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Tag: High School Football

  • Jon Kitna Will Donate Paycheck to High School

    Former Dallas Cowboy quarterback turned math teacher Jon Kitna, will donate the money he makes backing up quarterback Kyle Orton this Sunday to the high school where he teaches and coaches the football team.

    Since retiring from the Cowboys, Kitna, who played for 15 seasons and four different teams, has taught math and coached football at Lincoln High School in his native Tacoma, Wash.

    The Cowboys signed the 41-year-old to play as Kyle Orton’s backup if Tony Romo can’t play against the Eagles on Sunday.

    The high school football team he coaches finished its season last month at 8-2. Kitna’s son, Jordan, a sophomore, was his starting quarterback.

    Image via YouTube

  • High School Football Giant Tony Picard Blazes Through Tackles

    There is a new “The Fridge” in town, and hopefully you (or your high school kid) will be spared the job of trying to stop him. Tony Picard of White Swan High School in Yakima, Washington is the school’s dream come true– and every opposing team’s nightmare.

    Tony Picard actually already surpasses the size of William “Refrigerator” Perry of the ’80s and ’90s Chicago Bear era. While Perry weighed in at 6’2 and 335 lbs at a pro level, Picard is already 6’4 and 400 lbs– and this is before he bulks up to his college-level weight.

    Although starting his football career as a lineman, White Swan Cougar coach Andrew Bush put the ball in his hands as a running back realizing that Picard would be virtually unstoppable. Bush made the right decision; it takes about five players to tackle him on each run.

    Picard is not just a big guy in a helmet and tights; his speed and agility combined with size has made him a hit with college recruiters, and he has played a major hand in helping the Cougar’s seal the number one spot in their division.

    Tony Picard is a senior this year and hasn’t decided on his college yet, but he’ll certainly play an important part in his next team’s success.

    I only wonder if his high school has had to get special seating for his class experience, or if he just uses the teacher’s desk.

    Image via Indian Country Today Source: Indian Country Today

  • Cordell Broadus, Snoop Dogg’s Son, Slams Former USC Coach Lane Kiffin

    Cordell Broadus, Snoop Dogg’s Son, Slams Former USC Coach Lane Kiffin

    Most people may not be aware of the kid, but nearly everyone has heard of his father. For those who don’t know Cordell Broadus, he’s the youngest son of platinum-selling rapper, Snoop Dogg. However, these days, the younger Broadus is slowly making a name for himself, but not in the music industry.

    Broadus is laudably ranked as the No. 6 high school wide receiver in the state of California, and a USC football prospect. According to US Magazine, Broadus has actually received numerous college offers from the likes of USC, LSU, Nebraska, and UCLA.

    So, when it comes to football – especially USC football – its safe to say he’s definitely an enthusiast who takes the game seriously. With that being said, it’s obvious the Diamond Bar High School junior felt some kind of way about former USC head coach Lane Kiffin’s approach to the game. Judging from Kiffin’s abrupt termination Sunday, Broadus isn’t the only person who disapproved of the coach’s progress. But, Broadus is probably one of the few who actually voiced his opinion.

    In a short interview with 247Sports, Broadus weighed in on Kiffin’s termination. “I feel that he should have been fired a while ago and USC is going to raise the bar now because the new coaching staff next year and I’m anxious to see what they are going to look like,” said Broadus. While he did have a point, the delivery probably could have used a little tweaking, which may be the reason Broadus took to Twitter with a more civil approach to the matter.

    Former USC head coach Lane Kiffin was terminated early Sunday morning upon returning from Saturday’s game where the Trojans suffered a 62-41 loss to Arizona. The defeat left the Trojans with a 3-2 overall season record, and a 0-2 conference standing in the Pac-12. The team has lost 7 of their last 11 games. USC’s assistant head coach, Ed Orgeron, has been appointed as the interim head football coach for the duration of the 2013 season.

     

    Image via Instagram | Cordell Broadus

  • Koni Dole: Amputee Returns to Gridiron

    High school football player Koni Dole is proving that he won’t let anything get in the way of his dreams of playing football—even an amputated leg. The Huntley Project senior out of Worden, Montana returned to the field on Friday night less than a year after losing his leg.

    Dole’s leg was amputated below the right knee last October doing the thing he loves most, playing football. Most leg breaks don’t require amputation, but after losing blood flow to the leg, which became infected, the doctors had no choice. If the doctors hadn’t made the decision to amputate Dole’s leg, the infection may have spread to his bloodstream, which could have been lethal.

    “As soon as I learned I might have to amputate, I started looking up amputees that play sports and made the promise that I’d be back on the field,” Dole said in an interview with Good Morning America. “The doctors were telling me that I’d never play football again, so I just had that in the back of my head like kind of driving me.” While it’s understandable that some thought the teen would never play another down of football again, Dole proved them very wrong. Not only did he play in a game where his team won 45-0, he scored two touchdowns as well.

    When Dole went out on the field Friday night, he held nothing back. Dole played on offense and defense in the game, and scored the team’s first touchdown while playing fullback. He later recorded a sack. “Just to overcome all this, and to be back on the field with my teammates, is probably the best feeling I’ve ever had,” Dole said after the game.

    An amputee participating in sports isn’t unheard of, especially since Oscar Pistorius participated for South Africa in the 2012 London Olympics wearing prosthetics similar to Dole’s. Dole’s story, however, is in part so unlikely because of how quickly the teen bounced back. After much rehab and training, Dole was wrestling as early as January and even ran track in the spring.

    To make an inspiring story even better, Dole’s chances of playing college football aren’t gone. He has received a preferred walk-on scholarship offer from Montana State, the college he wanted to play for all along.

    Image via YouTube

  • High school coaches fight after football game

    Want to make high school football more exciting? Set up a boxing match between the coaches after the game. Two high school football coaches in Alabama find themselves in the center of unwanted national attention after getting into a post-game fight on Friday, which was caught on video.

    Emotions were clearly running high during the game when Cullman High School came from behind to defeat Walker High School 13-10 in the final 18 seconds of the game. While such situations may lead to trash talk and scuffles between opposing players, no one expects for the coaches to be the ones throwing punches. This time, however, the ones behaving badly were two men who were supposed to be setting a positive example.

    As the teams began leaving the field, Matt Hopper, defensive coordinator for Cullman, began shouting at John Halladay, head coach for Walker. After exchanging words, the head coach took a shot at Hopper, which led to a brief fight. As the players rushed to defend their coaches, police officers had to separate the men. Halladay didn’t appear to be injured in the fight, but Hopper left the field bloodied. No arrests were made, but the Jasper Police Department is looking into the matter to determine whether charges need to be filed.

    Halladay resigned from his head coaching duties on Tuesday, and Hopper has been placed on leave. Hopper’s bloodied face and bruises may be the worst punishment he receives for his actions. According to Suzanna Harbin, president of the Cullman Board of Education, “Our superintendent, Dr. (Doreen) Griffeth was at the game. I talked to her and I understand there is no need to reprimand our coaches and players that they acted with class and dignity during the situation.”

    Hopefully for the Cullman and Walker football teams, their coaches will find alternative ways to earn national attention under the Friday night lights as the season continues.

    Image via Daily Mountain Eagle

  • Facebook Posts Lead to Vacated Wins for High School Football Team

    In a story that sounds like it was ripped from a Friday Night Lights script, a mother in Tennessee inadvertently caused her sons’ high school football team to forfeit games because of her willingness to use Facebook as a play-by-play device for how her life has been going.

    According to an article that appeared in the Tennessean, two members of the Perry County Vikings — brothers Rodney and Ryan Belasic — were ruled ineligible by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association because of residency issues. The reason questions about where the two brothers’ eligibility came about from Facebook posts made by their mother.

    To play football for a county high school in Tennessee, the entire family must reside within the county lines, and thanks to complaints about the brothers not cleaning their room while visiting their mother in Henry County, something she complained about on Facebook. This, naturally, caught the eye of interested parties, opening the door for the TSSAA’s eligibility investigation. It was believed that entire family had moved counties, but the mother’s Facebook chatter revealed that wasn’t the case:

    “But the mother actually works in Henry County, and she posted on her Facebook page that she sent the kids back to Perry County for the week and that she would not see them again until Friday night,” [TSSAA Executive Director Bernard] Childress said. “Then, later on her Facebook page, she posted, ‘How can two boys mess up their room as badly as they do when they’re only here on Saturday and Sunday?’”

    Which lead directly to the removal of the wins from Perry County’s record.

    What seemed like such an innocuous post — a mom talking about her kids’ cleaning habits — wound up costing victories for the Perry County football team, which, according to reports, is considered one of Tennessee’s powerhouse football schools. It painfully obvious that anything posted on Facebook is fair game, regardless if, in this case, the TSSAA was the intended recipient or not. Someone is going to see what you wrote — unless you’re blocking all followers, which defeats the purpose of a Facebook account — and if it creates an issue for something so passionately followed as high school football, odds are your post will be the direct contributor to any punishment that’s handed down.

    Just ask the Belasics and the Perry County football team. While this article is not a warning to stay off Facebook, if you don’t think before you post, the results could be unfortunate. Granted, it’s doubtful the mother thought she was doing anything wrong, and, in fact, she may not have even known about the TSSAA’s rules concerning residency.

    But then again, the family did move to Perry County — well, mostly — so the kids could play for powerhouse football team.

    Once again, the lesson here is think before you post.