You have until Sunday to vote for your favorite players on the UIL’s All-Century Football Team. It’s part of the UIL’s ongoing Centennial Celebration.
Several Lake Highlands players are on the list of candidates, including Franklin Okam, Aaron Grant and kickers Phil Dawson and Todd Tschantz.
I haven’t posted this ballot before because a couple of things bug me about it. For one, it lists Lake Highlands-ex Jeremy Campbell among the all-time great linebackers on the ballot. From everything I know about Jeremy Campbell, he’s a great person. He was a top recruit his senior year along with Okam. But I think I’m being fair in saying that his playing career wasn’t all-century caliber. The fact he went to UT may be the reason he’s on the ballot – the UIL is headquartered at UT.
The UIL does get credit for including Grant and Tschantz, who scored all of LH’s points in the 1981 state championship win over Houston Yates. At least there was some research involved there.
But where is former LH great Marcus Stiggers? He’s merely one of the most electrifying high school players ever to play in this state. You mention Lake Highlands to football fans around the state and he’s the one player people bring up. He won statewide player of the year as a senior. Thankfully, you can write in candidates. Guess who I’m writing in at quarterback?
Another rather dubious listing was on the volleyball all-century ballot. Voting has already ended for volleyball, and its ballot did include Lake Highlands great Erin Aldrich. However, until I sent the UIL a correction it listed her high school as Corpus Christi Calallen. That’s the alma mater of Amy Acuff, another elite high jumper (Aldrich was a volleyball and high jump standout).
So you can see this was a rather sloppily put-together All-Centry Team ballot. I don’t think it’s been publicized very well, either. I’m not listing these errors to embarass the UIL, which deserves credit for attempting such an honor. I just want people to be aware when the All-Century teams are announced that the results should not be taken with all seriousness. The ballot certainly wasn’t constructed that way.
