VYPE Player of the Game Kyle Bell helped Cy-Fair High School & Cypress-Fairbanks ISD win their 1st football state championships. Vype
Originally appeared on Vype.com.
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD waited 78 years for one of its high schools to win a UIL football state championship. Cy-Fair High School was the first to claim one, with Saturday’s 51-35 win against Waco Midway in the UIL 6A Division II state title game at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.
“It means a lot to us,” district athletic director Ray Zepeda said of the championship. “We’ve obviously been playing football for a long time [and] they have shown us that it can be done.”
Fair completed the best season in program history by running the same game plan it’s had for decades: running the ball, and slowing down the opposition. VYPE Player of the Game Kyle Bell led the defense with eight tackles, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown, and Trenton Kennedy’s 110 rushing yards and three scores played the same role on offense.
“I knew we just had to put up numbers,” said Kennedy. “Every single time we got the ball, we had to make it our goal to score.”
Bell’s performance speaks for itself, but he was also playing for his grandfather, who recently passed away.
“This team is my family,” said Bell. “Without them, I don’t know where I’d be.”
The Fair defense also had impressive outings from Payton Tally, Jace Bobo, and Cody Cunningham. Talley and Bobo finished with double-digit tackles, and Cunningham had three fumble recoveries.
“The defense balled out,” said Kennedy. “I’m glad they play for us because they caused trouble for Waco Midway.”
The team effort was too much for Midway, who scored 28 points in the fourth quarter. It also earned 36-year Cy-Fair coach Ed Pustejovsky his long-awaited first title.
“It feels great,” said Pustejovsky. “I’m happy for our coaches, players, program, community and administration. A lot of us have been together a long time at Cy-Fair.”
If you enjoyed the recap, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEnwHTX) on Twitter.
How Dusty Baker's latest comments shed new light on Astros internal decision-making
Oct 21, 2024, 5:29 pm
Former Astros manager Dusty Baker made an appearance last week on a podcast titled The Show With Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman.
One of the things Baker discussed was his limited power in the Astros organization. Dusty spoke about “battles with the front office” and not being able to choose his staff members.
Baker made a point of saying that he basically inherited AJ Hinch's staff, outside one person. And he wished he had more “freedom” in selecting the staff.
To be fair, his comments aren't that surprising. The 'Stros had experienced a lot of success, and wanted to keep as much continuity as possible after firing their GM and manager.
But what we find most interesting about these comments is speculating which staff members Baker would have replaced if given the authority to do so.
The first name that crossed our minds was Joe Espada. Especially since we now know that Espada is the staff member that eventually replaced Dusty.
We also wondered if Baker wasn't happy with the hitting coaches. We know Dusty was old school with his approach to the game. Maybe he wasn't satisfied with how frequently his players swung at the first pitch, and weren't able to work deep counts.
Something that seems to have increased since Baker's departure. Just think how many times Jose Altuve would pop up the first pitch and Yordan Alvarez would be up to bat immediately. Even Alex Bregman's walk rate dropped significantly from last year to this year. Breggy walked 92 times in 2023, compared to just 44 in 2024. Astros GM Dana Brown spoke after the playoff loss to the Tigers about the need to work deeper counts in order to have more competitive at-bats next season.
Plus, if Altuve is going to continue to swing early and often, would it benefit the Astros to drop him down to second in the lineup? Despite stealing 20 bags last year, Altuve will be turning 35 years old in May. At some point, the team is going to rely more on his power hitting than his speed as he continues to age.
The question is, what other options do the Astros have on the roster to leadoff? Kyle Tucker could be a possibility, he has a nice combination of speed and power, and he's almost 7 years younger than 'Tuve.
Or perhaps Brown could find a more prototypical leadoff hitter on the trade market. Someone that wouldn't break the bank, but could get on base at a high clip.
Don't miss the video above for the full in-depth discussion!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon. Find all via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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