On the Road: Highland vs Borden County Scrimmage

By Bobbie Brown

I had many choices for scrimmage number two of 2018, but finally decided to head South to watch Highland and Borden County. It took a while, but I finally arrived at the Hilltop. I arrived early. The JV players had wandered out to the field and were beginning to warm up. Suddenly I hear a loud voice say, “Hey there, stranger!” I whipped around and there is none other than my good buddy Leman Saunders. We had a short conversation and set out to investigate the concession stand and other facilities. Met his little girl. She’s a CUTIE!
 
I finally wandered onto the field. I found Coach Jeffrey and Coach Richey near the stands talking at the fence. Coach Jeffrey had to take his place with the JV, but I did get in a great conversation with Coach Richey about being a grandparent, empty nest, and his dad, the late great John Richey. This scrimmage was a lot like a high school reunion. I grew up with three of the Borden County coaches and watched Coach Jeffrey when he played for Hamlin back in the day. You all know how small towns can be. Some are in such close proximity; all the kids know each other and hang out. Some things never change… and they shouldn’t.
 
The scrimmage finally got underway. Both JV squads looked good. It’s always been funny to me that football players look so much bigger in pads and a helmet than they do when they aren’t wearing them. Many of the JV players were unrecognizable without their protective gear. They looked pretty big on the field. They were much smaller sitting on the bench.
 
The varsity definitely needed protection last night! In what can only be described as “the shot heard round the world,” a coyote leveled a hornet. The hornet stayed down for a bit but finally made his way up. Later in the scrimmage, I heard his hornet teammates talking about that hit. One was very animated and said, “I swear there was internal bleeding. And it broke the clavicus!” Another hornet replied, “What’s a clavicus?” He responded, “I have no idea what a clavicus is, but it was broke!”
 
I walked away laughing knowing that the kid was ok, and the Highland Hornets are a bunch of funny kids. That certainly makes a person really like a team! Humor really gets my attention. I don’t normally relay what I hear on the sidelines, but that was so timely and funny, it had to be shared.
 
Several observations from Highland last night.

• A rattlesnake was found behind the concession stand. At first it was just a snake. Then it was a rattlesnake. It was properly handled. These are the risks we all take in Texas at small town football games. So, keep your eyes out… at least until it gets cold!
• Shout out to the EMS guy, Richard Spradlin, from Sweetwater. He attends every Highland Hornet football event. I had a good time conversing with him on the sidelines. Very nice guy and really enjoys watching the Hornets.
• Highland has the biggest American flag I have seen in a 1A town. It is just enormous. I actually videoed two people trying to take it down without it touching the ground. They did an honorable job!
• The scoreboard at Highland has a mini-jumbotron! It’s really cool. Yeah, there’s probably a better phrase for it, but that’s what I thought when I first saw it.

 
I can tell you that the Highland Hornets are pretty salty. Better watch out for them. I was pleasantly surprised. They have several kids who can run it straight up the gut quickly. They also played very well on defense. Borden County has once again brought players up who are fundamentally sound and can do things they really shouldn’t be doing this early. Those types of movements, tackles, and execution doesn’t usually appear until a few weeks into the season.
 
Thank you to Highland for being such gracious hosts and to my childhood friends for allowing me to cover both your teams. I had a great time and saw some very good Thursday night football!

Always remember… you, TOO, can go catch some football. Until next time, Go forward and do GOOD!