By David Wolman
Brendon Quinn scored the go-ahead 27-yard rushing touchdown with 1:02 remaining, and Sachse held on to earn a 15-11 win over L.D. Bell at Homer B. Johnson Stadium on Friday.
The Mustangs trailed 11-0 entering the fourth quarter, but their offense finally started to click.
Jonathan Fuentes got Sachse (3-0) on the board with a 22-yard field goal.
A 54-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Christian McCaffrey to D.J. Doyle with 5:11 left in regulation brought the Mustangs within 11-9. Sachse went for a two-point conversion but was unsuccessful.
However, the Mustangs’ defense held firm and gave the offense a chance to win the game, leading to Quinn’s go-ahead touchdown run with just over a minute remaining.
Before the final 10 minutes, Hurst L.D. Bell (1-2) controlled the scoreboard, led by its two feature running backs. Roland Taylay ran for 135 yards, while Jeremiah Houston added 93 yards.
But two consecutive kickoff recoveries by Sachse helped turn the momentum in favor of the home team.
McCaffrey threw for 195 yards on the lightning-delayed night, with Doyle hauling in 101 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Sachse will visit Wylie next Friday in a battle of 3-0 teams to commence District 9-6A play.
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By David Wolman
Sachse’s cross country teams have high expectations.
One goal that Sachse has set is winning the District 9-6A title for the second consecutive season.
The Mustangs showed at last Saturday’s Crandall Pirate Cross Country Invitational that they are already in championship form.
Sachse swept the team titles in dominant fashion and captured the top individual finish in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions. The Lady Mustangs’ 25 points was more than double that of host Crandall (51 points). Sachse’s boys totaled 31 points, well ahead of second-place North Forney (64).
Sachse accounted for the top three individual finishers in the boys’ race. Senior Samuel Ledbetter captured first place with a time of 14:31.4. Junior Dominic Richardson was second in 14:45.18, senior Ozzy Heredia placed third in 15:14.81 and junior Sadiki Mburu took fifth in 15:18.61.
Sophomore Brave Cook took 21st in 16:59.04, Ryan King was 22nd in 17:01.23 and sophomore Joseph Castaneda placed 27th in 17:35.06.
Junior Arora Dinh Ngo won the girls’ individual title in dominating fashion, with her time of 17:57 being 26 seconds faster than the event’s second-place finisher, teammate Alicia Payne, who clocked a time of 18:23.53.
Juniors Adeline Moss (sixth, 19:59.54) and Brisa Morales (ninth, 20:35.47) also cracked the top 10. Senior Brighton Cook (12th, 20:51.69) and junior Colette Leonard (13th, 21:18.56) rounded out the efforts for the Lady Mustangs in Crandall.
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The club will host its inaugural Rotary Peace Summit from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, at the Collin College Wylie Campus Conference Center, 391 Country Club Road.
Designed as a conflict resolution conference, the summit will focus on building unity, encouraging dialogue and helping participants engage respectfully with people whose perspectives may differ from their own.
Wylie Rotary Past President Ofilia Barrera said the idea grew from Rotary’s broader commitment to promoting peace, but with an emphasis on challenges much closer to home.
“As Rotarians, we are committed to peace building,” Barrera said. “For many people, this brings to mind war torn countries. For us, it hits a little closer to home.”
Rotary President Bryan Brokaw proposed the summit as a way to address increasing polarization within the community, added Barrera.
“A lot of what we hear on the news and social media is negative, but when we look to our friends and neighbors, the positives abound,” she said. “We wanted to build on that. We want people to walk away knowing they can disagree and still work together to build a stronger community.”
The summit is open to anyone interested in strengthening the community, Barrera said, including leaders, business owners, educators, volunteers and engaged citizens from Wylie and surrounding areas.
Three featured speakers will guide participants through the day.
Wylie High School graduate Roza Patterson will open the summit. Patterson, an attorney and UCLA School of Law professor, is also a former Rotary Youth Leadership Awards participant. In 2013, she received a Rotary International Global Grant Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree focused on peace and conflict prevention and resolution.
Patterson has worked in employment law and was selected in 2021 for Orrick’s Racial, Social and Economic Justice Fellowship. She currently works as a deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice.
The Rev. Celestin Musekura, president and CEO of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries, will bring decades of experience in reconciliation and peacebuilding to the summit. The global nonprofit works toward an Africa without violent racial, tribal and religious conflicts.
Musekura lost family members during the Rwandan genocide, an experience that inspired his work helping leaders and communities move from conflict toward reconciliation. For three decades, he has trained leaders in strategies intended to promote healing and sustainable social change.
Organizational psychologist Heather Hodges will lead participants through a research-based framework examining how people approach challenges and how understanding those differences can help foster innovation and cooperation.
Hodges, who has 25 years of leadership experience, will also explore how culture shapes behavior, perceptions and an individual’s sense of safety.
Rotary organizers say the full-day program is intended to give participants opportunities not only to hear from the speakers but also to practice listening, gain perspective and develop skills that can be used in workplaces, organizations and everyday community interactions.
Doors open at 8 a.m. for check-in and a continental breakfast. Lunch will be served at noon. Following the summit, participants may attend an optional happy hour from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Landon Winery in downtown Wylie.
Registration is $115 per person. A table for eight is $805. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.
Parking at Collin College is free.
For registration, sponsorship information or additional details, visit wylierotary.org/page/peace-summit or email to [email protected].
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]]>For Ashley Carlisle, growth does not always begin where it can be seen.
Sometimes, it starts in darkness — with no outward sign that circumstances are changing or prayers are being answered.
That idea is at the heart of Roots, a new Christian devotional app Carlisle developed to encourage people navigating seasons of waiting, uncertainty and spiritual growth.
Read the full story in the September 10th edition. Stay informed — subscribe to The Sachse News.
]]>New Secretary of State Robert Howden has rolled out an online portal that allows Texans to confirm their active voter registration, register to vote in the upcoming election on Tuesday, Nov. 3, or make changes to a voter registration certificate.
Monday, Oct. 5, is the last day to register to vote in the November Election and early voting runs from Monday, Oct. 19 through Friday, Oct. 30.
Requests for a ballot by mail must be received by Friday, Oct. 23. The mail ballot must be received by Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, (Election Day) at 7:00 p.m. if the carrier envelope is not postmarked, OR Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, (the next business day after Election Day) at 5:00 p.m. if the carrier envelope is postmarked by 7:00 p.m. at the location of the election on Election Day (unless overseas or military voter deadlines apply).
The link to the Secretary of State’s voter registration portal is: https://bit.ly/4gMFjUL.
The portal, with a first build date of Aug. 18, confirms voter registration by asking for First Name, Last Name, Suffix, Date of Birth, and either ZIP Code and county, Driver’s License number or Voter ID number.
If a site visitor is not registered, a link asks in English or Spanish if the person is a U.S. Citizen and whether they will be 18 years of age on or before Election Day.
Clicking “No” on the citizenship question triggers the response: “You must be a United States citizen to proceed with this form.”
A similar message informs those under 18 that they must be at least 18 years old in order to vote.
Answering “yes” to both questions opens a form that must be completed, printed, signed and sent by U.S. Mail to the Secretary of State’s office.
The form requests a Driver’s License number, Texas ID number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. There is a box to check if a person does not have any of those documents.
The information form includes a warning that giving false information to procure voter registration is perjury and a violation under state and federal law.
“Conviction of this crime may result in imprisonment up to one year in jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both,” the form says. “Please read all three statements to affirm before signing: I am a resident of this county and a U.S. Citizen; I have not been finally convicted of a felony, or if a felon, I have completed all of my punishment, including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or I have been pardone [sic.]; and I have not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.”
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Howden on July 17 to succeed Secretary Jane Nelson, who Abbott appointed in January 2023 following her three decades in the state Senate.
A University of Texas at Austin graduate, Howden had worked in Abbott’s office as director of legislative affairs. He previously worked with Govs. Bill Clements and Rick Perry.
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]]>The department will host a free Civilian Response to an Active Shooter Event, or CRASE, training at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Sachse Public Safety Building, 3815-D Sachse Road.
The community training is built around the Avoid, Deny, Defend model, which teaches civilians options for responding when confronted with an active shooter or similar threat.
The course is open to residents, business owners, employees and anyone interested in becoming better prepared. There is no cost to attend and registration is not required.
CRASE was developed by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, or ALERRT, at Texas State University. The program was designed in response to requests from schools, businesses and communities seeking guidance on how civilians should respond during active shooter events.
ALERRT developed the Avoid, Deny, Defend strategy in 2004. The model encourages people to first avoid the danger and move to a safe location when possible. If escape is not possible, the next option is to deny an attacker access to their location. Defending oneself is considered a last resort when faced with a life-threatening situation.
The concepts are similar to the more widely recognized Run, Hide, Fight model, but ALERRT uses different terminology intentionally.
According to ALERRT, “Avoid” recognizes that not everyone may be physically able to run, while “Deny” emphasizes taking steps to prevent an attacker from gaining access rather than simply hiding. “Defend” describes taking action to protect oneself as a last resort.
The organization emphasizes that regardless of the terminology used, the goal is for civilians to have a plan, remain aware of their surroundings and understand that their actions during an emergency matter.
CRASE training also provides information about the history and prevalence of active shooter events, civilian response options and medical considerations. Law enforcement officers who complete ALERRT’s instructor training can then provide the information to schools, businesses and members of their communities.
The Sachse class is part of that community outreach and gives participants an opportunity to learn the response principles directly from local law enforcement before they are ever faced with an emergency.
The free training begins at 9 a.m. Oct. 3 at the Sachse Public Safety Building, 3815-D Sachse Road. No advance registration is required.
For additional information about CRASE and the Avoid, Deny, Defend model, visit alerrt.org.
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]]>By John Moore | TheCountryWriter.com
Scouting was once as common for kids as Cap’n Crunch and Post Toasties. Learning how to tie knots, set up a tent and campsite, and earning merit badges, consumed much of a Southern boy’s or girl’s time.
Often, your mom and dad were the den’s mother and trip advisor. Which meant you not only had to learn everything put in front of you, you always had to be on your best behavior.
Much like it was summarily announced to me at the ripe old age of six that I’d be playing little league baseball; it was also announced that I was about to become a Cub Scout.
All I knew about scouting was that Beaver Cleaver was a Cub Scout and that gave him license to wear a cool uniform and cap.
We had weekly meetings at the Ashdown City Library, which at that time was located on the second floor of an old building downtown. The first floor, which was halfway buried underground, housed the water and police departments.
We learned this by hanging from the second-floor balcony and staring through the windows. The signs for each department clearly marked who sat where, even though it appeared to be a shared space.
My mom and Ricky Walraven’s mom were the den mothers. They used a scouting manual to guide us through the first step, second step, and so on, to become bona fide Cub Scouts. The first step was to learn the promise:
“I, John, promise to do my best , to do my duty to God and my country, to be square, and to obey the law of the pack.”
We always started each meeting with the promise.
Strands of rope were brought in by the boys who lived on farms and we used them to learn to tie knots.
The square knot joined two ropes of about the same size. The bowline made a loop that stayed loose. Two half hitches were what we used to secure a rope to a post or tree. There were many other knots we learned, and most were used when we went camping.
This is where the dads came into the picture. The men would load us all up in their vehicles and haul us to the woods. My dad drove a 1952 Chevrolet 5-window pickup. The men rode in the front and we rode in the back with our tents and gear.
No one thought anything of a load of unsecured Cub Scouts going down the road at 60 miles per hour back then. And it was awesome.
We earned our badges by gathering firewood, building a campfire, identifying plants, fishing for our dinner, setting up our tent and bedding, and listening to the men tell scary stories right before we went to bed.
We didn’t actually get a badge for listening to scary stories. We did learn about the monster that lived somewhere near our camping area, and the ghost of the boy the monster had run off with because he wasn’t prepared properly and hadn’t earned all of his merit badges.
We made toast on a stick. Learned to use a compass. How to sharpen our Cub Scout knife. And why putting others ahead of ourselves was always the right choice.
When we weren’t camping, the den’s mothers and dads took us on field trips to learn the history of those who settled the area where we now lived.
One of my favorite field trips was going to Old Washington, Arkansas.
It’s called, Historic Washington State Park, and it’s near Hope in southwest Arkansas.
Washington was founded in 1824 and became an important stop on the Southwest Trail to Texas. During the Civil War, it served as the Confederate state capital of Arkansas from 1863 to 1865 after Union forces captured Little Rock.
It’s particularly known for its blacksmithing history. According to local tradition, Washington blacksmith James Black made an early version of the famous Bowie knife for James Bowie, who later died at the Alamo.
Like Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, Old Washington is kept in period condition. Both Colonial Williamsburg and Old Washington preserve a historic community rather than just a single building.
I made it to Webelos and Boy Scouts, but didn’t make Eagle Scout, which is the pinnacle of Scouting for boys. Our oldest son did, though. And what he learned in Scouting shines through today. He is self-reliant, creative in a pinch, and is always helping someone else.
I’m unsure why participation in Scouting isn’t at the level that it used to be, but what Scouting taught and still teaches is worth involving our young people.
Because promising to do our best, to do our duty, to God and our country, to be square, and to obey the law of the pack, isn’t a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.
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]]>By David Wolman
PLANO — The Sachse football team has looked like a dominant force through the first two weeks of the season.
The Mustangs continued to deliver in all three phases Friday, earning a 45-3 rout of Plano at John Clark Stadium.
Sachse (2-0) out-gained Plano (0-2) 382-90 in total yardage, forced three turnovers, got four passing touchdowns from senior quarterback Christian McCaffrey and two rushing touchdowns from junior running back Ladainian Jones. McCaffrey completed 15 of 27 through the air for 196 yards. Jones finished with 109 rushing yards on 18 carries.
The Mustangs’ defense was stout against the run, holding the Wildcats to 45 rushing yards on 31 carries, an average of 1.45 yards per tote.
Sachse led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter before exploding for 21 second-quarter points to take a 28-3 lead going into the locker room.
McCaffrey made it 14-3 Sachse with a 48-yard passing touchdown to Julian Madison and connected with Colin Deleon on a five-yard strike just over three minutes later for a 21-3 Mustangs advantage.
That lead grew to 28-3 after Jones barreled in from the 1-yard line with 2:47 remaining in the opening half.
Sachse will host LD Bell (1-1) at Homer B. Johnson Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11 in the final non-district game for the Mustangs.
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Family stories, Revolutionary-era fashion and Wylie history came together Saturday, Aug. 29, as the Wylie Historical Society celebrated the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary with its America 250 BBQ Luncheon.
Wylie Historical Society Treasurer Alexis Tapp welcomed guests to the event, which included the posting of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 442, the national anthem, a costume contest, raffle and silent auction. Col. W.D. Wylie, portrayed by Eugene Hauptmann, led the pledge and later offered a prayer.
The luncheon’s keynote speaker, author Tracy Lawson, explored how family lore, letters and journals can become the foundation for books, while Jen Thompson and Beth Klimek of the DFW Costumers Guild brought another piece of the past to life with a demonstration of late-18th-century women’s fashion.
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]]>The Texas Department of Transportation is proposing a $230 million expansion of FM 3286 and FM 546 across Lavon Lake, a project that would replace the existing two-lane bridge and widen nearly five miles of roadway between Lucas and the Princeton area.
But construction remains years away and no money has been identified to build it.
TxDOT presented the proposal Tuesday, Aug. 25, during an open house at Southfork Ranch in Parker.
The project covers approximately 4.71 miles, extending from FM 1378 in Lucas east along FM 3286, also known as East Lucas Road, across Lake Lavon and continuing on FM 546 to FM 982 leading into Princeton.
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