Sports

While not a strong spectator sport in high school or college, tennis remains one of the winningest sports at Ennis High School. Under the superior tutelage of HC Keith Howard and Wyatt Johnson, the varsity team has begun play with Friday’s Polar Bear Tournament

Heartbreaking was the passing of sports icon Kobe Bryant on Sunday morning. The news first arrived on my laptop from Reuters, and then, like groggy eyes on the day of rest, ten minutes later began a rapid-fire of the kind of news you don’t want to hear of anyone’s death… unless you’re the Hollywood elite pleading for a violent death for the president, first lady and their offspring. That is malice and it is disgusting.

Ascending to the top of the leader boards like the weights they were lifting, Ennis took four first place awards over the weekend at a powerlifting event in Navarro County.

If it was only a game, then the Grand Canyon was just a hole the ground. Ennis, 5-5 a year ago exceeded the expectations of experts during the fall of 2019 by going 12-2 and nearly knocking off the state champions from Aledo.

Starting against one of two teams with more wins than losses against Ennis, the Battle of 287 was at Lumpkins Stadium. The area's pre-season No. 13 ranked Lions produced four methodical drives to control the game. QB Collin Drake was 15-of-21 for 202, found TE Clayton Jenkins (8-121) a lot and Dyllan Santos for 32 on third-and-20 to move the chains. Two first half marches ended on Davion Beasley (9-51) TD runs of 2 and 16 yards, and workhorse Jarius Jones (17 -101), scored from the four with 7:25 left for a 21-6lead. DE Jarveon Williams was a terror; 16 tackles, 6 for lost yardage (TFL) and two sacks. LB Payton Chapman and DB Stephan Townsend made 14 and 10 tackles.

Junior Laylon Spencer poured in 13 points to lead a balanced attack and a solid defensive effort paced Ennis to a 59-40 victory at home on Tuesday night. After a month of roster changes and erratic play, the Lions are now in third place at 3-3 in the seven-team District 14-5A.

Ennis was not able to overcome a slow start as visiting Joshua built a large lead and went on to post a 56-39 triumph over the Lady Lions. Falling to 0-5 in January, the Maroon 5 slid into last place, a half-game behind Waco University.

Note:Tuesday’s 81-60 Kansas blowout of Kansas State in Lawrence, Ks ended in a brawl that is sending reverberations across athletic campuses nationwide. Radio personality Terry Waldrop, a colleague of both Ennis hoops HC Roynal Bridgeforth and Ennis News journalist Mark Warde, was asked to comment on the fiasco. Video footage is available on the internet.

While high school baseball, softball and tennis teams are gearing up for the start of their spring seasons, Ennis and area track and field teams have high hopes for a successful season.