Senior safety Glover returns after leading Javs in tackles in 2009 - George Vondracek, Corpus Christi Caller KINGSVILLE — He has seen a lot of players come and go and act in various ways in his three previous seasons on Texas A&M-Kingsville’s football team. But DeIra Glover is seeing something a little different this season.
It’s something he really likes, too.
“This team, from what I’ve seen thus far, we could be the best in the nation,” A&M-Kingsville’s senior safety said. “We have everything on offense, quarterbacks. Linebackers. Wide receivers, DBs. To me, we just have a bunch of play-makers.”
Expect Glover to again be one of those play-makers on the defensive side for the 14th-ranked Javelinas, who open the season Thursday night at top-ranked and defending NCAA Division II champion Northwest Missouri State.
related:LSC South Division Capsules
related:2010 LSC North Division Capsules
Bearcats break in 8 new starters - Joey Falkoff, Maryville Daily Forum
When the defending champion Bearcat football team makes its season debut Thursday at 6 p.m. against No. 14 Texas A&M Kingsville, there will be a host of familiar names and faces that dot Northwest's starting lineup.
All-American quarterback Blake Bolles is back under center. The receiving core still consists of All-American junior Jake Soy, sophomore Tyler Shaw, sophomore Tyler Hinchey and sophomore Jordan Simmons.
All five members of last year's starting offensive line return, although only four will start in the opener. On defense, six starters are back in the fold, but an injury to linebacker Adam Vondrak means only five will be on the field Thursday.
Javelinas Facing Coaching Legend - Sean Horjes, KRIS TV
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2010 Texan Football Preview - Season, Schedule and Offense - TSU Sports Information
Expectations are running high in and around Memorial Stadium for the 2010 season – something that seems perhaps premature?
Leading to those high expectations are the following truths:
The Texans are the winningest team in the Lone Star Conference since the 2001 season.
Tarleton has won more division games in the last 10 seasons than any other school in the LSC.
The Texans are coming off a share of the LSC and LSC South Division titles.
Tarleton reached the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs last season and finished the year ranked No. 10 in the country in the final American Football Coaches poll.
However, the Texans are young, there are over 40 new faces on the roster and a new head coach will grace the sidelines in 2010 – and he, Cary Fowler, wants no excuses as to this year’s team not holding up to the winning tradition.
“We’ve got a young football team to Tarleton, and I think that is the big thing this year, but just because your young doesn’t mean that your expectations are going to be any less than what they’ve been in the past,” Fowler said. “Our expectations are to win every game we play, and starting on Sept. 2, we’re going to take it one game at a time.”
2010 Texan Football Preview - Defense, Special Teams, More - TSU Sports Information
Note: This is the second of a two-part series previewing the 2010 season
Defense
Since the new head coach has spent the last two years directing the Texan defense, Fowler, who will continue to coach the defensive backs, has handed the coordinator title to linebacker coach Henry Cofer.
Cofer and Fowler are joined on the defensive coaching staff by defensive line coaches Chris Mineo and Don Jones while the rovers will be coached by Jacob Martin. Former Texan letterman Carl Turner returns to help Fowler coach the defensive backs.
Despite a couple of new faces on the staff, fans will not see a change in what has been one of the best defenses in the conference.
“Nothing has changed defensively,” Fowler said. “Not what we will do, not how we will call the game, not how we game plan – nothing will change. I believe we will be very strong defensively, and if we can get the guys to believe in the system, fans will see an aggressive defense on the field every Saturday.”
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Washburn Football Set For Top-10 Battle - WIBW
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Soccer News
Mustangs must learn the MSU Way to win in 2010 - MSU Sports Information
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The faces are changing at Midwestern State, but Doug Elder knows the secret for continued success.
"We have to get our guys to understand why and how we win soccer games at Midwestern," the 11th-year head coach said. "It takes consistency and you have to win the games you're supposed to win."
The Mustangs have done just that over the past four seasons claiming results in 67 matches on the way to four-straight NCAA Division II postseason appearances including trips to the Final Four in 2007 and to the Elite Eight in 2008 after starting the run with a regional finals appearance in 2006.
The remnants of that run are now gone as the Mustangs return just four starters after the early defections of All-America center back Allen Thomson for a pro contract in South Africa and the transfer of Craig Sutherland, who led the NCAA in tallies by a freshman in 2008, to North Carolina State.
Mustangs have high expectations with experience up front - MSU Sports Information
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State is a team in transition heading into the 2010 campaign.
The Mustangs are the exactly reciprocal of last season's squad which posted a school record 11 shutouts on their way to a No. 10 national ranking before faltering late in the year to finish 13-5-2.
The 2009 featured a salty senior back line of Kat Bernick, Megan Hanlon, Amy Smith and Jaime Pompey to support the goalkeeping tandem of senior Ashley Meek and freshman Mallory Whitworth.
Whitworth, who led the Lone Star Conference with a school record goals against average 0.53, is the lone returner from the key group.
"It will be fun to see her compete this season," MSU coach Jeff Trimble said. "We'll rely on her a little more than in the past. Mallory will have a little more pressure on her this year, but I'm confident she will respond."
ACU Soccer Kicks off 2010
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Midwestern loaded with postseason aspirations - MSU Sports Information
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Koby Styles hopes for Midwestern State's opening meet aren't much different from any other meet.
"I hope we can win," MSU's cross country coach said. "We'll see how we match up with some of the best in Texas."
The Mustangs host a field of eight teams at the 4K MSU Mustangs Invitational in a twilight meet at the Memorial Athletic Complex Thursday at 7 p.m.
The field includes a whole range in levels of competition and includes the University of Texas-Arlington out of the NCAA Division I Southland Conference, strong NCAA II regional contender Dallas Baptist, conference foes Eastern New Mexico and East Central as well as NAIA Rogers State, Southwest Christian and Clarendon College.
"I think we stack up well with UTA," Styles said. "It will come down to the best fifth, sixth and seventh runners on the team."
The Mustangs are stacked at the top of the order as reigning Lone Star Conference Runner of the Year and individual champion Sydnee Cole returns to anchor lineup, but she will have company this year.
"Last year, we had to worry about our gap times between Sydnee and the rest of our runners," Styles said. "So far it's been a different order at the top in every workout as we've been great in the top four. They've been running together very well."
Junior Brissia Montalvo transfers in from El Paso Community College where she was an NJCAA All-America after spending her freshman campaign at UTEP, while freshman Ashley Flores joins the fray as a four-time state qualifier out of Haltom (Texas) High School.
Perhaps the surprise of the group is freshman Janel Campbell, who was a three-time Class 3A state qualifier out of Tom Moore High School in Ingram, Texas.
"She had decent times, but I didn't know a whole lot about her coming in," Styles said. "She's in the mix with Sydnee, Ashley and Brissia. Those four being close together is huge for team points.
The loaded Mustangs will look for a fifth countable time out of a capable combination of senior Bailey Dulaney, juniors Kayla Hendrix and Lindsey Pate, sophomores Melody Caldwell and Heather Owens and freshman Cara Mack.
Hendrix and Pate, who are both recovering from injuries, were both all-region runners while helping the Mustangs to a 15th-place showing at NCAA Division II Nationals as freshmen in 2008.
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Flores-Stafford, Mustangs a perfect mix for 2010
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Expectations have definitely changed during Venera Flores-Stafford's tenure at the helm of the Midwestern State volleyball program.
The Mustangs have advanced to the Lone Star Conference Championship tournament in each of the last three seasons after tasting the postseason just once in the previous nine seasons. But after a 10-25 showing last season, the team has welcomed changes to make a push to the top.
"It's all about chemistry," Flores-Stafford said. "We had a hard time last year because we couldn't find a lineup to work. This year, the projected starting lineup has played from Day 2."
Flores-Stafford believes the addition of new assistant coaches Natalie Rawson and Lauren LaFlamme will be an advantage to the squad.
"Natalie and Lauren bring fresh sets of eyes and that will be good for the team," she said. "They have different perspectives and views and that will be very helpful."
Rawson arrives as the first assistant coach after serving as the interim head coach at Louisiana-Monroe, while LaFlamme is the second assistant coach on the heels of completing her playing career at the University of Tennessee.
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