Sports

Ireland Bramhall of Ennis has been appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to serve as student regent for Stephen F. Austin State University during the 2020-21 academic year.

President Teddy Roosevelt, when speaking about his foreign policy, uttered a memorable quote: “Speak softly, carry a big stick, and you’ll go far.” A year ago Ennis quarterback Collin Drake did similarly.

Covering primarily amatuer football in Texas since 1960, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine has ranked Ennis as the No. 1 team in Class 5A headed into the new season. Considered the Bible of prep football, they know a thing or two about the sport. They preview over 1,400 teams in Texas alone.

Big 5 Football is less than two months from taking the field at Ennis, Ferris, Palmer, Italy and Avalon, and how the description of games will be done is anyone’s guess.

Two popular sports leagues for kids, baseball and soccer, disappeared during the spring due to the COVID-19. But not completely. The Ennis Parks and Recreation Department is stepping in to provide local youth, boys and girls, ages 6-to- 12, with a taste of both sports.

MaxPreps recently posted the statistics of statewide passers in every class playing 11-man football. The leader in yards (2,745 yds, 39 TD’s) in Ellis County was Red Oak’s Joshua Ervin, who was a junior.

Having her chain-break season interrupted due to COVID-19, Palmer resident and former Ennis all-district softball player, Maile Deutsch (DOYTCH), was hitting .492 when the season ended due to the virus. A 5’9 junior at nationally ranked McPherson College (Ks), 17-of-her-31 hits went for extra-bases.

Texas A&M-Commerce signed Ennis grad La’Derria Ta’Shun Myers to a track & field scholarship, which she will use to major in nursing.

National Basketball Association games will resume on July 31 with the Top 22 teams in the standings playing an abbreviated eight-game wrap-up before a traditional playoff schedule. The season went on hiatus on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.