Dawg Tennis falls to Belton; Cove football prepares for Tigers

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Dawg tennis program suffered their first district loss of the season in a rain-delayed match with the Belton Tigers that began on Friday and concluded Monday.
The duo of Noah Chapman and Noah Samarippa lost to Major Uekert/Nick Mueller in a close 4-6, 6-4 (10-4) tiebreaker and the duo of Ari Diaz and Ben Fernandez battled to a tie-breaker win for the only doubles win for the Dawgs. They escaped with a  6-3, 4-6 (10-6) win.
The girls’ duos of Martha Abraham/ Zamira Manuel and Telsa Mackwelung/Shayla Pollot also battle to the wire. Abraham/Manuel lost 7-6(4), 6-3 to Emily Francis/Lizzy Nix while Mackwelung/Pollot battled Shriner/Sophia to a 6-7(6), 6-1 (10-8) conclusion.
In boys’ singles, Chapman downed Mueller 7-5, 2-6 (10-6) and Diaz bested JJ Seo 6-4-61 for the final two Cove wins.
The Dawgs faced Killeen on Tuesday night (results unavailable at press time) and they will host Burnett today at 4:00 p.m. and Bastrop at 8:30 a.m. Saturday before traveling to Gatesville on Tuesday.
The Copperas Cove football program with open its nine-team district slate with a road contest at Belton tonight.
The game features the district’s top defense through two games in Copperas Cove against one of the top offenses in Belton.
The Tigers (1-1) are averaging 373.5 yards in their first two contests and 31 points. The Tigers opened up the season with a 38-17 loss to no. 4 Austin Westlake before rebounding with a 45-24 win over the Round Rock Dragons.
Senior quarterback Connor Carothers is second in the district in passing with 30 completions on 46 attempts for 343 yards and five touchdowns. Carothers’ favorite target is senior Anothy Brown, who has 15 catches for 112 yards and a score. Senior Denver Holman follows 10 catches for 167 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior Marquez Aguilar is also in the top 10 rushing with 25 carries for 110 yards.
The Dawgs’ defense is giving up just 187.5 yards and just 16.5 points per contest in their two outings and are tied for second in the district with two interceptions. Seniors Dimitri Bell and Nate David have one interception each.
The Cove offense has some guys in the top of the district statistics as well. Senior running back Shontez Simmons is second in rushing with 28 carries for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Killeen sophomore Kadarius Marshal leads with 37 carries for 346 yards and four scores. Cove’s Micah Cox is also in the top 10 with 18 carries for 104 yards. 
Cove senior quarterback Easton Simpson is sixth in the district with 19 of 31 passing for 168 yards and three scores. Senior Quinton Lewis is tied for fifth in receiving with nine catches for 124 yards and a score.