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Cody Davis is not from Howe, Texas, but both of his parents, David Davis and Cindy Boatman are graduates of Howe High School.  Their son grew up in Stephenville and attended Stephenville HS.  He was named an Associated Press Class 4A Second-team All-state selection, and was voted the District 8-4A Defensive MVP after a senior season. He was inducted into the Stephenville High School Hall of Fame on September 26, 2014.

Davis played collegiately at Texas Tech. As a senior in 2012, Davis was a 1st Team Capital One Academic All-American and was a Second-team All-Big 12 selection for the second consecutive season after making 84 solo tackles and 101 total tackles. He finished his Texas Tech career with 49 starts, including 22 consecutive starts at safety.

Davis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the St. Louis Rams on April 27, 2013 after not being drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft.

You can vote for Cody Davis to make the Pro Bowl by clicking here.  http://www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot

Before last week’s game vs, Edgewood, the greatest comeback in Howe Bulldog football history was a game played 25 years ago tonight.  On Nov. 17, 1990, Howe turned the Texas High School football playoffs upside with an improbable 14-14 tie that ignited Celina’s basketball program a few weeks ahead of their schedule.

Before the season, Howe had lost the most successful head coach in Howe history in Jim Fryar who left for a similar position in Jacksboro.  The previous 1989 team was chalked with more talent than anyone could imagine in route to shattering every passing record Howe had seen by becoming one of the first spread offenses in Texas High School Football history.  But after that season, the talent senior class had graduated and Fryar was gone.

Howe ISD hired a second-year head coach in Joey McQueen, who was Howe’s then Superintendent Pete Simmons’ starting quarterback in high school in Ballinger.

The offense went from one of the state’s first wide open fun-and-run spread offense back to the wing-T, which to the players was like going from a Corvette to a Corsica.  The ‘Dogs started their new regime by losing three of the first four games to Leonard, arch rival Van Alstyne, and Pilot Point.  But the defense was really good.  Led by Defensive Coordinator Billy Hill, one of the best defensive minds in Howe history, the ‘Dogs D kept Howe in every game.

Things shifted in week six that changed everything.  Howe lost at Aubrey 14-7 in a game that Howe was a clear favorite and the record went to 2-4.  After that game a bunch of offensive changes were made and that proved to be the key change of the season.  Howe, led by a rushing attack of Michael Bailey, Michael Ross and Domingo Rivera ripped through the remainder of the District 11-2A schedule to set up a showdown with Bells.  The winner went to the playoffs – the loser stayed home.  Howe came from behind in the final quarter to beat Bells by the slimmest of margins, 12-11.

The Bulldogs (6-4) were to play 8th-ranked Celina (9-1) in the bi-district round of the playoffs.  Howe came in 18-point underdogs by the Harris Ratings.  No one gave Howe a chance and it would take a miracle and some special innovative inspiration tactics by the coaching staff.  This sparked the infamous t-shirt story.

McQueen and Assistant Coach Steve Simmons came up with a story that Celina had already printed Bi-District Champion t-shirts and were wearing them in Celina and the players were wearing them underneath their jerseys ready to display them as soon as the game was over.  The 17 and 16-year-old Howe players bought this fib – hook, line and sinker.  Simmons and McQueen had a shirt printed up and brought it to the pep rally where the team destroyed it.  Each player wore a strand of that ripped up shirt on their belt that night against Celina.

The game was played at John Clark Stadium in Plano and the players were given a letter to read from Superintendent Pete Simmons as they traveled to meet their braggadocios t-shirt wearing enemies.  The letter was inspiring and Howe ISD had pulled off every bit of psychological tactics that could be found and used legally.

As soon as the game started, Howe found themselves down 14-0 quickly and thoughts of once being 2-4 on the season quickly crept into the minds of fans.  At the half, the players were given a speech by Coach Steve Simmons that climaxed with a balloon pop with his bare hands and the ‘Dogs were ready to once again turn things around.

Michael Bailey, the team’s leading rusher put the game on his back and carried Howe down the field for a 3rd quarter drive.  Quarterback Wade Carson hit Damion Horton on a 4th and goal pass and Howe cut the lead 14-7.

The defense allowed Celina only 12 yards of total offense in the second half which gave Howe a chance to tie the game in the 4th quarter.  Howe’s Michael Ross did just that with a scamper.  Monte Walker’s PAT tied the game at 14.

With only minutes to go and the UIL not yet adopting an overtime situation, McQueen and Celina Head Coach G.A. Moore met with officials to discuss the tie-breakers.  Howe and Celina were tied with two penetrations each and Howe was leading the next tie-breaker in first downs, 14-4.  All Howe had to do was sit on the ball and kill the clock.  Howe downed the ball with a minute left and had only one more snap to polish off the tie-victory.  McQueen sent the play in via Shawn Stephenson to “Drop back and take a knee.”  However, Stephenson relayed the play to quarterback Carson to “Drop back and throw it deep.”  A stunned Carson wanted him to repeat it and Stephenson did.  On the play, Carson threw it deep down the right side of the field to Walker for a 24-yard gain at the 10 yard line and Howe picked up the extra penetration to win by that stat instead of first downs.

(Full audio broadcast with B.K. Lindsay and Lynn Burkhead)

While the fans went crazy, the coaching staff was furious. Some players, such as Carson and Stephenson, didn’t get to celebrate that improbable victory as one would think due to the irate McQueen, but all was quickly forgiven and the feeling of David bringing down Goliath set in with the team and the community of Howe.

In the very next week, Howe would once again tie Olney, 10-10 and advance on first downs.  The improbable season finally was ended by Mart at Pennington Field in the regional championship.

“It was a great game and an even better team win.  We weren’t given much of a chance going into the game, but I know we surprised them with how physical a team we were.  Other than a a couple of plays, defensively we dominated them all night and offensively we able to move the ball pretty well.   It was fun game to be apart of.” – Wade Carson, quarterback and safety

“It was a great team win. Even though we trailed at half, no one believed we wouldn’t find a way to win. The second half saw a totally dominating performance by all phases of the Bulldog team; offense, defense, and special teams. Proud to be a Bulldog!!!” – Defensive Coordinator Billy Hill

On Monday, November 16, 2015, Jeffrey Lee Heflin, 48, of Denison, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, Possession of Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine, Possession of Controlled Substance – Heroin, and Tampering with Evidence. The sentence was handed down by 59th District Court Judge Rayburn Nall pursuant to a plea agreement which Heflin reached with the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office.

On February 21, 2015, Grayson County Investigators William May received information on the location of a vehicle which had recently been stolen in Sherman. Investigator May and GCSO Investigator Dustin Stacks located the stolen truck in Denison and conducted surveillance on the vehicle. Eventually, a man later identified as Jeffery Heflin entered the vehicle and drove away. When deputies attempted to stop the vehicle, Heflin fled and officers lost sight of the vehicle before locating it again a short time later. Officers were able to stop the vehicle and arrested Heflin, who had been driving. When officers removed Heflin from their patrol car, they discovered a bag which contained methamphetamine and heroin stuffed under the metal cage of the patrol car. When officers inventoried Heflin’s property that night, they discovered two counterfeit one hundred dollar bills.

Heflin had previously been to prison on charges of burglary and forgery and had more than a dozen arrests for various offenses, including assault, weapons offenses, and theft.

“This is a guy that had been around,” said Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown.

“With that many arrests, and with prior attempts to rehabilitate him, he was not getting the message. We appreciate the sheriff’s office for being aggressive with taking people like him off the streets.”

Assistant District Attorney Britton Brooks prosecuted the case. Heflin was represented by Sherman attorney Gaylon Riddels.

Howe High School has announced that they will hold a bonfire on Thursday night at 7:30 at the north end parking lot of Bulldog Stadium.  The community is welcome to attend to support the Bi-District Champion Howe Bulldogs.

Parade is 12/12/2015 at 4:30pm.  This year’s theme is “Victory Town” and the parade will start at Howe Community Library and make a trip through downtown and finish back at the library.

Austin, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott today sent a letter to President Barack Obama informing him that the State of Texas will not accept any refugees from Syria in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris. Furthermore, Governor Abbott implored President Obama to halt his plans to accept more Syrian refugees in the United States entirely, as the federal government does not have the background information necessary to effectively conduct proper security checks on Syrian nationals.

“Given the tragic attacks in Paris and the threats we have already seen, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees – any one of whom could be connected to terrorism – being resettled in Texas,” Governor Abbott said in the letter. “Effective today, I am directing the Texas Health & Human Services Commission’s Refugee Resettlement Program to not participate in the resettlement of any Syrian refugees in the State of Texas. And I urge you, as President, to halt your plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States.”

“Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terroristic activity,” Governor Abbott continued. “As such, opening our door to them irresponsibly exposes our fellow Americans to unacceptable peril.”