Rockwall QB orally commits to San Diego State

Ah, the beach and sunshine…

Rockwall High School quarterback Adam Dingwell says he has orally committed to San Diego State University, after taking part in its football camp there last week.

It would be hard not to do so on such a beautiful campus!

Oral commitments are non-binding. Feb. 3 is the first day that 2010 recruits can sign formal letters of intent.

The 6′4″ 195 lb. senior completed 135 of 217 pass attempts for 1833 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions last year. He also rushed for 173 yards and three TDs on 91 attempts. 

He played as a tight end as a sophomore.

The Yellow Jackets are picked to be a strong Division 10A competitor this Fall against Rockwall-Heath and favorite Highland Park.

Jury finds 2005 Rockwall High grad, Royse City man, guilty in parents’ deaths

Brandon Woodruff

A jury found a 2005  Rockwall High School graduate and Royse City resident guilty of capital murder Friday in the deaths of his parents and sentenced him to life in prison.

The panel, which deliberated for five hours, found that 22-year-old Brandon Woodruff killed Dennis and Norma Woodruff in their Royse City home in October 2005, after they had just moved in from their residence in Heath.

Since prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, Woodruff received an automatic life sentence.

Woodruff told supporters he is innocent and will appeal.

His sister, Charla Woodruff, read a statement in which she said she still is dealing with the horror and pain of the slayings.

“Brandon, you made me plan a funeral. That thought still disgusts me,” said Woodruff, who is now a detective with the sheriff’s office in Miller County, Ark.

Adrienne McFarland, a special prosecutor from the Texas attorney general’s office, said she was pleased with the verdict.

She said the defendant had reached limits on all his credit cards and that his parents were struggling with heavy debt. She argued Woodruff killed his parents to gain an insurance settlement.

Woodruff was also about to drop out of freshman classes at Abilene Christian University and was planning to tell his parents he was gay, she added.

“I’m not sure we sat through the same trial,” defense attorney Katherine Ferguson said.

Ferguson said cell phone and toll road records showed that Woodruff did not have time to commit the slayings. Ferguson also cited a dispute among forensics experts over whether a dagger found more than two years after the deaths could have been the murder weapon.

Rockwall High’s Peyton Adamson led nation with 116 3-pointers in early Feb.

Peyton Adamson

Rockwall High School sophomore basketball player Peyton Adamson is one of the nation’s leaders when it comes to making three-point baskets.

As of the first week in Feb, after 30 games, she had 116 three-pointers, which was first in the nation according to maxpreps.com.

The 5-6 sophomore is also the leading scorer in the DFW Metroplex, averaging 20.3 points per game, while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range and 89 percent from the free throw line.

For her efforts, she was also named the Player of the Week by the Dallas Morning News Feb. 4.

Read the story here.

20-year-old, female 2006 Rockwall grad now serving in Army, Iraq

There’s a nice feature story written by Leslie Gibson in the newest Rockwall Herald Banner about 20-year-old Sarah McCoy, a 2006 Rockwall High School grad, who has been serving in Iraq for the past nine months.

Following her family tradition, she joined the army to serve her country and “help those who need help.”

Check it out out at www.rockwallrocks.com/community.html.

Rockwall finds winning touch, runs over Carrollton R.L. Turner, 42-7

After losing three games in a row, Rockwall regained the winning touch last night and ran over Carrollton’s R.L. Turner, 42-7, at Rockwall’s Wilkerson-Sanders Stadium.

Yellow Jackets running backs Jarron White and Anthony Strange each scored twice as Rockwall (2-4, 1-3) rolled up 325 yards rushing on 50 carries. White gained 89 yards on 11 carries, and Strange 24 yards on 5 carries.

Rockwall only passed five times. Quarterback Adam Dingwell completed four for 109 yards.

Tight end Aaron Arterburn took a direct snap and ran 44 yards for a TD on Rockwall’s opening drive.

White then caught a short slant pass from quarterback Adam Dingwell and ran 55 yards for a touchdown. He gained 65 of his 89 rushing yards in the first half and his 13-yard touchdown run gave Rockwall a 28-7 lead with 4:40 left in the second quarter. He left the game early in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury.

Strange scored on two and six yard TD runs, in the first and third quarters.

Running backs Del Myles added 68 yards on 14 carries and Josh Broach ran 11 times for 60 yards.

Grant Gunderson connected on six of six extra point tries.

R.L. Turner’s (1-5, 0-3) lone score came three plays after sophomore defensive back Paul Mata recovered a Rockwall fumble. Quarterback Mikal Patterson found receiver Charles Moore all alone down the left sideline for a 43-yard touchdown.

Patterson finished with 115 yards on 10-of-16 passing. Turner only managed 90 yards rushing.

For more Rockwall County sports scores, photos, schedules and stories, visit our Sports page at www.rockwallrocks.com/Sports.html.

Rowlett wins “Battle of the Bridge” by beating Rockwall, 24-16

Running back Dexter Imade rushed for 210 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half to lead Rowlett to a 24-16 win over neighboring Rockwall Sept. 4, in what had been billed as the “Battle of the Bridge.”

After rushing for 19 yards in the first half, Imade broke free for a 67-yard touchdown run that gave Rowlett (2-0) a 17-8 lead to start the third quarter. Imade later added another score with a 59-yard run.

Rockwall (1-1) came back in the fourth quarter when a 50-yard reception from Luke Wardell set up Josh Broach’s two-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Adam Dingwell ran for the two-point conversion.

With 1:48 left in the game, Rockwall had the ball on its own 23-yard line and got a first down before defensive end Nick Nanez stripped the ball from Dingwell, which defensive tackle Marcus Hawkins recovered.

Dingwell completed 14 of 24 passes for 153 yards and rushed 16 times for 39 yards. Josh Broach ran 13 times for 52 yards.

The Yellow Jackets will play their first home game of the season Sept. 12 at 7:30 pm at Rockwall vs. powerhouse Allen High School.

Three County high school football teams maintain top-20 rankings

After the first weekend of high school football games across Texas, all three county teams maintained their top-20 Dallas Morning News rankings.

Rockwall’s Yellow Jackets remained fourth, after their come-from-behind win over Midland Lee, 15-14, last Saturday at Midland.

Rockwall-Heath, which opens their season this Friday against Skyline High School, moved up from eighth to seventh place, after a loss by previously fifth-ranked Mansfield Timberview.

Royse City, which also opens their season this Friday against Atlanta, dropped from 18 to 19th, after two teams moved ahead of them with victories last weekend.

For complete new rankings, click here.

Rockwall squeaks by Midland Lee 15-14 at Midland

To provide Rockwall Yellowjacket fans with more details about yesterday’s exciting, season-opening  15-14 victory over Midland Lee yesterday in Midland, we found a detailed story on the Internet written by Midland Reporter-Telegram sports reporter Ryan Ferguson.

Here it is:

Rebels Fall To Rockwall, 15-14

A defensive struggle turned into a big-play explosion in the third quarter of Lee’s season opener against Rockwall.

While Lee used the two biggest plays of the game to take a 14-3 lead, the Yellow Jackets scored the game’s final 12 points to claim a 15-14 season-opening victory over the Rebels at Grande Communications Stadium on Saturday.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Rockwall Yellowjackets squeak by Midland Lee High School 15-14

After taking an early 3-0 lead, the Rockwall High School Yellow Jackets football team rallied from a 14-3  deficit to squeak by Midland Lee High School at Midland today, 15-14.

I listened to the game broadcast on FM 92.1 and it just ended.

No other details are available now, but how’s this for fast reporting?

County high school football teams all ranked in top 20

All three of Rockwall County’s public high school football teams were ranked in the Dallas Morning News Class 4A pre-season top 20, it was announced today.

Rockwall High School, which drops down from Class 5A this year, is ranked 4th, Rockwall-Heath is ranked 8th and Royse City is ranked 18th.

Even though they only have three returning starters on their team, Highland Park was ranked no. 1,  because they went 15-1 last year and nearly won the program’s fourth state title and second in three years.

The rest of the top 20 is: 2. Everman, 3. Carter, 5. Mansfield Timberview, 6. Denton Ryan, 7. South Oak Cliff,  9. Lincoln, 10. West Mesquite, 11. Fort Worth Southwest, 13. McKinney, 14. Lancaster, 15. Ennis, 16. Waxahachie, 17. Kimball, 19. Frisco, 20. Lake Dallas.