Hawks having a Block Party
Canyon Lake had a good first day at Cedar Creek in Bastrop on Thursday when they swept all three of their opponents.
The Luling, Randolph, and Taylor wins improved this seasons record to 7-5 and some major confidence builders for the Hawks.
The ReSporter: Hey Coach Fields, how was your first scrimmage?
Fullback and Defensive End Preston Koch
Coach Fields: “Very pleased with the defense…our defense will hit you. Our x-backer (Jeff Camp) and our defensive ends controlled the line.”
The ReSporter: What happened offensively?
Coach Fields: “Our offense was hit and miss, but we got better as the night went on. Our spread offense is still a work in progress and we might have a power spread.”
The ReSporter: Where are you compared to this time last year?
Senior Amber Ramsey puts a block on the Lions
Canyon Lake swept Lockhart Tuesday night at the Hawk Gym as all three squads (Freshman, JV, and Varsity) took care of business on their home court.
Canyon Lake Varsity won their pivotal game after Lockhart tied up the match at one game a piece.
The Hawks had a game point and a five point lead 24-19 when the Lions responded with a five point rally to tie the score.
Lillie Sander then responded with a kill to side out and then finished off Lockhart with a service ace to end the threat and give CL a hard fought victory.
“I feel like we do too much and then we don’t take advantage of all those opportunities that Lockhart gave us,” Head Coach Kimberley Paisley stated. “We made the game tougher on ourselves.”
The ReSporter: How is the progress, progressing as this season enters the second
Head Volleyball Coach Kimberley Paisley
week?
Coach Paisley: “Week one started off rocky Tuesday, but rolled around at Tesfest. (Wimberley’s Tournament) The energy and togetherness came and we picked up our level of play. We had a ton of growth during those two days.”
The ReSporter: What is your quest as you proceed from here?
Coach Paisley: “Our quest is getting better every week…getting primed for district. The more competitive we play each week, will only prepare us for our district.”
‘Consistent’ has been that one word to describe what Head Coach Kimberley Paisley
Junior Libero Hayley Melone
would want Canyon Lake Volleyball team to say no matter their outcome in these early pre/district games.
Now with two wins in the Wimberley Tex-Fest Tournament you might see a decent team starting to take hold of that word.
“We are getting more comfortable with our offense and defense, Coach (Paisley) is wanting us to run,” Junior Libero Haley Malone offered. “That is helping us cover the court and be more consistent.”
The Hawks are serving a lot of youth from behind the line and need to be sure they are communicating.
Canyon Lake finally was able to hit someone without knowing who it was last night as the Green and Gold took on Llano Yellowjackets and Early Longhorns.
There will plenty of film to study after the four hour marathon in Llano, Texas.
“We are getting better,” Head Coach Charley Drum stated. “We have installed a new offense and had a chance to see it under game speed with another team.”
“We stayed healthy and I like what I saw.”
There were several key players on the sideline without pads on for this scrimmage as bumps and bruises is part of the game.
“The majority of our team was playing JV or Freshman ball this time last year,” Coach Drum beat. “We have gotten better every day.”
That is an important statement considering how fast this new season in
Canyon Lake Hawks under the Bright Lights
Canyon Lake will have one more scrimmage next week in Buda so every day will have this team working like they are on their final exams to be accepted into their next realm on the ladder.
Coach Drum also commented on his defense, “We have a lot of fine tuning but these kids are smart and we are also working with a different front on our defensive line.”
The Hawks don’t seem like they have many days of taking anything for granted or having an off day.
Everything will be getting faster as this team starts to hone in on improving their game as Blanco will be calling soon on the horizon.
Uncertain future would be the theme this year as Bracken Warriors prepare
Head Coach Lloyd Fields
“Everything is in flux,” Head Coach Lloyd Fields said. “Our offense is still a work in progress and we are starting over from square one.”
The Warriors have been ahead of the curve these past three years with a returning QB Eli Achilles calling the signals. All three of those years had that returning quarterback.
Now BCS has replaced those three years of experience for three quarterbacks vying for a chance to call the signals.
“All the positions are open,” Coach Fields fielded.
There is one given for this year’s team and that would be the Warriors tight offensive set. Bracken has some proven entities in that formation which will give Coach Fields a softer pillow on Friday nights after games.
“We have a Sophomore center Gunnar Stolhandske who proved himself last season as a freshman and he has continued to improve. Then having Goober (Preston Koch) and Davis Scott back as Seniors makes this our gold standard,” Coach Fields elaborated.
The CL Hawks started their new season with a new coach and a lot of new players as they suffered two losses in the three team round robin to Clemens and Liberty Hill.
“It is all about coming to the game prepared and we have a lot of things to work on,” Head Coach Kimberley Paisley stated. “We are only as strong as our weakest link.”
Coach Paisley could be seen exhorting throughout each game as the Hawks had way too many unforced errors causing both losses.
“We had too many missed serves and we killed ourselves in both games,” Coach Paisley continued. “Our offense needs to be cleaned up.”
“There are some things we need to work through and we are not perfect….I’m looking for a solid eight players and I just don’t know who that core group is yet.”
This will certainly be a learning experience as this season commences.
Offensive Lineman Trey Saenz, Corey Rustin, and Austin Kahil
More articles on offensive lineman should make the running backs and quarterback very happy and so The Resporter found three more of these ‘in the trenches’ players after two-a-days this past week.
This year, Canyon Lake will need a big season from this group of players and finding out more about these students should help in coming up with an idea of what this year will resemble.
Corey Rustin, Austin Kahil, and Trey Saenz will all be counted on this season and The ReSporter wanted to know how each player was feeling about this season so far.
“We don’t have separate teams,” Rustin started. “The defensive line and offensive line are more of a one team one unit…we have better teamwork and everyone is pushing each other harder.”
“I feel a lot better about this line than last year,” Saenz said. “There is a lot more intensity and the program is working better with the new system.”
Kahil also had a word, “We are a younger team, but some of us have played eight years together so having that type of unity will help.”
The ReSporter had heard that this off season was pretty intense.
The ‘Brains’ behind this new fangled offense is Coach Troy Moses as the Canyon Lake intrasquad game on
Offensive Coordinator Troy Moses
Saturday gave fans a good idea of what might be expected when Friday’s roll around in the Fall.
One thing is for certain. The players like this offense and that excitement can be seen in settings like was played out on Saturday.
“You could tell they were doing something new and for the first time at full speed,” Offensive Coordinator Moses parted. “Taking that into consideration we did pretty good today.”
Canyon Lake will have to be a quick study with this offense as the will soon be upon us.
Two scrimmages and then Blanco to open the season at home August 30th or in 20 days.
