Saturday, November 12, 2011

Kenny's Perspectives Newman Smith @ Creekview

Well, the Battle of Carrollton was resolved last Friday night at Standridge Stadium with Newman Smith's thrilling come from behind win! Smith quarterback Nikunji Patel marched the Trojans down the field with just under 2 minutes left in the fourth with the go ahead 1 yard TD run by Andy Wordlaw with 41 seconds left for the Smith win 20-17. The highlight of the play was Patel's 29 yard pass to Newman Smith Trip Abbot with to the Creekview one yard.  This was a highly competitive game between the two rivals which had three lead changes and numerous opportunities for both sides to win.

It was a pleasure to watch the two teams face off last Friday and play a hardnosed "clean" football game.  Sometimes it is hard when they are bitter rivals but this is a testament to the two coaches, Paul Ressa of Smith and Jay Cline of Creekview. It was also nice to have a thrilling game to the end the football season for both clubs. Newman Smith and Creekview both finish with identical 2-8 records. Yes, very disappointing seasons for both teams but a lot of young players played on both teams. Each of the respective coaches will be looking for something to build on for next year. I hope you did not miss the game but if you did please go to the http://www.fridaynightglory.com/ website and catch the stream of the game. It's worth the watch!

Again, congrats to the Carrollton schools this year for allowing us to cover your games and bring some different perspectives to the table. We hope next year to expand our coverage and make it even better. To everyone who was involved it was a pleasure covering the football season!

Now that football season is over we are here for the winter sports. Break out the coats and support your local Carrollton teams in the winter. We will get some information and coverage of those sports to you very soon. So please keep checking our site for future new news!

Thank you for your time this year it was a blast!


Kenny Matthews- Newman Smith Class of 85'

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Creekview vs. Newman Smith 2011

The Newman Smith Trojans and Creekview Mustangs square off this Friday night to close out their respective football seasons. It has been a disappointing season for both teams with Smith having come off of back to back playoff runs and Creekview advancing to the 7 on 7 tourney in College Station. Both teams thought they would be much better than their overall records reflect. This is a game against cross-town rivals and gives each team a chance to finish on a positive note going into the off season. It also gives the seniors a chance to leave the field as victors one last time.

This will be the tenth time the two teams have squared off with Creekview holding a 7-2 advantage in the series. However, Smith did stop their four game winning streak last year with a 41-13 win. I have witnessed 7 of the nine games and my best two year stretch of the series is 2003 and 2004 games. Smith won 31-29 in 2003 game and 2004 Creekview won in a slug fest of a game 44-41! That was by far the most competitive stretch between the two schools. Smith and Creekview did not play in the season of 2008 & 2009 due to the fact that Smith dropped down to 4A and Creekview remained 5A. That did change last year with Creekview dropping down to 4A and joining Smith in the same district with the Frisco schools.

The rivalry has been an intense one over the years but played with passion and fight within the rules of the game. The football coaches mutually respect each other and I would not expect anything less this Friday night at kick-off. There is some hint that the series may be put back on hold again because Newman Smith may be bumped back to 5A again. Creekview is firmly a 4A school again once realignment is done in early February.

So, please come out and support your local Trojans and Mustangs this Friday night and see who is the champ of Carrollton for 2011. It's a shame that the season will be over for both but I do expect these programs to respond and bounce back for much better campaigns next year. Let's hope that this is not the last time these two teams face each other in a while too.

Thanks for reading and I hope I enlightened you a little on the series and maybe pushed you off the couch and to Standridge Stadium Friday night to watch some football. It's your last chance for the year and the weather is supposed to be great again! If you can't make it and I hope you can, you can watch the replay on www.FridayNightGlory.com on Saturday afternoon.

Again, thanks for your time.

Kenny Matthews , Class '85