NOTE: Click HERE to view the season record

One of the classic quips by this time, when observers would bring up the prospects of Judson, was the classic "they don't rebuild, they just reload." I for one was never comfortable with such votes of confidence. Such statements make it seem as if things come automatically, which of course they don't. Going into the 1991 season, I and I'm sure quite a few other Rockets probably had no real feel for how things would go, given the loss, through graduation, of so many Rocket Flight Veterans with three missions that saw them visit the Semi-finals all three (3) times and the Finals twice in that span. With the status of the Jerod Douglas issue still somewhat un-resolved as well, most in the Rocket community were nevertheless hoping they'd be able to cobble together some kind of winnable flight crew capable of accomplishing a full-up mission---at least eventually. Given that the two of the three recent missions resulted in unsuccessful landing attempts, and also that the 1989 mission resulted in having to take a free-return abort due to SPS engine failure as the objective neared, a fire still nevertheless burned brightly in Rocket-land with the hope that eventually they would be fully successful once more. Pride also still ran high with the knowledge that the Rockets even had the opportunity to get as close to that objective as often as they had for three (3) consecutive years. In other words, the Rocket program was a sound one that was accomplishing many primary and secondary objectives for the overall Rocket organization---its Flight Crews (ie teams), its Support Teams (ie, the overall student body), its FOD (aka Flight Operations Directorate, also known as the Rocket Coaching Staff), its Contractors (ie, faculty, and staff) and its Program Directors and Administrators.

Holmes (3-6-1, 1-3-1)
September 6, 1991: Converse
The Rockets got into orbit OK, the way most Rockets are supposed to do, but that's only the first step, and a mission's status can change in an instant. Even a routine boost-to-orbit phase has its moments of "interest" that demand close scrutiny in case of abort, and this launch was no different. The Rockets broke a 7-7 Halftime tie early in the 2nd Half with a 51-yard Charles Adams TD sprint, only for the Huskies---who were visiting Converse for the first time---to bring the score to 14-13 with a 71-yard Tony Darden to Byron Lemon pass with 6:24 to go in the game. The Pack then attempted a two-point conversion that could have put some pressure on the Rockets to then try and come back late in the game. The conversion pass attempt failed, however, and on the ensuing kickoff, Randy Morgan returned the kickoff to the Judson 42. Three (3) plays later QB David Allen connected with Curt Young for a 31-yard TD at the 4:59 mark. For the game the Rockets picked up 356 yards on the ground and 32 in the air. Adams had 160 yards on 18 carries, Morgan had 97, and Allen had 93. Darden was kept in check with only 74 yards, but of course 71 of those provided a Husky score. Like I said, it was a good, start. But the mission has lots of other phases and objectives.

Ellison (2-8, 2-5)
September 20, 1991: Killeen
The Rockets were able to add Jerod Douglas to the Flight Crew after a temporary restraining order was obtained that made him eligible to play varsity sports after he had been been banned, in October, 1990, by the 26-5A Committee (which with the exception of Judson was exclusively represented by NEISD schools) from competing at the varsity level for two (2) years. Douglas proceeded to contribute 94 yards to a 366-yard rushing affair in Killeen where Chris Adams also gained 139 yards on 13 carries for three (3) TD's. The Rockets would race out to a 21-6 lead in the 1st Quarter, beginning with a 58-yard Adams sprint with less than three (3) minutes gone. Ellison would close the gap to 21-14 before the Rockets answered with Douglas' inaugural varsity score: a 6-yard run with 54 ticks left in the Half. The Rockets continued to pull away in a 3rd Quarter that saw the score go to 41-20. They maintained that margin with the Eagles in the 4th Quarter of a game that also saw QB David Allen complete 8-of-13 passes for 186 yards and no punts for the Rockets [although they surrendered two (2) fumbles]. The Rockets also netted 11 penalties for 95 yards.

LBJ (7-3, 4-1)
September 27, 1991: Converse
With the Rockets back in Converse, the Jaguars would score first for a 3-point lead, they would score last to net nine (9) points for the game, and the Rockets would score many times in between. In responding to the opening LBJ FG, Judson would take the lead for good with a 36-yard Charles Adams run and the Craig Vontur PAT, and then race to a 30-3 Halftime lead in the 2nd stanza, highlighted by a 40-yard David Allen pass to Terry Hopkins with under three (3) minutes to go, and a 34-yard Vontur FG with three (3) seconds to go. The Rockets' final points came with just over four (4) minutes to go in the game. This was by far the best statistical performance for the Rocket Defense thus far, as they surrendered 155 yards split almost evenly between air and ground, and they recovered two (2) fumbles and had one (1) interception. On the other hand, the Rockets experienced five (5) fumbles, losing three (3) of them, all in the 1st Half. Partially counteracting those were the 147 air yards from David Allen on 12 completions of 16 attempts. One thing that no doubt also made Judson work for its yards was a five (5) punt, 48-yard average for the Jags, but alas, it wasn't enough to keep the Rockets from making amends for the lone regular-season loss in 1990.

Clark (8-1-1, 4-1)
October 3, 1991: Northside Stadium
'Cat scratch fever'
Yeah, they got the Rockets again. The Cougars were 4-0-1 following this meeting at Northside, the scene of the previous clawing in 1988. Judson got off to a good enough start, grabbing a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard punch-in by Randy Morgan that completed a 13-play, 76-yard drive to open the game. Vontour, who would finish with a 4-43.5 punting average for the game, pinned the Cats on their own 5-yard line in the 2nd Quarter, but they simply took it down the field on a 12-play, 95-yard drive that knotted the tally at 7-each following the PAT with 1:29 left in the Half. Kevin Aceves then gave Clark the lead with 5:39 left in the 3rd Quarter with his second 5-yard run of the evening, to which the Rockets answered back with a 10-yard run by Charles Adams to tie the score again following the Vontour PAT. Clark starting QB Pat Burk left the game injured with 4:34 left in the game, the Cats then put the Rockets in poor field position at the 14-yard line, and following a 3-and-out, a shanked 25-yard punt put the Cougars in business at the Rocket 48 with 2:33 to go. Backup QB Rad Weaver converted a broken play into a 13-yard gain to the 35, and three (3) plays later he burned the Rockets for a 29-yard go-ahead score that, with the PAT, brought the final tally to 21-14 with 1:17 to go. For the game, the Cougars gained 283 ground yards and 35 air yards, while the Rockets rushed for 205 yards and netted 45 yards through the air on a 5-of-9 effort by Allen. Neither team experienced any turnovers, and penalties were relatively low also, showing the quality coaching jobs done for both programs. There were very few in attendance or elsewhere in the SAT area that believed for a moment that the two programs had seen the last of each other for the 1991 season.

MacArthur (4-6, 2-3)
October 11, 1991: Converse
The Rockets returned to Converse to open District play with a new resolve to show that their non-District schedule had given them sufficient Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) data and flight experience in preparing them for what lay ahead. The game started off in barnburner fashion, with the Rockets and Brahmas trading scores in a 4-and-a-half minute span in the 1st Quarter to give Judson a 14-7 lead. Judson then raced to a 35-13 lead in the 2nd Quarter, highlighted by a 70-yard scoring dash by Jerod Douglas and a 51-yard pass play from Allen to Curt Young that followed a Chad Scott fumble recovery. The Rockets would score twice in the 3rd Quarter:

• A 29-yard Vontour FG with three (3) minutes gone
• A 17-yard run by Randy Morgan at the midway point in the period to bring the score to 45-13 following Vontour's PAT.

Mac would close the gap briefly with 8:30 to go in the game before David Allen took off on a 78-yard run to end the scoring pending Vontour's kick. Douglas gained 125 yards in only three (3) carries in the game; Adams netted 103 yards in 10 plays, and workhorse Morgan gained 91 yards in 12 plays for the lion's share of Judson's 394 ground yards. Allen's 98 yards on 8-of-11 passes rounded out the offensive output. Meanwhile, the Brahmas netted 310 yards on the ground, with Kevin Dupelchain gaining 136 yards on 21 carries. Judson had zero (0) turnovers, and the Brahmas had two (2).

Roosevelt (4-6, 1-4)
October 18, 1991: Blossom
In their first of two (2) consecutive visits to Blossom, the Rockets got out to a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter with an 89-yard run by Randy Morgan at the midway point, and a Allen to Young 41-yard pass with 35 seconds left, along with two (2) Vontour PAT's. After the Rockets upped the lead to 21-0, TR immediately burned them with an 80-yard pass. Judson would answer back with 17 points to close out the Half, one coming on a 51-yard Jerod Douglas run with 3:02 left to bring the score to 35-7, and the other a 44-yard Vontour FG with three (3) seconds remaining. The first score in that 17-point spurt came following a Chad Scott recovery of a bad TR pitchout at the Rider 26-yard line that was immediately followed by a pass to the 2-yard line, from where Randy Morgan carried it in for the score. The two teams would trade scores in the 2nd Half, with the Rockets scoring on a 45-yard Allen to Young pass and Vontour kick with 1:54 left in the 3rd, and TR making the final statement with a 27-yard pass with 2:10 to go in the game. The Rockets once more had no turnovers while the Riders only had the one that led to the Rocket score. The Rockets gained 399 yards on the ground using nine (9) different ball carriers, while Allen had 166 yards through the air on an 8-of-12 performance. TR had 98 yards on the ground and 143 in the air. Judson also had 11 penalties for 109 yards, while the Riders had only three (3) for 20 yards.

Lee (6-4, 3-2)
October 26, 1991: Blossom
On the return trip to Blossom for a Saturday evening game, the Rockets were burned by the surging Vols (5-2 entering the contest) when got the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards to go up 7-0. Judson, however, would have a lead that they would not give up when they went up 14-7 lead with 1:17 left in the 1st after Jerod Douglas scored with an 87-yard run and Vontour provided the PAT. The Rockets would then make it 28-7 by the Half, coming on a 44-yard Charles Adams run and a Vontour kick with 9:33 to go, and at 7:31 with a 69-yard Robert Anderson punt return and Vontour kick. Douglas contributed a 49-yard run early in the 3rd Quarter, and Adams got a two-yard run. One (1) more score took place in the final Quarter in a game that saw Judson suffer zero (0) turnovers once more, with the Vols only one (1). Judson gained 378 yards on the ground, with Douglas providing 149 on 6 carries, and Adams picking up 123 yards on 7 carries. Allen completed 8 of 12 passes for 160 yards. Once gain, the opposing team gained a healthy amount of yardage (285), but apparently a big-play Defense, complemented by an even bigger-play Offense made this a moot point----at least everyone hoped it did. Nevertheless for me, at least, these kind of defensive numbers were points of chagrin, if not concern. Meanwhile, the Vols remained very much in contention for a long-in-coming, much-coveted return to the playoffs for the first time since 1979.

Elsewhere that evening Jim Rackley's Southwest Dragons pulled off their annual surprise of a top-ranked NISD team, this time knocking off the undefeated Marshall Rams 6-3. It didn't help that the Rams were without TB Priest Holmes, who had been kept out to let a deep thigh bruise heal, but one cannot deny the superb coaching job by the Dragon staff in pulling the win off. This was equivalent to Judson theoretically beating Churchill in 1978 verses in 1982. It was huge, in other words

Madison (7-3, 4-1)
November 1, 1991: Converse
Jim Streety, fresh from a very successful multi-decade tour of duty at New Braunfels and now Head Coach of the Mavs, brought the Mavs to Converse where the Mavs and Rockets saw new life breathed into a once-competitive series in this show-down for 1st place. Judson copped a 14-7 lead with 4:23 to go in the Half after the score was knotted at 7-each in the opening Quarter. Madison immediately came out of the Half, and scored to tie the game at 14 all after Mike Chandler returned the 2nd-Half kickoff to the Judson 6, with the score coming on a 4-yard run at the 11:04 mark in the 3rd. The Rockets responded in regaining the lead with 6:47 to go in the 3rd Quarter, and then upped the lead to 28-14 early in the 4th. With 4:17 to go, the Mavs narrowed the gap back to 7, but Judson responded with a 27-yard Jerod Douglas run to bring the final tally to 35-21. Randy Morgan provided 138 of the Rockets' 299 rushing yards, and Allen had a relatively quiet session, completing 3 of 6 passes for 35 yards and one (1) interception. The Mavs netted 121 yards on the ground, with Harold Williams gaining 153 yards, which means that the Rockets threw some Mavs for losses. Mav QB Jeff Mott completed 8-of-17 passes for 123 yards and an interception. The Mavs were still in the running for the runner-up playoff seed, but first had a meeting with the Lee Volunteers, 35-31 winners over Mac that evening.

Also that evening, Marshall, which was still without Priest Holmes, had a magnificent Tiger (make that Ram) Team effort of their own in stunning Clark 22-0 in a key matchup in 28-5A. When I say stunning, try this: Clark limited to three (3) First Downs and 73 total yards; Marshall not setting the world on fire with 202 yards on the ground, 29 in the air and 13 First Downs, but with the help of four (4) Cougar interceptions. An interception and 10-yard return early in the game was followed by an 11-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in a 6-0 lead following a high snap on the PAT. Shortly thereafter, a 34-yard interception return put the Rams in business at the Cats' 28-yard line, which led to a 28-yard FG shortly thereafter at the 10:04 mark of the 2nd Quarter. A 71-yard punt return for a TD and a failed pass conversion attempt made the score 15-0 with 4:31 to go in the Half. Marshall finished the Cats off with a 4-yard run with 17 seconds left in the game. This was definitely a statement game that gave Clark its first loss of the season, and left Clark and Marshall tied at the top at 3-1 in District.

Churchill 1-9, 0-5)
November 9, 1991: Blossom
In leaving the Chargers with a 1-9 season record, the Rockets allowed only 100 yards total in this Saturday night massacre at Blossom, which began with an Adams 44-yard TD run at the 9:49 mark of the 1st, a Douglas 21-yard run with 1:21 to go in the Quarter, along with two (2) Vontour PAT's to give Judson a 14-0 lead. Judson would score 20 points in the 2nd Quarter, the final score being a 33-yard Douglas scamper and Vontour kick as time expired in the 1st Half. A Jerod Douglas 44-yard punt return brought the score to 40-0 by the end of the 3rd Quarter, and the Rockets tacked on two (2) more TD's in the final stanza. Judson gained 354 yards on the ground, with Douglas and Adams the top gainers with 138 and 107 yards respectively, and Allen netted 155 yards through the air on 6-of-14 pass attempts.

Semifinals
Killeen 21 San Angelo Central 17
Dulles 27 Judson 26

Final
Killeen 14 Dulles 10

McCollum 7-3, 4-2)
November 16, 1991: Harlandale Memorial Stadium
The Rockets, visiting Harlandale Memorial Stadium for the first time since taking a 21-0 decision over the Cowboys in 1979, got a solid performance to open the post-season in a damp Friday evening contest. They jumped out to a 14-0 lead by scoring on a 25-yard run by Charles Adams at the 8:10 mark of the opening stanza, a 57-yard run by David Allen with 3:24 left, and an Adams run for two (2) points, which came after the second TD and made up for the missed PAT earlier. The Cowboys would answer with a 92-yard kickoff return by Sophomore Gilbert Cantu followed by the PAT, but the Rockets then picked up another TD, this one on a 40-yard pass from Allen to Randy Morgan with "four zeros" left on the 1st Quarter clock, and Craig Vontur added the PAT. The Rockets added two (2) more TD's in the 2nd Quarter, on a 16-yard Morgan run and on a 13-yard pass from Allen to John Dyer, at the 9:49 and 7:35 marks respectively. Vontur provided the 1st PAT, Tim Sankey provided the 2nd after Vontur left after pulling a groin muscle, and the Rockets led 35-7 at intermission.

Clark (8-1-1, 4-1)
November 22, 1991: Converse
"Cougs in Space: Part IV." The cats invaded Converse for their first playoff match with the Rockets to be played in Converse since the touch-and-go Bi-district affair in 1983. The Friday evening meeting began as a real barnburner of a sequel to the meeting that took place at Northside seven (7) weeks earlier. The Rockets drew first blood at the 8:31 mark of the opening stanza when Morgan took the ball in from the 1-yard line, and the PAT by Vontur was good. The Cougars answered quickly with a 54-yard Brent Gothard run at the 5:57 mark, and their PAT was likewise good. Jerod Douglas then put the Rockets back up with a 49-yard run, and the PAT was good with 4:00 remaining in the 1st Quarter. Clark knotted things up once more with 5:24 left in the 1st Half with a 1-yard run and PAT. David Allen then scored with a 1-yard run with 27 seconds left, the PAT was good, and the Rockets then recovered an on-side kick. A 32-yard FG attempt failed with "four zeros" left on the clock, and the Rockets had a 21-14 advantage at the break.

The pumas took the opening kick to start the 2nd Half, but the Rockets caged them after five (5) plays and then they went to town. On the first play Jerod Douglas zipped 76 yards at the 8:42 mark to put the Rockets up by 14 once the Vontur kick was good, and Randy Morgan then emulated that quick-scoring practice by likewise taking off on the 1st play of the Rockets' next possession. After that 45-yard run, the Vontur kick gave the Rockets a 35-14 advantage with 5:39 left in the 3rd period. In the final period, Charles Adams added a final TD, on a 4-yard run with 8:20 left, and Vontur provided the final PAT. Neither team lost any fumbles, and both teams experienced INT's. Clark was flagged only once for five (5) yards while the Rockets got called five (5) times for 38 yards. The Cougars picked up 186 yards on the ground, with Gothard contributing 129 on 14 carries, and they also gained 27 yards through the air on a 2-of-7 passing effort. Although the game started out with both teams ending their possessions with scores, Clark ended with a 34.2-yard punting average on four (4) punts. Meanwhile, the Rockets punted only once for 42 yards. The Rockets were 6-of-9 through the air for 98 yards, and on the ground they picked up 410 yards, with Douglas getting 146 on five (5) carries, Morgan providing 125 yards on 13 carries, and the balance contributed by seven (7) other Backs.

CC Carroll (10-0, 9-0)
November 29, 1991: Buccaneer Stadium, Corpus Christi
On this Thanksgiving Friday evening, an estimated 16000 witnesses converged on Buccaneer Stadium to see whether or not the undefeated Tigers could abort the Rockets' mission. The Rockets recovered a Tiger fumble, but the Rockets stalled at the Tiger 36-yard line. Vontur then punted, and the Rockets' Robert Anderson proceeded to recover still one more Tiger fumble, this time at the Carroll 30-yard line. Randy Morgan took it in from the 1-yard line to cap the six-play drive, and after the Vontur kick the Rockets were up 7-0 with 3:23 remaining in the opening quarter. That would quickly change, however. On the first play following the kickoff, Donnie Young hit Joaquin Granados for an 80-yard pass play for the score, and with the PAT the game was tied with 3:12 to go in the 1st period. On the ensuing kickoff, Jerod Douglas fumbled and the Tigers recovered at the Rocket 17. Four (4) plays later, Jermaine McDowell took it in from the 4-yard line, the PAT was good, and the Tigers led 14-7 with 2:23 left in the 1st Quarter. On their next possession, a 36-yard punt return set up another Tiger score, which McDowell provided with a 7-yard run. The PAT upped the count to 21-7, and the Rockets knew for sure that the Tigers were not going away any time soon----or maybe not at all. Nevertheless, the Rockets answered with an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 36-yard pass play from David Allen to Curt Young for the score, the Vontur kick was good, and the Rockets had closed the gap with 7:08 left in the 2nd Quarter. The Tigers, however, recovered some of their advantage with a John Cortez FG from 48 yards out with 4:24 left in the Half. The Rockets answered back with a 9-yard pass from Allen to Randy Morgan, and the Vontur PAT made the score 24-21 with 60 seconds remaining in the Half.

The Rockets then came out of the break and immediately went to work, scoring on a 5-yard pass from Allen to John Dyer and Vontur PAT at the 7:56 mark of the 3rd Quarter. Shortly thereafter, the Rockets were at it again when Vontur connected on a 27-yard FG with 6:07 left in the 3rd. Brandon Ercoline then caught an 8-yard pass from Allen, Vontur added still one (1) more PAT, and the Rockets were up 38-24 with 54 seconds remaining in the 3rd period. John Cortez narrowed the gap for Carroll with a 38-yard FG 107 seconds into the final period, but Judson answered with a 2-yard run by Morgan. With the Vontur PAT the Rockets had a 45-27 advantage, but by now everyone pretty much realized that this was not necessarily a safe margin. Indeed, Willie Villarreal narrowed the gap with a 9-yard run, the Cortez PAT was good, and Judson led 45-34 with 4:38 to go. The Rockets were perilously close to having the mission aborted when, with 99 seconds left, Jon Roel caught a 29-yard pass from Young, Young then connected with Roel for a two-point play, and the score was 45-42. The Rockets, however, were able to run out the clock and escape.

The Tigers picked up 206 yards on the ground, with McDowell providing 103 on 11 carries. Through the air, the Tigers netted 261 yards on a 14-of-34 effort. They did, however, experience two (2) INT's and lose one (1) fumble. The Rockets had one (1) lost fumble and one (1) INT, while picking up 163 yards through the air on 11-of-17 pass attempts. On the ground the Rockets netted 298 yards, with Allen getting 119 of those on ten (10) carries, the balance was split somewhat evenly between Adams, Morgan, and Douglas, and by bagging a sassy group of cats for the second week in a row, the Rockets picked up a "GO" for LOI (ie "Lunar Orbit Insertion" also known as "the Semi-finals" when the Rockets are involved).

Dulles (10-0, 7-0)
December 7, 1991: Memorial Stadium, UT Austin
The Rockets and the Vikings met for the first time since the breakaway 2nd Half in Fort Bend County which, fueled by Chris Pryor, propelled the Rockets on toward their first successful lunar landing in 1983. The venue for this Saturday afternoon meeting was in Travis County or, more specifically, UT Austin's Memorial Stadium. The Rockets opened the game by driving downfield on a six-play, 67-yard drive that Charles Adams finished off with a 42-yard sprint. The PAT was good, and the Rockets were up 7-0 at the 9:48 mark of the opening period. Craig Vontur missed on a 39-yard FG attempt with 3:08 to go in the 1st, and the Vikings then put together a 14-play, 78-yard drive that John Gillaspy capped with a 1-yard run. Steve Davison drilled the PAT, and the score was knotted at the 9:07 mark of the 2nd Quarter. The Rockets regained the advantage with 5:07 left in the Half, coming on a 6-yard pass from Allen to Randy Morgan, and the PAT gave the Rockets a 14-7 lead at the Half.

The Rockets extended their lead, at the midway point of the 3rd Quarter, on a 30-yard pass from Allen to Ercoline. The PAT, however, was missed, but the Rockets at this point had apparently entered lunar orbit. The Vikes, however, had no intention of allowing the Rockets to stay there long enough for them to actually attempt a landing, so they mounted a 13-play, 80-yard drive, culminating with a 1-yard run by Calvin Phillips, and the Davison kick was good with 65 seconds remaining in the 3rd Quarter. Dulles, on the next possession, was backed up at its own 19-yard line, but Gillaspy got away for an 81-yard run by spinning away from Robert Anderson and Marcus Gray at the Viking 45. A significant contributor was the collision between the two (2) would-be Rocket defenders that pretty much allowed Gillaspy to dash away unchallenged. Suddenly, the mission's ultimate objective appeared to be eluding them, but the Flight Crew and their FOD did a magnificent job of "working the problem" by driving downfield 80 yards in 14 plays to regain the lead. The drive included two (2) 3rd-Down conversions in Judson territory, and, with the Rockets stuck with 1st-and-20 at midfield, a 19-yard pass play from Allen to Morgan. Morgan would later bring the ball to the 4-yard line, from where he then punched it in to give the Rockets the lead once more. The attempted 2-point conversion failed, though, leaving the Rocket advantage at 26-21 with exactly 4:00 left in the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Vikings fumbled the return at the 13, but Matt Eaglin kept things alive for the Vikings by recovering at the 23. Gillaspy then proceeded to burn the Rockets by scrambling 21 yards to the Dulles 39, and then, later in the drive, with a 24-yard gain to the Rocket 21 with 86 seconds remaining. An option pitch-out then brought the Vikings to the 4-yard line, Calvin Phillips then contributed two punches for two (2) yards each, putting the Vikings back on top with 37 seconds left and capping a 10-pay, 77-yard drive. The 2-point conversion attempt failed. The Rockets, in no mood to have their moon landing cancelled by a group of Vikings as long as they still had time to say something about this, continued to "work the problem," and following the kickoff Allen, aided by pass completions to Douglas for 15 yards and to Terry Hopkins for 22 yards, moved Judson to the Viking 41-yard line with twelve (12) seconds left. The next pass, intended for Douglas, was instead picked off by Derras Wilmington with one (1) tick remaining, and suddenly a lunar landing mission was transformed into a an "alternate," albeit still-productive lunar orbital mission, for the Rockets.

The following Saturday the Vikings and the Killeen Kangaroos met in the Astrodome where the 'Roos jumped out to a 14-0 lead and then hung on for the win in a game that featured Dion Marion, one of the swiftest and more prolific Backs in 5A in 1991. It was really too bad that the Rockets couldn't have made that appointment with the 'Roos. For one thing, it would have been a slam-dunk for the matchup to occur at the midway point, namely, UT Austin. Furthermore, it would have been a good matchup between two (2) schools with a large proportion of military families, what with Judson's well-known location between Fort Sam and Randolph, and Killeen's adjacency to Ft. Hood. The happy ending for the 'Roos brought a little relief in a trying time for the Killeen community, coming on the heals of the upheavals caused by Desert Storm and, while the season was in progress, the Luby's massacre [the TV pictures of that location looked awfully familiar and, indeed, it was the same Luby's I thought I vaguely remembered passing coming off US 190 enroute to the Rockets' meeting with Ellison on September 20 and, it would turn out, once more five (5) years later to the day for an identical meeting].

The December 14 contest in the Dome was the first game of a double-header. The second game was between the Aldine Mustangs---the defending "small 5A" champs----and San Antonio's very own John Marshall Rams, fresh off a thorough demolition of Madison and, among other most excellent aspects, featuring a Defense that had up to that point given up only six (6) points in the post-season.