Harker Heights waltzed into District 12-6A with a win by relying on its two senior running backs and Ellison bid farewell to non-district with a rousing road victory at a neutral site, highlighting the Week 5 football action across Killeen ISD.
Ellison 69, Odessa High 28
Sidney Holland passed for eight touchdowns and rushed for two more scores as the Eagles (2-3) upended the Bronchos at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.
The victory snapped Ellison’s two-game slide and carried them into an idle week before the start of District 10-5A-II on Oct. 10 against Belton.
Prince Hall and Travaris Turner-Smith caught three Holland (26-of-33, 369 yards) TD tosses apiece, and Joseph Fowlkes IV hauled in two. The Eagles piled up 520 yards of offense.
The 28 points allowed is a season low for Ellison’s defense, which got two sacks from Fowlkes, a team-high 12 tackles from Juan Cavello and Za’Quaveon Roberson’s interception.
Harker Heights 34, Waco Midway 26
C2 Evans and Kaden Butler combined for more than 250 yards rushing, and the Knights (3-2, 1-0) snapped a two-game skid with an important win over the Panthers (3-2, 0-1) at Leo Buckley Stadium to kick off league action.
"Can't do anything without the offesnive line. Those guys set up me and C2 in position. Congratulate those guys," Butler said.
Harker Heights will be back in Buckley on Friday but as the visiting team in an all-KISD clash against 12-6A foe Killeen High.
“Coming off a two-game losing streak, we had to play with a chip on our shoulder," Butler said. "Coming out and being able to get the win, the first one is always the hardest. We battled adversity, stuck together as a team and came out with the 'W.'
“We never get down on each other in tough situations," Butler added. "When we're down, we still have positive energy. That accountability that we have is amazing. Everyone is coachable, and that's what we love."
Cedar Park 44, Chaparral 12
Kylin Moses passed for 132 yards, Kenneth Johnson had a TD reception among seven catches for 82 yards but the Bobcats (2-2, 0-1) came up short in their District 8-5A-I opener at Joseph L. Searles III Stadium against Cedar Park (2-2, 1-0).
Next up for Chaparral is a road game at Georgetown (3-1, 0-1) on Friday.
Copperas Cove 62, Killeen 53
Killeen’s offense continued its torrid stretch of offense but ended up on the wrong end of a fourth defeat this season by 10 points or less.
Timothy Boatner snared three of D’Angelo Ingram’s four touchdown passes, with the other going to Antwoine Warren. Boatner now has 10 receiving touchdowns this season to lead 12-6A.
The Roos (0-5, 0-1) host Harker Heights on Friday night at Leo Buckley Stadium.
Temple 44, Shoemaker 26
At Leo Buckley Stadium last Thursday night, Temple went up 6-0 early in the first half then led 9-0 before Shoemaker put together a scoring drive that was capped by Jamal Polite’s 23-yard touchdown reception from Tyrieke Wade on fourth-and-11.
The Wildcats pushed their advantage to 23-7 with a fumble recovery turned touchdown return and a passing TD.
The Grey Wolves gained some momentum right before halftime when Wade delivered a 4-yard TD toss to Jihad McCoy to get it to 23-14 with 14 seconds remaining in the first half.
Brown rushed for a 4-yard TD and electrified the home crowd with a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown, but the Grey Wolves couldn’t catch the Wildcats.
Brown now has 13 total TDs this season. Torian Thomas, who recorded 10 tackles, had an interception for the Grey Wolves, and Marc Stephens had 13 tackles. Wade finished 20-of-32 for 391 yards passing. Brown had a team-high 92 yards receiving, while Isaiah Butler-Tanner, Lamont Reed, Maurice Starr and Polite all had at least 70 yards.
Shoemaker travels to face Midway on Friday.
Volleyball
Chaparral and Ellison won their District 16-5A openers in straight sets over Waco University and Waco, respectively, on Friday night.
The Lady Bobcats were led by Mikayla Gray, who surpassed her own school record with 21 kills.
Harker Heights, Shoemaker and Killeen were in action in 12-6A, though those results did not favor the KISD bunch.
Volleyball resumes action Tuesday with Waco at Chaparral, Ellison hosting Lake Belton, Harker Heights visiting Killeen and Shoemaker traveling to Copperas Cove.
Cross country
Ellison’s Ethan Carranza crossed in 15 minutes, 45.8 seconds to finish third Friday morning in the boys Class 5A/6A division of the Ken Gaston Race at the Lake Invitational in Grand Prairie.
The race featured 47 teams and more than 380 individuals.
The Eagles, who were joined by runners from Harker Heights and Shoemaker, finished seventh as a team. Andy Harper (32nd), Mike Rodriguez Quintana (53rd), Jaylen Henry (88th) and Isaiah Holloway (114th) rounded out Ellison’s scoring runners.
Cody Zimmerman (69th) paced the Knights, who were 21st as a squad.
The Grey Wolves’ David Bluhm was 37th to lead a 20th-place showing for the team.
In the girls portion of the meet that included 272 runners and 33 teams. Ellison’s D’Angeleigh Dombkowski (18th) was the top KISD finisher. Harker Heights’ Kaitlyn Jackowski (26th) also recorded a top-30 time, while Shoemaker’s Cameron Roberts (58th) anchored the squad.
On Saturday, Chaparral traveled to the Leo Manzano/Rick Edwards Memorial XC Invitational in Marble Falls.
Fayija Smith produced the top time for the Lady Bobcats, placing 18th. Leading the boys side was Cristian Vasquez, who finished 41st.
More photos: www.killeenisd.org/photos
