Red tops Blue 28-10 in 2022 FCA All-Star Game

I am blessed to be able to serve on the Big Country FCA board, and, being someone who writes for a living, was tasked with writing recaps of the football and volleyball games today in Abilene.

I’ll get to the recaps momentarily, but first, I’m so glad our family decided to be a host home for the games this year. Kasen Conring from Cisco and Stetson Digby from Hermleigh were the two players who stayed with us, and we were blessed to be able to be a small part of their lives this week.

Meeting Stetson and Kasen on Wednesday night. My kids made the sign but were busy at VBS with mom, so they couldn’t come to the meeting.

Please consider being an FCA host home next year if you can. The Coil family had a great experience!

2022 FCA ALL-STAR FOOTBALL RECAP

ABILENE, Texas – Team Red used a big third quarter to pull away from Team Blue and pick up a 28-10 victory in the 2022 Myrle Greathouse Big Country All-Star Classic Saturday evening at Shotwell Stadium.

Red head coach Blake Weston (Sonora) said the victory wrapped up the week perfectly. “It’s been great all week. It’s very challenging to try to get an offense and defense set in three or four days but these kids are great. It’s nice to just pour into them and just be with them. That’s been the best part.”

“You forget how long it takes to get ready to be a good tackler and be able to do some things defensively," joked Blue head coach Casey Pearce (Breckenridge). "If you can throw it and catch it right now, you’re probably in better shape than the defense because we didn’t get many tackle reps during the week.”

Red certainly did throw the ball around the stadium, racking up 341 total yards (206 passing and 135 rushing) in the victory. Blue picked up 278 yards, 199 through the air and 79 on the ground. The game was clean as well, with no interceptions or fumbles for either squad.

After a scoreless first quarter the Blue team opened the scoring with a 21-yard field goal from Corbin Poston (Stephenville) early in the second to go up 3-0.

However, the Blue lead was short-lived as the Red team quickly answered with a drive for a touchdown. Aden Kincaid (Wylie) found Korbin Covarrubiaz (Eldorado) on a fade to the corner of the end zone to put Red on top 7-3 with 5:48 to go in the second quarter.

Blue drove inside the Red 30 with time winding down in the half, but Abel Ramirez (Abilene High) was sacked by Bryson McNutt (San Angelo Central) to end the threat.

Red added to their advantage on the first drive of the third quarter. Hudson Welch (Comanche) hooked up with Covarrubiaz on a 31-yard touchdown to make it a 14-3 game with 9:36 to play in the quarter.

After a Blue three-and-out, Welch kept the offensive spark alive for Red, running for 30-yards on a QB keeper to the four. Zadrian Zapata (Menard) cashed in on the next play to extend the Red lead to 21-3 with 7:05 left in the third. That proved to be the final score of the third quarter.

Blue scored first in the fourth quarter, getting back in the ball game on a 30-yard Leo Holsey (Sweetwater) to Christian Ramirez (Dublin) touchdown toss down the seam to narrow the gap to 21-10 with 7:16 to go.

Red quickly answered to put the game out of reach with under four minutes to go. Kincaid hooked up with Jackson Carroll (Sonora) from four yards out and Grayson Bearden (Wylie) drilled the extra point to extend the Red advantage to 28-10.

Blue drove inside the Red ten-yard line in the final minutes but could not punch it into the end zone.

Covarrubiaz was named the Gordon Wood Offensive MVP of the game. He ran for a game high 41 yards and caught five passes for 87 yards and the two scores. The Class 2A athlete more than held his own against players from bigger schools. “It felt good putting a name out for small schools because everybody doesn’t give them a chance, but I got it and I took care of business. I thank the quarterbacks for giving me good passes throughout the game.”

Weston added, “I knew how special he was because we played against him. They’re 18 miles from Sonora so I’ve seen him play quarterback and he put up a lot of yards on us this year. I knew what he was capable of. He’s just a special athlete and a great kid.”

Kincaid had the top night among quarterbacks, completing 13-18 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Holsey threw for 119 yards and the one touchdown for Team Blue, while Ramirez went 7-18 for 80 yards. Holsey was also the leading Blue rusher with 27 yards. Joshua Fava (Christoval) added 22 yards.

Christian Ramirez paced Blue receivers with five grabs for 66 yards, on his birthday, while Paul Alvarez (Graham) topped Red pass catchers with seven for 77 yards.

The Gordon Wood Defensive MVP was also a team Red player, Wylie Bulldog Holden Atwood. Atwood was in on a game high 11 tackles to get the honor in a tight race with McNutt, who ended up with seven tackles and a sack. “It was a blessing,” said Atwood. “It was a blast. The letter my coach gave me saying that you’re invited was probably the best news, the happiest I’ve been in a while. It meant a lot to me. It means a lot, the award. It came unexpected but I worked hard for it and it wasn’t just me. My teammates gave a great effort. All 11 guys all worked hard and all picked each other up.”

Other defensive standouts were Team Red’s Aeneas Segura (Hawley) who broke up three passes and had six tackles and Jett Villarreal (Cooper) who had three tackles and also broke up a trio of passes. Keaton Hicks (Eastland) paced Team Blue with six tackles, with Austin Rodgers (Eastland) adding five.

The game was the culmination of a great week for FCA All-Stars competing in baseball, basketball, softball, cheer, volleyball, golf and, of course football. “It had been 20 years since I’d gotten to be a part of this and it was a lot of fun. It was a great week. It may have been better for me than it was for some of the kids and it was a great experience to see these guys and coach on ‘em,” said Pearce.

Covarrubiaz added, “It was really a good experience learning about God throughout the whole entire week, making new friends, staying at random people’s houses that take you in and treat you as their own kids. It’s amazing.”

“I learned a ton, great stories for us to hear,” said Atwood. “There was not a single part of it where I was ready for it to be over. I enjoyed every second of it. My host family was a blessing, it was so enjoyable staying the night with guys I didn’t even know until now, that I played against and they won, still loved ‘em. They were all a blast.”

Red has now won two straight games and now leads the all-time series 4-2. The FCA switched to the current Red/Blue format in 2016, but played North against South from 2000-2015. The North leads that series 13-3.

2022 FCA VOLLEYBALL RECAP

ABILENE, Texas – The South dropped the first set of the FCA All-Star Festival volleyball match but rallied to take the next two and claim the championship, 23-25, 25-15 and 25-17.

The North, wearing blue, trailed 13-3 in the first set but rallied to tie it at 17 and went on claim the set 25-23.

The North got off to a 4-0 lead in the second set but saw the South, sporting red in the match, score the next nine points to gain an advantage they would not give up to tie the match at a set a piece.

The South held 11-3 and 14-6 leads to start the third and saw the North get as close as 15-12 before pulling away down the stretch to take set and the match. Lilly Kate Doby (Wylie) did the honors with the final kill to seal the match for the South.

South coach Miranda Garcia (Jim Ned) said, “It’s fun to win, very exciting. It’s fun to have a group of girls that everyone wants to win and everyone wants to compete.”

The North lost outside hitter Ryen Terrazas (Big Spring) to an injury in the pregame, a setback that hurt their chances of picking up a victory. North coach Mitzi Bell (Sweetwater) said, “I think we just persevered over that. We faced it and said it is what it is and changed the lineup we’d been working on all week. They adapted and we did well. I think overall it affected us mentally, it’s hard to see a teammate on the bench even if you’ve just known them for three or four days. They bonded so quickly within the first hour. Once they knew each other’s names it was over. They just bonded and clicked and it was precious to watch.”

The South has now won the last three FCA volleyball matches and holds a 5-4 lead in the all-time series.

The South’s Lexi Miller, playing at her home gym at Wylie High School one last time, was named the Bev Ball Most Valuable Player. Miller had four kills, a match high 16 assists and five digs to earn the honor. “It was such an honor, but there’s no way I could have done it without the girls I had on the court with me, the girls on the side or my coaches,” said Miller. “It was really nice getting to play with new teammates and our chemistry clicked so fast, there was so much excitement on the court. Nobody ever was down; everybody was up the whole time and everyone was encouraging throughout the whole week. It was a blessing to get to play with them.”

Jaron McAden (Wylie) of the South squad set a new FCA match record with six service aces, which doubles the previous record of three held by seven players. She also led all players with 12 kills, which is three off the all-time record of 15 by Brownwood’s Torrey Miller in 2019.

Olivia Fowler (Brownwood) added six kills for the South, with teammate Kodi Ann Davis (Sonora) close behind with five. Autumn King (Wall) led the way with 15 digs.

Sarah Cotter (Albany) led the North with six kills, with Gentri Anderson (Abilene High) right behind her with five. Emma Parker (Graham), Kalyn Whitehead (Big Spring) and Abby Benitez (Snyder) each served three aces, Parker led the squad with eight assists, and Benitez led the way with 16 digs for the North.

The North’s Liz Underwood (Clyde) was named the FCA Spirit Award winner for the week of the Festival. She had four kills in the match.

Both teams no doubt wanted to win, but it was the week as a whole that they will remember most. Bell stated, “I don’t they realize we needed that as coaches as much as they need it as young athletes. They’re not just volleyball athletes they’re young girls. Being an athlete doesn’t have to define you, that’s big in our society right now. We talked about that all week, that doesn’t define who you are it’s just what you do. Being a believer is what defines you. We poured into them and they poured into us. It was beautiful. I loved it. I would do it again in a minute.”

The teams splits exhibition sets to start the match, with the North taking the first 25-19 and the South earning victory in the second 25-15.