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10/30/09
TEXARKANA, AR-The Liberty Eylau Leopards (5-4, 3-1) defeated the
Atlatna Rabbit's 21-0 at Razerback Stadium on the campus of
Texarkana, Arkansas High School Friday. Atlanta Running back
Paris Propps rushed for 102 yards and was named the KPYN/Aaron
Yohn player of the game.
The Atlanta Rabbit's (2-7, 0-4) will player their final game of the
year Friday night November 6th at home against the Mt. Vernon
Tigers.
10/16/09
TEXARKANA , TX- The Pleasant Grove hawks christened their new
multi-million dollar-3500 seat stadium with an impressive
42-14 victory over district 16-3A rival Atlanta in front of a
standing room only crowd in Texarkana. Pleasant Grove (5-2,
1-1) scored the only two touchdowns in the first quarter and
Atlanta scored the only two touchdowns in the second quarter
and at half time the score was tied at fourteen a piece.
However, the only points scored in the second half were scored
by Pleasant Grove and the final score of 42-14, left Pleasant
Grove tied for second and the Rabbit's 0-2 in district
and 2-5 overall in last place on the outside looking in, in a
district race that features Pittsburgh and Liberty-Eylau
each 2-0, New Boston and Pleasant Grove each 1-1, and Mt.
Vernon and Atlanta each winless at 0-2. To clinch a play-off
spot, the Rabbit's need to run the table, if they lose one
more game, they'll need to win the other two and get help to
get in; they still have three games remaining.
Atlanta's touchdowns were on a 19-yard touchdown run by senior
quarterback Carlos Ibarra and a one yard run by running Parish
Propps. However, that was the only points the Rabbits could
muster on a night when PG had their way with the Atlanta
defense in the second half. Pleasant Grove's senior
quarterback Antonio Graves was virtually unstoppable as
he passed for 103-yards and three touchdowns and rushed for
137 yards and a touchdown.
it was another courageous effort from Atlanta's Ibarra who also did
an excellent job punting and place kicking. Ibarra finished
the game with 18 rushes for 30-yards and a touchdown and he
was 7-of-19 for 70 yards and 2-INT's passing. Ibarra was named
the games KPYN/Arona Yohn/Edward Jones Investments Most
Valuable Player.
Defensively, Hawks cornerback Demarcus Banks had two picks, one for
six, as the Pleasant Grove defense held the Rabbit's
scoreless in the final 24-minutes of the contest.
The Rabbit's will attempt to right the 2009 season's ship next
Friday at home during the 2009 homecoming against the New
Boston Lions. You can listen to the Atlanta/New Boston game
this Friday night on KPYN-AM and FM and on the Internet at
www.kpyn.net with the pre-game show beginning at 7 p.m.
and the kick-off at 7:30 p.m. with Robert DelGiorno providing
the play-by-play and Bridger Smithers the color-commentary.
10/09/09 Pirates Cage
Rabbits in District Opener
By- Robert
DelGiorno
PITTSBURGH,
TX-The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Atlanta Rabbits 38-13.
The Pirates improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in district, the
Rabbits dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in district. The
Rabbits next game is Friday night at Pleasant Grove in
Texarkana. Pleasant Grove was defeated by Liberty Eylau last
Friday 34-14; the Hawks are 0-1 in district. You can listen to
the Atlanta vs. Pleasant Grove Hawks game this Friday night on
KPYN am-FM and on our website at
www.kpyn.net. Our pre-game show for Rabbits Football
Friday will get underway at 7 p.m. and the kick-off will be at
7:30, yours truly Robert DelGiorno with the play-by-play and
Bridger Smithers with the color commentary.
In the loss Friday at Pittsburgh, the Rabbits quarterback
Carlos Ibarra threw for 143 yards, 1-touchdown and
3-interceiptions; the touchdown pass a 29-yard strike to
Corion Webster. The Rabbits other touchdown was on a 16-yard
run to pay dirt by Joe Rose. The Pirates racked up 425 yards
in total offence to the Rabbits 230.
9/25/09
ATLANTA, TX- The Atlanta Rabbits (2-3) wrapped
up their pre-district schedule by losing 24-7 at home to the
Henderson Lions (3-2) in a game played in the mud.
The Lions defense was in the Rabbits backfield
all night putting pressure on Atlanta’s senior quarterback
Carlos Ibarra and trapping Rabbits running backs and Ibarra in
the backfield for several rushing losses as Henderson out
gained Atlanta in total offensive yards 325 to 71.
Ibarra, who passed for 5-touchdowns against
Tatum last week, passed for just 56 yards, 1-TD and 2-INT’s
against Henderson.
Lions quarterback Tyrell Jenkins passed for 173
yards, 2-TD’s and 1-INT.
Henderson scored first with 11:00 remaining in
the first quarter when Jenkins connected with Tyler Pool on a
47-yard touchdown pass, the extra point was good and the Lions
led Atlanta 7-0.
On Atlanta’s next possession, Henderson’s
defense held and the Rabbits punt by Ibarra was fumbled by the
Lions Grayland Dunams and recovered by Atlanta’s Shad Andrews
at the Henderson 45-yard line.
Atlanta capitalized on the turnover when Ibarra
scrambled to avoid a pass rush and completed a 24-yard
touchdown pass to Webster, Ibarra’s point after made the score
7-7 with 7:17 remaining in the first quarter.
There was a ½ delay in the game when one of the
Henderson players broke his arm after colliding with an
official on a play on the side-line and when the delay was
over it appeared that the Rabbits lost some momentum.
With 1:26 remaining in the half, Jenkins hit
Conner Goode on a 29-yard touchdown pass that put the Lions up
14-7. Before the end of the half, Rabbits defensive end
Devondre "Dre" Oliver intercepted a Jenkins pass but the
Rabbit’s were unable to capitalize on the turnover and the
half ended with Henderson hanging on to a 7-point lead.
Oliver was named the KPYN/Aaron Yohn, Edward
Jones MVP in the game. Besides Oliver’s INT, he also made
several nice tackles for losses in the contest.
The second half was all Henderson as Dylon Culp
kicked a 31-yard field goal with time expiring in the third
quarter and John Polk scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to
complete the scoring in the game.
The Rabbit’s will have a bye week and start
district play at Pittsburgh Friday October 9th. You
can listen to all Rabbit’s games live on KPYN AM-FM and
KPYN.Net.
9/19/09
Atlanta beats Tatum by Steve Phillips
Tatum, TX - The Atlanta Rabbits football team avenged last
year's 13-9 loss to Tatum by spoiling the Eagles Homecoming
Friday night with a 49-35 shootout victory. Atlanta
quarterback Carlos Ibarra threw 5 touchdown passes on 22 of 33
attempts for 370 yards. A lot of credit goes to the
Rabbit offensive line who allowed just 1 sack, while rolling
up 178 yards rushing for a whopping total of 548 yards.
Atlanta's defense also
played a major role in the victory by slamming the door on the
vaunted Eagle running game in the 2nd quarter when the Rabbits
turned a 15-6 deficit, into a 26-15 halftime lead. Tatum
had averaged over 300 yards rushing in their first 3 games,
but managed only 221 yards against the Rabbits. The
Eagles had also only thrown the ball 9 times entering the game
but were forced to the air when trailing and finished 13 of 30
passing for only 135 yards. With Tatum leading 15-13
after the first period, the Atlanta defense pitched a shutout
in the 2nd quarter forcing the Eagles to give the ball back to
the juggernaut Rabbit offense, which punted only once the
entire game.
The game was delayed 12
minutes due to the length of the Atlanta Volleyball teams 3-2
win over Tatum. Members of the Eagles Volleyball team
were part of the pre-game homecoming activities and the
football teams left the field to get dressed almost 50 minutes
before kickoff as a result. The delay didn't stop the
offenses as each team scored on its first possession.
Tatum won the toss and
took the ball 80 yards on the first of 4 BJ Allen touchdown
runs. Atlanta answered right back with beautiful 73 yard
touchdown bomb to a wide open LD Crenshaw for his 1st score of
the season. After each team was forced to punt, Tatum
took a 15-6 lead. The Rabbits countered with a 4 yard TD
toss to Tori Linwood to get within 15-13.
From that point on,
Atlanta dominated scoring the next 4 times they had the ball.
Ibarra ran in from 9 yards out, then hit Michael Williams with
an 8 yard scoring pass for a 26-15halftime lead. The
Rabbits marched 80 yards to start the 2nd half with the
Ibarra-Linwood combo connecting again from 15 yards out,
followed by Corion Webster hauling in a the final touchdown
pass from Ibarra for a 39-15 Atlanta lead.
Tatum answered with a 17
yard TD toss from Desmond Fite to Jalen Overstreet, then
recovered an onside kick and scored on BJ Allen's 3rd run of
the game. Atlanta led 39-29 but put the game away with
back to back scores on a 25 yard field goal by Ibarra and a 5
yard rumble to the end zone by Joe Rose. The Eagles
added a meaningless score with under a minute to play for the
final 49-35 score.
Michael Williams had a
huge night receiving with 7 catches for 120 yards in the first
half, helping Atlanta even their season record at 2-2, the
same as Tatum. The Rabbits end their pre-season schedule
next Friday against the Henderson Lions at Rabbit Stadium at
7:30. Be sure to listen to the Ronnie Melton Coaches
Show Tuesday from noon to 1 on KPYN. Steve Phillips will
handle the play by play call of the Lions-Rabbits game next
Friday night with pre-game at 7 and the kickoff at 7:30 on
KPYN AM, FM and Dot Net.
Sat 9/12/09
Carthage Crushes Rabbits
Weather delayed the
outcome Friday night at Rabbit Stadium in Atlanta, but in the
end, the 2nd ranked Carthage Bulldogs overpowered the 43rd
ranked Atlanta Rabbits 48-20 in high school football.
Carthage scored on the 2nd play of the game as O'Bryan
Washington raced 58 yards into the end zone.
Lightning then delayed the
game for nearly 2 hours before the game would resume.
When it did, Carthage snapped the ball over the punters head
with several Rabbit players waiting to smother it. On
first down, Carlos Ibarra hooked up with Tori Linwood from 18
yards out, tying the score at 7.
Carthage would score 5
unanswered touchdowns to put the game away. Washington
scored 3 times with Hunter Holland adding 2 scoring runs.
The Bulldogs improve to 3-0 and looked as strong as last years
State Championship team. Carthage has now won 16 in a
row.
Atlanta finally scored
again after trailing 42-7 as Corian Webster swept into the end
zone from 6 yards out. The Ibarra to Linwood worked the
next time Atlanta had the ball, but it was too little as the
Rabbits fell to 1-2 on the season.
Carthage rolled up 463
yards of total offense compared to 272 for Atlanta.
Washington had close to 200 yards rushing, while Webster got
about 100.
Atlanta travels to Tatum
next Friday night to take on the Eagles. Friday Night
Lights pre-game coverage starts at 7pm on KPYN with the
kickoff at 7:30. Be sure to listen to the Ronnie Melton
Show Tuesday at noon from McDonalds on Loop 59 in Atlanta on
KPYN AM-FM and
www.kpyn.net.
Fri Sept 4, 2009
Rabbits give Parents 27-26 Home win over Royse City
The Atlanta Rabbits football team celebrated
Parents Night on Friday with a come from behind 27-26 victory
over the Royse City Bulldogs at Rabbit Stadium. Freshman
running back Corion Webster led the Rabbits comeback with 8
carries for 95 yards and a sprinter like run down the sideline
for his first varsity touchdown. The Rabbits had to
stuff a 2-point conversion try with just 1:19 left in the game
to preserve the victory.
The Bulldogs jumped to a 6-0 first quarter lead
after a missed field goal try from 32 yards out. A
31-yard scoring pass from Taylor Corbin to Ryan Fedric put the
Dogs on top. Atlanta took the lead following an
interception by Jatorian Linwood and a personal foul that put
the Rabbits 1st and 10 at the Royse City 11. Senior
quarterback Carols Ibarra connected with Linwood to tie the
game with 7:43 left in the first half. The PAT by Ibarra
gave Atlanta a 7-6 halftime lead.
The Rabbits took the 2nd half kickoff and
marched down the field to extend the lead to 13-6 after a
4-yard TD run by Ibarra. The point after was no good
following a bad snap. Royse City tied the game on a
1-yard run by Lewis Mapps and PAT at 13 with 4:35 in the 3rd.
Atlanta quickly got ahead on the Webster 36-yard sprint down
the sidelines with only :12 left in the period, giving the
Rabbits a 20-13 lead after 3 quarters.
The 4th quarter was back n forth, as the 4-A
Bulldogs tied the game at 20 with a Mapps second TD from
15-yards out. Class 3-A Atlanta again took the lead on a
scrambling 31-yard scoring pass from Ibarra to Senior receiver
Orlando Ivory, with Ibarra adding on the point after for a
27-20 lead. Things got tense for the home crowd when
Ryan Fedric scored with just 1:19 left from 6-yards out for
the Bulldogs. Royse City decided to go for the 2-point
conversion, but got stuffed by the goal line defense.
Devondre Oliver recovered the onside kick and Atlanta held on
for the 1-point win.
Atlanta Head Coach Ronnie Melton said "We
worked all week on our running attack and we have to be able
to run the ball. When we run the ball, we can throw the
football, and that's what you saw tonight. We were able
to run it, which opened up the passing game. We couldn't
run it in the first half, so we changed some blocks at
halftime, made some adjustments and it helped us.
Webster is an athlete and we just wanted to nurse him along.
Tonight, he found out what it was like to get in a battle.
He made some big, big plays for us. And Joe Rose, he
hammered for us on both sides of the ball. He was worn out.
We don't have the depth that they have, but our kids just
kept hanging on and wanted it."
The Rabbits had no turnovers, compared to a
week ago in their season opening 21-14 loss at Daingerfield,
and ended up a plus 3 in that category. "We worked on
that this week. Covering the ball with both arms until
we get out in the open field. Once we feel contact,
we're covering with two. Coach Raley worked on that with
our running backs hard this week. We weren't going to
turn the ball over."
Atlanta finished with 159 rushing yards and 144
passing for 301-yards of total offense compared to 422 for
Royse City. The Bulldogs are 0-1 this year, while the
Rabbits are 1-1 with a home game against Carthage next Friday
night at 7:30. Be sure to listen to the Ronnie Melton
Show Tuesdays from Noon to 1pm at McDonalds on Loop 59 in
Atlanta, plus all Rabbit football games all season long on
KPYN AM, FM and Dot Net.
8/28/09 Atlanta Falls Short In 09 Opener
By: Robert DelGiorno
DANGERFIELD, TX- The
Dangerfield Tigers (1-0) built a 21-0 lead over Atlanta (0-1)
heading into the 4th quarter and they may have thought that
the horse was in the barn, but it wasn't because in the final
quarter, Rabbits senior quarterback Carlos Ibarra
completed a 16 yard touchdown pass to Jatorian Linwood and ran
one in for himself for a 15 yard touchdown.
The Tigers survived two
on side kick attempts and held on for a 21-14 win over the
Rabb's.
"It was my fault that
we lost and I take full responsibility for our poor execution
in the first half," Ibarra said. "I should have got rid of the
ball quicker, I promise that it won't happen again."
It's Ibarra's holding
himself accountable and his gutsy performance that makes this
eye witness to his courageous effort a believer in him being a
quarterback that is a field general to be reckoned with when
district begins.
"I was very proud of
our kids but disappointed that we didn't win and execute as
we'll as I think we could have in the first three quarters of
the ball game, " Ronnie Melton, Atlanta Rabbits head
coach said. "They also hit us with some big plays in the third
quarter but we fought back and the effort was great."
The Rabbits will host
the Royce City Bulldogs in their home opener Friday
night Friday, September 4th @ Atlanta Rabbits Stadium @ 7::30
p.m.
You can listen to all
the Atlanta Rabbits football games live on KPYN radio, 900 AM
and 95.5 FM and streamed live on line @
www.kpyn.net.
The Ronnie Melton
Coaches Show airs live from McDonalds on Loop 59 in Atlanta
Tuesdays @ 12 p.m. On KPYN AM, FM and dot Net.
Rabbit’s scrimmage to a
draw against Jefferson and now get ready for Dangerfield
The Atlanta
Rabbit's football team scrimmaged at Jefferson last
Thursday night and according to Ronnie Melton the Rabbit's
head coach, the Rabbit's scored on the Bulldogs twice and
Jefferson scored on the Rabbit's twice. The Rabbit's were
playing without star running back Joe Rose who is
recovering from a sore back.
"We
stayed with our base stuff and we didn't show anything that we
were going to do against Daingerfield," Ronnie Melton, head
coach of the Atlanta Rabbits said. "We didn't throw any
screens."
Darrius
Dickerson rushed for over 100 LD Crenshaw intercepted a pass
in the scrimmage and Coach Melton was impressed with the young
players but he's still waiting for some of the seniors on the
team to step up their game a bit.
"We are in position to do a lot of good things and we are in
position to make some progress," Melton said. "I'm still
disappointed in some of our seniors that haven't responded yet
and as soon as they do respond, we're going to be in real good
shape."
The Rabbit's open their 2009 season this coming
Friday night at Daingerfield. You can listen to the Rabbit's
games on KPYN AM-FM and
www.kpyn.net with the pre-game show starting Friday night
at 7 p.m. and the kick-off at 7:30 p.m.
Coach Melton will also have his weekly coach’s show live every
Tuesday afternoon at noon from the McDonalds on Loop 59 in
Atlanta beginning this Tuesday August 26th.
Daingerfield is the defending 2-A State Champions and they
return 13 starters from last season including blue-chip
starting quarterback, junior Tyler Boyd. You can't stop
quarterback Tyler Boyd, you can only hope to contain Boyd.
"We can't give up the big play on defense, we have to make
them drive the ball," Melton said. "If we don't give up the
big play, we can win. A lot of it depends on the play of our
defensive ends keeping their quarterback (Boyd) under
control," Melton said. "He's their key. They have a lot of
skilled people but he's (Boyd) their ignition. If we slow him
d own or keep him under control, we have a good shot at
winning the football game."
The other skilled players Coach Melton is talking about when
talking about Dangerfield is running back KoKo Smith and wide
receiver Chris Jones.
The Rabbit's are led on offense by senior
quarterback Carlos Ibarra, running back Joe Rose and wide
receiver Tory Linwood.
 QB
Carlos Ibarra Poised to Lead
Atlanta into 2009 Season
By: Robert DelGiorno
Pre Season Preview by Robert Del Giorno
ATLANTA, TX- The Atlanta Rabbit’s struggled in 2008 (2-8, 1-3)
However, that’s water under the bridge. So this season,
Atlanta says goodbye to Demon Haire, Demond Horsley and Titus
Webster, stars from last year who will play on Saturday.
Atlanta welcomes back head coach Ronnie Melton who has coached
at Atlanta for 19-years and 2-years at the helm and they
return 7 key starters and new players coming up in the program
making this season an opportunity to return the Atlanta
program to their former days of football supremacy in
Northeast Texas.
 The
Rabbits will begin practicing for the 2009 season Monday
August 3rd. The first 5 days of the pre-season,
Coach Melton said that the Rabbits will combine both practices
into one session per day from 8 a.m. till 1 p.m. and on
Saturday they’ll decide on whether or not to continue with one
session per day or to go to two-a-days.
Atlanta head coach
Ronnie Melton
Atlanta’s offensive coordinator is Ronnie
Melton’s son, Cale Melton. Cale Melton spent last season
as an officer with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) but
he has coaching experience at Mesquite Horn High School in the
Dallas Metro-plex.
“He (Cale Melton) wanted to see what it would
be like to be out of coaching and then he decided that wanted
back in,” the daddy Melton said. “The opportunity came, so we
brought him here. He’s a very intelligent football coach.”
Ronnie Melton said that the Rabbit’s will
continue to run the spread offence.
“We’ll run more off-set eye this year than we
have in the past. At the end of the season last year we were
in the off-set eye quite a bit we seemed to move the ball
effectively,” Coach Ronnie Melton said. “It took a little
pressure off Carlos (Ibarra, Atlanta quarterback) and we have
a lot of good running backs and we want to use all of our
skilled kids.
Atlanta QB Carlos Ibarra
Ibarra agrees with his head coach in regards to
running the staggered eye.
“It gives me more play action and allows me to
move around more and takes the eyes off me and it will allow
me to cause trouble for the opponent’s defense.” Ibarra said.
According to head coach Melton, Ibarra (6-1,
180, 4.7) is one of the players to watch on offense for
Atlanta this season.
“He has another year of experience and he’s
been working real hard in the off season,” Ronnie Melton said.
Ibarra has been working extremely hard this
off season playing 7-on-7 football, running, riding his bike
and lifting weights every day with the rest of the team.
“Whatever it takes to get in shape,”
The Rabbits head coach said that wide receiver
Tori Linwood (6-3, 180, 4.6), junior fullback Joe Rose, tail
back Parris Propps and flankers Landon Henson and LD Crenshaw
are the other players to watch on the Atlanta offense.
Coach Melton said that another player really
coming on is tight end Taylor McCarty. McCarty and Henson were
sophomores last year and who will be juniors this year and
seeing their first varsity action this year.
Kane Borowski was expected to be one of
Atlanta’s wide receivers this year but his family uprooted
Atlanta and moved to Pennsylvania.
DE Devondre Oliver
The Rabbits defensive coordinator is Jarod
Boston and head coach Ronnie Melton said that Atlanta will run
a 4-3 defensive scheme.
“It’s 50-50 run pass. Some defenses are built
to stop the run and others are built to stop the pass but the
4-3 is built to stop both,” Ronnie Melton said. “You can get 7
or 8 in the box with it and you can get them out of there too,
that’s why most pro teams like the 4-3 or 3-4 but even the pro
teams in the 3-4 rush 4 people.
Coach Ronnie Melton said the players to watch
on the Rabbits defense are senior tackle Decoya Walker, nose
tackle Shad Andrews and senior defensive ends Shemiah “Shaq”
Blaylock who is 6-5 and wears a size 18 shoe and the other
book end, DeVondre Oliver. Blaylock will also be used on
offense as a blocking tight end.
Atlanta’s special team’s coordinator is Joel
Morris. The Atlanta place kicker and punter is Ibarra.
WR Tori Linwood
The Atlanta Rabbits football games are carried
live on KPYN 900-AM, 95.5-FM and on the internet at
www.kpyn.net. Coach Ronnie Melton’s 1-hour coaches show
will air every week during the season Tuesday nights at seven
on KPYN, live from McDonalds on Loop 59 in Atlanta.
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