2009 Season

Football: Waller trio powering Lake Dallas

08:42 AM CST on Friday, November 20, 2009

By Matthew Muench / Staff Writer

CORINTH — Many times while watching a Lake Dallas football game this season, the public address announcer says the last name Waller.

Usually, it’s no big deal for a fan to hear a name over the loudspeakers.

When Falcon fans hear ‘Franklin’ they know its star quarterback James Franklin.

When they hear McGee, they know it is wide receiver threat Tyler McGee.

But Waller?

Fans have to think a little harder, but they have three choices – senior linebacker Josh Waller, juniorrunning back Tyler Waller or junior linebacker Logan Waller.

“Sometimes I get a tackle and someone will tell Josh nice play,” Logan said. “But it is nice to hear the name Waller a lot. That means we are making plays.”

Tyler and Josh are brothers and Logan is their cousin.

“It has been awesome playing with my cousin and brother,” Tyler said. “You learn a lot. I have learned to be more aggressive because of it. I also have learned how to avoid tackles better because I have had to avoid them a lot of times growing up.”

While it sometimes may be difficult to tell the Waller trio apart, it is easy to see all three have been key contributors for Lake Dallas (10-1) as the Falcons head into their Class 4A area round matchup with Everman at 7:30 p.m. today in Bedford.

“They are all very instinctive football players,” said Lake Dallas coach Michael Young. “All Wallers play like that. Some guys you have to really coach to do everything, but these guys really know football. They all have a nose for what is going to happen.”

Tyler Waller has quietly racked up almost 1,000 yards rushing this season while playing in Franklin’s shadow. He also is averaging almost nine yards per carry in 113 attempts.

“He is a great instinctive running back,” Young said. “What is amazing is how great of a blocker he is. He probably is our strongest kid pound for pound.”

Last week he rushed for 155 yards in the Falcons’ playoff win against Birdville. But he will not play for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL he suffered last week.

“I shouldn’t have made that cut back on that long run,” he said. “But I’m still part of the team. I’ll do my part from the sidelines.”

Josh and Logan play side-by-side as two of Lake Dallas’ run stopping linebackers. They rank second and third on the team in total tackles behind standout defensive stopper Drew Hamilton (103 tackles, 69 solo).

Logan has totaled 79 tackles (44 solo), while Josh has piled up 57 (35 solo).

“Josh and Logan may not be the biggest or the fastest,” Young said. “But they are as physical as any other linebacker out there.”

Both linebackers also have made big plays this season when it comes to turnovers.

Last week Logan made a key interception to set up Lake Dallas’ first touchdown of the game.

“Waller’s know how to make big plays,” Young said.

Josh’s interception may have been the biggest play of the season for the Falcons. It happened in the closing minutes of Lake Dallas’ game against Ryan when he intercepted Raiders quarterback Scotty Young’s pass to seal the win for the Falcons.

“I think we make big plays because we have had to make them our whole lives,” Josh said. “We know how to cope with the big situations. Growing up we were always the best players on teams. So we know how to handle the big situations.”

All three players have been playing in the Lake Dallas pipeline since they were younger and watched Logan’s brother Adam play football as a Falcon while growing up.

They have been competitive since they were kids whether it was baseball, football or board games.

“We have been playing our whole lives together,” Logan said. “And it has been fun the entire time.”

Josh said it was nonstop sports growing up.

“We have always been playing something,” he said. “We have always been together. We have made championship runs together in every sport and it really has been pretty awesome.”

Josh said the rivalry has been a friendly one throughout the years.

“Me and my brother would always go up against Logan in sports,” Josh said with a laugh. “We always won because, you know, we are better.”

So,who is the best out of the three?

“I can’t answer that,” Logan said. “We all are pretty good.”

How did they get so good?

“It’s from growing up with parents that cared about sports,” Tyler said. “We learned so much from them and after a few years it just kind of turned into natural instinct. I blame our parents for all these skills.”

When the trio suits up tonight against a 9-2 Everman team, Josh said he hopes it is not the last time.

“It has been an honor to play with them,” Josh said. “It has been special. This is the last year we are going to play together and it is kind of sad to think about and say bye to this. I want to go to the championship with these guys. We have to keep winning. None of us are ready for this to end.”

MATTHEW MUENCH can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is [email protected] .

Lake Dallas News

Football: Falcons escape with playoff win over Birdville

01:11 AM CST on Saturday, November 14, 2009

By Matthew Muench / Staff Writer

SAGINAW — Thanks to a little bit of luck and some big offensive plays in the fourth quarter, Lake Dallas rallied past Birdville, 35-27, on Friday night in a wild playoff game at Rough Rider Stadium.

Birdville missed a game-tying extra point with a little more than two minutes left in the game, and Lake Dallas tagged on a late touchdown to pull out the Class 4A Division II Region II bi-district win.

The Falcons will face Everman in the area round at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Pennington Field in Euless.

“We played well enough to win, but if anybody deserved to have a play like that, it was us,” Lake Dallas coach Michael Young said. “It was hard luck for [Birdville] because they played well tonight also.”

The missed extra point wasn’t like most one-point tries. Birdville had to kick it from 30 yards out after a holding penalty negated a successful kick that would have tied the game.

“I was thinking it was going to get blocked on the first try, and then the holding penalty gave us another chance,” Lake Dallas quarterback James Franklin said. “Then he missed it. I was thankful for that, and we feel a little lucky.”

The wacky finish capped a wild second half, after both offenses were slowed to a 7-7 tie at halftime.

The Falcons took their first lead of the game with 4:13 left when Franklin rushed in from 6 yards out. It was his third rushing touchdown of the game. He finished with four rushing touchdowns and one through the air.

On the go-ahead drive, Lake Dallas rushed the ball on 10 consecutive plays to eat up the clock. Running back Tyler Waller picked up key gains. He finished with 155 yards rushing.

“We challenged our offensive linemen there and told them to go win the ballgame,” Young said. “We wanted to go score and not leave a lot of time left. We just didn’t want to make a mistake.”

But then Birdville had an answer with starting quarterback Josh Dorman — a quick answer.

In less than two minutes, the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s leading passer marched the Hawks down the field by making big connections to get Birdville inside the Lake Dallas 10-yard line.

After three consecutive stops, Birdville faced fourth and goal from the 9. Dorman, who threw for 409 yards, hit Clarke Renfro to set up the potential tying extra point.

“We knew coming in Birdville was going to be tough,” Young said. “They had an off night last week, but I still think they are one of the best offenses in the area.”

After the missed extra point, Birdville failed on an onside kick, and a penalty put Lake Dallas in Birdville territory at the 31. Franklin scored from 31 yards out on a weird play; Birdville let him score with 2:24 left so the Hawks could get the ball back with an eight-point deficit.

But Birdville couldn’t find any late magic.

Dorman was sacked on second down and threw two consecutive incompletions to end the game.

“I bet it was a fun game to watch,” Young said. “It wasn’t as fun on the sidelines. Wow, what a game.”

The first half was not nearly as exciting, as both teams struggled to find the end zone despite putting up a combined 396 yards of total offense.

Lake Dallas had more chances, though. On their first possession, the Falcons fell two yards short of converting a fourth and long to turn the ball over on downs inside the Birdville 20-yard line.

On Lake Dallas’ next possession, Franklin threw an interception in the end zone, three minutes after Birdville scored on its opening possession on a Dorman-to-Jonathan Dents 5-yard touchdown connection.

The interception came two plays after Franklin’s 2-yard touchdown run was negated by a holding penalty.

Lake Dallas finally found the end zone midway through the second quarter when Franklin rushed in from 3 yards out. During the drive, he rushed for 42 yards. He finished with 179 yard rushing on the night.

The drive was set up by an interception by Lake Dallas linebacker Logan Waller.

Lake Dallas will now turn its attention to Everman, which beat Fort Worth Dunbar on Friday night.

“The last time we played them in the playoffs, I think, it was about seven or eight years ago,” Young said. “They beat us 77-3. So we have to be ready.”

MATTHEW MUENCH can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is [email protected].

Lake Dallas 35, Birdville 27

Birdville               7              0              14           6              —           27

Lake Dallas         0              7              7              21           —           35

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

B—Jonathan Dents 5 pass from Josh Dorman (Anthony Bardon kick), 3:01

Second Quarter

LD — James Franklin 3 run (Adam Goodnight kick), 6:17

Third Quarter

B—John Alvarez 11 pass from Dorman (Bardon kick), 7:23

LD—Franklin 2 run (Goodnight kick) 4:26

B—Clarke Renfro 75 pass from Dorman (Bardon kick), 4:07

Fourth Quarter

LD – Tyler McGee 34 pass from Franklin (Goodnight kick), 11:23

LD – Franklin 6 run (Goodnight kick), 4:13

B—Renfro nine pass from Dorman (kick failed), 2:31

LD – Franklin 31 run (Goodnight kick), 2:24

Team Statistics

B             LD

First downs        15           22

Rushing yards    16-41     46-353

Passing yards     409         137

Total yards          450         490

Comp-att-int     29-39-409            13-16-1

Fumbles-lost     0-0          1-0

Punts-avg            1-28       2-79

Penalties             2-25       6-50

Individual Statistics

Rushing — B: John Alvarez 14-55, Josh Dorman 2-(minus 14). LD: James Franklin 27-171, Tyler Waller 13-155, Raymond Thelemaque 6-27.

Passing — B: Josh Dorman 29-39-1-409. LD: James Franklin 13-16-1-137

Receiving — B: Cory Hines 11-119, Jonathan Dents 4-41, Clarke Renfro 5-120, Nate Perkins 5-82, John Alvarez 4-47. LD: Tyler McGee 4-45, Dalyn Williams 6-79, Dontonio Jordan 1-(minus 1), Jake Baine 2-14.

		Football Area Statistics 5-4A Rushing Player, School Gms. Att. Yds. Avg. TD Jaimaine Wilhite, Denton Guyer 10 136 1135 8.3 16 J.W. Walsh, Denton Guyer 10 97 1030 10.6 18 James Franklin, Lake Dallas 10 176 1012 5.8 15 Kaylon Alexander, Denton Ryan 10 129 864 6.7 11 Tyler Waller, Lake Dallas 10 100 789 7.9 6 Eddie Aboussie, Wichita Falls 8 133 614 4.6 8 Bryant Johnson, Little Elm 10 94 461 4.9 6 Darnell Adams, Little Elm 10 96 454 4.7 2 Denzel King, Denton 5 76 412 5.4 3 Chima Akolam, The Colony 7 91 346 3.8 4 Treavon Walton, Denton Guyer 5 37 339 9.2 0 Will Clark, Denton Ryan 10 56 317 5.7 5 Brandon Dudley, Little Elm 8 61 289 4.7 1 Deron Royster, Wichita Falls Rider 5 61 285 4.7 1 James Taylor, Denton 9 81 223 2.8 1 T.J. Anderson, Wichita Falls 4 54 214 4.0 0 Josh Allen, Denton Guyer 10 44 211 4.8 1 Michael Jackson, The Colony 2 42 209 5.0 3 Luke Russell, Denton Guyer 7 10 208 20.8 2 Xavier Williams, Little Elm 9 48 202 4.2 4 Gerald Thomas, The Colony 9 53 184 3.5 0 Sebastian Williams, Denton Guyer 3 11 169 15.4 1 Raymond Thelemaque, Lake Dallas 6 42 166 4.0 1 Matt Marrs, Little Elm 6 38 159 4.2 1 Nic Thompson, Little Elm 8 57 142 2.5 0   Passing Player, School Gms. C-A-I Yds. Avg. TD Scotty Young, Denton Ryan 10 195-309-7 3189 10.3 44 James Franklin, Lake Dallas 10 162-258-5 2016 7.8 20 Hunter Dozier, Denton 10 171-299-10 1865 6.2 9 J.W. Walsh, Denton Guyer 10 126-194-3 1762 9.1 21 Garrett Simpson, The Colony 9 100-222-12 1336 6.0 7 Malcolm Carter, Wichita Falls Rider 7 52-88-3 654 7.4 6 Dylan Sheffield, Wichita Falls 5 55-99-8 645 6.5 4 T.J. Anderson, Wichita Falls 4 55-110-2 603 5.5 9 Nash Knight, Denton Ryan 2 16-23-0 223 9.7 2 Brandon Dudley, Little Elm 8 18-48-2 197 4.1 0 Darius Anderson, Wichita Falls 1 19-38-1 175 4.6 0 Dalyn Williams, Lake Dallas 5 12-13-0 116 8.9 0 Nic Thompson, Little Elm 1 2-5-1 65 13.0 0 Daniel Martin, Denton Ryan 2 8-13-0 63 4.8 1 Gary Broussard, Wichita Falls Rider 5 9-17-4 51 3.0 1 Jake Baine, Lake Dallas 2 3-5-0 50 10.0 1 Tony Booth, Little Elm 1 1-1-0 32 32.0 0 Jordan Downey, The Colony 1 1-2-1 19 9.5 0 Luke Russell, Denton Guyer 3 3-7-1 17 2.4 0 Devontay Chaffin, Wichita Falls 2 3-3-0 11 3.7 0 Dentton Hudspeth, Denton 2 1-4-0 4 1.0 0 Knitht Nash, Denton Ryan 1 0-1-0 0 0.0 0 Daryl Williams, Lake Dallas 1 0-2-0 0 0.0 0 Danny Story, Little Elm 1 0-1-0 0 0.0 0 AAron McCarthy, The Colony 1 0-1-0 0 0.0 0   Receiving Player, School Gms. No. Yds. Avg. TD Antonio Anderson, Denton Ryan 10 59 1034 17.5 12 Bud Sasser, Denton Ryan 10 51 852 16.7 17 Tyler McGee, Lake Dallas 10 47 696 14.8 9 Michael Cudd, Denton Ryan 10 35 642 18.3 9 Luke Russell, Denton Guyer 10 44 595 13.5 6 Josh McClure, Denton 9 59 593 10.1 1 Billy McCarty, Denton 9 34 548 16.1 4 Devontay Chaffin, Wichita Falls 8 32 510 15.9 6 Connor Bishop, Wichita Falls 9 41 477 11.6 3 Quentin Gardener, Denton Guyer 9 31 451 14.5 4 Beau LaFave, The Colony 8 33 440 13.3 3 Dalyn Williams, Lake Dallas 6 24 383 16.0 5 Dontonio Jordan, Lake Dallas 9 39 378 9.7 0 Nate Ponton, The Colony 6 12 330 27.5 3 Trey Mohair, Denton Ryan 10 24 312 13.0 0 Reid Barnett, Wichita Falls Rider 6 19 277 14.6 1 Daniel Castro, Denton 8 20 263 13.2 2 Sean Houston, The Colony 8 21 251 12.0 0 Jake Baine, Lake Dallas 9 26 245 9.4 3 Kaylon Alexander, Denton Ryan 5 15 235 15.7 1 Connor Crane, Denton Guyer 8 10 233 23.3 5 Ben Telaneus, Denton Ryan 4 11 185 16.8 1 Brendan Wright, Denton Guyer 6 12 164 13.7 1 Tyler Waller, Lake Dallas 8 20 164 8.2 3 Kevin Harris, Denton 4 14 144 10.3 0   Scoring Player, School Gms. TD FG PAT 2XP Points J.W. Walsh, Denton Guyer 10 18 0 0 1 110 Bud Sasser, Denton Ryan 10 17 0 0 1 104 Jaimaine Wilhite, Denton Guyer 10 16 0 0 1 98 Antonio Anderson, Denton Ryan 10 16 0 0 0 96 James Franklin, Lake Dallas 10 15 0 0 0 90 Tyler McGee, Lake Dallas 10 13 0 0 0 78 Christihan Guifarro, Denton Ryan 10 0 5 59 0 74 Kaylon Alexander, Denton Ryan 10 12 0 0 1 74 Nick Leavitt, Denton Guyer 9 0 5 47 0 62 Devontay Chaffin, Wichita Falls 8 9 0 0 0 54 Eddie Aboussie, Wichita Falls 8 9 0 0 0 54 Michael Cudd, Denton Ryan 10 9 0 0 0 54 Tyler Waller, Lake Dallas 10 9 0 0 0 54 Adam Goodnight, Lake Dallas 10 0 1 48 0 51 Luke Russell, Denton Guyer 10 8 0 0 0 48 Will Clark, Denton Ryan 10 7 0 0 0 42 Bryant Johnson, Little Elm 10 6 0 0 1 38 Dalyn Williams, Lake Dallas 7 6 0 0 0 36 Connor Crane, Denton Guyer 8 5 0 0 0 30 Connor Bishop, Wichita Falls 9 4 0 0 1 26 Matt Utt, Little Elm 8 0 5 10 0 25 Billy McCarty, Denton 9 4 0 0 0 24 Chima Akolam, The Colony 9 4 0 0 0 24 Daulton Davidson, Wichita Falls 8 4 0 0 0 24 Denzel King, Denton 5 4 0 0 0 24   Team Offense School Passing Rushing Avg. Denton Guyer 1778 3338 511.6 Denton Ryan 3475 1441 491.6 Lake Dallas 2177 2206 438.4 Wichita Falls 1439 1138 286.4 Denton 1869 830 270.0 The Colony 1345 1172 251.6 Little Elm 294 1979 227.2 Wichita Falls Rider 705 881 226.6   Team Defense School Passing Rushing Avg. Denton Guyer 1533 860 239.2 Lake Dallas 1307 1600 290.8 Denton Ryan 1891 1460 335.2 Wichita Falls Rider 949 1458 343.8 The Colony 1920 1566 348.6 Little Elm 1584 1948 353.2 Wichita Falls 1602 1690 411.6 Denton 2131 2310 444.0
		AP state high school football poll (11/10) CLASS 4A Team W-L Pts. Prev. 1. Lake Travis (25) 10-0 250 1 2. Longview 9-1 218 3 3. Waxahachie 10-0 194 4 4. Highland Park 9-1 155 6 5. Port Neches-Groves 10-0 127 8 6. Aledo 9-1 120 9 7. Denton Ryan 9-1 88 — 8. Denton Guyer 9-1 67 2 9. Denison 9-1 49 — 10. Angleton 9-1 26 5 Others receiving votes: Abilene Cooper 17, Hewitt Midway 14,Lake Dallas 10, Stephenville 10, Corpus Christi Calallen 7, Corpus Christi Flour Bluff 6, Brenham 6, Hereford 4, North Richland Hills 3, Big Spring 2, Schertz Steele 2.

Football: Franklin finds humility in family, football

Lake Dallas quarterback on his way to Missouri

07:24 AM CDT on Friday, October 30, 2009

By Matthew Muench/Staff Writer

CORINTH — When James Franklin was in seventh grade, he told Lake Dallas coaches he wanted to play quarterback.

“They said no,” Franklin said. “I was too big. And I was kind of upset because I always, always wanted to play quarterback.”

In eighth grade he got shot down again.

Lake Dallas quarterback James Franklin has passed for 1,722 yards and rushed for 917 yards this season. He also has accounted for 29 touchdowns.

“So in ninth grade,” Franklin said, “I just stopped asking if I could play quarterback.”

Turns out, fate would do the talking and convincing for him.

While playing wide receiver and defense, Franklin’s freshman team lost its first four games of the season.

At the time, current Lake Dallas tight end Jake Baine was playing quarterback but the losing streak prompted coaches to finally let Franklin play the triggerman role.

“We ended up winning district and now here I am,” Franklin said. “But I did feel bad because I took Jake’s spot.”

The two still joke about it three years later.

“Jake is always like, ‘If it wasn’t for me and my non-quarterbacking skills, you wouldn’t be playing right now,’” he said. “We laugh about it a lot.”

They also smile because of the success Franklin has had.

Now in his second season as the starting quarterback for Lake Dallas, Franklin and the Falcons are headed to the playoffs and sit in second place in District 5-4A entering tonight’s game against Denton.

“When we made the move to put him at quarterback,” said Lake Dallas coach Michael Young said, “we quickly realized that it was a great move. Obviously it has turned out to me a good move for us.”

Franklin is touted as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country and will be headed to Missouri after his high school career is over.

“He is playing at the next level because he is a big-time competitor,” Young said. “When he gets to that level, coaches will love him because he does not get rattled or scared.”

Last season, he threw for 2,464 yards, rushed for 1,151 yards and accounted for 29 touchdowns.

This season the 6-2, 218-pounder hasn’t slowed down.

He has passed for 1,722 yards, rushed for 917 yards and has matched his touchdown total of last year at 29 with two regular season games left and the playoffs looming.

In the last two seasons, he has also led Lake Dallas to two wins over Ryan and one over Guyer.

“One thing about James is he plays really well in the big games,” Young said. “He shows up. Hopefully when we get in the playoffs he can continue to play big and put together a nice string of games.”

But Franklin is as humble as any high school athlete fans may come across.

He doesn’t count his stats. He has no idea how many touchdowns he has and he does not study the Saturday morning box scores.

“I really do think this game we play is about the team,” he said. “People like to talk about James this or James that. I definitely like helping the team out and I wish the team got more credit than what they do. People just like to look at me. But really it is the team that makes me.”

A solid family life has also shaped Franklin’s outlook, he said. He said his three sisters, Natalie, 26, Janelle, 22, and Rachelle, 19, are the reason he is so active.

His mom is the reason he is healthy, well-rested and well-mannered. And his dad is the reason he is respectful and confident.

“My family is very important to me,” he said. “They make me happy. They are why I am who I am.”

Growing up, Franklin traveled with his family to do missionary work all over the country.

Some of the places he has visited include California, Mem-phis, Chicago and Papua New Guinea.

Those trips are where Frank-lin learned to be a leader and where he built traits he uses every day in the classroom and on the football field.

“It was fun traveling with my dad,” Franklin said. “He would always make me lead in the singing. I wasn’t the best at singing, but he did it to help me confidence-wise. “

Franklin’s dad also played college football at Oklahoma as a wide receiver and backup quarterback.

“My dad and I growing up would always play catch and I would always want to show him off in front of my friends,” Franklin said. “So I would go 70 or 80 yards down the field and he would chunk it to me. Then I would throw it back to him and that is how I developed my arm. My dad taught me football.”

His dad has also taught Franklin how to me mentally focused and not distracted. He is not the typical high school quarterback.

“I’m not really active with the high school social scene,” he said. “I work out and do stuff with my youth group. I don’t go to parties or do anything like that. I just kind of keep to myself.”

Franklin plans to move to Columbia, Mo., in January after he graduates high school early next month.

Classes will also be just as important as his football life when he walks the college campus. In high school he used to carry a 4.0 grade-point average, but now he sports a 3.8.

“Chemistry was a little tough,” he said. “I struggled a little bit.”

He plans on majoring in mechanical or electrical engineering but also has thoughts of going into the communications field. He also has set a goal of reaching the NFL.

“That is a long way away, but my plans are to work hard and make it to the NFL,” he said. “But we will see how it goes. Maybe something I learn in college will be better for me.”

MATTHEW MUENCH can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is [email protected].

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