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Sports

Nunez to play football at SE Okla. State

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National Signing Day occurs early February across the country. One of the area’s most talented athletes, Matthew Nunez signed a scholarship offer to play football at NCAA Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The school of 4,824 undergraduates is located in Durant, Okla., 113 miles north on Hwy 75.

Ferris football opens with Maypearl

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Fresh from the UIL’s declaration of district alignments for the next two years, Ferris football HC and Athletic Director Brandon Layne has six of the Yellowjackets next 10 regular season games scheduled. The Dallas Morning News has published the non-league games for many schools, with the Black-and- Orange among their list. It should be noted the University Interscholastic League does not allow team’s itineraries to become official until next Wednesday, Feb. 26.

Ferris drops home tilt with Hillsboro, 79-65

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In what was considered to be a pivotal boys basketball game, Ferris came up short to Hillsboro, 79-65, on Tuesday night at the Yellowjackets’ nest.

Ferris falls to 23-9 on the season and into a tie at 3-5 with the Eagles for fourth in District 17-4A.

Ferris will host Alvarado on Feb. 14 and will look to regain a little momentum to finish the season strong. The Indians (27-6) lost to Midlothian Heritage (18-12), 61-53, on Tuesday night.

High stakes hoops for Ferris boys

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Head Coach Jerrel Chumley has seen his Ferris hoopsters head north after a southbound 7-25 season a year ago. A resounding 3-8 district mark in his first season ended with a 1-7 thud-like final month. Only Venus, a recent doormat, were below them.

The energetic Chumley has led a Yellowjackets turnaround to 23-9 overall. Their 3-5 ledger in District 17-5A has them on the edge of ascending to third place or missing the playoffs altogether. That’s what can happen in a talented, dog-eat-dog district.

Yellowjackets’ reward for playoff berth yet TBD

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Ferris and their colleagues in District 17 will meet the top four teams in District 18, a league which Waco Connally has led from the start. Whoever wins their league will face the fourth place team from the neighboring district, with the second and third place teams going head-to-head.

No. 9 state-ranked Connally dropped their first league game on Tuesday, 47-43, at Lorena. Overall the Cadets are 17-5 and 7-1 in the district. They await the fourth place team from District 17.

Panthers pull away from Ennis, 61-36

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Second place Midlothian (22-8) earned a season sweep against third place Ennis on Tuesday, 61-36, at the Ensign Gym. The Panthers did a similar number, 68-41, a month ago. Midlo is 9-1 in league games while Ennis slipped to 6-5. The Lions were at Joshua on Feb. 14. They clipped the Owls three weeks ago, 59-40, in Ennis.

The victory moved the visitors to 9-1 in District 14-5A, one game back of Red Oak (20-11, 10-0). Those two will play on Monday night in Red Oak in a showdown. The Hawks took the first encounter, 57-52.

Ennis JV tennis chalks up four first place tournament entries

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Developing skills and racking up wins, the Ennis Junior Varsity tennis team revealed plenty of both during Thursday’s Spring Blowout Tournament hosted by Ennis.

Seven teams brought singles, doubles and mixed pairs in both girls and boys divisions, including Midlothian, Corsicana, Duncanville, Wills Point, Kaufman, Mesquite Horn, Jacksonville as well as Ennis.

Head Coach Wyatt Johnson described the impact of exposure of high-quality competition as “great success” for Lions players.

Start, finish strong, Lions top Jackets, 64-56

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Holding true to a season-long pattern of explosive starts and hungry finishes, Ennis vaulted to a 22-6 lead and then rallied late to whip Cleburne, 64-56, on the road.

The win clinches third place in District 14-5A. At 6-4 overall, the team will take on the second place team from District 13 in the playoffs. While Lancaster (28-1) is 9-0 in the district, Poteet (13-10) and Kaufman (17-12) are bound for a photo-finish with 7-3 and 6-3 district records, respectively. The two meet on Feb. 18 in Mesquite to decide who Ennis plays. Kaufman won the first meeting, 64-57.

Howard, Noel lead Ennis rackets at 287 tourney

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Despite cold temperatures to turned the fuzzy yellow sphere into snowballs, a handful of Ennis Tennis players finished high over the weekend at the Highway 287 tournament. A large number of talented team from the area participated, which explains why the Lions grabbed a long first place trophy.

Juniors Zoe Howard and Josh Noel united for another mixed doubles title, with Rylee Boston and Jacob Mraz, also juniors, coming in fifth.

In girls pairs, Maegen Newsom, a junior and sophomore Ella Goedrich reached the finals before settling for second.

Lion Nation elects Irishman, prez. of Lionbackers

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One of Lion Nation’s most respected leaders, Gary Fincher, has seen it all in his stint as president of the Lionbackers, the club of supporters of Ennis football. In the past year he has handed the baton to his heir, Jeff Irish.