Howdy Longhorns! Welcome back to the second year of the weekly Longhorn Sports Report! I’m back in my senior year ready to give y’all the sports content throughout the week. This week is a bit of a short week with nothing major going on but we’ll go through what we have, starting with everyone’s favorite: Longhorns Football.
Coach Cavallo’s program is coming off a decent year going 6-6 overall and 6-4 in 20-6A play earning them a spot in the UIL Playoffs. Unfortunately, they lost to a really strong Cinco Ranch squad eliminating them from state contention. QB Deion Drinkard (SR) is going into his second year as the starting QB after a solid first year. This year he looks to lead a run-heavy offense highlighted by Jaden Shelton (SR) and Drinkard’s younger brother Hayden Drinkard (SO). The Horns’ Strong point last year was definitely the defense as they held 9 of 12 opponents to 21 points or lower. With improvement from Drinkard and the offense the Longhorns look to advance further in state contention. The season starts under the Friday Night Lights of the GRHS Football field when GR takes on the Foster Falcons in the Brawl on the Brazos on August 25th.
Coach Forshee’s Volleyball Program looks to improve on a great season that came to an end too early. The Lady Longhorns lost in the first round of the UIL Playoffs in a tightly contested match to Cinco Ranch. The lady longhorns finished 30-14 overall and 12-4 in 20-6a play. Good enough for a 3rd place finish in district 20-6A. Currently they sit 2-7 in preseason tournaments and scrimmages. Their first district match takes place Tuesday, August 22nd, when they face off with FB Clements here at the Ranch. This year the ladies will look to improve on a great season last year and advance to the UIL Playoffs once again.
Last year, Coach Noonan’s Longhorn Tennis program made it to the UIL Playoffs but were unfortunately knocked out in the first round, falling to Katy Tompkins. This year the program has a new head coach–Emily Witt–and it kicked off its UIL season going 3-2 in non-district play. The Longhorns opened 20-6A play with a 15-4 loss to FB Clements Tuesday night here at The Ranch. The team looks to bounce back when they travel to Austin High School to take on the Bulldogs on Tuesday, August 22nd.
To cap off the preview, Girls Cross Country are coming off the most successful season in school history after they made it as a team to the state finals in Austin, TX. Coach Dutch’s squad began this year placing 1st as a team at the Pearland Dawson Invitational, with Sophia Nguyen, Cassandra Alvarez, and Caylin Smith all earning medals in their first meet of the season!
That wraps up the Longhorns Fall Sports Preview! Next week we will be back with the weekly Longhorn Sports Report and all the updates from this week here at The Ranch.
