High school roundup: McVey honored by TD Club

Deer Park tight end Payden McVey's season isn't quite over.

His team fell victim to North Shore in the first round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs, but McVey will be busy next week as one of the Touchdown Club of Houston's top 10 offensive players.

They'll be honored with the top defensive players and coaches at the 31st annual HEB High School Awards Dinner on Dec. 8 at the JW Marriott, where one winner in each category will be selected.

"We're certainly proud of him being able to have that opportunity," Deer Park coach Chris Massey said. "Sometimes it's hard at that position to get that kind of recognition.

"It says a lot about the kind of year he had."

McVey's selection as one of the Greater Houston area's top 10 offensive players is especially impressive considering that he played tight end for a team that's not really known for its passing attack.

He was the Deer's leading receiver, with 39 receptions, but Massey said it probably had more to do with his less-appreciated ability.

"A lot of it had to do with the fact that he's such a great blocker," Massey said. "He was very physical out there and he just did a great job of setting the edges."

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior certainly helped the passing game improve this season. He hauled in four touchdown passes from Austin Ranier, who threw for 1,294 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Massey said he was pleased with the improvement, but pointed out the Deer still have a ways to go. Ranier completed just 50.9 percent of his passes (88-of-173) and still threw six interceptions.

"It improved quite a bit but we're not where we want to be yet obviously," Massey said. "Our percentage has got to get better. We were just a little over 50 percent on completions and we've got to get better at that."

Improving the passing game was the top goal this past offseason, but with Ranier coming back for another year, which should see him progress further, improving the defense is the focus going forward.

The Deer will have seven offensive starters back in 2011 but just three on defense.

"We've got to find some guys on defense to step up," Massey said. "We've got to try to put more speed on the field. That's the thing that we've got to worry about. Playing teams like Memorial and Dobie, who've got so much speed, if we don't find some guys to counteract that, we're going to have problems.

"I think we've got a good foundation coming back."

Deer Park finished the season 7-4 overall and 3-2 in District 22-5A, falling 17-10 in the Region III bi-district round.

"We were certainly proud of how hard our kids fought against North Shore," Massey said. "After coming off a tough loss to Dobie the week before I thought the kids responded well. They bounced back and played hard."

TD Club finalists

Tickets for the ceremony, set for 7 p.m., are $45 and tables with 10 seats ranging from $450 to $5,000, depending on sponsorship level, are available. All premium sponsors' names will appear in the program.

The event is open to the public.

The 2010 defensive finalists are Collin Callahan (Cy Ridge), Christopher Cormier (Hastings), Quandre Diggs (Angleton), Jordan Helm (Fort Bend Marshall), Desmond Jackson (Westfield), Derrick Matthews (North Shore), William Moore (Madison), Eric Rowe (Klein), David Santos (Klein Collins) and Zoey Williams (Dulles).

The offensive finalists are Ed'Marques Batties (Hightower), Sedrick Flowers (North Shore), Dustin Garrison (Pearland), Chucky Keeton (Cy Creek), C.J. McElroy (Clear Creek), McVey (Deer Park), Joseph Schneider (The Woodlands), Deandre Washington (Fort Bend Marshall), Anthony Webb (La Porte) and Donovonn Young (Katy).

PGSA sign-ups coming

The Pasadena Girls Softball Association will hold early registration for the spring 2011 season on four days this month.

On Dec. 4 and 11, sign-up will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on Dec. 6 and 13 it will go from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., all at the new PGSA fields at Crenshaw Park.

The early registration fee is $65. The cost during the regular sign-up period in January is $75. There's a $5 for siblings during both periods, and a $1 discount for each old cell phone turned in, up to $5.