Heart. It’s a characteristic that is vital for the success of any athlete in any sport. An athlete can have all the physical and mental attributes needed to be good, but without heart, greatness will always elude him or her. Muhammed Ali once said, “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it - then I can achieve it,” and there isn’t a team that encapsulates that quote more than the 2425 Windthorst Trojanettes Volleyball team.

The Holliday Lady Eagles’ dominant playoff run came to a heart-breaking close on Saturday, Nov. 9, losing in a hard-fought 3-1 battle with the Tolar Lady Rattlers in Graham for the Regional Finals playoff round.

For the fourth round in a row, the Windthorst Trojanettes got the 3-0 clean sweep over their playoff opponents. On Friday, Nov. 15, the Big Blue volleyball team stormed onto the hardwood in Childress and played one of their most complete games all year, handedly defeating the Vega Lady Longhorns 2518, 25-18, and finally 25-13.

The Windthorst Trojans went 8-for-8 in drives in their 62-14 thrashing of the Quanah Indians in the Bi-District playoff round on Thursday, Nov. 14, even scoring on a 57-yard punt return mid-way through the second quarter.

All season, the Wildcats relied heavily on their running attack and physically to wear on opponents before eventually breaking through for long runs and bruising drives. On Thursday, Nov. 14 in Childress, Archer City did just that against the Shamrock Fighting Irish, cruising to the 51-14 Bi-District round victory.

The Windthorst Spartans finished their season on the road at Petrolia on Thursday, Nov. 7.

book of his poems, Verse Memorials, was published in 1857. Politics, however, was never far from his mind. In 1857, President James Buchanan appointed Lamar to serve as US Ambassador to Nicaragua. Shortly afterward, Buchanan named him to serve as ambassador to both Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Just like in their two previous playoff rounds the Windthorst Trojanettes once again notched another 3-0 playoff sweep, this time coming in Regional Semi round matchup. The Trojanettes made the nearly two-hour drive down to Abilene to face off against the Plains Cowgirls on Tuesday, Nov. 12, overcoming nerves to eventually secure the gold ball trophy and advance to the Regional Finals round.

The Holliday Lady Eagles’ make their triumphant return to the Regional Finals round of the playoffs after a 3-0 three set steamroll over the Odessa Compass Academy Lady Cougars on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at Merkel High School. This victory ends Holliday’s short, one year break from the Regional Finals, a round they made it to three consecutive seasons (2020, 2021, 2022) before the 23-24 year.

In a game that decided the playoff fate of several teams around the district, the Archer City Wildcats and the Seymour Panthers battled in the final regular season game of the year on Friday, Nov. 8. For a possible second place finish in district, the Wildcats’ ground-game once again ran rampant on their opposing defenders, tallying over 300 rushing yards enroute to a 38-30 victory.