The 47th annual Buddy Moorhead Conroe Noon Lions Club Pigskin Preview in many ways served as a tribute to Don Buckalew, a longtime supporter of youth sports in Conroe and Montgomery County.
Buckalew, owner of Buckalew Chevrolet, died July 1 at 89 years old. He was a key organizer and longtime host of the program which brings together the head football coaches of Conroe ISD, Montgomery ISD and Willis ISD to tell the Lions Club members about the upcoming season.
Donnie Buckalew, Don’s son, has served in the role of host of the event in recent years.
Donnie Buckalew spoke of his thankfulness for the condolences his family has received this month as he spoke Wednesday at the Lonestar Convention Center.
In recent years at the conclusion of the Pigskin Preview, Donnie Buckalew would get a phone call from his father, who wanted to find out what the coaches said about the season and how the event went. Don Buckalew was fully invested in the success of those coaches and teams.
Many of the coaches Wednesday publicly passed on condolences to the Buckalew family and shared memories and stories of their interactions with Don.
Conroe coach Cedric Hardeman shared his memory of meeting Don at a boys basketball game the day he was announced as the new head coach in December 2017. Hardeman was told to meet the gentleman in the top row of ‘The Pit’ gymnasium. He has appreciated his support ever since.
As for the 2023 Conroe Tigers, the team is focused on the now.
The Tigers have now reached the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 2008-09.
“I don’t believe in momentum,” Hardeman told the audience. “I believe in habits. It doesn’t matter what you did last season. Your success is built on the habits that you have.”
The acronym A.C.T.S. (Accountability, Compete, Trust, Sacrifice) plays a prevalent role with the program.
“One thing I’m excited about is I feel over the course of five years here, we developed great habits,” Hardeman said.
Hardeman highlighted a few of the key returning players.
“We graduated some great kids, a couple of them were three-year starters and moved on to play college ball,” Hardeman said. “But I also feel like we have some good kids returning.”
The Tigers, who were 6-5 last year, their first winning record since 2008, will be home the first few weeks.
“August 25 – we kick off,” Hardeman said. “Our first three games are at home. We got lucky this year. We have Katy Paetow at home, we have Eisenhower at home and then homecoming, we have Caney Creek at home. The whole expectation for us is to pack Moorhead out.”
Rapp excited about 2023 Highlanders
The Woodlands returns plenty of talent from last year. But like a year ago, the schedule at the beginning is a daunting one.
“We have to start off and be ready to go,” The Woodlands coach Jim Rapp said. “We start off with the state runner-up in North Shore at home. We travel to Lamar and then we open district play with Oak Ridge. New Caney is the defending district champion and then our fifth game is against Conroe up here at Moorhead. We have to be ready to go early.”
The Highlanders were second in District 13-6A and went three rounds deep in the playoffs a year ago.
“We had a great spring and great summer,” Rapp said. “We had over 500 kids in our offseason summer strength and conditioning program. They’re working their tails off and I’m really excited to see what the Highlanders can do this year.”
Among the players highlighted during his speech, Rapp pointed out his offensive line featuring three NCAA Division I recruits in Koltin Sieracki (Baylor), Ryan Hughes (TCU) and Everett Champlin (Army).
“We have three returning lineman,” Rapp said. “Those kids are going to set the tone for us. I’m excited about what they’re going to do.”
With senior quarterback Mabrey Mettauer, a four-star Wisconsin commit with over 80 total touchdowns (passing and rushing combined) in his career, the Highlanders are in good shape going into 2023.
“I love my football team and I’m excited about this football season and what’s going to happen for us,” Rapp said.
Special year shaping up for Schmid, War Eagles
In August, Oak Ridge coach Mark Schmid has some special moments coming off the field. His son is getting married and his daughter is due with a grandchild.
It could be a special one of the field and one that has been a few years in the making for Schmid.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good football team,” Schmid said. “I was asked to come on as the interim coach in 2019 at Oak Ridge. I came on board fully expecting to get them through the season and move on. But then I saw football games from my junior high on Mondays and Tuesdays and I thought these kids have a chance as eighth graders.”
Among them are five-star linebacker Justin Williams and four-star defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye, both of which committed to the Georgia Bulldogs this month.
“I’ve had two kids in just the last few weeks commit to the University of Georgia,” Schmid said. “That’s a pretty good place to go. I’ve got a really good nucleus of kids that have been together a long time and are used to success and have bought into what we are selling. This is an exciting time for Oak Ridge.”
The War Eagles are looking to return to the postseason for the second consecutive year and third time on Schmid’s watch.
“I’m really excited about our prospect,” Schmid said. “We feel really good about where we come from and where we are now. The kids are excited to get on the field and there’s been great participation all summer with our strength and conditioning.”
Caney Creek is rising under Hineman
Caney Creek fourth year head coach Kendall Hineman has a good vibes coming from the under-renovation Grangerland campus.
An original to the gymnasium at Caney Creek, “The Creek is Rising” is painted on the wall.
“That’s kind been the mantra there…for 27 years,” Hineman said. “My deal is to take the ‘ing’ off of rising. We’ve got to arrive. We have to rise to every occasion.”
R.I.S.E. (Respect, Integrity, Sacrifice, Effort) is in for the Panthers, who return off a 1-9 season.
“Those are the four pillars our kids take with them every day,” Hineman said.
A new weight room and locker room are ready as the program endured the dust of renovation the past year.
“Our weight room is state of the art and it’s the main driving force on why we have so many kids in the summer show up,” Hineman said.
The Panthers have pieces returning.
“We are returning 18 starters for us,” Hineman said. “We only lose two seniors. We thought we were young last year and we turned around to be young again this year.”
