2011 Spartan Football

Spartan Senior Adam Wallace was recognized this week by the Austin American Statesman as one of their game ball winners for his outstanding performance against TSD.

ADAM WALLACE, RB, ST. STEPHEN’S: A senior for the Spartans, Wallace ran for 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 41-24 victory over Texas School for the Deaf.

See the video at:

http://www.statesman.com/news/centex-football-week-5-game-balls-1893827.html

The Spartans put a big first notch in the win column with a 40-7 victory over San Antonio Hawkins on Friday, Sept. 23rd. It was a total team effort with all team members contributing and playing with great effort.

For the second week in a row St. Stephen’s scored on it’s opening posession with Carl Austin III running it in from 24 yards out. The rushing attack was strong all day as the offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. Huy Nguyen, Emmanuel Velasco, Blake Arledge, Christian Turner and Connor Wilson paved the way for senior’s Will Brothers and Adam Wallace who both rushed for over 100 yards contributing to the 338 total rushing yards on the night.

Three more TD’s provided for a 27-0 halftime lead. Hawkins was a bit undermanned, but continued to fight hard. They had some success moving the ball in the first half, but some big plays by the Spartan defense stopped every drive.

St. Stephen’s was determined to avoid the second half lull’s that had hurt them in previous games and finish this one strong. Hawkins was able to score a touchdown on a nice pass play, but in general the Spartans played a strong second half. The game was capped off with freshman Quarterback’s Nick Balley and Taylor Brown leading a touchdown drive in the 4th quarter. Brown hit fellow freshman Grant Owens with a beautiful 17 yard touchdown pass to finish the drive.

This week the Spartans hit the road to go for two in a row as they travel to Texas School for the Deaf. The game is Sept. 30th at 7pm.

The Spartans played an exciting and comeptitive game vs. Cedar Ridge High School on Friday, Sept. 16th. St. Stephen’s ended up on the wrong end of a 35-14 game, but the score was not indicative of the competitive nature of the game. Cedar Ridge boasted a big advantage in the number players, subbing in on offense, defense and special teams while many of the Spartans were playing both ways.

Cedar Ridge scored first to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Spartans came back strong. I took only five plays to tie the game with scoring drive capped by a 28 yard touchdown run by Carl Austin III. Austin III was a dual threat for the Spartans all night catching 7 passes for 100 yards and carrying the ball for 71 yards. St. Stephen’s seemed to be in charge for much of the first half and on their next drive took a 14-7 lead with a 24 yard touchdown run by senior Adam Wallace. The spartan rushing attack was strong with 240 yards, led by Wallace who rushed for 109, his second 100 yard rushing game of the season.

Momentum turned at the end of the second quarter. St. Stephen’s stopped Cedar Ridge on a 4th down with a big sack by Connor Wilson and Christian Turner. The Spartan’s then drove down the field into Cedar Ridge territory and seemed primed for another touchdown. A great 4th down pass completion by Wallace was nullified by a penalty and St. Stephen’s couldn’t convert. Suddenly, the Raiders broke off a couple of big runs and quickly tied the score. On the ensuing possesion, Cedar Ridge intercepted Wallace and converted another touchdown to take a 21-14 lead into halftime.

The Spartans fought back in the third quarter. A long drive ran off most of the time in the third quarter. St. Stephen’s brought the ball inside the Cedar Ridge 5 yard line, but could not convert on 4th down to tie the game. In the 4th quarter the Raiders wore down the Spartans and added two late scores for the final margin of victory.

The Spartans will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 23rd when they host San Antonio Hawkins at 7:30pm. It will be middle school recognition night as we honor all of our middle school student-athletes at halftime.

The Spartan JV team defeated St. Mary’s Hall 13-6 on Friday night. The game was an exciting, hard fought contest. The Spartans played with great spirit all night and were able to close out the Barons when Freshmen Grant Owens intercepted a pass with 1:35 to play in the 4th quarter.

This game went back and forth in the first half with St. Stephen’s taking a 7-6 halftime lead on a touchdown run by freshman Quarterback Taylor Brown. The Spartans played great defense in the second half including a big sack and forced fumble by freshman Joey Carter which turned the game around.

This week both the JV and Varsity will take on Cedar Ridge HS. The JV will play at Cedar Ridge at 7pm Thursday, while the varsity will host at 7pm Friday. Cedar Ridge will be bringing a lot of fans. We will need your support as the varsity team looks to get on the winning track.

I am very excited to begin practice and get the season underway. We have a big week planned to kick things off including our annual visit to the Boys and Girls Club on Aug. 5th, and our open practice and team family picnic on Aug. 6th. I hope to see you all there.
We will depart for training camp in Houston on Monday Aug. 8th at 8am sharp. It is only a little over three weeks until the varsity opening game vs. Regents. Mark your calendars for Aug. 26th.
Look for updates and more and more information at the picnic, via email and at sstxfootball.teampages.com. You can track all of the football team activities using Team Pages. Please accept the invitation when you get it fro Team Pages. We will use Team Pages for team communications with parents, coaches, players and fans. Thanks again for letting me coach your sons!