Tag: Tompkins Falcons

Changes affect revised 2020 Katy ISD football schedules
(PHOTO BY DENNIS SILVA II)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

Due to the restructuring of the UIL 2020 high school football season caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Katy ISD’s nine head coaches spent the last month or so revising their schedules.

Some programs, such as Katy and Tompkins, still have holes to fill on their schedules. But otherwise, the primary change is moving up district games earlier to get those done—as it is the district season that determines playoff qualifiers—and splitting the four non-district games for the district’s seven Class 6A programs, two for Weeks 1 and 2 and two more, if possible, to close the season.

In Class 5A-Division I, where Paetow resides, nine-team District 10-5A will split into zones for the upcoming season. Paetow will be in Zone A with Richmond Foster, Kempner, Rosenberg Terry and Houston Wisdom. Zone B consists of of Angleton, Hightower, Manvel and Milby.

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New Alabama commit Milroe ready for finale at Tompkins
Houston, Tx. Nov. 30, 2019: Tompkins’ Jalen Milroe (4) scrambles carrying the ball during the regional playoff game between Tompkins Falcons and Atascocita Eagles at NRG Stadium in Houston. (Photo by Mark Goodman)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

A little more than two years ago, then-Tompkins incoming sophomore Jalen Milroe could not stop smiling.

A late morning July discussion with a reporter in Tompkins head coach Todd McVey’s office centered around Milroe’s potential. His intriguing background. His promising future. His raw, though obvious, natural skill.

Following an eye-opening two months in spring ball, Milroe was the unofficial projected starter for a Tompkins program that used three quarterbacks while going through a 2017 winless season.

“The MVP of smiling,” McVey acknowledged of his precocious youngster. “It’s contagious.”

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Tompkins 2-time all-state DB Huerter picks South Dakota State
Katy, Tx. Oct. 25, 2019: Taylor’s Cj Tolbert (3) carries the ball as he’s brought down by Tompkins’ Colby Huerter (14) during a game between Taylor Mustangs and Tompkins Falcons at Rhodes Stadium in Katy. (Photo by Mark Goodman)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

Colby Huerter is a two-time Class 6A all-state selection. A bruising, athletic 6-foot-1, 190-pound safety, he is a prolific stat-stuffer for Tompkins’ defense, averaging 6.2 tackles per game with 10 interceptions, a fumble recovery and a fumble caused in 26 games over the last two seasons.

Even more impressive than his physical ability, however, is his guile. One of my favorite plays—of any high school athlete I’ve covered in my 15 years in sportswriting—is this heads-up save during a game against Cinco Ranch two years ago.

“My approach to being a safety is to know your opponents better than they know themselves,” the incoming senior said. “So, when it comes to game time, there is not a lot of thinking on my part, just reacting. My mindset is to give maximum effort 100 percent of the time.”

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Former Tompkins stars reunite at UTEP
Former Tompkins standout Kristian Sjolund, shown here in white No. 32, will join two former high school teammates at the University of Texas-El Paso. (PHOTO BY MARK GOODMAN)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

Tompkins High basketball players and coaches drooped in their locker room, entrenched deep within the bowels of San Antonio’s Alamodome, with shoulders slumped and heads heavy, fallen and frustrated, on the night of March 11, 2018.

The Falcons had just dropped a heartbreaking 49-47 overtime decision to Allen in the Class 6A state championship game.

Even after a remarkable season that put the still-young program on the high school basketball map in Texas, tears filled eyes. Eventually, however, perspective and optimism filled thoughts and words.

“It was definitely a learning experience,” said Emmanuel White, then a senior wing. “Shortly after the game, we all told each other that we were going to be in a bigger moment. That wasn’t going to be the biggest game we’d ever play in. So, we didn’t really hang our hats on that.

“Now it’s just crazy. We’re all about to have a chance to do it together again.”

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Tulsa commit Shoulders making his mark at Tompkins
Katy, Tx. Sept. 27, 2019: Tompkins Marquis Shoulders (6) gets to the end zone scoring a TD during a conference game between Seven Lakes and Tompkins at Rhodes Stadium. (Photo by Mark Goodman)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

Tompkins coach Todd McVey remembers it well to this day.

Then-sophomore Marquis Shoulders, a transfer from Cypress Springs, misread the ball on a kick return in his first junior varsity home game in 2018. Shoulders was clearly frustrated, and McVey approached him to have a quick chat.

“It was his first time out there and he kind of fumbled it a bit,” McVey said. “He got frustrated and I had to give him a talk on the sideline. It was that year of learning for him. That JV year was really good for him. He was our MVP and he got to key in on his craft and it paid off for him.”

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Amidst global pandemic, Tompkins’ Asaro finds college home at New Orleans
Tompkins senior golfer Zach Asaro. (COURTESY PHOTO/TOMPKINS GOLF)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

More nerve-wracking than any pressure shot was the recruiting obstacles a global pandemic presented to Tompkins senior golfer Zach Asaro this spring.

When the high school golf season was postponed in mid-March and then eventually canceled less than a month later, it stunted an impressive season for Asaro, an all-district performer. He was hoping to strut his swing at the district and, hopefully, regional and state meets, searching for a scholarship offer from a bigger school after receiving interest from NAIA and NCAA Division III programs.

Those meets never took place. But Asaro, through persistent mobile and virtual contact with University of New Orleans men’s golf coach Jeff Lorio and leaning upon the faith and trust of sights and a program unseen, earned that shot at a better school, committing May 1 to play for the Privateers, a NCAA Division I program in the Southland Conference.

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