Showdown in Abilene
Abilene police are changing the traffic flow at Shotwell Stadium on Friday because of excess traffic from the football game and the West Texas Fair and Rodeo
Once the game is over, police will block off the entrance to Expo Drive from E. South 11th Street. Drivers will not be able to make a left or right turn onto Expo Drive.
Instead, APD asks that people picking up their students from the game use the Shotwell entrance at E. South 11th Street and Estates Drive.
"We'll try to get them out of there as fast as we can," said APD Sgt. Richard Waggoner. Waggoner encourages drivers to be patient following the game.
The showdown between Abilene High and Cooper High kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday.Comment
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Eagles' D-Line Answering Questions
September 17th, 2015
The Abilene High Eagles are looking to improve to 4-0 for the 2nd year in a row, and this year, a brand new defensive front is helping to lead the way.
Nobody, including Cooper, has been able to run on the Eagles first team "D".
The front three was the biggest question mark entering the season, but that group has proven to be solid.
Dackota Triano said, "We were a little nervous during the spring but Ronnell (Wilson) kind of took them under his wing, we all took one under our wing and they are really showing out and doing good. They're all hard workers and they go after the line every single play. They are probably the best one we could ask for right now."
Tony Silva said, "Well me and Noah Gonzales, we were here last year, so we know what to do. Noah Perez, he is new, but we just taught him what we knew from last year and got better this year. Everybody knows each other, we believe in each other and that's how we stop them."
Abilene High's defense faces L.D. Bell tomorrow night over in Hurst. Abilene High is 3-0. L.D. Bell is 0-3.Comment
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I would like to thank Eagle82 and the other AHS fans with him that graciously allowed me to meet up with them and enjoy some good pre-game eats and football talk. I would also like to thank the folks that helped with the passes that allowed me to view the game from the sideline. (Yes I was the guy in the green SLC hat) I did get a few odd looks from some of the coaches and players, but everybody was very nice. My wife and I plan to make the road trip to Shotwell next Friday and hope to see and meet more AHS fans then.
BTW, Congrats on the big win over Bell. Though, Bell wasn't very strong competition, I was impressed by the 2015 Eagles. You all have a very talented group of players on both sides of the ball. I predict that they will give you many pleasurable moments this season.
I'm Looking forward to next week, it should be a very good battle. We'll try to give you guys more of a game than Bell did.Last edited by SLC13; 09-19-2015, 01:21 PM.Comment
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2016 Schedule
Week 1 at San Angelo Central
Week 2 Midland Lee
Week 3 vs. Cooper
Week 4 at Odessa High
Week 5 Haltom
Week 6 Keller Fossil Ridge
Week 7 at Keller Central
Week 8 Weatherford
Week 9 OPEN
Week 10 Keller High
Week 11 at Keller Timber CreekComment
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