Sports irrorWednesday, September 30, 2009

WAXAHACHIE — Midlothian coach RobbyClark has seen what kind of speed WaxhachieHigh School posses on its offense. Not necessar-ily on the gridiron, but the rubber track surround-ing it.

“We knew that they were fast. We go to the dis-trict track meet last year and we finish second inthe track meet and we were competing for secondand third. Waxahachie ran away with the districttrack meet. And all that speed that won that trackmeet is out here on this football field,” Clark said.

Clark and the Panthers got reacquainted withthat speed on Friday night as the Indians’ firststring did the bulk of rushing, including a 115-yard, three-touchdown day by Venique Benton inthe 49-26 loss. Combined with some of the workby the second-stringers late in the game, theIndians’ cleared the 400-yard mark.

The breakdowns are what Midlothian playersattributed to simple “mental mistakes.”

“Coming into the game we knew they weregoing to be good. They were 3-0 coming into thisgame. We knew they had talent coming into thebackfield and we knew we could stop them. It’sjust mental errors and we were hurting ourselvestonight,” linebacker Colton Clanton said.

After Waxahachie slowly chipped away with

rushing yards on the game’s opening drive, thePanthers were hit with what can only bedescribed as a momentum changing play. A passfrom Benton glanced off the hands of aMidlothian defender and lofted up in the air. Itwas snared by tight end Chip Lorfing for a 21-yard gain that set up the first of Benton’s touch-down runs for a 7-0 lead.

From there, the Panther defense got a stop onfourth down during the Waxahachie’s next pos-session before giving up three straight touch-downs to dig a hole.

Following Midlothian’s first score, the defenselooked to use the momentum to get the team backin the game. The unit gave the offense a chancelate in the first half as senior Wes Hill recovereda fumbled handoff to halt a drive. Clanton got theother turnover of the night with a fumble recov-ery late in the fourth quarter. The defense alsohad two stops on fourth down.

The problem for the Panther defense came indetermining what aspect of the Indian offense itwanted to focus more on. While the runninggame produced big numbers, Benton and the airattack also got a solid night with over 150 yardsreceiving and two scores. That balance made

Photo by Neal White/The Mirror

Midlothian junior linebacker Clanton Colton tries to wrap-up Waxahachiequarterback Venique Benton during Friday’s contest.

Speed game translates into tough dayBy ALEX RILEY

Mirror sports writer

See DEFENSE, Page 2C

Chasing their dreamsMcEachern gets chance in late game win, shines during first collegiate opportunity

Russell’s work ethic earns him 12th Manhonor, sets goal as more time on the field

Photos by Gary Puckett (left) and Glenn Johnson (right)/Special to the Mirror

Former Midlothian teammates Caleb McEachern (left) and Caleb Russell (right) both saw their first collegiate action during victories on Saturday night.

WACO — Saturday night, CalebMcEachern walked into the Baylor mediaroom with a grin covering his face. He washappy. But he was in no way content.

The former Midlothian football playerwas given the opportunity some only dreamof, as he took the field for the first time in hisearly collegiate career getting carries late inlopsided 68-13 win over Northwestern State.

For the walk-on, the work had finally paidoff.

“It gets tiring. It’s a drag having to gothrough pretty much 365 days of work. Youget a week, two weeks for Christmas, maybedepending what bowl you play in and that’sit. I was here all summer,” McEachern said.“It’s a lot of work. So far, I’ve worked a yearand half for tonight. It’s definitely a lot of

work but once you get out there it’s worthit.”

On a night when the Baylor offenserolled, McEachern earned the chance toshow the coaching staff what he can do. Inthe fourth quarter, the 5-foot-9 running backentered the game with 13:21 left for his firstcareer offensive play.

With a handoff from quarterback NickFlorence, McEachern bolted for 14 yards.He jokingly says he had the end zone in hissights but a tackle by Xaiver Lee juststopped him from breaking loose.

Over the course of six plays, the red-shirtfreshman had five carries for 33 yards tobring the Bears inside the red zone. Howeversportsmanship got best of McEachern’s

By ALEX RILEY

Mirror sports writer

See MCEACHERN, Page 3C

What Caleb Russell describes as his lastfew days some might call a whirlwind expe-rience. Then again, some might callRussell’s whole college experience a whirl-wind.

So when Texas A&M coach MikeSherman and his staff dubbed the formerMidlothian standout as the week’s selectionto play the role of 12th Man during theAggies game with Alabama-Birmingham, itcame as a surprise. But one he has beenpreparing for.

“It was Monday meetings, and coachSherman stood up there and said ‘Well, wehad some guys on service team that are real-ly busting their butt and one of those guyswas Caleb Russell so we’re going to givehim a shot, give him a look and see how he

does.’ That was the start of it,” Russell said.“Later on that day after practice, our spe-cials teams coach came up to me and waslike ‘Oh, by the way, you’re going to bewearing the 12th Man jersey.’ That alonewas a great honor. Not everyone gets to dothat. Not everyone gets to contribute.”

After finishing out his time with thePanthers, Russell turned down scholarshipoffers from smaller Division-I schools to tryand walk on at A&M. He took a red-shirtlast season, working with the scout team andmanaged to stay on the practice field thisseason.

But it was Saturday night’s experiencethat served as the culmination of all his hardwork.

With everyone, from family back in

By ALEX RILEY

Mirror sports writer

See RUSSELL, Page 3C

1C-9-30 sport 2/8/10 12:04 PM Page 1