Coming off back-to-back trips to the regional finals, Holliday looks to get over the Bushland hump in 2022 and make its first appearance in the state tournament since 2012. The Falcons have eliminated the Lady Eagles in each of the last two seasons enroute to winning back-to-back state championships.
Head coach Wendy Parker believes this year’s team has what it takes to make it to Garland thanks to a loaded senior class.
Holliday senior Belle Welch is making the most of her final season with the Lady Eagles. The three-year starter is coming off a 652 assist season where she earned the district’s Most Valuable Setter award.
Despite losing five seniors from last year’s team that made its second-straight trip to the regional finals, Welch believes this year’s squad has what it takes to get over the hump and return to the state tournament for the first time since 2012.
With a 57-11 record over the last five seasons, the success at Holliday is no surprise. The Eagles look to become Texoma’s first program to eclipse 10-wins in six-straight seasons.
A challenging non-district schedule could be all that stands in the way of that feat as Holliday appears poised for another district championship and deep postseason run.
Leading the Eagles for his 10th and potential final season as retirement rumors swirl, head coach Frank Johnson knows this bunch still has work to do to achieve the ultimate goal, a state championship.
Holliday senior Jaxx Johnson has been around the game of football his entire life. The son of Eagles head coach and athletic director Frank Johnson just completed his 18th and final set of two-a-days.
“It’s weird going from when you’re three months old to now and knowing it’s just going to be gone next year,” Jaxx said. “Growing up, I’ve been to enough football games and done enough, I think I’ve worked hard enough to where I won’t look back and think I could’ve done more. I don’t really have a bittersweet feeling towards it, it’s just the end of something.”
The Archer City Lady Cats return the majority of their district-championship winning team from a season ago and look to repeat as district champions.
Seniors Rebecca Taggart and Jenny Smith headline the group that edged out Olney 57-50 at the district competition last year while juniors Kassidy Marin and Landri Payne are back with experience at the regional meet while newcomers Serenity Jones and Emily Anderson are expected to make a big splash.
Archer City senior Gunner Smith broke out onto the scene in 2021, earning all-state honors after amassing 203 tackles last season. This year, the Wildcats star middle linebacker is poised for a big season under a new defensive scheme.
“Last year the game started to click for me,” Smith said. “I feel like I’ve always been pretty good at football and last year I was able to take it to another level.”
New Archer City head coach Bradan Ritchey knew he had something special when he first set foot on campus in February. The Wildcats were coming off an 8-3 record, their first district championship in over a decade and had won games in the postseason for each of the last two years.
This year’s Archer City squad may look a little different. Gone are the likes of Mallory Maxwell and Maddie Lopez along with many other heavy contributors from last year’s team that advanced to the regional tournament. With just two returners on the roster, head coach Krissa England knows this year’s team may have some growing pains.
