Macatee Photography

HP vs Rockwall- another Win

2011-09-25T20:30:00.001-07:00

Highland Park takes their game to Rockwall and comes home with a win. For a better view of the action., http://video214.com/play/D2C5LtqJp05EynNfipaLqQ/s/dark.
Quite a night of action and the Scots showed real character after a slow start and trailing Rockwall in the first quarter. A few key players went down for the night and others stepped up to meet the challenge.

Pep Rally week 3

2011-09-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

The third week of Pep Rallies was full of excitement. With the camo themed event the Scots prepared for their game aganst Sherman.

http://video214.com/play/yaYVVW5yyb1NZ0CS1ZlwQw/s/dark

Pep Rally week1

2011-09-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what goes on at a pep rally? Well here you go, a little something I threw together after the year's first pep rally.
http://video214.com/play/tFVAJGJqy8Ohlkha7GHaow/s/dark

Scotland Yard Classic

2011-03-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

The Scots baseball team hosted the Scotland Yard Classic last weekend. The team showed depth in talent and ended the weekend with a 4 and 1 record.

Ice, Ice Baby! and a Little Snow

2011-02-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

So Day four of no school, I have to admit I love the lack of obligation to be anywhere for four days. Ice everywhere and then today we woke up to two to four inches of snow everywhere. The fountain in Snider Plaza appeared to be an ice sculpture yesterday and today with a topping of snow it was a sight to see.

Congratulations Coach Oliver!

2011-01-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

Highland Park's Varsity Baseball Coach, Fred Oliver was announced as one of three coaches that were selected for the Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame 2011 inductees. If you have ever spent any time around Coach Oliver you would know they don't come any nicer than him. Coach Oliver coached the Scots last year as his first year at HP, in return they won him his 500th game. Think about that for a minute...500 games. His daughter had been organizing a gathering in his honor that he was unaware of and the weekend after the 500th win, players from the team that he coached to his very first win showed up to surprise Coach Oliver at a Scots game. Again stop and think about when the players played for him and the fact that they took the time to come to Dallas to honor him. I apologize to Coach Oliver for being a little slow in my congratulations.

53 Points and a Win

2011-01-16T12:52:00.001-08:00

On January 14th I witnessed a high school junior, David Allen of Highland Park put up 53 points to help his team, The Scots beat McKinney Lions 87-79. It took three overtimes and some breaks for Allen to work out some leg cramps but when the time finally ran out and the score wasn't tied finally, David Allen couldn't help but smile as his teammates, opposing coaches and fellow students congratulated him. It was a team effort to get the win and to keep playing despite missing players home with the flu, one player who had just recovered from a stomach bug and flat out exhausted players on both sides of the ball but it was worth it. Allen put up 18 points during overtime but still 53 points is something to stop and take notice of. Congratulations to the Scots for a hard fought victory.

Hall of Famer

2011-01-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

One of my heroes, a word I don't use to often, was honored along with 19 other Cotton Bowl Hall of Famers during halftime of the AT&T Cotton Bowl game. To commemorate the 75th Annual Cotton Bowl game, 20 Cotton Bowl Hall of Famers were recognized during halftime. Brad Bradley was the first Hall of Famer t0 be recognized as he was escorted by a Kilgore Rangerette on to the field. Brad Bradley has been an official Cotton Bowl photographer for almost as long as the game has been occurring, he has attended 59 consecutive games and counting in some capacity, most with a camera in his hand. James "Brad" Bradley and his father-in-law originated the posed action shots. He always has a smile on his face and something nice to say to everyone he encounters. Congratulations Brad Bradley and thank you for the millions of photos you have taken over the years that sit in homes across the country.

The Bernets Play Poor David's Pub

2010-12-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

Three generations of The Bernets played at Poor David's Pub leading up to Christmas Eve. Grandfather Ed proudly played beside sons Blake and Brant and grandson Chap. For a mid session surprise Michael Poston sang a solo of The Climb. For a final act local video producer Rocky Powell paired up with singer/songwriter Chap Bernet to play some of Chap's original works from his new album, "Water and a Breeze". Click the video below to see highlights from the night along with one of Chap's original songs.

Lacrosse Wins State Third Year in a Row

2010-05-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to HP's D1 Lacrosse team who beat St Marks again in the State Finals, this year with a score of 6-4. It was a close fought game and was filled with action and a lot of excitement from the field to the well attended crowd in the stands. Three different Scots took home MVP awards, Will Boeing received Offensive MVP honors, Chris Hipps received Defensive MVP honors and Jordan Lee received Overall MVP honors. Coach Derek Thomson received THSLL Coach of the Year honors. Five Highland Park players received All American honors earlier in the week, Josh Francis, Chris Hipps, Jordan Lee, Chase Prospere and Campbell Powers. Having 5 All Americans may not sound like a huge deal but only 8 players received this honor in all of North Texas. The other recipients are Buck McClure of Jesuit, Jeff Perkins of St. Marks and Phillip Wagley of ESD. Congratulations to all of these All Americans.

For a quick view of the Lacrosse team's season please click on the video below.

Catching Up

2010-05-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well once again I have let this blog go almost dormant but I am here to add some information from this past year.

The Highland Park Scots football team made it into the playoffs.
The Highland Park Volleyball team also made it into the playoffs.
The Highland Park Girls Cross Country team had a runner place in State.
The Highland Park Girls Basketball team also made it into the playoffs!
The Highland Park Boys Basketball team made it into the playoffs.
The Highland Park Softball team had a great season beating one of the strongest teams on their schedule, Royse City.
The Highland Park Girls soccer team advanced to the playoffs.
The Highland Park Boys soccer team also advanced into the playoffs.
The Highland Park Girls Swim team won a historical 10th straight state team title.
The Highland Park Girls Lacrosse team had a nice season.
The Highland Park Boys Lacrosse team is headed to State again!
The Highland Park Girls and Boys Golf teams are headed to State.
Both of the Highland Park Track teams are sending someone to State.

As you can see it has been a busy year.

Time Warp

2009-01-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

No excuse but super busy so it is time for a brief update of what's been happening. Football season ended after a loss to Waco Midway in Regionals, the Men's basketball team won their own tournament, The Highland Classic, The Ladies basketball team has really come together and is very competitive, the volleyball team lost in the state finals, the wrestling team has been hitting the mat every week, boys and girls soccer held their annual alumni games and tennis won team state again after a year of not winning.

Back To It

2008-11-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

Well the fall season has kept me rather busy and it appears I have missed a few weeks of bringing you up to the minute news of local sports so let's recap. The Scots Football team is entering the third week of playoffs with only one loss, the Volleyball Lady Scots took their show to the State Finals and came home with silver medals losing in the finals to a strong team from Herford, (where is that anyway?). The basketball teams kicked off their seasons with the annual Meet the Scots night where they actually ran out of basketballs given out to the first 200 fans. Great turnout from the community to see what the Scots have on the court this season. Both the Lady Scots and the Mens team played in the Scots Classic with the Mens team taking home the first place trophy with a hard win over SFAustin. The Cross Country teams have had a successful post season run, (pardon the pun) and wrestling and swimming have gotten off to a great start. The tennis team re-in-Stated them selves as team state champions. Student athletes signed letters of intent to play sports for University of Texas, Auburn, Tulane, New Mexico State, Tennessee and one heading off to Princeton. Sports included volleyball, golf, baseball, swimming, lacrosse and tennis. So that should just about get you up to the minute with the happenings around here. Enjoy your turkey and get ready to cheer those Scots to another victory on Friday.

Stretching Raiders

2008-10-01T15:00:00.001-07:00

Where it all begins, no it isn't the YMCA program it is the 7th grade football program. These are the kids who rise before the sun and hit the field to learn the HP system of football. Some lessons come easy and some come hard but the main lesson is that this is a team environment and it is all or nothing and rules are made to be followed. Week after week three men appear on the field out numbered by players sometimes 26 to 1. The system they have put in place requires everyone following it or everyone pays the price for the one who doesn't. Following directions is key and required by all. Listening is mandatory because let's face it when there are 80 kids and 3 coaches the odds are not everything said by a coach will be heard by everyone. What is amazing is the respect these boys are learning will carry them farther than they will ever realize. The parents might be another story but if they will let the coaches do their job most of these boys will be better off for it.

Thursday Night Football

2008-10-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

With a week off and a short week due to a Thursday night football game everyone was a bit out of their routine. The pep rally was held on Thursday, the game started at 7pm which meant the JV Gold and Huddles 3 & 4 played on Wednesday. What to do on Friday? Well to tell you the truth if it was left up to me everyone would have headed to the opening day of the State Fair of Texas and had a corny dog or a funnel cake but in reality seniors headed off to either ACL in Austin and possibly caught the Texas -Arkansas game, if you can call what happened there a game or they followed Coach Allen to Athens, Georgia to see the Dawgs fall to Bama and the Tide, some made college visits and some just enjoyed a weekend off. Whatever you did with your weekend I hope it was nice and relaxing. In the mean time it is time to get ready to face Greenville and their new coach. Should be exciting as the Greenville quarterback takes on the HP Scots and their mighty defense. Kick off is at 7:30.

Jumping Belles

2008-09-14T13:35:00.001-07:00

The Belles halftime routine was full of pompoms and jumping. Always the top of excitement for little girls in the stands the Belles did not disappoint. After their routine Brad Bradley was recognized for his tireless work with all of the HP sports teams over the years and Dr. Bryce was recognized for all of her work with the district.

HP Too Much for Coppell

2008-09-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

It was a little close at times but the Scots settled down during half time and came out and played their game. The Cowboys never had a chance after halftime. With touchdowns by scored by four different Scots , HP showed how diverse its offense has become. Throw a safety early on in there and you have another home win.

A Scrimmage for the Hundreds

2008-09-10T17:35:00.001-07:00

You think I am kidding when I say a scrimmage for the hundreds. Some one needs to give those middle school football coaches a huge bonus. There were at the beginning of school about 140 kids playing 7th grade football, I would guess a slightly lower number playing 8th grade. Some how these coaches are to determine in a matter of eleven school days who should play what position and how to divide them up into two teams. The eighth grade coaches have it a little better since most of them played in 7th and know the drill. Imagine being one of these coaches and running a scrimmage for one hour with 140 kids all wearing white jerseys, very few had a number on their jersey. With the exception of names on the helmets many looked identical. I am still amazed at how quickly the coaches have gotten the kids into a routine of arriving almost before sunrise to school and knowing exactly what is expected of them. Within a two hour period the 7th and 8th grade coaches worked easily over 200 kids into a scrimmage by grade level. Amazing!

Details You Might Miss

2008-09-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

The sidelines at any football game can become crazy at best before, during and just after halftime. Consider all of the moving parts and you have a possible disaster on your hand each week. What you might not notice is after the teams run off of the field, there are four groups staged to take the field, both school bands and both school drill teams. With various instruments that are not carried onto the field and chairs , there is a lot of action going on. Once the dust settles there are so many little details that some people probably never notice. Looking down this past week I noticed the shoes the band was wearing, seriously where did they find these?

The Scots Win Home Opener

2008-09-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

The Frisco Liberty game was not one to be late to. From the opening kickoff and the return went all the way for a touchdown to Frisco Liberty's quick answer there was a lot of excitement in the opening minutes. Things settled down and the scoring for the Scots became pretty regular with multiple runs going the distance into the endzone for a Scot touchdown. When the final horn blew the Scots had their first home win 42-14. Another home game this Friday rain or shine and it should be done well before hurricane Ike and the weather he is bringing with him becomes a factor.

Belles and Dr. Jones

2008-09-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

Having seen just about every Belle routine there is, I have to say the halftime routine last Friday was awesome, some things that appeared to be new to me. Great color and movement. Good job girls.

HP vs Frisco Liberty

2008-09-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight the Scots host Frisco Liberty for the first home game of the 2008 season. Prior to kickoff the Highland Belles will be holding their annual spaghetti supper and just before kickoff, Highland Park will recieve the Lone Star Cup presented by Texas Dodge dealers to the Texas teams with the most UIL wins and accomplishments. Once again HP is the recipient of the 4A Lone Star Cup. Kickoff is at 7:30 don't be late.

Highland Belles Spaghetti Supper

2008-09-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Looking for a great parking spot for this week's HP football game on Friday against Frisco Liberty? Well get there early and have dinner with the Highland Belles during their annual spaghetti supper. They provide take out or eat in and will be raffling off a ton of amazing prizes in addition to some auction items. These girls are unbelievable, they bring in some of the coolest things to help raise money. Just about every modern cool technology gadget will be available either through the raffle or the auction. Don't miss out, head straight to the cafetorium ( I love calling it that since it can be a cafeteria or auditorium with stage and lighting!).

Cross Country Relay

2008-09-02T04:46:00.000-07:00

And they're OFF!

Ok, I will admit I have never been to a cross country meet in my entire life until Saturday. It seems everyone runs cross country and now I can see why. Despite the grueling summer training, the marathon length runs (at least in my book marathon) in the sweltering Texas heat on the rubber melting hot asphalt of our neighboring streets the meet was a confirmation of sorts that these kids love cross country. To be totally honest I have since discovered this was one of the larger meets they will run and it was a relay which all made it one of the best to go to. With so many girls running cross country the Scots had a lot of relay teams, the starting line had enough Lady Scots for almost a nice class full of students. If you have never been to one of these you would need to understand for the relay they have a one and half mile course set up, the starting point is also the handoff spot, where teammates hand off a glove, yes a glove not a baton. The glove adds an interesting dimension, most just hold it in their hand, believe me it looks like an over used golf glove, some brave souls actually put it on their hand and wear it so they don't drop it. That means they have to get it on their hand and then a mile and half later off of their hand, their very sweaty hand. This isn't just any mile and a half, no it is a winding couse that includes a leap over a stack of hay bales. This is amazing to watch as everyone has a different approach, some take it like a hurdle, some like stairs and some leap and roll out of the fall, I saw a few tumbles and lots of smiles as they approached it, the smiles came from nerves trying to decide whether to hurdle or walk over it with a crowd watching. It was hot and humid and just to get there you had to park on a field and cross a major street and then try to decide where the course was and were you crossing as someone was running by. All in all I had a great time and all of the kids I saw were actually smiling, cheering on each other and having a great time.

The hay bale crossing.

Smiles after a morning run.

Kilt 'em

2008-08-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

After arriving home to Highlander Stadium the 2008 Scots were treated to cake and special commemorative 700 wins t-shirts. The whole team assembled amazingly fast and Mr. Brad Bradley took the official 700th win photo. By my calculations Mr. Brad Bradley has probably been at 400 to 500 of those wins. The above is the aftermath of high school boys after a long day in the heat and a historic win. The team and Coach Allen were awarded special trophies, a gold football for being the first team in Texas High School football history to win 700 games and a special commemorative piece from the Tom Landry Classic for the 700th win. The team then surprised Coach Randy Allen with his own Fight to the Finish belt buckle to wear with his wranglers, wait does he wear wranglers? Time to hit Western Warehouse Coach Allen.

700th Win!!

2008-08-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

The Scots beat Red Oak 45-26 in the 2008 Landry Classic, in doing so they brought home the 700th win, the first team to do so in Texas high school football history. As Coach Allen left SMU's stadium he he carried with him the spirit of all of those who came before him and his players. 700 wins, that is a lot of Friday nights under the lights, a lot of hot Texas afternoon practices and a lot of high school boys sweat and blood left on football fields across Texas. From the wonderful rickety old wooden Highlander stadium to the concrete stadium of today many a player have put on the HP Scot uniform. To each and everyone of you a congratulations is in order!

Pep Rally #1

2008-08-29T15:51:00.001-07:00

The Varsity Cheerleaders lead the first pep rally of the year as the Scots listened to Coach Allen discuss how everyone works together and the team's success is due to their hard work and all of the encouragement the team gets from everyone and all of the organizations that support them. It was a full house and the anticipation of winning the 700th game for HP was building.

Newest HP Football Players

2008-08-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

The 9th grade HP Football squads kicked off last night against Red Oak. Both teams were victorious and shut out Red Oak with large margins. Amazing to me was the names on the roster. It seems everyone I know has a son playing freshman football. Thursday nights are busy nights at the stadium with either the freshmen teams playing or JV Gold and Varsity Huddle 3&4 playing. Butch as always keeps watch over the stadium.

Numero Uno

2008-08-27T20:17:00.001-07:00

The Lady Scots Volleyball team is ranked numero uno in the State of Texas. For those non spanish speaking folks, number one! They matched up with McKinney Boyd Tuesday night and put them away in three sets. McKinney Boyd made an attempt to take the second set but no such luck. I have posted this photo as it is one of my favorites to date of volleyball. There are many reason but the first one is the player Tori, she never gives up, she is always out there keeping everyone in the match, she remembers to have fun and often is smiling and encouraging her teammates. Tori also dives a lot, dives make for great photos. If I could sit on the court I would love shooting volleyball, much better action from down low for shots just like this one. The edges around the court are all considered playing field and therefore I must kneel in case the play comes my way, as if I could possibly move quickly with my knees frozen in the kneeling position. Anyway not to get sidetracked but look at the expressions of her two teammates behind her. One is almost willing her to make the play while the other watches and retreats from hitting the ball. I like that the coach is on the sideline talking to a very attentive player and appears to stop in mid sentence to see what Tori will do. All the while Tori has everything under control as usual.

Back to numero uno, if you haven't stopped by the gym to watch these girls play you really need to, they have a great chemistry and are very supportive of each other, not to mention some of their kills are powerful and I am glad I am not on the other end of those bullets, I mean balls they send toward their opponents.

Scouts

2008-08-24T11:18:00.001-07:00

If you were wondering what was up with a lot of the HP players wearing different numbers during the Plano West scrimmage ,you weren't alone. The bottom line is it was just a last minute equipment thing and nothing more mysterious. Of course you might have thought it was to throw off any scouts from opposing teams that might have been in attendance, and they were definitely there. The Red Oak coaches didn't even try to be discreet, they were the only ones in the visitor stands just above the Scots' bench. You just never know who is watching.

HP Football Looks Good in Scrimmage

2008-08-23T17:25:00.001-07:00

HP took its football teams out to Plano to face off against Plano West's teams. The coaching staff appeared to take the opportunity to work with a number of different players while they begin to settle on exactly where everyone will play. Next week HP will meet up with Red Oak, Freshman will play at Highlander Thursday night and the JV Gold will travel to Red Oak along with the Huddle 3 and 4 Blue team. Varsity will play on Saturday night in the Landry Classic at SMU's Gerald Ford stadium. The game is to start at 7:30 but could have a late start depending on the earlier game between Southlake and Plano West. Parking will be tough so think about carpooling.

With a win against Red Oak the Varsity would mark the first time a Texas High School team has won 700 games.

HP Football to Scrimmage Plano West

2008-08-21T07:17:00.001-07:00

Looking for some early Friday night lights? Head out to Plano's Clark Stadium this friday, August 21st. HP will match thier various football teams against Plano West's. Freshman teams will kick off the match up starting at 4pm, with JV Gold at 5pm, Varsity huddle 3 and 4 will play at 6pm and Varsity huddle 1 and 2 at 7:30pm. Clark Stadium is easy to get to with the exception of the Friday afternoon traffic, head north on I-75 , exit Spring Creek Parkway, take a left (west) onto Spring Creek Parkway, just past Chase Oaks you should see the stadium and a street called Stadium, take a right (north) and you should see Clark Stadium. In the meantime let's hope this cool front sticks around a little longer.

HP Volleyball hosts Justin NW

2008-08-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

The HP varsity volleyball hosted Justin NW this week. JJ Pearce and Justin NW played a five game match prior to HP taking the court. Once on the court it only took the Lady Scots three games to defeat Justin NW. The third game being the closest. Kills were hit by a number of HP players. Everyone got some time on the court so it was clear just how deep the varsity squad is.

Football is Warming Up

2008-08-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

The 2008 HP Varsity Football squad held their fall inner squad scrimmage Saturday. The football gods must have been watching over the fighting Scots as the weather was unseasonably cool for August. With rotating QB's the defense worked on defending a variety of different styles. Seniors Dillon Zweifel and Blake Burgin joined Juniors Luke Woodley and Matt Skidmore running, throwing and working in some handoffs. The quarterbacks were identified with their yellow pennies (some might call them practice jersies, I just like to call them pennies since that's what they were called when I was a youngster at UP) the qb's were a bit tough to tell apart until you saw them move, they all have a different style. Junior's Chris Hipps and Brooks McIlhenny were either catching or running with the ball. Due to some injuries and some multiple numbers I am still not sure who was who but they definitely looked like they were knocking off some of the dust off of the equipment that they have not been able to practice in(I think they had one day in pads but maybe not) since last season. It is always fun to see new faces on the field and to see old faces with new numbers, good for my aging mind to have to learn new numbers. Next Friday the Scots will take their new team to Plano for another scrimmage, not sure if quarterbacks will be available for tackling out north but look for an exciting season with a fair share of both running and passing. If you are having Seth Gardner withdrawals don't worry, I believe between a returning reciever and a few juniors there will be a few receivers opponents will find threatening. If everyone can stay healthy the Scots should have some exciting plays up their sleeves or on their wrist bands.

Volleyball in Full Swing

2008-08-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Lots of smiles as the teams take the court

It was an exciting day Tuesday as it was my dad's birthday but also the first day for the newly set (oops, pun) varsity Volleyball squad to wear their jerseys. Six seniors, four juniors and three sophomores will attempt to take the Lady Scots all the way to state. This group may just do that too. First up was a match against Lake Highlands and after winning the first game easily, the wildcats came back to claim the second game and ultimately the third game and the match. There appear to be a few moments of first time out jitters but once everyone calmed down, the Lady Scots hit their stride. Their second match was against a very competitive Red Oak team. During their match against Red Oak the Lady Scots discovered they can as a team compete with anyone and I expect as they settle in more with each game this Scots volleyball team will become the team to beat.

A dig here and...

a dive there.

Record Temperatures Mean Cross Country

2008-08-10T06:28:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed groups of kids running around the neighborhood this summer. The cross country runners train throughout the summer to condition themselves to the sweltering Texas heat and long distance running. With the recent record temperatures the "cool front" was a welcome relief to the cross country runners who were completing tryouts for this year's team. The girls' cross country team has been running all week, some timed and some fun runs. Not an easy task under the ideal circumstancses, throw in last week's temperatures hovering around 100 and you have some hot runners. The season will begin August 30th with a meet at Norbuck Park in Dallas. These runs aren't just distance related they seem to be over hill and valley and through messy terrain, truly cross country. Best of luck to all of those endurance strong runners.

VBall Is Here

2008-08-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

It is time for volleyball. All of the squads started the season out with scrimmages at home and will continue with more scrimmages and tournaments. The varsity squad returns the majority of its starters from last year's regional semi-finalist team. If you are looking for an air conditioned sport to support check out their schedule and head to the gym. First home game is set for August 19th matching the Lady Scots against Justin Northwest.

1st Annual Clay Shoot Out

2008-08-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

With temperatures in the 90's teams of all ages spent an afternoon at the Dallas Gun Club raising funds for the 2008 HP football program. There was plenty of noise as guns were fired as the teams went through twelve different stations with clay pigeons flying across openings in the trees. After a full afternoon of competition, food was served by DC's catering and everyone was treated to some music by Chap Bernet and awards were handed out. Dr. Cathy Bryce was honored for all of her support over the years of the football program and was presented with a personalized belt buckle and flowers. All of this can only mean it is time for some high school football. With just weeks left for the official first kickoff of the Scots season expectations are high for the 2008 team.

New

2008-08-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

It is time for a new season, a new school year and new players on the team. Stop by here for all of your HP sports news and photos from different sporting events. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any ideas or suggestions.