Feb 22, 2012
2011 football season was magical for Mavs
January 3, 2012
MANVEL — Entering the final game of the season at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington with a school-record 15-0 mark and a chance to win the Class 4A Div. II state championship was a dream of a lifetime for Manvel head coach Kirk Martin, his coaching staff, and his players.
The Mavs captured the District 24-4A and 4A Region III Div. II championships, but the goal was to complete the triple crown with a state title.
Unfortunately, Manvel fell to the Aledo Bearcats who made it a three-peat for the 2011 state championship to go with their state titles in 2009 and 2010.
But you can hardly call being the 4A Div. II state runner-up as a failure.
"Our plan every year is to get to this point, and we have some work to do because we have some good ones graduating," Martin said. "But our expectations are not going to lessen at all, and we are going to try to build a championship program every year."
Martin has been the head coach since Manvel opened in 2007 and the Mavs have compiled a 34-15 mark overall and 16-10 record in district in four years of varsity competition. Manvel is 16-4 overall and 10-2 in league play the past two seasons.
Manvel was 3-6 overall and 3-4 in district in 2008 and 5-5 and 3-4 in 2009 while barely missing the post-season. In 2010, Manvel was 11-3 and 4-2 while advancing to the 4A Region III Div. II where they feel to district foe La Marque who went on to lose to Aledo in the state finals.
Manvel won their first district and regional titles in the history of the school. They registered 2011 playoff triumphs over El Campo 35-21, Yates 53-18, Dayton 49-10 and La Marque 38-35.
Josh Martinez booted a 25-yard field goal with no time on the clock for a 31-28 4A Div. II state semifinal win over Corpus Christi Calallen at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Mavs will lose 39 seniors from the 2011 squad including most of the offensive and defensive lineman.
Seniors-to-be quarterback Shane McCarley and wide receiver Austin Bennett will be two of the top returning starters, along with offensive lineman Travis Romero, defensive lineman Dewan Edmonson, running backs Selwyn Green and Richard Rose, defensive backs Carlos Thompson and Tavares Garner, and defensive end/fullback Trey Silvers.
The University Interscholastic League (UIL), which is the governing body for Texas high school athletics, will reveal their two-year realignment in February.
Insiders to the UIL realignment have Manvel moving up to Class 5A next year and will join Alvin HS in a move that sends both schools to District 22-5A with Pasadena ISD schools and Deer Park.
That is an unofficial prediction, but the source is very reliable.
"This senior class has given the program a rock-solid foundation to build on, and we're going to see a lot of new players have to step into key roles in the off-season, spring and summber for 2012."