OVERTON’S STILL, TATUM’S FOSTER | They’re the Whataburger / ETBlitz Players of the Week!
What happens when your team, already state-ranked, knocks off the No. 7 team in the state that’s just a few notches above you, and you have a great performance?
Or when you have a huge performance when you’re under pressure to do so, because all your teammates are counting on you to lift them up after losing the week before?
Well, it’s pretty likely you’re a strong candidate to be a Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week.
And those are exactly the situations we had for our two winners we’re announcing today.
Both of them come from teams that have had success with them in the lead, and both have had plenty of past successes – this isn’t their first rodeo, so to speak.
Let’s start in Tatum, for a second straight week, where the Eagles, coached by Leven Barker, have got a great thing going.
Just ask Pleasant Grove.
Or better yet – ask Beckville.
Beckville went in to Friday’s non-district matchup – one of the last non-district games of the year – against Tatum ranked No. 7 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association poll.
They’re not now.
That’s because Kaysen Foster and her teammates, including last week’s Whataburger / ETBlitz Player of the Week, Kamdyn Scott, knocked ‘em off. They beat Beckville in four sets – 20-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-13 – and the Eagles, who had been ranked 13th in the TGCA’s Class 3A poll, vaulted five spots, all the way up to No. 8 in the rankings that came out Monday.
And Foster? She had a big part in the win: 15 kills, 15 digs and two blocks.
We referenced Pleasant Grove. Earlier in the week, Foster had 16 kills and 21 digs in a win over PG.
For her performance against PG, and later in the week against state-ranked Beckville, Kaysen Foster is the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com girls Player of the Week for Sept. 2 through Sept. 6, the second straight Tatum Eagle to win the award. Congratulations, Kaysen, and to all the Eagles – it’s a testament to the entire team that two Tatum players have won the award in back-to-back weeks.
Other nominees this week included Kamdyn Scott of Tatum; Maleah Thurmond of Kilgore; and Sarah Roberts of Sabine.
Now, to our boys winner, who likely had to hear all week long about the disappointment of losing in week one, in spite of high expectations for his football team this season.
What’s the saying? When you’re the quarterback, you get too much praise when you win, and too much blame when you lose.
Might be some truth to that. But in this particular case, there’s some praise that’s deserving.
Coach Scotty Laymance’s Overton Mustangs hosted Alba-Golden in week one at Coach Chester Roy Stadium, and while they didn’t come out flat, it wasn’t the performance that everyone expected. Overton just didn’t have “it,” whatever “it” is, and lost the game, 17-12.
Unfortunately for Carlisle, between Friday, August 30 and Thursday, September 5, the Mustangs located “it,” put “it” on the bus with them and brought “it” to face the Indians last Thursday night.
And quarterback Bryce Still threw “it” all over the place, mainly to Jayden Edwards, to the tune of a 40-10 country spanking of one of the Mustangs’ biggest rivals.
Still completed 22-of-30 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns, all three to Edwards, and Still also ran for 61 yards and a score in the rout of the Indians, helping Overton – who won 10 games and lost just two last year – to its first win of the season.
For his performance against Carlisle, Overton’s Bryce Still is the Whataburger / ETBlitz boys Player of the Week for Sept. 2 through Sept. 6.
Other nominees this week included Kilgore’s Kayson Brooks, Kilgore’s La’Perrion Graves, West Rusk quarterback Judson Dodson, and Henderson running back Jesstin Starling.
Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week come from the 12 high schools in the ETBlitz.com coverage area – that’s (in alphabetical order) Arp, Gilmer, Gladewater, Henderson, Kilgore, Leverett’s Chapel, Overton, Sabine, Tatum, Troup, West Rusk and White Oak – and Kilgore College.
A male and female athlete is recognized each Tuesday, and our criteria is based on statistics and quality of competition. These are awards for athletic achievement.
Nominees are simply pulled from their performances – there is no set number of nominees each week. It’s based solely on the performances of the student athletes. One week, 15 football players might have outstanding numbers. The next, there might be nine. The same with volleyball.
A panel of five ETBlitz staff members vote on the award – an odd number, thusly, no ties.
And that staff normally spends a lot of time together, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays at Whataburger.
And where else would we go?
Whataburger is the world’s greatest restaurant chain, bar none. Their stores are located throughout the state of Texas, and locally, DKT Investments has you covered.
Go by and get your favorites, 24 hours a day, seven days a week (that’s all the time, for those of you who are sleepy – Whataburger doesn’t close), and they even serve breakfast beginning at 11 p.m. every night, until 11 a.m. the next morning. You can’t beat that with a stick.
Check out their menu right now, right here: Whataburger | Order Online with Curbside and Delivery.
If you go during breakfast, grab a jalapeno cheddar biscuit; if you go during lunch or dinner, try their Whatawings, and it doesn’t MATTER what sauce.
Thank me later. Maybe Friday, at the game.
Congratulations to Kaysen Foster and to Bryce Still! Both of their photos will be added here to this story on Thursday. And just so we have our bases covered, here’s the link to last week’s winners, who were our first winners of the year: