Sports

The Many Bass Club held its April Tournament on April 6 and 7. The anglers could choose to fish either Saturday or Sunday. Fifteen anglers fished the tournament and only four of them landed five-fish limits. Saturday’s weather was overcast, very breezy and warm. Sunday was calm early but the wind built throughout the day with temps warming into the lower 80’s. The bite was definitely better on Saturday but tough overall with most of the anglers struggling to catch a limit. The top three stringers and Big Fish were all caught Saturday. Most of the fish were caught relatively shallow near spawning areas.

The Many Bass Club’s March Tournament was fished on March 9 and 10. The anglers could choose to fish either Saturday or Sunday. Twenty- three anglers fished the tournament and only seven of them landed five-fish limits. Saturday’s weather was overcast, with a cold front blowing in on 15-20 mph winds and temps dropping during the day into the mid-fifties. Sunday’s weather was high and bright with temperatures rising from the upper thirties to the mid-fifties. The bite was definitely better on Saturday when the top two stringers and Big Fish were caught. Most of the fish were caught shallow near spawning areas.

The Many Bass Club’s second tournament of 2024 was fished on February 10 and 11. The anglers could choose to fish either Saturday or Sunday. Twenty- six anglers fished the tournament and nine of them landed fivefish limits. Saturday’s weather included heavy fog early, followed by heavy rain for most of the day. Sunday’s weather included rain, and a squall line that crossed the Lake around mid-day with lightening and hail. Air temps and water temps were in the upper fifties to low sixties both days. Most of the fish were caught shallow near spawning areas.

Northwestern State University announced today, October 26, that it has canceled the remainder of the 2023 football season due to the recent passing of junior safety, Ronnie Caldwell. The school cites the mental health and wellbeing of its student-athletes as the primary reason for its decision.

“Ronnie was a beloved member of our community, and we miss him dearly,” said President Marcus Jones. “While our instinct was to return to the field of play following his death, we’ve since learned that the hurt on our team was too deep. Now it is in the best interest of our players, coaches, and staff to pause and to take this time to mourn, to heal, and to support Ronnie’s family.”

The school has also accepted the resignation of head coach, Brad Laird, who was in his sixth season as head coach of the Demons football team.

After the Many Tigers soundly defeated DeRidder 34-13 on September 8, the team put on quite the performance to win 45-42 over Haughton in double overtime on September 15.

The Haughton Buccaneers kicked off to begin the game and within minutes the Many Tigers were in the red zone and looking to score. It’d be Jeremiah James with a 14-yard rushing touchdown to put the Tigers on the board first. The point attempt by Deacon Lafollette saw the score move to 7-0.

The Buccaneers answered back immediately and tied the game 7-7, which is how the score remained the rest of the first quarter.

Shortly into the second quarter of play, a pass gave the Buccaneers their first lead of the game 147. Later, a 50-yard pass completed to Jamarion Montgomery saw them score again and bring the score to 21-7.

The Tigers scored minutes later when Tylen Singleton hit paydirt on a 16-yard run to make the score 21-14 with the Buccaneers still in the lead.

Converse Mayor Troy H. Terrell is a man who is very proud of his son and his two grandsons.

His son, Troy Neal Terrell, is a 1990 graduate of Converse High School and he now lives with his wife Tiffany and two sons in Stonewall. He recalled he played basketball at the same time Bert West was at Zwolle.

Troy was the top player at Converse at the time and made the All-District, the All State and the Louisiana All Star Team which played in Baton Rouge that year. He received a scholarship from Coach Mike McConathy, who was coach at Bossier Parish Community College at the time. He later transferred to East Texas Baptist University for Bert West.

For 27 years he conducted camps around the country called “Dynamite Basketball.” He explained, “They were free, and we went to some of the worst neighborhoods in America. We reached 60,000 kids. We helped over 2,000 go to college and helped 3,300 get their GED. We gave these boys hope and encouragement.”

The Many Bass Club’s July 2023 Toledo Bend Tournament took place the weekend of July 7-9, where the anglers could fish on Friday night, Saturday or Saturday night, or Sunday. Thirteen anglers fished in the tournament. An impressive 23.85-pound stringer was caught on Friday night but only one other five fish limit was boated in the contest. The weather was hot in the nineties during the day on both Saturday and  Sunday. The Lake level was on a slow fall, and the fishing was challenging. The water temps were in the mid-eighties. The secondcaught on Saturday and the third-place stringer was caught Sunday.

On Saturday June 3, fees were waived at Cypress Bend Park courtesy of the Sabine River Authority, as 78 fishermen took to the banks for the fourteenth annual Fish Fest. The event was open to school age children registered in kindergarten through 12th grade for the school year 20222023 attending schools in Louisiana and Texas.

By Ramona Moore The Many Bass Club’s June 2023 Tournament took place on Saturday, June 10, and Sunday June 11, on Toledo Bend. Ten anglers participated in the tournament. Four of the anglers weighed in a full five fish limit. The weather on Saturday was overcast early with a strong west wind which shifted south and blew significantly harder in the afternoon as a front approached from the north which was followed by a squall line with 50 MPH winds, driving rain and hail. The club weigh-in on Saturday was completed just ahead of the strong storm, and thankfully none of our anglers were caught on the Lake by this dangerous weather. Sunday was overcast and breezy with strong southwest winds with temps near ninety, and the bite was negatively impacted by the previous afternoon’s storms. The Lake level was 171.3’, and the fish were scattered in the water column. The water temps were in the mid-eighties.