True Web Gems
For today's highschool students the Internet has been a part of their lives for as long as theycan remember. So it's not surprising that many high school sports teams havedeveloped first-class websites, complete with message boards, video clips andeven streaming play-by-play. Here are six of the best.
Lufkin (Texas)High
Sport:Football
URL:LufkinPantherFootball.com
An eye-catchingblack panther, the team's namesake, will draw you into a site that lets youdownload wallpaper for your computer desktop and provides handy links to keeptrack of football around the state. Traffic: 6,000 hits weekly. Click Here: TheFacilities page shows the Panthers' 10,000-seat stadium and their indoorpractice facility with a 70-yard field.
Jenks (Okla.)High
Sport: FootballURL: JenksTrojanFootball.com
Fans ofOklahoma's top program go here to review the season to date (each game-recappage includes a story, stats and plenty of photos) and learn about pre- andpostgame gatherings. Traffic: More than 2,000 hits on football Fridays. ClickHere: The media page has MP3 files of some of KTBZ play-by-play man Don King'scalls from each game.
Lakeland (Fla.)High
Sport: FootballURL: LakelandFootball.com
The Dreadnaughtswere USA Today's national champion in 2005, and thanks to a splashy designtheir site has a look and feel befitting a big-time program (including a pageof links to help players who are being recruited). Traffic: 7.1 million hitslast year. Click Here: The History page includes an explanation of the team'snifty nickname.
MontroseChristian Academy (Rockville, Md.)
Sport: Boys'basketball
URL:StuVetterBasketball.com/Montrose
Make your waypast the Jumpman logo animation (Nike sponsors the team), and you'll findendorsements of coach Stu Vetter from Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Texas' RickBarnes. Click Here: The list of Vetter's Former Players includes retired NBAforwards Dennis Scott and George Lynch and current Denver Nuggets forward LinasKleiza.
Our Lady ofLourdes Academy (Miami)
Sport: Girls'cross-country
URL:http://hometeamsonline.com/visit/?u=LOURDESXC&sport=htosports&t=c
The design isrudimentary, but the content is extremely thorough, with individual bios, teamrecords, a photo page that includes snapshots of fund-raisers and trainingtrips, and a Hall of Fame. An added touch: Several pages load with psyche songsplaying in the background. Traffic: 10,000 hits this year and counting.
St. Xavier High(Cincinnati)
Sports: All URL:StXavier.org
Every singlesports event, from jayvee bowling to varsity football, at this all boys' schoolis covered by at least one of the 30 students who contribute to this site.Click Here: The school produces its own live play-by-play (called by adult St.Xavier staffers) of every home football and basketball game.
POWER RANKINGS
1 HOOVER (Ala.) Senior quarterback Ross Wilson stayedstrong for the Buccaneers (5--0), completing 24 of 33 passes for 285 yards andthree scores (he ran for a fourth) in a 42--8 win over Mountain Brook (Ala.).Next: versus No. 12 John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) on Friday.
2 LAKELAND (Fla.) The Dreadnaughts (5--0) rolled pastDr. Krop (Miami) 49--7 behind senior running back Jamar Taylor, who ran for 143yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries. Next: at Lake Gibson (Lakeland,Fla.) on Friday.
3 OAKS CHRISTIAN (Westlake Village, Calif.) There wasso much hype before the Lions (3--0) walloped then No. 9 St. Bonaventure(Ventura, Calif.) 59--13 last week that the schools hired a media consultant tohandle credential requests. Next: at Venice (Calif.) on Thursday (ESPN2).
4 WARREN CENTRAL (Indianapolis) The Warriors (6--0)blanked Terre Haute (Ind.) North 35--0. Senior running back Darren Evans ranfor 245 yards and five touchdowns, upping his season totals to 1,189 yards and27 scores. Next: versus Carmel (Ind.) on Friday.
5 CARROLL (Southlake, Texas) A 47--7 win over Rockwall(Texas) gave the Dragons (3--0) their 35th consecutive victory. Juniorquarterback Riley Dodge had 481 yards of total offense and five touchdowns.Next: at Keller (Texas) Central on Friday.
--Jon Mahoney, RISE
More Power Rankings
Who were the movers and shakers across the countrythis week? Check out RISE's football Top 25, and track the top 10 teams in eachregion, at SI.com/highschool.
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FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS