In a game marred by several key injuries and seven turnovers, McCallum lost to LBJ, 14-3. The loss was the Knights’ (4-1, 0-1) first of the season, and it came in their District 25-5A opener.
“We just had too many mistakes,” assistant coach Aaron Stancik told The Shield after the game. “LBJ (4-1, 1-0) is a good team. We have to give them a lot of credit. They have a lot of good athletes. You can’t make mistakes against a good team and expect to win.”
Although the defeat was tough to take, the Knights showed a lot of mettle in fighting through adversity throughout the game. The defense in particular proved very resilient. Despite the turnovers and being on the field a disproportionate part of the second half, the Knights held the Jaguars to 14 points in the game and scoreless in the second half.
“That was the best defensive line we’ve played all year,” LBJ coach Andrew Jackson told the Austin American-Statesman. “They were athletic, fast and making plays sideline to sideline. We just had to make a few plays to get a lead.”
The McCallum coaches also spoke highly of their team’s effort and grit during the game.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Stancik said. “They played hard. You win as a team, and you lose as a team.”
The loss to an arch rival and key district foe came coincided with the school’s homecoming celebration.
Before the game, the marching band performed the routine they took the Band of Americas competition in Round Rock the next day. At halftime, the band and Blue Brigade performed, and the homecoming court was recognized. Senior Brittne Miller was named both Football Sweetheart and homecoming queen. It was a night of extremes for senior wide receiver Griffin Garbutt, who was named homecoming king at halftime.
“[Winning homecoming king] was pretty exciting at halftime, but other than that, I was focused on the game.”
Neither team’s offense could solve their opponent’s defense. Both team’s were held to 12 first downs for the game. LBJ gained only 248 yards in the game to McCallum’s 187. McCallum senior running back Andre Blakemore had a good game statistically, gaining 101 yards on 17 carries and setting up the team’s only score, a Luke Whitefield field goal that gave McCallum an early 3-0 lead.
But despite that silver lining and the character the team showed throughout the game, the players took the loss hard.
“I am pretty upset [about the loss],” Garbutt said, “but the season’s not over.”
The team now must prepare for another tough test next week against Austin High, a historical rival that has been off McCallum’s radar because it has spent that past several years playing at the 6-A level. The Maroons (1-4, 1-0) defeated Crockett (0-5, 0-1), 56-14, to win their district opener and their first game of the season.
“We start [getting ready for Austin High] tomorrow,” Coach Stancik said. “We’re 4-1, and we’ve got a special group. These guys are really, really special, and I expect them to come in and respond next week against Austin High.”
The question of injuries might make that challenge a little bit tougher.
“We don’t have a lot of depth to begin with, but the guys that stepped in they did well for those [injured] guys,” Coach Stancik said. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Guys will go see the trainer, and we’ll see what happens.”
Garbutt agreed.
“It starts tomorrow morning. We’ve got to get guys healthy, and it’s on to the next one. I’m ready.”
Reporting by J. R. Cardenas. Video by Mia Orrick. Photos by Gregory James, Madison Olsen, Mia Orrick, Adrian Peña and Dave Winter.
![A PRIDE-FUL WEEK OF CELEBRATION:
As part of AISDs week-long celebration of PRIDE, students of the McCallum Spectrum Club worked to create a week full of activities, prizes and helping hands to support the schools LGBTQ+ community. The club is widely available for anyone to join, and specializes in creating a safe space for students to share and give advice. While Pride month itself isn’t until June, AISD designates one week in March to celebrate and commemorate the importance of this part of the student body.
As part of the week of festivities, the club held a booth in the front hall handing out pride stickers, pins and merch to passers by. For junior Zane Joly, the booth idea was brought up as a way for students to engage with one another, and connect with the community.
“I call out to people in the halls, ‘hey, do you want stickers?’” Joly said. “We just give out free pride stickers and sometimes other free pride merch to the students of Macallum because everybody likes pride stickers.”
While the week itself is packed with a variety of different activities, the overall goal is to bring students closer together and create a safer environment for self expression at McCallum.
“The idea for the student panel largely came from the black [history] student panel that is done during Black History Month,” Joly said. “And the idea for giving out free stuff was developed at Spectrum last year.”
Joly is not only a member of the Spectrum club, but also holds a leadership position giving them a more hands-on role with the projects and Pride Week activities.
“McCallum has a very high queer population,” Joly said. “I think Its nice that we get a chance to celebrate Pride because Pride Month is during the summer, and I think its just a nice thing for the community and getting to just celebrate it.”
While the merch table at lunch was only a small part of the numerous parts of McCallum’s Pride week, for Joly this small impact made all the difference.
“The purpose of Pride is to make people not feel alone and to make them feel safe,” Joly said. “The goal is [to make people] happy about a part of themselves that theyre often conditioned to not feel good about.”
Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Shila Gill.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/53597258192_6e7168d8ae_o-1-1200x676.jpg)
