Lady Dawg Volleyball hosts Temple; Bulldawgs open 12-6A play against Wildcats
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
After an unscheduled night off on Tuesday when their home match against Killeen was postponed, the Lady Dawgs volleyball team (4-4 overall, 2-2 in District 12-6A) will get back to action as Temple comes to town looking for their first win of the year.
The Lady Dawgs are coming off consecutive district losses to Shoemaker in five sets and a sweep at the hands of the Harker Heights Lady Nights last Friday.
The Lady Dawgs were slated to host the Killeen Kangaroos Tuesday night, but the game was postponed due to Coronavirus concerns and will be rescheduled for a later date. Killeen’s match set for tonight against the Belton Lady Tigers has also been postponed until a later date. Killeen High School has five total active cases among students as of October 14 while Shoemaker High School has three active cases and Harker Heights High School has two cases.
Copperas Cove High School has two active cases among staff members as of October 14.
The Lady Dawgs are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Harker Heights Lady Knights who are tied for first atop the district with Shoemaker at 1-1.
The Lady Dawgs had 26 errors on 90 dig attempts which contributed to the loss.
The Lady Dawgs’ Saturday afternoon match at home against Stephenville had also been cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns. The Lady Dawgs are slated to close out round one of district action Tuesday at home against Ellison.
The Bulldawgs football team opens District 12-6A play tonight at home also against Temple.
The Wildcats (2-1) are coming off their lone loss of the season where they gave up three special teams touchdowns early in their 43-25 loss to Arlington Martin in a non-district clash to close the preseason.
Temple, who had the no. 1 total offense last year with an average of 492.9 yards, look to continue that trend in 2020 with a good portion of the offense returning. Junior Samari Howard returns at running back after finishing eighth last year with 919 yards and 13 touchdowns on 133 carries.
Senior Humberto Arizmendi takes over the signal-calling for the graduated passing leader Vance Willis and AJ McDuffy will lead the receiving corps with the departure of Quentin Johnston. Arizmendi shares the QB duties with sophomore Mikal Harrison-Pilot, who threw a 73-yard touchdown pass in the waning minutes of the Wildcats’ loss to the Warriors last Friday.
The Bulldawgs are coming off their best offensive performance of the season. The Bulldawgs mustered just 21 points in their first two games combined before opening up for 41 points in their win at Granbury on Friday.
Junior quarterback Shane Richey three for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 12 for 18 passing while adding 97 yards and another score on the ground.
Richey seemed to find a connection with quarterback turned receiver Russel Cochran. The senior wideout had three grabs for 87 yards and helped open the run game for senior Brandon Ortega (13 carries for 105 yards and a TD) and senior Brody Sanders (13 runs for 69 yards and a score). Both running backs also had a receiving touchdown each.