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Players receive role assignments before season opener

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By Jared Fields, Sports Editor Football season kicks off next week for the Wildcats. The team has been practicing for almost a month in preparation for its first game against Central Oklahoma Sept. 3 at Shotwell Stadium. The Wildcats return nine seniors combined on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball this year, which will provide great ... [Read More…]

Last year’s team brings talent, depth to new season

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By Jared Fields, Sports Editor After an up and down 2004 season, head football coach Chris Thomsen said he looks to start his first year in Abilene with a bang. The Wildcats begin the season Sept. 3, hosting Lone Star Conference North Division favorite Central Oklahoma. The Bronchos, who finished 8-2 last year and shared the division title with ... [Read More…]

Danieal Manning earns top LSC honor, Clayton Farrell named to two all-America teams

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By Jared Fields, Sports Editor The 2005 football season hasn't started, but two ACU football players have already racked up pre-season honors. Junior safety Danieal Manning was voted the Lone Star Conference South Division pre-season Defensive Player of the Year. In 2004, Manning was named the LSC South Division Defensive Back of the Year and led ... [Read More…]

Football fever still burning in Odessa

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By Brian Roe, Sports Writer Front Roe Seat Every year a reporter keys in on a certain story he wants to cover. In my last semester at ACU, that specific story I wanted to cover was the Friday Night Lights phenomenon and how it relates to ACU. The book turned movie is about a 1988 West Texas football team in Odessa: the Permian Panthers. ACU ... [Read More…]

Seeing the lights: Gary Gaines’ road to ACU winds through West Texas

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By Brian Roe, Sports Writer Gary Gaines lives in a world few will ever experience. His resume includes district championships, playoff appearances and even a 1989 high school state championship. Even more surreal, the coach was featured in a best-selling book, Friday Night Lights and that portion of his life from 1988 will also be shown in the ... [Read More…]

Lively passed by in draft: Agent is shopping lineman around for free agency

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By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor From his parents' home in Eastland, Britt Lively watched as 255 names other than his own flashed on the television screen. "It was disappointing," said Lively, the former ACU offensive lineman. "All these scouts and agents were telling me I was definitely going to get drafted-everybody was." Upon the draft's ... [Read More…]

Creating a Buzz: Getting his side

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By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor Weck's World Last week I relayed one side of the stir that H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger's 1991 book, Friday Night Lights, created. I talked to now-ACU head coach Gary Gaines and his wife, Sharon, who are still feeling the sting from Bissinger's portrayal of Gaines' 1988 Odessa Permian coaching staff as racist. The only ... [Read More…]

Who’s the top athlete at ACU? (Joel Weckerly’s pick): Speed, strength make Manning No. 1

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By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor If any shades of doubt remained in anybody's mind about Danieal Manning being our school's premier athlete, then the football team's final home game Nov. 8 against Texas A&M-Kingsville quickly dispelled them. It was the Wildcats' most important game of the season, one in which they would have to win to make the ... [Read More…]

ACU ends season with 34-27 victory: Whitaker carries Cats past WTAMU with three touchdown runs

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By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor The ACU football team sent its seniors off on a positive note with a 34-27 win at Lone Star Conference South Division opponent West Texas A&M Saturday. The win gave ACU (6-4 overall, 5-1 LSC South) back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1996 and 1997. "It was a good win," head coach Gary Gaines ... [Read More…]

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