It’s a shame last year’s Lake Highlands football team didn’t get to play one of its playoff games at Texas Stadium. Now it looks like there may be far fewer high school games at the new Cowboys Stadium than at the old stadium. The new stadium may simply be too expensive to rent. 

LH football was a Texas Stadium regular during its long playoff runs in the 1990s. So for today’s Friday Flashback, I thought I would list my top three LH games at Texas Stadium. You might have a different favorite.

1. 1992 – Lake Highlands 31, Nacogdoches 28. This was a wild, back-and-forth game full of lost of offensive fireworks. It was also played in the days before overtime. The score was tied late. The teams were also tied in penetrations inside the 20, the first tiebreaker. Nacogdoches held the edge in first downs, the second tiebreaker. LH mounted a final, furious drive to get in kicker Phil Dawson’s range. Without missing a beat, Dawson ran onto the field and calmly boomed a 52-yard field goal to break Nacogdoches’ heart.

Click on the jump to read the other two top LH games at Texas Stadium.

2. 1981 – Lake Highlands 17, Tyler John Tyler 14. Another game decided by a dramatic field goal. This was LH’s first playoff game in six years, and first-ever game at Texas Stadium, as far as I can recall. It was also the first of many great playoff battles with John Tyler. LH kicker Todd Tschantz kicked one from about 40 yards out to win the game. The next day, the Redskins’ Mark Moseley, another famous straight-ahead kicker, missed from a shorter distance at Texas Stadium.

3. 1998 – Lake Highlands 40, Garland 14. LH lost its first four games of the season and made the playoffs with a humble 5-5 record. The Wildcats struggled in the first half of the bi-district game with Garland and looked to be on their way to an early playoff exit. But something clicked in the second half with quarterback Peter Ruth and the mid-line veer. Lake Highlands rattled off touchdown after touchdown, then rode the momentum of that win all the way to the state semifinals,

Lake Highlands had the luxury of playing seven games at Wildcat-Ram Stadium, aka The Boneyard, in 2008. Now comes the flip side – just four home games in 2009.

Unlike last year when LH played its first three games on its home turf, in 2009 LH won’t play a home game until Sept. 25. Even this year’s preseason scrimmage is on the road.

Here’s the good news: Although there are only four home games, there are just five true road games. The Aug. 29 season opener is a neutral site contest at Frisco’s Pizza Hut Park.

And the game that will likely determine the District 9-5A title, LH vs. Skyline, is played at Wildcat-Ram. Should be a huge turnout for the first home game of the season. 

Other highlights:

- Homecoming is Oct. 23 vs. W.T. White. 

- LH is the home team for the annual rivalry game with Berkner.

- The opener is on a Saturday night, and there are two Thursday night games (Sept. 10 and Oct. 1). I’ve always liked the occasional non-Friday game because it gives you a chance to see another good game on Friday night. 

- The longest trips are to Frisco and the DISD’s Kincaide Stadium in Oak Cliff. At least there won’t be rush hour traffic to Pizza Hut Park. Kincaide is one of the nicer stadiums in the area.

- In addition to Pizza Hut Park, home of FC Dallas professional soccer, the Oct. 30 game at Carrollton’s Standridge Stadium is where the Dallas Cowboys held their OTA’s and mini-camp this year.

Click to the jump for the complete 2009 LH varsity football schedule

2009 Lake Highlands Varsity Football Schedule

Aug. 21 – (scrimmage) at South Garland (Homer B. Johnson Stadium), 10:30 a.m.

Aug. 29 (Sat.) – Mesquite (Frisco’s Pizza Hut Park), 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 4 – at Mesquite Horn (E.H. Hanby Stadium), 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 (Thurs.) – at Garland (Williams Stadium), 7 p.m.

Bye Week

Sept. 25 – Skyline (Wildcat-Ram), 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 (Thurs.) – at Sunset (Kincaide Stadium), 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 9 – Berkner (Wildcat-Ram), 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 16 – at Richardson (Eagle-Mustang Stadium), 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 23 – W.T. White (Wildcat-Ram), 7:30 p.m. (HOMECOMING)

Oct. 30 – at Carrollton Creekview (Standridge Stadium), 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 6 – Molina (Wildcat-Ram), 7:30 p.m.

Junior Varsity football is a great opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow. It’s a well-kept secret because it doesn’t have the hoopla of Friday night football, but it can still be a lot of fun.

Highlights of the 2009 Lake Highlands JV Football Schedule:

- Thanks to the varsity playing so many home games last year, the JV gets the benefit of six home games this season. LH’s first three games are at home.

- There are two Wednesday night games: Sept. 9 vs. Garland and Sept. 30 vs. Sunset. These fall on weeks when the varsity plays on Thursdays.

- The JV will get a tour of DISD stadiums with three DISD road opponents: Skyline at Pleasant Grove, W.T. White at Franklin and Molina at Kincaide. I haven’t been to Pleasant Grove Stadium in about 15 years and back then I would have ranked it by far the least appealing of the DISD’s venues. Franklin Stadium is on Hillcrest’s campus, which is both cozy and convenient. Kincaide Stadium is a hike, but it is a jewel. It’s the newest and biggest DISD stadium and is worth the trip south.

- Not sure why the Oct. 8 game with Berkner is at Berkner’s B Field. Unless there’s some sort of conflict, why not play it at The Boneyard, where the LH and Berkner varsities play? By the way, Berkner’s B Field is not a bad little stadium at all – it has the new artificial turf, so Berkner has an all-weather surface to practice on just like LH.

The full 2009 JV schedule is on the jump.

2009 Lake Highlands Junior Varsity Football Schedule

Aug. 21 – scrimmage vs. S. Garland (Homer B. Johnson Stadium), 9 a.m.

Aug. 27 – Mesquite (Wildcat-Ram), 6 p.m.

Sept. 3 – Mesquite Horn (Wildcat-Ram), 6 p.m.

Sept. 9 (Wed.) – Garland (Wildcat-Ram), 6 p.m.

Bye Week

Sept. 24 – at Skyline (Pleasant Grove), 7 p.m.

Sept. 30 (Wed.) – Sunset (Wildcat-Ram), 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 – at Berkner (Berkner B Field), 6 p.m.

Oct. 15 – Richardson (Wildcat-Ram), 6 p.m.

Oct. 22 – at W.T. White (Franklin), 7 p.m.

Oct. 29 – Carr. Creekview (Wildcat-Ram), 6 p.m.

Nov. 5 – at Molina (Kincaide), 7 p.m.

Tori Mellinger hasn’t wasted any time getting a start on her college career. The former Lake Highlands volleyball standout has been in College Station since July 6, taking classes and prepping for her debut on the Texas A&M volleyball team.

"We aren’t allowed to have actual practices yet, but we lift and work out in the morning and have open gym at night," Mellinger said.  "I love it so far and I’m having such a good time."

Practice officially begins with two-a-days Aug. 10. The season begins Aug. 28 when the Aggies host the Texas A&M Invitiational at Reed Arena.

Having followed Lake Highlands sports since I was a wee Wildcat, I’ve seen a lot of accomplishments over 40-plus years. State championships, record-breakers, newsmakers – LH has had it all in terms of sports success. However, last season may have topped them all in terms of overall athletic success.

LH finished third overall among 5A schools in The Dallas Morning News’ area HS All-Sports Awards, behind only first place Southlake Carroll and runner-up Plano West. LH probably won more district titles in 2008-09 than in any other school year.

Obviously, moving into a new district 9-5A, and away from the huge Plano and Allen schools, in 2008-09 had something to do with the unprecedented success, but it wasn’t everything. Deep runs into the playoffs by several programs disproved any theories that LH merely benefited from a softer district. The question is, can LH top itself in 2009-10?

“To have all the district champs we had, and then to have all the teams push far into the playoffs, it was really an honor as an athletic director,” LH’s Scott Smith said. “We’re looking forward to being just as successful this year, because if you look at all of our rosters, we have a lot of kids coming back and we haven’t had a lot of turnover in our coaching staff.”

A partial list of LH’s sports accomplishments in 2008-09 is on the jump.

Boys Cross Country: District champions, Austin Roth individual district champ.

Girls cross country: District runner-up.

Volleyball: District champions, state finals.

Football: District champions, third round of the playoffs.

Team Tennis: District champion.

Boys basketball: District champion.

Girls basketball: District runner-up, bi-district champs.

Gymnastics: Sarie Morrison repeats as state all-around champ.

Softball: District champions.

Girls soccer: District champions, Regional semifinalist.

Wrestling: Isaac Grieder state runner-up at 160, three state qualifiers.

Swimming and Diving: Jennifer Browder district and regional champion diver.

Boys Golf: District champs.

Boys Track and Field: Isaac Grieder, regional pole vault champ.

Girls Track and Field: 4×200 relay qualifies for state.

You’d think Reid McCann would have enough on his plate just getting ready to go off to Harvard. Instead, the former Lake Highlands defensive end and recent LH grad has filled up his summer with a number of worthwhile efforts.

McCann started a junior high workout program with Brian Lonergan, similar to the WAC program the high school athletes participate in.

"It’s been a blast," McCann said. "And we’ve had almost 100 different kids show up over the summer, so it’s been more than we could have asked for."

For more about McCann, read the jump.

McCann, nicknamed The Harvard Hammer by yours truly, has also been working at Smith Barney – he wants to be an investment banker – and is brushing up on his Spanish.

"I have to take it next year and I haven’t spoken it since sophomore year, so I’m in trouble there," McCann said. "No Bueno."

McCann has also been getting in his workouts for football, following a program Harvard’s coaches gave him. He has a chance to start as a freshman at deep snapper, which would also move him up higher on the depth chart at defensive end and on special teams. He leaves for two-a-days in mid-August, which might be a break from all the activity he’s had over the summer.

Lake Highlands’ own Justin Leonard (Class of 1990) shot an even-par 70 in the first round of the British Open on Thursday. You can keep up with his progress at the official Open web site, which has lots of neat apps and doodads.

It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but it was 12 years ago that Leonard won the British Open. You can read an account of that triumph on Leonard’s personal website. Or, if you have some time to kill, you can read the version that appeared in Sports Illustrated, written by some flash-in-the-pan hack. Whatever became of him?

School starts early for the Lake Highlands football staff. The coaches are headed to Austin this weekend for the annual Texas High School Coaches Association convention and coaching school, usually called "Coaching School" for short.

THSCA is one of the nation’s strongest coaching organizations and Coaching School is always well attended. Coaching School is a great place for coaches to network and listen to respected speakers on various topics. It also features the All-Star football and basketball games.

But for the LH staff, it’s not all fun and games, coach Scott Smith said.

"Coaching School, to me, is a very important time," Smith said. "From our staff standpoint, we use it as a time to get focused on our season. We’ll have a time to sit down as a staff and put our goals down on paper and what we want to accomplish. It’s a chance to get away and be together."

It’s no knock against Lake Highlands that Skyline will garner most of the nods as the preseason favorite in 9-5A football. Skyline will be one of the most talented teams in the nation, at least in recruiting terms.

Earlier this week, Skyline linebacker orally committed to Texas A&M. That brings to nine the number of Skyline players who have committed to major schools.

Skyline’s other high-profile commitments include WR Mike Davis to LSU, RB Tony Drake to Michigan, LB Domonique Patterson to Texas A&M and WR Joe Powell to Oklahoma.

Skyline makes its first-ever trip to Wildcat-Ram Stadium on Sept. 25. Get there early before all the college scouts and Aggie, Sooner and Bayou Bengal fans take up all the seats.