Sports

ARLINGTON–The setting couldn’t have been more perfect. Inside the cathedral housing those Texas legend Dallas Cowboys, the Canadian Wildcats signed their names in permanent ink to Texas Panhandle football history.

The Canadian Wildcats made an emphatic statement last Friday night: Absolutely nothing will keep them from playing for a Class 3A Division II state championship. In one of the more anticipated state semifinals in Texas, the Wildcats whipped rival Gunter in every phase of the contest, engineering a convincing 33-6 win at Anthony Field Wildcats Stadium in Abilene last Friday.

In a season marked by pandemic challenges—from quarantines to forfeits, from masking to nasal swabs—the Wellington Skyrockets and Canyon Eagles forged paths to the state semifinals, but both fell one game short of their teams’ goals. Last week, Wellington was eliminated by Windthorst and Canyon fell to Argyle.

Behind the intelligent running of senior Hayze Hufstedler, No. 1-ranked Canadian knocked out rival Childress 45-14 Friday night and advanced to the state semifinals.

The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Cowboy Christmas, and the 2020 Junior World Finals, normally held in Las Vegas, had a change of plans this year. The iconic events temporarily made their way to Texas after COVID-19 restrictions moved the events from their home in Nevada. For the first time, the 2020 Wrangler NFR is taking place at the Globe Life Field in Arlington; Cowboy Christmas is being held inside at the Fort Worth Convention Center; and the 2020 Junior World Finals are taking place at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth.

The Skyrockets and Eagles both battled in the trenches Friday, and each emerged with hard-fought victories over Springtown and McCamey, respectively. Canyon’s starting quarterback went out on the game’s first drive and did not return.

Forget Childress. forget Perryton.

THE HISTORY OF female American football players is a fairly short one. If you research the topic, you’ll discover a list of remarkable women athletes, like American Olympic gold medalist Mia Hamm or Brazil’s Marta Vieira da Silva—but they play soccer, not football.

It was supposed to be a battle between two district champions. It was supposed to be a battle of two of the best in the region.