The top sports stories of 2018 for The Flash Today readers, ranged from accomplishments in Major League Baseball, to around the world in Italy and right back here in Erath County.
#10. Stephenville’s Yellow Jackets’ football team proved they were back on top with the release of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine’s 2018 preseason football poll which placed them at number three and predicted a deep playoff run. The Jackets lived up to the hype with a three-game deep run and some very exciting regular season games against some of the state’s top teams.
#9 Proctor Lake was suddenly a hot spot for catfishing in 2018 with at least five reported catfish weighing more than 70 pounds being caught during the year. The existing record was broken twice, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is in the midst of confirming a catfish weighing more than 70 pounds was also caught on a rod and reel.
#8 Stephenville’s Marty Yates’ second-round win at the PRCA’s Wrangler National Finals is one of our newer stories of 2018, but that didn’t stop it from reaching the top ten. All of Erath County seemed to click like or share this story (1,282 times) as they kept watch on Yates in the tie-down roping.
#7 The final standings of the 2018 PRCA Wrangler Nationals Finals Rodeo checks in at number seven and proved rodeo is still one of the most watched sports among local folks. There were 26 cowboys with ties to Erath County who made this year’s trip to rodeo’s most prized event.
#6 The mighty Lions of Dublin moved to 6-0 on the season and appropriately enough check in at the number six position among The Flash Today’s readers. The Lions would improve to 7-0 and finished the year 8-3 which was one of their best finishes in a couple of decades.
#5 Former head football Coach Art Briles landing a job as a professional head coach in Italy tickled the fancy of our readers. Briles struggles since leaving Baylor have been well chronicled and his getting a chance to get back into the coaching ranks was something many liked seeing.
#4 Stephenville athletic director and former head football coach Mike Copeland’s retirement from his position as AD checked in at number four. Copeland’s recollections of 25 years of coaching before being part of four state titles were just a small part of the coach’s remarkable career.
#3 Legendary rodeo cowboy Harry Tompkins’ passing left a big hole in the world of rodeo as the multi-time champion truly left his mark on the sport. Tompkins was forever immortalized when his picture was captured on a bucking bull, and the cowboy was looking right at the photographer with a beaming smile.
#2 A promise made and a promise kept touched the hearts of our readers as Tarleton quarterback Ben Holmes shared the amazing story of his time in and out of the classroom as he came to grips with the illness of his mother and her eventual death.
#1 Stephenville High School 2006 graduate Brock Holt’s hitting of the cycle during the MLB 2018 playoffs was our top story of the year. The Red Sox player is the player in MLB history to hit for the cycle in the playoffs.
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