Look back at 2023 with the top 10 sports stories

Dec. 27—HUNTSVILLE — The year 2023 had many things happen for sports in Huntsville and Walker County. Huntsville ISD opened its brand-new football stadium, the Hornets battled to the fourth round of the Class 5A, DII playoffs and so much more.

The Huntsville Item will look back at the top 10 sports stories of 2023 over the next two editions. We will have the top 10-6 in Thursday's issue and 5-1 in the weekend edition.

10. Bulldogs win thriller to advance to regional quarterfinals

In a game that took extra time, New Waverly boys' basketball overcame East Chambers in the UIL class 3A area round.

The Bulldogs, with a bench of six players, pieced their way to a 60-58 win over the Buccaneers in overtime.

New Waverly saw a tall task opening the game, as they were already at a disadvantage with their roster. The Bulldogs sat with eight members on the bench, the Bucs of 10 that helped off the bench.

That didn't stop the Dogs though who had a tough task of beating the Buccaneers press to start the game.

9. Former Hornet named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year

Former Huntsville Hornet T'Vondre Sweat has been tabbed as the Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year after a strong performance at the University of Texas.

Sweat, a 2019 graduate of Huntsville High School, has played five seasons at Texas and his super senior season was one for the books.

He was also one of three to be a unanimous selection to the first-team all-conference.

In his final season in the burnt orange, Sweat rallied for 40 tackles — eight of them for a loss — and two sacks on the year. While his numbers weren't off the charts, he was the highest-graded interior defender in all of college football this season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Sweat's defensive grade was 91.6 as of Nov. 29 and was a full 1.5 points higher than Texas teammate Byron Murphy II.

The Huntsville native has played in 60 games for the Longhorns, logging 123 total tackles, five sacks, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in his tenure.

8. "Surreal" — Former Hornets reflect on opening night

Football in Huntsville has been around since 1912 and it wasn't until 2023 for the school to have its first stadium and varsity football game on campus.

Along the way, several players took the field dining donning the green and white. Now, several members of the former teams are on the staff or work close to the team.

On the varsity coaching staff, Trevor Brazil and Cameron Shirley both suited up for the Hornets during their playing tenure at Elliot T. Bowers Stadium while 101.7 KSAM analyst Brian Adams wore the colors in their 80s at Pritchett field or 'Bedrock'.

Not only have those three played, but Huntsville's quarterback coach Jason Elliot has worn the 'H' on his chest since the 1994 season when he was hired as a coach.

While none of them took the field with pads on at the new Huntsville ISD stadium, each player felt the emotion of being in the stadium as the lights flickered and 'Enter Sandman' blared through the speakers as Huntsville took the field at their stadium.

"It took me back to playing at Huntsville," Brazil said. "My mom and family were in the stands. It brought back memories and I get emotional talking about it. I wanted this when I was in high school. Being a part of it, even though I'm not playing, by coaching is surreal. We are blessed here."

7. Five Hornets sign NLI to advance athletic, academic career

Five seniors from Huntsville ISD signed their National Letters of Intent to advance their athletic and academic careers post Huntsville High School.

The Hornet athletic program had two softball players, two baseball players and a volleyball player sign to their respective colleges.

Huntsville's softball program had Jaelynn Duke sign to play at Tarleton State. Emily Zunker signed with Angelina College to extend her career,

Hornet baseball has been on the rise since the hiring of Justin Jennings as the head coach. The program had two members sign to play at the collegiate level. Gage Dorris signed to play at Houston Christian University and Nolan Hunt signed to play at Western Texas College.

Both members will help lead the Hornets this season on their brand-new baseball complex.

Huntsville volleyball saw one member sign to advance their volleyball careers but you won't have to go far to see her play. Senior Chelsea Butler committed to Sam Houston State University to continue her athletic career at the Division I level.

6. With new realignment coming up, where will the Hornets land

Every two years the UIL does a realignment for athletic purposes to make sure schools remain in a competitive balance with the number of students they have enrolled.

For Huntsville ISD, they turned in an enrollment number of 1,835 students at Huntsville High School. The number will keep them as a Class 5A school for athletic purposes. The number was even better as it remained low enough to stay in the Division II portion on the football side.

During the 2022-2024 realignment, Huntsville saw major changes with the non-football sports. While they remained in the same district number, the teams dropped Tyler, Whitehouse and Jacksonville. The district then picked Kingwood Park, Porter and Dayton up for the 2022-24 athletic year.

What will be interesting is all of the members of Huntsville's current district will stay in the same classification for all sports.

Looking at the location of Huntsville, the Hornets could be pulled in nearly every cardinal direction. The Hornets' current football district houses seven teams, which was the same from 2020-22. Huntsville was in an eight-team district during the 2018-19 seasons before some of those schools departed for 6A.

The big question that will not be answered until Feb. 1, 2024. Until then, we can speculate on one of the best-kept secrets in the state.

Stay tuned for the top 5 sports stories of 2023.