Raiders fall to Lake Travis 62-14

I am still a believer, don't doubt that:)

Last night was a tough one. BUT, as I was thinking about this on the way home, IF we had played Lake Travis any closer, then we wouldn't be playing good teams. I don't mean that offensively at all, but we SHOULDN'T be able to play with them. As much as I would have liked to believe we could, we can't- and I am glad. I am glad because if we were able to do that, then the following wouldn't mean anything:

1) We just scored 2 touchdowns against the #3 team in the State. A team that has won 3 BACK TO BACK state championships. Their only loss in 49 games was to Aledo, who is dang good! Aledo was the 2009 defending State Champion in Division II- 4a

2) Those 2 touchdowns, were more than any other team in district has scored on them.

3) We won the second half. Which may not mean much to them, but to us- its a huge victory.
I heard someone say that, "so what, we won the second half, big deal, they had their 2nd string in"
My response, "1) really, because they had their 2nd string in when they Vista and Vandegrift and I am pretty sure THEY didn't score 2 touchdowns on them, and 2) Its not like their 2nd string was crappy, because they weren't!"

I wish I could say I was positive the entire game. Apparently I am still learning. I had a hard time with the fact that LT chose to keep their starters in the entire first half and I had a REALLY hard time with the on-side kick, but all of that is part of football and something I took personal, which shame on me. I'll get over it, especially because it will all come back to haunt them at some point! ha... Actually we have friends over at LT and they are good people, so even though I did take it personally, I also know that LT is a good solid program and they weren't trying to be jerks.
I am witnessing to all of you right now, that my mission is to be a better opposing team, football coaches wife in the stands, so if you catch me running my mouth, remind me of this post.

We are in a TOUGH district, probably the toughest in Central Texas and pretty close to the top of the toughest in the state and while I hate it because I know we are fighting so hard to get that win, I am also so glad that we didn't get stuck in some 3a, where we are playing teams that aren't known for being powerhouses. God put us where we are for a reason, and I am going to trust him to know what he is doing with our team.






We have some fighters on our team. Logan Kinder #2 is just one of them. i just LOVE watching him play. He is fun to watch and I can just imagine the smack he is talking on the field. He really makes me think of Judson when I watch him. Judson will be like that, which is why i think Logan is so fun to watch.

Jaykob Gomez #92- LOVE watching Jaykob. Last night he had one of the best games he has had. He lit up their division I (#77) guy and I think he may have even tackled the QB in the 2nd half. He whipped up on 77 ALL NIGHT
Want to know what I love about this guy? He is an example to EVERY football player that is an average player.
I don't want to offend Jaykob by writing this, so I hope (if he reads this) that this is NOT my intention. Its actually a TRUE and inspiring compliment.
When Jaykob started as a Freshman, he was a B-team football player. I am not sure if he even started, or if he was just a back-up, but either way, the kids was an ok player. But the more his Freshman year progressed, the more he learned and the better he got at his position. He was and is a good kid, very quiet and shy:)
Fast forward to his Sophomore year, we only had 1 JV team, so he moved up and he was a defensive end backup. Jaycob came to practice every day, made his grades and did what was asked of him. He didn't complain and he didn't make excuses. If he screwed up in practice, he fixed it. Jaycob wasn't selfish, he didn't care if he started, he loved being a part of the team and that was what was important to him.
One game he had to step up and be the starter, it was unfortunate for the player, but fortunate for Jaycob because Gomez has remained the starting defensive end since that game back in 2009- he kept the position even after the guy that originally had it, was able to come back. He was the Star of the Week on Defense last week and has made play after play for our defense.
I am so proud for #92. He earned that position because he worked hard. He isn't just a naturally gifted athlete, he is good because he works hard and to me personally, I think that will take him so far in life.

We have a lot of kids stepping up and playing their little hearts out. I have a video of Travis Leslie stripping the ball away from a Cavalier. Not sure if many of you know this, but Travis is a starting Linebacker. He is 15- BARELY 15. He turned 15 in August. If you know much about football, you know that while Quarterback is the most important position on offense , the Linebackers are the most important on Defense. And a 15 year old Leslie is one of them. Great kid and I know that he is just going to keep making us proud.
:)
(Thank you to Travis's sister: Brandi Leslie, for sending it to me:)



We have a lot of hardworking and gifted athletes on our team. Its guys like these that make this team who we are and we can't give up. We have to focus on the positive things we have done, not the negative and keeping fighting. And we, as fans, have to fight for them because they need us believing in them


I love this team, I love our guys. I hate losing, but I will take the good with the bad because these kids and these coaches and our parents mean so much to me.
I appreciate what you guys have done for me in return. I look forward to every day. I look forward to Josh coming home and telling me about practice, or about some funny thing that some athlete did, or some thing that really bothered him that some kid did or said. Its not all GOOD things that I hear, but I hear about it because Josh cares and he knows I care. I don't really get to contribute to any of that officially, but I get to see how it effects him, both good and bad.
I love knowing about these kids, it makes my job as his wife, so much easier and so much more fun. I trust our guys and I trust them around Jace and Judson. And Jace and Judson love them. The boys have these football players that are small and plastic (they have full sets of teams) and the players have numbers on them. You can buy them online at Kaskey Kids
Anyhow, they have about 5 different sets of teams, and the one and only thing Jace wants for Christmas (from Santa) is a set of Rouse Raider teams. And he has specified their numbers. He brought me our roster and specifically said he wanted every kid on our current team's numbers on his players and he wants our official jersey's.
Now, how in the hell Santa will pull this off, is beyond me, but the point is that our boys idolize our players. If they don't know them by name, then they know them by number and they know most everyone's positions.
If we didn't have good athletes that were good with our boys, I would not let them around our boys. I don't know how many of you reading this are parents, or are athletes, but know that the Raiders are role models to my kids.


One thing that happened at the end of the game, that I thought was cool, is when Lake Travis played their school song, our guys turned around and stood watching their team and one of the coaches, hit another and said "How classy is that" and they turned around and did it for us. We have Rockdale to thank for us adopting this little classy tradition. We thought that was so neat how they did it for us and I think its great that we picked that up.

Sorry, this post didn't exactly have much to do with Lake Travis. I am sure I will edit it as I think of things. I do that often!



Listen to Coach Mann's interview on Friday Night Fanstand (I even got a shout out- thank you FNF


**Thank you to Peggie Kinder for allowing me to stalk her facebook and steal some photo's that she took:)

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