HUBBARD – The IYAA C-Team Gladiators defeat the Palmer Bulldogs to win the NESA “C” Superbowl 18-0. The IYAA B-Team Gladiators hold off the Ferris Yellowjackets for a 19-0 Superbowl win. The 2009 season marks the first time in IYAA history that all three football teams (A,B & C) qualified for the playoffs. Let the celebrations begin starting with the IYAA bonfire party tonight at 6:00 p.m.
Last week the District 13-A Volleyball All-District awards were announced. Five Lady Gladiators received recognition in the district.
Italy’s 2009 Lady Gladiator “Bionic” Basketball Team tested out their improved skills in Mildred Tuesday. With a year under their jump shots and fundamentally and mechanically rebuilt by Head Coach Stacy McDonald, these female cyborgs from Italy are aggressive, energetic and determined.
After the IYAA C-Team and B-Team Gladiators compete for Superbowl Championships earlier in the day, the IYAA Bonfire party will start at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21 at Gary Wood’s house located at 1326 L.R. Campbell Road in Italy.
The Italy Gladiators(5-4) who finished tied for 2nd in District 21-A were matched against the Lovelady Lions(10-0) and their 19-seniors in a battle for the bi-district championship. Italy took an early 14-0 lead but the Lions came roaring back.
Italy’s Junior High Girls basketball teams hosted Irving North Hills inside the dome for two games on Monday. The ladies in gold were not very gracious hosts as Italy’s 7th grade girls flattened North Hills 31-5 while Italy’s 8th grade girls held on for a 21-15 victory.
The IYAA A-Team won their wildcard game at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning against Palmer to claim the 4th seed in the “A” Division’s Playoff standings. The victory marked the first time in IYAA history that all three football divisions (A, B & C-Teams) and their cheerleaders qualified for the playoffs. By days end, the IYAA B & C-Teams advanced to next Saturday’s Superbowl games to be played in Hubbard.
Coach Stacy McDonald has her team ready for competition. With all the training under their belt, the season has begun. Get ready for the Lady Gladiators! Here they come.
The Italy Junior High Boys began their basketball practices this week in preparation for the upcoming 2009-2010 basketball season. Junior High Coaches Kyle Holley, Larry Mayberry and Josh Ward have already started transforming their young grid-iron warriors into graceful hard wood hoopsters.
On Saturday, November 7, 2009 Italy High School sent two students to the Region 3 Class 1A Cross Country meet in Humble, Texas. Heath Clemons and Kaitlyn Rossa earned their spots in this competition with their top ten performance at the District Cross Country Meet in Wortham.
With a trip to the Playoffs guaranteed, the Italy Gladiators traveled to Patton Field in Itasca for one last district battle against their old rivals, the Itasca Wampus Cats. Italy’s sideline looked more like a M.A.S.H. unit before halftime as Itasca added insult to injury by taking a 16-8 lead over the Gladiators into halftime.
The IJH girls basketball teams traveled to Palmer Monday night to play their first basketball game of the season. The 7th graders, defeated by a mere 1 point, gave a valiant battle and proved their moxie to everyone in the gym. The 8th grade team had smooth sailing against the bulldogs with an impressive 30-13 win.
The Italy Gladiator Junior High and JV football teams capped off their 2009 seasons with home games against the Itasca Wampus Cats. For the 8th Graders, the night marked their final football game as Junior High Gladiators. For the JV, they were just glad to finally play a game before the sophomores move up to the Varsity level next season.
The IYAA Gladiators C-Team and B-Team scrapped with the Rice Bulldogs Saturday in Italy. Both teams were on a mission to finish the regular season as undefeated division champs. Mission’s accomplished!
Kaitlyn Rossa, an Italy High School sophomore, competed in the Region 3 Class 1a Cross Country Meet today in Humble, Texas. Competing with a field of 159 runners, Kaitlyn placed 9th with a time of 12:56. Her performance has earned her a berth in the State finals that will be held in Austin on Saturday, November 14th.
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Under the direction of Coach Craig Bales who is in his second year as head coach, the Italy Gladiators have come full circle. Unlike three seasons ago when Italy didn’t win one game, the winning tradition is being restored in Gladiator country.
The IYAA Gladiators pee-wee football teams and cheerleaders hosted the Hubbard Jaguars on Saturday in Italy. Even though it was Halloween, it would be some trick if Hubbard could treat themselves to wins over Italy.
The Friday pep rally inside the old gym at Italy High School was a fun time for students, cheerleaders, players, faculty and the community. A speech from NFL great and Italy alum Keith Davis highlighted the event along with the IHS cheerleaders as they performed a dance routine to the song, “Thriller.”
The Italy JH Gladiators had their hands full, of mud mostly, against the Dawson Bulldogs on Thursday. It was a hard fought game between both sides but when the final buzzer sounded, the game ended in a tie, 6-6.
Friday, October 30 at 3:00 p.m., the whole community is invited to enjoy the Gladiator Pep Rally. Keith Davis will be the guest speaker at the Halloween themed event – Wear your costume!
The Italy Junior High Volleyball teams took on the Kopperl Lady Eagles in their season finales on Monday. The 7th grade won in two sets to finish 6-0 while the 8th grade showed much improvement despite a Kopperl win.
The Italy Gladiators blasted into Wortham’s Bulldog Stadium and pounded “Big Blue” into submission. Italy’s high powered offense didn’t rely on it’s air attack in this one, instead the Gladiators defeated the Bulldogs at their own running game. The win puts Italy at 4-0 in District with the Dawson Bulldogs coming to town on Friday.
The Italy Lady Gladiators Junior High Volleyball teams will wrap up their season tonight against the Kopperl Eagles.
Three games against the Dawson Bulldogs on Saturday resulted in three shutout wins for the IYAA Gladiator football teams and their cheerleaders. In the three games combined, Italy totalled 80-points to Dawson’s 0-points. “Ouch!”
ITALY – The undefeated Wortham Bulldogs showed their might against Italy’s Junior High team on Thursday at Willis Field. Amazingly, with less than a minute to go and Wortham in control of the ball, a scoreless Italy team avoided being shutout by the Bulldogs in dramatic fashion.
The IYAA football teams and cheerleaders enjoyed IYAA Picture Day on Tuesday. And even though picture day turned into picture night after the camera crew was delayed in the traffic, the kids were all smiles when it was time to say, “Cheese!”
The Italy Junior High 7th and 8th grade girls volleyball teams tested their mettle against Waxahachie Advantage Academy on Monday.
The Italy Gladiators (4-2 overall) battled the Hubbard Jaguars (1-6 overall) Friday night at Willis Field in Italy. Early in the first quarter, the Gladiators gave the Jaguars a taste of what the rest of the game had in store for the spotted cats.
Reminiscent of Rocky III, when Rocky Balboa was pitted against Mr. T’s Clubber Lang character, the Italy Junior High whipped the Hubbard Jaguars in four rounds of football. Hubbard, with only a tie on their record coming into the game, now have a loss to go with that tie thanks to a surging Italy Junior High team that improved their record to 2-1.
The Lady Gladiators 7th and 8th grade volleyball teams took on the Covington Lady Owls this week at the dome. The 7th grade Italy team took the win in three sets. While the 8th grade team only took two.
October 14, 2009 has been declared by the mayor of Italy to be Italy Youth Athletic Association (IYAA) Day. Mayor Frank Jackson also presented the first Volunteer of Year Award for IYAA to local parent, Barry Byers, on Monday night in a special session before the regular council meeting.
The Italy Gladiators charged into Longhorn country with quarterback Jasenio Anderson at the reins. It wasn’t exactly a shootout at the O.K. Corral as both sides relied on their running games. With pass attempts ricocheting off the mud-slicked surface, Italy did manage to post a shutout in their low-scoring win over Axtell, and that’s O.K. with Gladiator fans.
Italy’s Junior High and JV football teams had the visiting Axtell Longhorns back on their hooves in both games. Italy’s teams scored first and held their leads throughout. The Longhorns played tough but it was the Gladiators who were seeing red when Axtell unloaded their yellow wagons.
Three games, three wins and three cheers for the IYAA Gladiators as they swept the Ferris Yellow Jackets Saturday in Ferris. It was a cold day for football but the bright lights on the visiting side of the scoreboard kept IYAA fans warm.
On Tuesday, October 13, immediately following the Italy High School/Jr High Parent meeting, the Italy Athletic Booster Club will meet. Coach Craig Bales, Italy ISD Athletic Director will speak at the meeting. Parents/Guardians who have interest in Italy ISD athletic programs are asked to attend.
IYAA President, Jason Escamilla wishes to inform the IYAA players, cheerleaders and parents that the football games originally scheduled to be played Italy this Saturday have been moved to Ferris. All IYAA football games will be played in Ferris this weekend.
The IYAA Gladiators traveled to Scurry-Rosser Saturday to take on the Wildcats. The Wildcats knocked the IYAA C-Team and B-Team out of the playoffs last season setting the stage for some fun yet dramatic football.
“Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake! WooHoo!” The battle cry of the Lady Gladiators could be heard around the world last night. The 8th grade Lady Gladiators took on the Lady Bears Monday night at the dome.
The Italy Gladiators challenged the Frost Polar Bears for the right to be 1-0 in district play during Italy High School’s Homecoming game on Friday. Italy head coach, Craig Bales, had his team ready to play and it did’t take long to realize that the old gold tradition has a new winning style. Once the balloons were filled, the ribbons were tied and the mums were pinned on, the Italy Gladiators got geared up for their championship run.
With the first football games against Palmer being rained out in week 1, followed by a Bye in the 2nd week of the season, Saturday doubled as the IYAA Homecoming games as well as their season openers.
Apparently, when gold and blue collide together it makes red as the Italy Junior High played a hard-hitting football game against the Frost Polar Bears in their district opener.
Junior Gladiator Quarterback Jasenio Anderson was chosen by the Directors of www.1Atexasfootball.com as this week’s Player of the Week for his outstanding performance in the overtime loss to AA Malakoff. He was selected from a list of unbelievable games played by the most talented players across the State, and his stats and some photos from the Neotribune are featured on their website, which can be reached through the link provided above.
The JV and Varsity Lady Gladiators hosted the Frost Lady Bears on Saturday. The volleyball teams worked hard to keep the scores climbing with some success. The Varsity took two of the five sets from Frost, however, it just wasn’t enough to put a mark in the win column. The JV played well but lost both games to Frost.
The IYAA Bonfire Party has been CANCELLED due to inclement weather. The IYAA will reschedule the Bonfire at a later, much dryer, date. This marks the first time in ten years the event has been cancelled.
One For The Ages – The 1A Italy Gladiators traveled to take on the 2A Malakoff Tigers who Italy had beaten last season 33-8. Catching the Gladiators off guard, this wasn’t last years Tiger team. Malakoff brought in a complete new coaching staff for their 2009 campaign.
Malakoff made a clean sweep of the Italy 7th Grade, 8th Grade and JV football teams Thurdsay…even if it was muddy. Both Italy Junior High teams only had 11 players on each roster but all 22 players gave a valiant effort defending the home field. Malakoff’s JV Tigers started off slow but eventually slung enough mud into the air to win the game against the JV Gladiators.
The coming together of two rivals doesn’t happen often but history was made this week in the Avalon gym. The Lady Eagles hosted the Lady Gladiators to a DIG PINK game.
The family of Justin Wood would like to express a sincere thank you to Coach Craig Bales and his Italy High School coaching staff, along with Stafford Elementary nurse Rita Garza, for their effective handling of Justin when he was injured during football practice two weeks ago.
The Italy 7th and 8th grade girls lead the march in the first Junior High Volleyball games of the season this week. The Lady Bulldogs traveled from Milford to play the Lady Gladiators. The 7th grade won the first sets in the best two games, winning 25-15 and 25-16. Coach Tina Richards said, “I am very proud of the 7th grade. This is a great way to start our season-with a win!”
Inside one of the world’s ultimate storm shelters, a Monolithic dome, known locally as Italy Gladiator Coliseum, the Lady Gladiators battled the Lady Milford Bulldogs in volleyball.
