Hermleigh football reaches new heights in 2015

Excitement reached a new level for the Hermleigh Cardinals with the hiring of head football coach Shane Mallory last summer.
Mallory led Throckmorton to the 2014 Class 1A Division II state championship before taking the Hermleigh job.  The Cardinals won their first district championship in 37 years and their first playoff game in 41 years. Hermleigh defeated Scurry County rival Ira for the first time since 1996 and snapped the Bulldogs’ 72-game regular season winning streak.
The Cardinals finished the season with a 10-2 record and reached the Class 1A Division I regional playoff round.
At the beginning of the season, Hermleigh was ranked No. 12 in the sixmanfootball.com Division I poll and moved to No. 5 heading into the playoffs. The Cardinals were 13th in the final poll.
Hermleigh’s success on the football field is the Snyder Daily News’ sports story of the year.
The season started with a 64-40 loss to Rockwall Heritage Christian Academy. The Cardinals won the next 10 games, including the bi-district playoff game against Aspermont.
Hermleigh outscored their last six non-district opponents 310-56 and won five games on the 45-point mercy rule.
The Cardinals defeated Highland 54-8 in the District 7-1A Division I opener to set up a showdown for the district championship at Ira. Hermleigh defeated the Bulldogs 57-8 and the game ended on the mercy rule in the third quarter. The Cardinals won the district title outright with a 59-36 victory over Westbrook.
The Cardinals defeated Aspermont 75-30 in the bi-district playoff game. Hermleigh’s season ended with a 94-44 loss to Garden City in the regional round.
Hermleigh football didn’t dominate all of the headlines during the year. Snyder High School retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Murphrey’s No. 99 jersey in September. Murphrey, a 2003 SHS graduate, died on Sept. 6, 2009 in Afghanistan.
The Pride of the West marching band and vocalist Susan Scott performed the national anthem and the colors were presented by a Dyess Air Force Base color guard before the game. The halftime show concluded with the Monahans and Snyder bands playing their respective fight songs before joining together in a Salute to Freedom performance.
Retired conductors Dan Gibbs of Monahans and Sam Robertson of Snyder were the guest conductors.
Flags of each military branches were displayed. Members of three Snyder civic clubs unveiled an American flag before a moment of silence.
The Snyder Lady Tigers golf team earned its share of headlines by finishing second at the  Class 4A state tournament for the third straight year. Two Lady Tigers were among the top 20 individuals — Cassidy Rawls in 16th place and Malory Hunter in 19th place.
The state tournament was the final high school tournament for Rawls, Hunter, Reagan Lindsey and Taylor Kiker.
Snyder won the District 2-4A tournament championship and finished second at the Region 1-4A tournament behind state champion Andrews.
Here are the remaining top 10 stories.
4. Hermleigh’s Taylor Porter lost to Shelby Grelle of Paint Rock in the Class 1A state tennis tournament girls’ singles final. Porter lost the first set 6-4 and held a 4-3 lead in the second set before Grelle won the next three games to win the match, 6-4, 6-4. Porter also lost to Grelle in the Region 2-1A final.
In the state quarterfinals, Porter defeated Regina Hauser of Bynum. She won her semifinal match over Sydney Taylor of Crowell.
Porter was the first Hermleigh player to play at the state tournament.
5. Western Texas College’s Tamara Tunink won the breakaway roping title at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR). Tunink finished 1.3 seconds ahead of second place Randi Buchanan of Panhandle State University. She became the 18th WTC athlete to win at the CNFR.
6. The Ira Lady Bulldogs finished in a tie with Follett for third place at the Class 1A track and field state meet. Hannah Womack won the pole vault for the second straight year. Savannah Juarez was second in the triple jump.
Sierra Welch, Lexie Hanshew, Juarez and Womack were second in the 400-meter relay. Welch was fourth in the 200-meter dash. Juarez, Welch, Hanshew and Womack finished sixth in the 800-meter relay.
7. The Snyder Lady Tigers softball team advanced to the state tournament for the second straight year. Snyder (30-8) won the District 2-4A championship and lost to Hargrave Huffman in the state semifinals. Head coach Kristin Williams was named the Class 1A-4A softball coach of the year by the Texas Girls Coaches Association. Williams resigned in July to become head coach at Odessa Permian. She had a 144-70 record in six seasons with the Lady Tigers.
8. The Snyder Tigers football team improved by three wins and qualified for the Class 4A Division I state playoffs under second-year head coach James Polk. Snyder had a 5-6 record after going 2-8 in 2014. The Tigers finished third in District 3-4A behind Wylie and Brownwood. Snyder lost to Mineral Wells in a bi-district playoff game.
9. The Western Texas College Lady Westerners won a play-in game to qualify for the Region V Basketball Tournament and advanced to the championship game. WTC was 0-6 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference in early January before tying for fourth place. The Lady Westerners defeated Frank Phillips College in the play-in game.
WTC defeated Collin College 88-74 in the tournament opener and Hill College 76-66 in the semifinals.
The Lady Westerners lost to New Mexico Junior College 65-52 in the finals.
10. Jonathan Barrow, who was born with cerebral palsy, fulfilled a lifelong dream of scoring a touchdown at Tiger Stadium. The Snyder and Stephenville football teams simulated a play prior to the game. Snyder head coach James Polk called timeout and sent Barrow into the game at running back.
Barrow steered his wheelchair through the middle of the Stephenville defense. Two Stephenville players fell to the ground after Barrow rolled past them on his way to the end zone. He received a standing ovation from fans on both sides of the stadium.