Lions Demolish Venus

Jose Conchas kicks a 33 yard FG. Tyler Carlile holds.

The Castleberry Lions raised their season record to 2-1 at their Homecoming last Friday Night, beating the Venus Bulldogs 46-0.

The play was even in the first quarter, with the Lions scoring on a 33 yard field goal by kicker Jose Conchas.  In the second quarter, the Lions scored on a 25 yard scoring pass from quarterback Tyler Carlile to receiver Zach Romero, then in the final minute of the half on a 1 yard run by Marcus Shelton.

Carlile finished the game 9 of 13 passing, with the Romero touchdown pass, and 120 total passing yards.  Romero and Noel Flores each had 3 catches, each for 40 yards total.  Shelton led the team in rushing, with 156 yards total, and 3 touchdowns, including TD runs of 48 and 57 yards.  Andrew Holder finished with 50 yards rushing, all on a single 50 yard TD run in the third quarter on a fake punt.  Jake Iker added a 4 yard TD run in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.

With a 17-0 lead at the start of the third quarter, the Lions took total control of the game, as kick returner Noel Flores took the opening kickoff to midfield.  His return setup the 48 yard Shelton TD run, and the Lions sported a 24-0 lead before many fans had returned to their seat with a halftime hotdog.

Andrew Holder was again a defensive standout with a total of 17 tackles, and a sack.  Jovany Hurtado also had a sack, and 7 tackles on the night.  Jake Iker had 6 tackles, and a sack; Marcellyss Lewis had 2 interceptions, and 2 tackles;  Joseph Maxwell had an interception and 4 tackles; and Marcus Shelton, Jose Portales and Robert Garcia each finished with 7 tackles in the game.

Adams Wins Third Race

Brittany Adams continued her domination of area runners last Friday morning, with a win at the Camp Hoblitzelle meet in Midlothian, TX.  Adams finished with a time of 12:36.

Gabriel Zambrano was the top Castleberry finisher for the boys, with a top 10 finish in a time of 18:16.  Other results are not available at this time.

Note:  I intend to upload many pictures of the volleyball team’s match with Stephenville, and the football team’s victory over Venus.  These will be at the Maxpreps site as soon as they are approved by the Maxpreps process.  There is nothing on that site for cross country, so I am including in this post pictures of each of the Cross Country runners. (Click on thumbnails to see a larger picture).

Lions Lose to Gainesville

The Castleberry Lions traveled to Gainesville, losing to their tough opponent by a 42-18 score.  The Lions’ normally prolific ground game found the going difficult, as Castleberry gained only 78 total yards on 29 carries.  Senior Marcus Shelton was again the workhorse, gaining 71 yards on 17 carries.  Forced to throw, quarterback Tyler Carlile completed 8 of 20 passes for 183 yards.  Carlile threw touchdown passes to Noel Flores, Zach Romero and Jovany Hurtado.  Flores finished with an impressive 114 yards receiving on three catches, including a 61 yard TD catch.

Defensively, senior linebacker Andrew Holder was again all over the field, finishing with 16 tackles in the game.  Jose Portales finished with 9 tackles, and Noel Flores and Zach Romero finished with 8 tackles each.  Marcellyss Lewis had an interception, and Romero recovered a fumble.

Next up for the Lions is their homecoming game against Venus at 7:30 pm on Friday night.

Adams Wins Run of the Panther

Castleberry junior Brittany Adams won the 4A and under 2010 Run of the Panther hosted by Fossil Creek in Burleson.  She finished the 2 mile run in 13:16 for her second win in as many races.  Katy Kipp finished 7th in a time of 13:59, and Melissa Cejas was 8th in a time of 14:07.  The Lady Lions finished the team competition in fourth place.

Junior Gabriel Zambrano was the top finisher among the Castleberry boys placing 11th overall with a time of 18:36 for the 3 kilometer race.  Ramon Castillo was 24th overall in 19:09, and Albert Arranda finished 33th in a time of 19:28.

The next meet for the Lions was held Thursday morning in Midlothian.  Results will be available in next week’s column.

Lady Lions Defeat Alvarado

Aubrey Wheat serves in the Alvarado match

The Lady Lions volleyball team split home matches last week, losing to a tough Godley squad on Tuesday, but rallying to defeat Alvarado in a 5 game match on Friday.  The final scores for the Alvarado match were 15-25, 25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 15-8.

The squad is coming together under first year coach Yolanda Beasley, who is going deep into her bench.  She utilized almost all of her players in the Alvarado match.  The experience gained should be beneficial for their upcoming district 7-3A matches.

Next up for the Lady Lions is a home match on Friday at 5:00 pm against Stephenville.  The ladies will then travel to Kennedale for a 6:30 pm match next Tuesday.  The ladies have an open date when District 7-3A play starts, which will allow some extra practice time before opening district play in Decatur on Tuesday, September 28th at 6:30 pm.

New Pictures on Max Preps

Just a note to Football players and parents.

I uploaded 92 pictures of the Kaufman game up on MaxPreps.  Click on the link to the right, then click on Football 10-11, then scroll down to the Fan photos.  Sorry the photos are as small as they are, that is MaxPreps fault.

Lions Lose to Kaufman

Noel Flores saves a Touchdown

The Castleberry Lions lost their first home game of the season, dropping a hard fought contest 28-6 last Friday night.

The Lions played well defensively during the game, but gave up two big plays in the first half to fall behind 14-0 at halftime.  An early third quarter score by Kaufman increased the deficit to 21-0, but the Lions came roaring back with a long drive capped by a 17 yard TD run by senior Marcus Shelton.  Shelton finished with 112 yards rushing on a workman like 24 carries.

The Lions held Kaufman, and was driving again.  A controversial fumble at the goal line, (referees ruled the fumble preceded the crossing of the goal line), thwarted the Lions scoring opportunity, and the team never recovered.

Kaufman scored quickly for a 14 point swing, and the final 28-6 score, as Castleberry never threatened in the final quarter.

Jose Conchas added 49 rushing yards on 10 carries, and quarterback Tyler Carlile completed 3 passes for 32 yards, as they Lions gained 214 total yards on the night.

Defensively, senior linebacker Andrew Holder had a monster game with 18 tackles, Noel Flores and Jovany Hurtado also had strong defensive efforts with 10 and 7 tackles respectively.

Cross Country Victory

Gabriel Zambrano & Brittany Adams

The Castleberry Cross Country teams got off to a great start last Friday morning, participating in the 4A and under race at the 2010 Burleson High School Elk Run.

Official times and places are not yet available, but junior Brittany Adams won the girls race, and junior Gabriel Zambrano finished third overall, and first among the 3A boys runners.

Both teams won the district meet last season, and are training hard to repeat as champions in the newly formed district 7-3A this year.  Congratulations to Brittany and Gabriel for their fantastic start to the 2010 season!

The Lions next run at the Fossil Ridge meet Friday morning at the Keller Sports Complex.  The meet begins at 8:00 am.

New Pictures at Max Preps

Just for your information.  I have taken a total of 122 pictures that are posted at MaxPreps for the Volleyball team.  90 pictures from the Brock match last night.  I will be posting a few here, but most (both for the football team and volleyball team) will be at Maxpreps.  The link is to the right on this page.

Dave Campbell’s Preview

Dave Campbell’s publication is perhaps the most respected magazine for High School football in the state of Texas.  Maxpreps has his preview of the Castleberry team on their website.  I have copied and pasted it here.

Castleberry Lions 2010 football preview
7-3A
Coach: Nick Junior.
Lettermen R/L: 18/12.
2009: 5-5 DI bi-district finalist/4-2 district.
Starters returning O/D: 5/5.

Key Losses: Rick Aguillon, Phillip Thompson, Jacob Rubio.

Players to watch: LB Andrew Holder (5-10, 190, 4.5), RB Marcus Shelton (5-10, 200, 4.5), FS Noel Flores (6-0, 170, 4.5), CB Zach Romero (6-0, 170, 4.6), TE Doug Ross (6-0, 190, 4.8).

Top juniors: OL Shawn Griffin (6-2, 225, 5.4), RB Jose Conches (5-8, 165, 4.5).

Top sophomores: LB Sam Rubio (5-10, 190, 4.7).

Other prospects: OL Marc Olvera, WR Jovany Hurtado, FB Jake Iker.

2010 notes: Though more than half the roster returns, third-year coach Junior said the Lions will still be younger. Castleberry will count on players like RB Conches (the 2009 backup), OL Griffin, who “will help with a young line,” Junior said, and LB Rubio, who lettered as a freshman. The senior class will also have a big impact. RB Shelton moves over from LB, while LB Holder starts for the fourth year. FS Flores (4 INTs) and CB Romero (3 INTs) will start for a third straight season.