2006:

NEWSMAKERS — Kilgore College head coach Jimmy Rieves (above, kneeling) made news on the field and off; Rieves helped the Rangers back to another big season, and then decided to call it quits. Right: Kilgore High School head football coach Mike Vallery (right) was presented with a plaque by Gary Blanks and the KHS football booster club after winning his 200th career game. The most important local sports story of the year of 2006 happened in its final weeks, as longtime Kilgore College head football coach Jimmy Rieves decided it was time to step down after seven years.

Rieves’ resignation tops a list of another big sports year for the Boomtown area, and we’ll chronicle the entire year right here.

Rieves resigned after leading the Rangers to a 19-7 win over Fort Scott (Kan.) College in the Champs Heart of Texas Bowl in Copperas Cove’s Bulldawg Stadium on Dec. 2. He has taken another position at the college, and his successor hasn’t yet been named — athletic director David Castles has said the administration will do so early in 2007.

Rieves, an Amory, Miss., native, spent 11 seasons total with the KC football program, his first four as defensive coordinator before replacing Scott Hale as head coach.

His best year was the best year ever in the program’s history, a record-setting 12 wins — the Rangers went 12-0 — in 2001. They finished No. 2 in the nation that season, beating rival Tyler Junior College for a third time that year in the Red River Bowl.

Rieves went 48-27 over his seven seasons as head coach, and went 2-1 in bowl games. He led the Rangers to two Southwest Junior College Football Conference championships (2001 and 2004). He went 33- 16 against conference opponents, and is fourth all-time on the KC wins list among coaches.

He said he’d thought about it before the season, but wanted to go out on a good note.

“It’s something I had been thinking about doing for a while, and really I had made up my mind in July that I was going to do,” Rieves said today. “...It’s been a good ride.”

Here, now, as chosen by Kilgore News Herald sports editor Mitch Lucas, are the remainder of the top 10 sports-related stories of 2006.

ONE EVENTFUL YEAR — Kilgore College welcomed new Lady Rangers head basketball coach Roy Thomas (left, with Dr. William Holda), one of the top 10 local sports stories of the year, as chosen by News Herald sports editor Mitch Lucas. Also among the newsmakers: Bobby Bustin (immediate photo below) claimed a new Ford F-150 from Kilgore Ford after winning it in a pass, punt and kick competition (pictured also is Kilgore Ford GM and partner Gilbert Lopez). Bottom left: KC head basketball coach Scott Schumacher picked up his 200th win at Kilgore College last year. 2.) Kilgore High School head football coach Mike Vallery secured his 200th career win in the third game of the football season, as the Ragin’ Red defeated Atlanta, 44-10, on Sept. 15.

Vallery’s win came on the road at Atlanta, and he imme-

diately thanked everyone — players, coaches, and school administrators — for their part in all of those victories.

“I haven’t thought a lot about it, really,” Vallery said of the special victory after the game. “It’s a milestone I never thought I’d see in my coaching career. But there’s a lot, an awful lot, of people that are involved in this, players, coaches — it’s not Mike Vallery.”

The young Bulldogs wound up missing the playoffs, but still finished 6-4 with wins over Crockett, Atlanta, Nacogdoches, Jacksonville, Pine Tree, and Henderson. Vallery is now 204-62-1 overall in his career, which spans several years (and state championships) at both KHS and his native Louisiana, and he’s 110-35-1 at KHS in 12 seasons.

3.) Kilgore College’s Lady Rangers had fallen on a bit of hard times before making a very important decision earlier in 2006: the decision to hire Roy Thomas as the program’s head basketball coach.

Thomas was named Lady Rangers’ head coach in April, and gave a jovial address at the press conference the next day, accepting a KC hat from Dr. Bill Holda, the college’s president, and rolling one one-liner after another off to members of the media afterward.

His most telling remarks might have been at a Kilgore Rotary Club meeting shortly after he was hired.

“All I can tell you is we will work hard and get better as the year goes along,” Thomas said. “I know you all know where KC women’s basketball used to be, but you can’t expect a miracle in one year. Give us some time.

“...Like I said, we have a long way to go to compete with Tyler, Panola and Trinity Valley. But I can guarantee you we will always have players on the court who want to play hard. If they don’t, they better bring a book or a good magazine to read from the end of the bench, because that is where they will be all year long.”

Thomas is a former Tyler Junior College player that wound up in the school’s hall of fame for his coaching ability. He went on to have success coaching the women’s program at North Carolina A&T.

The Lady Rangers have proved to be competitive in the young season, and could very well return to the Region XIV Conference playoffs in Thomas’ first season at the helm.

4.) Turnover in the coaching ranks was never more rampant at Kilgore High School than it was after the 2005-06 school year.

Coaches of seven major sports at KHS departed following the school year, including head baseball coach Tim Harkrider, who helped the Bulldogs win 50 games in two seasons, and head softball coach Kasey Polk, by far the school’s most successful softball coach ever.

Others who departed were head girls basketball coach Tracy Kincade, head girls soccer coach Heidi Hagan, head boys track & field coach Drenon Fite (who relinquished coaching duties for an administrative position), and volleyball coach Melissa Burrow. The coach of every major girls athletic program left except girls track coach Miller Mata.

Vallery had to wear his athletic director hat for quite some time trying to find replacements for all of those coaches. He did well, tabbing former Harmony coach Jeff Blackstone to lead the successful baseball program; Cassandra Newell to coach softball; Amanda Walzel to coach girls soccer; Barre Gonzalez to coach volleyball; and Davia Garrett to coach girls basketball.

Football assistant Phillip Lane was named new boys head track coach, and Joey Pippen, a longtime Henderson assistant with Kilgore ties, was hired as part of the football staff. Jason Maroney was hired as the new head tennis coach, replacing Mac Blackstone. Blackstone, the school’s very first tennis coach, returned in an interim basis earlier in the school year to replace the departed Stan McMillan.

So far, so good — Gonzalez’s volleyball Lady Bulldogs were competitive in district play, and Garrett’s basketball Lady ’Dogs have played very well in a young basketball season without one of their best players, Ashia Kelly, who’s been injured, but will return in January.

Maroney’s junior varsity team won the district championship, and the varsity team played well in the fall season, too. Spring tennis will begin in late January early February.

Blackstone’s first baseball season at Kilgore, Newell’s first softball season here, and Walzel’s first soccer season are all set to begin in the upcoming weeks.

5.) Overton High School head football coach and athletic director Stephen DuBose sure doesn’t have to worry about his strength and conditioning program.

That’s because the Mustangs’ powerlifting team — also all members of the football program — won the Class 1A state powerlifting meet near the end of the 2005-08 school year, winning the title on March 24- 25 in Aldine.

Coaching the team: Rodrick Portley. Team members were Heath Russell, Jamal Thompson, Marcus Mitchell, Todd Le- Brun and Jeffie Wilson.

Incredibly, the OHS girls powerlifters also made the state meet.

6.) Athletes who were at KHS had a pretty good year, but athletes leaving the school didn’t do poorly at all, either. Former Kilgore High School

defensive end Eddie Jones, on his way to the University of Texas’ football program, began 2006 by playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl — the top high school football allstar game in the nation — in San Antonio’s Alamodome in January, something the recently graduated Michael Huey will do this coming January. Former KHS standouts Wayne Daniels and Lon Roberts participated in another national all-star game at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, and Jones’ fellow UT signee, former Kilgore tight end Britt Mitchell played in the Texas High School Coaches Association all-star game.

In addition to Jones and Mitchell going to UT, the KHS football program sent Coty Gatewood to Sam Houston State University; Daniels to Texas Christian University (to join former KHS standout Nick Sanders); Roberts to Louisiana Tech; and Chase Fisher, Antonio Kelly, Josh Mathis, and Chase Patterson to Kilgore College.

Former KHS quarterback Clint Toon, who helped KC to a 10-2 season and conference title in 2004, walked on at Texas State University and made the team.

Cody Shead took his basketball skills to East Central Oklahoma, and a trio of former KHS softball stars — Mackenzie Sharp (North Texas), Millicent Dickey (Texarkana College) and Sydnay Dick (University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) — also did well.

Perhaps no former KHS standout made a bigger splash than Pat McCrory, a multisport athlete for the Bulldogs who achieved NJCAA All- American status for the baseball team at Navarro College. Mc- Crory recently signed to continue his education and baseball career with the tradition-rich University of Texas program.

About as equal a splash was made by McCrory’s former baseball and football teammate at KHS, Jess Todd. Todd, who was again teamed with McCrory at Navarro, where he was one of the nation’s best pitchers, signed with the University of Arkansas, where he looks to terrorize the Southeastern Conference this season. Todd is also on the Roger Clemens Award watch list, the list of the top collegiate pitchers in the nation.

Austin is also the destination for Huey, who has graduated early and will likely redshirt for the Longhorns next year, and for current softball star Shelby Savony. Savony still has her senior season in front of her, and then she, too, will suit up for the Longhorns on the softball diamond.

7.) No moment, perhaps, was more dramatic in 2006 in competition than the night of Oct. 13 — Friday the 13th — at the Tomato Bowl in Jacksonville.

That night, the Kilgore Bulldogs and Jacksonville Indians played a four-overtime classic

— the longest game in KHS football history — and Kilgore won, 30-28, well into the night.

It couldn’t have happened soon enough for Ragin’ Red fans, packed into the small stands on the visitor’s side in Jacksonville. Fans on both sides of the rivalry saw ups and downs: Kilgore freshman kicker Ryan Bustin fired a huge shot with just over a minute left in the game when he kicked a 35-yard field goal that tied the contest, and eventually sent it to the extra session.

About 45 minutes after overtime began, Kilgore took what would be its final trip into the end zone of the night when junior quarterback Eric King hit receiver Jaron Shepherd for a 5-yard touchdown pass, and then King vaulted the ball to Deaundray Rossum in the back of the end zone for the then-mandatory two-point conversion.

Jacksonville’s offense managed a bit of a Hail- Mary-like touchdown on the arm of quarterback Jazz Scott, but failed on the conversion attempt when the entire KHS defensive front collapsed on JHS running back Carmon Boyd-Anderson, sending the KHS sidelines and stands into jubilation after four hours of drama.

8.) In a decade of patroling the court at Kilgore College, coach Scott Schumacher has had a few sweet moments.

One of the sweetest, likely, for him was his 200th win at KC — a 54-48 win over Navarro College.

Schumacher came to Kilgore from Paris Junior College just over a decade ago, and has made the Runnin’ Rangers a regular contender for the Region XIV Conference men’s basketball title. The Rangers are in the midst of a good season so far — they’ll resume at home on Jan. 6 against Lee College.

9.) Sports news wasn’t just made on the field or on the court in 2006, but also behind the microphone and in the press box.

Ragin’ Red Broadcasting — the trio of Don Hedrick, Doug Smith and Ronnie Chappell — celebrated its 25th year of broadcasting Kilgore High School football for the radio.

The guys recounted some of their funniest and most memorable experiences for the News Herald the weekend of the homecoming game, and naturally, the most memorable moment for all three was the Bulldogs’ 33-27 double-overtime win over Dallas Lincoln to claim the UIL Class 4A Division II state football title on Dec. 18, 2004.

The team added internet broadcasting of the games (on the Texas Sports Radio Network) that year, as well.

Also, the KC athletic broadcasts got a new home on the KZQX family of stations when the college decided to sell its local radio station, KTPB 88.7-FM.

After years of coverage of KC sporting events, the station will change formats soon, and beginning with the 2006 football season that just concluded, all coverage of KC sports moved to KZQX (105.3-FM in Kilgore) and its various frequencies. “The Voice of the Rangers,” Manny Almanza, remained, however, and still calls KC athletic contests, once again joined by Mark Fried for football.

10.) After playing its entire existance at the community softball fields on Highway 135, the Kilgore High School softball team finally got to open its new field and plush locker room on

Friday, March 10.

The Lady Bulldogs did so in style, getting a 3-1 district win over archrival Henderson to officially open the park, located right beside Driller Park off Commerce Street.

Here are the other stories that made sports news in the Kilgore area in 2006 that were important, but failed to make the top 10.

 Kilgore resident Greg Collins and his wife Candee attended the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction of friend and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman in July.

 The passing of some local figures: former area golfer Jack S. Gates, former Sabine High School basketball standout Leo Cook, former Kilgore High School football player Matt Morris, and former Overton football standout Jacob Gilbert. Also passing in 2006 was longtime News Herald editor Winston Gardner, one of the area’s biggest sports fans.

 Flint Nelson was named the new pro at Meadowbrook Country Club in January.

 Former Kilgore College football players Ricardo Colclough (a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers) and Robbie Tobeck (an offensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks) faced off in Super Bowl XL in February — Colclough’s Steelers came out on top.

 The city of Kilgore hosted the Dixie Youth Baseball 7-8 year-old state tournament in July.

 Kilgore College’s Masters Gymnasium was the site for the first-ever men’s NJCAA Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Classic in April, pairing the best JUCO players nationally against Texas’ best. KC will also host the all-star weekend again in April, 2007.

 The KHS baseball team won its third straight district championship before losing to Nederland in Lufkin in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

 The Shreveport Sports and Fort Worth Cats played a minor league baseball exhibition game at

Driller Park, the first pro baseball game at the historic park in a decade. The Kilgore Chamber of Commerce helped bring the game to Driller.

 The father and son team of Mickey Morris and Daniel Morris represented Kilgore in a bodybuilding competition, the East Texas Shredder Classic, in Austin.

 Overton High School golfer Blaine Weiterman, the defending Class 1A state golf champion, made it back to the 1A state golf tournament, finishing seventh.

 The KHS softball team advanced to the area round of the 4A playoffs.

 Brent Akins, a former Spring Hill High School golfer, won the Meadowbrook Classic on Sunday, July 9, the 69th playing of the prestigious tournament.

 In another development, and in a sign of the changing times of technology, many KC football games were actually broadcast live on the internet (for a fee, of course) on summitticket.com.

 Sabine High School’s softball team reached the second round of the UIL Class 3A playoffs.

 In an incredible feat, Kilgore native Danny Leake hit two holes-in-one (on the same hole!) in consecutive days at the Rawls Golf Course in Lubbock.

 Kilgore’s own Bobby Bustin won a Ford F- 150 truck when, during halftime of the Kilgore- Hallsville high school football game, he won a pass, punt and kick competition. Bustin began at the north goal line at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium with a 45-yard pass. The key might have been the next feat, a 46-yard punt that placed him in good field goal range. He kicked the field goal through the uprights and won the truck, and as the crowd roared, Bustin was congratulated on the sidelines.