![Broadcast, yearbook and newspaper combined for 66 Interscholastic League Press Conference awards this year. Yearbook won 43, newspaper won 14 and broadcast took home nine. “I think [the ILPC awards] are a great way to give the kids some acknowledgement for all of their hard work,” newspaper and yearbook adviser Paige Hert said. “They typically spend the year covering everyone else’s big moments, so it’s really cool for them to be celebrated so many times and in so many different ways.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/edited-ILPC.jpg)
![Looking down at his racket, junior Hasun Nguyen hits the green tennis ball. Hasun has played tennis since he was 9 years old, and he is on the varsity team. "I feel like it’s not really appreciated in America as much, but [tennis] is a really competitive and mentally challenging sport,” Nguyen said. “I’m really level-headed and can keep my cool during a match, and that helps me play a bit better under pressure.” Photo by Kyra Cox](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/hasun.jpg)
![Bringing her arm over her head and taking a quick breath, junior Lauren Lucas swims the final laps of the 500 freestyle at the regionals swimming competition on date. Lucas broke the school’s 18-year-old record for the 500 freestyle at regionals and again at state with a time of 4:58.63. “I’d had my eye on that 500 record since my freshman year, so I was really excited to see if I could get it at regionals or districts,” Lucas said. “ State is always a really fun experience and medaling for the first time was really great. It was a very very tight race, [so] I was a bit surprised [that I medaled]. [There were] a lot of fast girls at the meet in general, [and] it was like a dogfight back and forth, back and forth.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kaydence-2.7-23-edit-2.jpg)
![As her hair blows in the wind, senior Brianna Grandow runs the varsity girls 5K at the cross country district meet last Thursday. Grandow finished fourth in the event and led the varsity girls to regionals with a third place placement as a team. “I’m very excited [to go to regionals],” Grandow said. “I’m excited to race in Corpus Christi, and we get to go to the beach, so that’s really awesome.” Photo by Addison Bruce](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brianna.jpg)
ESPN Who?
The (not-so) Real Rankings in College Football
September 3, 2019
The 2018 college football season brought a lot of fun games to watch, from Texas A&M and LSU’s record-breaking seven-overtime game ending in a score of 74-72, to Trevor Lawrence rolling over Alabama in the national championship. In 2019, the stakes are high, as the top 10 teams all have a shot at the college football playoff. Here are my pre-season top rankings for the 2019 season.
NOAH’S TOP 10 ANALYSIS
Clemson
Clemson has proven that they are one of the most dynamic teams in the country. This year, they are coming off of a National Title win against Alabama (44-16), who was also once known as the most powerful team in the NCAA. Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is rumored as “the best college QB ever,” according to ESPN. He established the way that his team played all year, and plans to do the same this year. Clemson will be a fun team to watch this year as they opened their season with a big win over Georgia Tech, 52-14.
Alabama
Alabama has been a strong team for a while now, beginning in 2010 with their win against Texas in what was the BCS National Championship. Since then, Alabama has proven that they are a top contender, year in and year out. Alabama’s quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, previewed his athleticism when he was a sophomore in the 2018 College Football Playoff Championship. He showed the world that he always comes to play, throwing a touchdown late in the game to beat Georgia. Alabama is expected to come out strong again this year, as I have them ranked number two. They pulled in their first victory over Duke, 42-3.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is going to be an interesting team to watch this season. Transferring from Alabama, starting quarterback Jalen Hurts is going to be running the field after Heisman Trophy Winner Kyler Murray got drafted into the NFL. Bleacherreport, ESPN, and CBSSports all predict that Hurts will do just fine adjusting to a different playbook. Against USC in 2017, Jalen Hurts showed that he has the potential to run all over teams. Hurts is going to be calling the shots this year at Oklahoma, and it’s going to be a blast to watch. Oklahoma came out on top against Houston, 59-31.
Michigan
After finishing 10-3 in the 2018 season, Michigan is one of the more underrated teams in college football. This season, I could see Michigan getting into the College Football Playoff. They have multiple quarterbacks who can run the field, one of them being Shea Patterson, and Jim Harbaugh is one of the most dynamic coaches in all of the NCAA. Michigan is going to show out this year after defeating Middle Tennessee, 40-21.
LSU
LSU has been a team who plays in Alabama’s shadow, but Tiger fans are hoping for a good year. One of the craziest games of the 2018 season involved a stunning seven-overtime ending between LSU and Texas A&M, with A&M taking the win 74-72, the highest-scoring game in the 2018 season. Coming off of a 10-3 regular-season record and Fiesta Bowl upset over the only undefeated team in the NCAA, UCF, LSU is slated to have a solid season this year in 2019. LSU rolled over Georgia Southern, 55-3.
Ohio State
Ohio State seems to be a hit or miss team. They have had some of the best quarterbacks that the NCAA has ever seen, such as Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett, and Braxton Miller, who now plays receiver for the Cleveland Browns. If you’ve seen the Netflix original series called “QB1,” you’ve heard Justin Fields’ name before. He takes the first snaps of the 2019 season, as former Ohio State QB Tate Martell transferred to Miami (FL) due to playing time needs. Fields is a very dynamic quarterback and he’s more than ready to show the world why he earned the starting spot at Ohio State. Fields and the Buckeyes beat Florida Atlantic, 45-21 in week one.
Georgia
Georgia has been chasing the natty for almost 30 years and it’s been a roller coaster to watch. Sometimes, they are obliterating opponents on the road, but other times, they’re losing to Texas in 2019 Sugar Bowl. Over the years, Georgia has slowly become more and more overrated, in my opinion. They had a good stint between 2015 and 2018, but going into the 2019 season, most of their talent has left to the NFL. This season will be interesting for Georgia to see how they can stack up with new faces on the field. The bulldogs gave Vanderbilt their first loss, 30-6.
Texas
Since their 2005 national title win over USC, Texas has been having a lot of struggles in recent years, but ever since Tom Herman took over in 2017, the Longhorns have slowly climbed their way back to the top. Former Westlake quarterback and current Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger has been running over defenses ever since his first snap in a Texas uniform, making him a top contender for the Heisman Trophy. Coming off of a strong win against Georgia in the 2019 Sugar Bowl, Texas is expected to be a powerhouse out of the Big 12 in the 2019 season. They already have a strong start going into the biggest game of their season against LSU after beating Louisiana Tech, 45-14.
Florida
Thankfully for gator fans, this year they’re expected to be really good. They have created a lot of momentum rolling into the 2019 season, already with one win under their belt against Miami (FL). Technically, Florida has the best record in the NCAA at this point in time, but we’ll have to watch them and see if they can hold up their end of the SEC with a strong season.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame has always been a team who sits in the middle of the pack. Their showing in the College Football Playoff last season had a lot of people surprised, and while most people thought that they were going to roll over Clemson, they got beat, 30-3. Notre Dame is a team that has shown that they aren’t a good team to contend for the National Championship, in that they seem to fold under pressure. Notre Dame will remain to be a threat for top-ranked teams to look out for, but this year will be a good look into their competitive basis. They already have a 1-0 record, after beating Louisville, 35-17.
This season is going to be amazing to watch, so be sure to cheer on your teams and check out all of the games. We’ll see how my rankings stack up at the end of the season.
![The fire department came to the school after students were evacuated when smoke started coming from the ceiling of a classroom. All students and staff are safe. “All of my friends left their stuff too, so we couldn’t contact our parents, and it was stressful,” senior Brynn Fowler said. “It was scary because I didn’t know [what was going on], and I couldn’t find anyone because it was a big crowd.” Photo by Anthony Garcia](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/firetruck-300x200.jpg)
